‘Should I buy one?’ It’s a simple question that appears at the end of Autocar’s first drives online, but it’s not, alas, a question to which I want to give a simple answer.
The quest for a plain answer is an inevitable demand, though, in a world that’s desperate for decisions and opinions. Yes or no; in or out; left or right; dogs or cats. Modern life loves a culture war in which everything is judged in brutal fashion and anything other than a full-hearted opinion frankly isn’t satisfactory. Which is a shame for me, because I find myself a bit less certain about all kind of things in life.
This is a problem in 2021 and when reviewing is my job. But then I don’t even like star ratings very much. Awarding something two stars out of five, say, suggests that only 40% of the product is right when that’s extremely unlikely to be true.
With the arts or music, I suppose it’s entirely possible, because although objectivity exists in arts (you wouldn’t be able to study design or music without it), creative processes are more subjective than products. It’s totally feasible that one person’s vision is totally out of whack with the rest of society. It’s so possible to make what’s widely accepted as a ‘bad’ film that people frequently still do it.
It’s very hard, though, to do that with automobiles. Or aeroplanes. Or most advanced consumer products from big businesses. The industry of developing cars is so slick that it’s genuinely difficult to get things badly wrong. The industry is too good, too sophisticated, even too thoroughly regulated to let it happen.
Even a car that’s miles better than one of its competitors isn’t likely to be twice as good, which respective two-star and four-star ratings would suggest.
To differentiate between cars, I would quite like a score out of 20 – or (and I realise this might be speaking out of turn for a reviewer) no star rating at all but a conversation instead. Remember those?
Back to ‘should I buy one?’. Well, let’s say the car in question happens to be the best car in the world. Like the world’s oldest living person, it’s a gig that gets reinvented often. And yet I still don’t think you could answer the question with resounding ‘oh heck yes’, although I confess that I’ve probably written precisely that, perhaps about the Alpine A110, Morgan 3 Wheeler or Ariel Nomad. Should you buy a Toyota GT86? Of course you should, I will shout from the rooftops, because it’s fabulous; but to be honest, you would probably prefer a Volkswagen Golf GTI.
Join the debate
Add your comment
I think if you have to ask yourself that then you probably shouldn't. When I bought my 5turbo back in the day everyone said "you should buy a this or a that" but my heart was set on it, same with the e39, "better off with a 3 series" etc.."not to my way of thinking" is the internal memo that came back.
People I know say that they trust my judgement on cars as I've been a car enthusiast all my life, so they occasionally ask for my advice.
But I never tell them what to buy, or whether they should buy a particular car they've asked me about.
That is because after rave reviews of the "can't do any wrong" Mazda MX-5, I bought one brand new, and it was the worst car ownership experience of my life; the car, dealership and Mazda UK all letting me down badly.
So there's a lemon out there for every make and I don't want to be blamed for recommending one to someone else and then living with it forever more, like the jokes I still endure about buying my rubbish MX-5, "...some car expert you are after buying that pile of rubbish...." etc...
Matt, I think the answer to your dilemma is that you contextualise your answer to the 'should I buy that car' question by describing yours and Autocar's perspective.
Autocar is not What Car? or Consumer Reports. Your reviews are subjective and should remain so. We read them because we want to hear yours and your colleague's opinions on cars and how they make you feel. Other publications have the 'objective measurement and assessment' section of the car review market sewn up so don't bother competing there.
Regarding the star ratings, make it clear that they are just Autocar's subjective view of the car: we are quite capable of understanding that in today's world a 4 star car is unlikely, objectively, to be twice as good as a 2 star car. It just means you like the 4 star car more than the 2 star one.
Please start using the full range of stars you can award in reviews. So many cars receive 3.5 or 4 stars that they mean absolutely nothing. The Audi Q4 E-tron, for example, strikes me as a classic 2 star, or less, car. Piers Ward concluded his review with 'It doesn't feel special enough to justify the premium badge or price, and besides, this more potent powertrain isn't exclusive to Audi.' In Autocar's world, can you really explain to me why is this in any way a better than average new car? Some people may like the Audi badge which, as with your friend who bought the Suzuki Wagon-R, is absolutely fine, but in your opinion there is no reason to buy it. All cars, no matter how objectively good they are, that Autocar finds dull, poor value or which you would not recommend to someone because there is a preferred alternative, should receive less than 2.5 stars.
I relish the prospect of reading the upcoming reviews of 1 and 0.5 star rated cars. Candidates include current Volvo estates (what's the point of a relatively expensive, dynamically inept estate that has a boot no bigger and in many cases smaller than its peers, especially given Volvo's history in the segment?) (and I like Volvo - current owner of a Mk1 XC90), current Golf GTI (dropped the ball), a convertible SUV and Mercedes GLE (off the pace).