Maybe they just want to race? Hating on the R8?

 

From what I can tell he appears to be a giant troll for the masses.

 

Someone actually believes an Aston and an Audi are in the same class?

 

I will not drive an Audi as god as they are and even with the new RS6 as fast as it is , it's just not for me.
I do believe the R8 guys can drive the 8's harder with less possible issues? But a car must seduce and Audis just don't do it for me.....unless it came with s five year Taylor Swift in the package

 

He mentioned he thinks he had a frozen caliper when he replied to my email...

It begins:

http://jalopnik.com/my-new-aston-mar...own-1752936014

Pretty sure it was a rock based on the way he described it. The same thing has happened to me twice. Driving forward doesn't dislodge it. Driving back-and-forward once or twice does.

 

Yep, found this buried in the comments section:

Doug DeMuro
1/14/16 2:15pm
Yeah. Actually, the dealer couldn’t even replicate the problem when it showed up. We all believe it was a rock or something that got jarred loose on the tow truck.

 

So it was only a rock that was causing the noise? From the sound, I thought it was something serious.

I like Doug's videos. I'm surprised so many people find him annoying. Some of his humor is more on the sarcastic side so you can't take things personal.

 

Yeah, a small rock getting stuck in there will cause a horrendous screeching sound. First time it happened to me was when I was pitting out of a 20-minute session on Summit Point. I thought something was seriously wrong. Pieter, the GM of my local dealership was standing there as I pulled off the track and told me to go back then forward, and it worked.

Second time it happened to me was when I was turning in a slightly less-than-grippy manner. Got straightened out and did the back-forward thing and it came out, no problem.

I'm indifferent to his articles. Sometimes they're entertaining, but the main issue for me (and I assume others) is that he tends to make a mountain out of a mole hill for the sake of hype and readership.

Look at his last two articles on the car...

The first article was for a CEL, caused by a bad thermostat. The thermostat is well-documented. He said it cost over $700 to fix (covered by warranty, I believe). The only way I can figure the job actually cost that much was if they drained and refilled the entire coolant system to do the job (the best way to do it, but now you're paying for a coolant flush). So now people are going to think the job is several hundred bucks. It can be done for less than 1/10th that price if you do it yourself and have an hour or two to spare.

The second article was about how he had the car towed off on a flat-bed because of a horrible sound. Yes, it's a terrifying sound. But the car didn't break down. The car was perfectly fine. There was a small rock stuck in his brakes. It's a god-awful sound, but it's not an issue and takes 10 seconds to fix. He didn't know that, so he understandably had the car taken away on a flat-bed. The problem is that he used a sensationalized headline for clickbait, and his readers won't know what the problem actually was. What they'll see is in 2 weeks, the car has had two serious problems. That's why so many people dislike his writing. It's sensationalized to gain readership.

 

I am in the camp that enjoys his articles, but I do take them with a grain of salt. They aren't technical articles - they're strictly entertainment - and I find them to be an entertaining read.

I think the authors in that site do occasionally sensationalize for the click-bait type headlines, but that's likely a factor of the freelance style of the site. If they get paid per article, then they need to get a certain amount of clicks on their articles so that the next article gets accepted. Without people clicking on, and reading the articles, then they're not getting paid. I'll caveat that by saying I have no idea if that's how they actually get paid on that site, but I'm assuming it's something like that.

I definitely related to a few of his articles he wrote when he had his Ferrari. He'd talk about how the car became a point A to point A car because when he parked the car in public he'd spend the whole time out wondering if the car was okay. As someone's who's victim of a parking lot hit and run while out to dinner, I can definitely relate to that.

 

I had never heard of this guy, but I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt. Then I watched this. What a tool. Is this what passes for journalism these days?

"Have you ever towed one of these before?" (Look at my fancy car)
"Well it won't be the last" (Ha, Ha these things are a bag of **** - even though I have no idea what I'm talking about. Case in point, the noise you made half your video about was a simple & relatively common occurrence you didn't even bother to check for?)

Not impressed.

 

The fact he had it towed for a check engine light, then claimed it took $700 to fix a thermostat (maybe if coolant is flushed and you include the cost of the tow?), tells me everything I need to know. I'm no apologist for AM, but it seems unlikely to me that anyone with basic car knowledge would do either of these. Seems more likely he's out to run up costs to justify pre-conceived notions

 

He's a dick

 

man, some thin skin around here, just like the ferrari guys.

He's doing this for clicks and trying to be funny. He's over the top and can be troll-like because thats what gets him the attention.

who really cares? I really doubt people watching his videos are potential AM purchasers who all of a sudden change their minds.

Its entertainment people, relax.

 

I got pretty much none of what you are saying here. I think its a guy with a car that most people, including tow truck drivers find to be expensive and that owners are pretentious. I think Doug was attempting not to come off like a pretentious ******y owner with some self deprecating humor.

I don't think his intention was to impress you, it was to have you watch his video (check) and then have you share the link to his video (check, again).

Maybe he's not so dumb afterall?????

 

Maybe he's not. And I could be and frequently am wrong (just ask my wife.) I'm not upset really he can do/say what he wants. I had never heard of him until this thread. And then I had a look to see what his schtick was with the Vantage. But then again, I won't waste any time watching his stuff again. I guess I'm not his target audience but he obviously has one that likes his content so more power to him.

I was only interested because he's a journo and has a Vantage so I was considering offering him some free product in exchange for coverage. Based on that video I changed my mind.