Video podcast car reviews

You’ve all heard of the ‘book price’ for cars, right? Names like Parker or Glass? Well, the newest, bestest kid on the block is Used Car Express, run by the irrepressible Matt Tunbridge – so go there if you need advice, reviews, prices, services… the whole shebang for buying a newish used car. Highly recommended: honest, trustworthy, thorough… you know, all the things you don’t immediately associate with the motor trade.

Matt has a very clear vision – new cars are sold on the dream, used cars on hard-headed practical reality. He and his journalists review cars by living with them for a week, and then, and only then, writing up what they are like to live with and all the practical stuff like 3-point turns, and stop-start traffic, and getting your shopping in the boot.

His vision for video was very much in that spirit – let’s get as far away from Top Gear as possible, let’s give the viewer as direct as possible an experience of driving the car under normal situations, guided by the car journalist who has experience and can compare the driving experience to other cars in that class and who knows what to look out for.

He was also clear that we were not making a car review programme as such. His reviews are always illustrated with still pictures, the video should work very much in the same way. So, have a look at the Suxuki SX4 review – four pieces of video, inserted at relevant points so that they work with the text. Or click on the complete video, to get a feel for what we achieved through working with him – a very direct, unfussy, experience of driving the car, with his thoughts as relevant, and sometimes not even that. No music to mask the sound. No ‘hard sell’.

See also the Peugeot 407 Coupe and Land Rover Freelander 2 car reviews. And for something different, have a look behind the scenes at a Honda main dealer in Chiswick, Vauxhall Network Q (City) and  the Honda’s refurbishment factory and only one used a professional voice over (see if you can spot which one).

Authentic, believable, direct, effective… what video podcasting is all about.