Doug Demuro Gives Unflattering Review of 02-05's

[highwayghost]

You are right! I don't know why I bother.

 

[Jorv R. Gavic]

What a great story Jorv.. Thanks for sharing.. It's wonderful that you had the resources to thank you Dad in that way.. Your dad did a fine job of raising his son..

 

[Jorv R. Gavic]

You are all too kind. I do, however, appreciate both your thoughts and comment.

 

[atouk]

First reaction: Who?
Second reaction: So what!

 

[Jorv R. Gavic]

Sorry. The messages were misplaced.

 

[bird Bob]

Most of you won't find much to agree with in Doug's assessment of our cars. Doug makes some valid points, but he grossly underestimates the beautiful lines of the car, and the cool factor.

Doug seems to be bias ,for mustangs and anti thunderbird,I feel the same way about mustangs,but I love my Thunderbird,and Im not 70 years old

 

[newenglandtbird]

Doug has made a career of posting videos like this one. He makes money by getting people talking about his reviews and clicking the watch button. I think he's done a very good job at that seeing that at the current time he's got over 800k views with this video in only one week since posting. He's not my cup of tea for car reviewers, but he certainly has found a way to make a good living doing something that mostly looks like fun.

 

[hippymailman]

Doug has made a career of posting videos like this one. He makes money by getting people talking about his reviews and clicking the watch button. I think he's done a very good job at that seeing that at the current time he's got over 800k views with this video in only one week since posting. He's not my cup of tea for car reviewers, but he certainly has found a way to make a good living doing something that mostly looks like fun.

not only that but all the negative posts he gets from people that know better also fuel his popularity. and worse at the same time he slightly controls the emotions of good people on sites like this one.....It's time to let it go.

 

[usmcdad]

Holy Cow Harry Caray! I had not noticed that he had so many views on the thread. What he does is a lot easier than working for a living. The good thing about his review is that we have 800,000 views from people, many who no doubt are thinking about buying a Thunderbird. Good for Doug's bottom line, and good for us when/if we decide to sell. Doug's negative review not withstanding, there are obviously millions of people that like the car. There are only so many cars available, and like P.T. Barnum said, "There's no such thing as bad publicity'".

 

[Jamie]

The guy knows nothing !
What a schmuck !!!!!!!

 

[Gus Gutz]

The guy knows nothing !
What a schmuck !!!!!!!

And if he tongue bathed the car would you say he is great? I've watched most of his videos and I wouldn't call him names because I disagree with his opinion.

 

[Kevin in CDA]

I have watched several of his videos and have found that he has a lack of understanding of the times that produced any vehicle prior to about 2005ish. I watched his review of the mid 70's El Dorado, one time when I was feeling nostalgic for my childhood (I remember being about 7 or 8 and thinking the one the neighbor had was the coolest thing ever) Anyway he made a comment about how weird it was that the headlight dimmer switch was a button on the floorboard instead of on the steering column where it belonged. I guess he did not know that it wasn't until the end of the decade that the floor switch went away. Then in his review for the mid 90's Toyota Previa mini-van he thought it was really strange that there was only a read door on the passenger side. And following that up with someone telling him that the 1996 Dodge Caravan was the first to have a driver side rear door, all the while having a look of rapt disbelief on his face. So like I said I believe he really does not have a clue when it comes to anything older than about 15 years>

 

[highwayghost]

And if he tongue bathed the car would you say he is great? I've watched most of his videos and I wouldn't call him names because I disagree with his opinion.

Now that video I would watch! Email him again and get him to literally tongue bath a car! Any car! Bet that one would get a lot of views!

 

[Yoeman45]

Doug...did you ever think that if Ford fixed everything you complain about, before introducing the retro style bird, it would cost as much as a Mercedes SL of the same vintage? Having owned both, the T-bird is still around and the SL is long gone. I love my 2005 and as they say, “If you love something, you love it warts and all!”

 

[TioTbird]

In 2002 when the Retrobirds came out, my wife and I were just out of college, still dating, months away from being engaged. She needed a new car, because her little old Honda was starting to show its miles. Everyday for work, she drove past a ford dealership with a metallic thunderbird blue one on a pedestal. I went with her to test drive it. Of course neither of us could it afford it, and it wasn’t the least bit practical. But she fell in love with it. I wished I could by it for her.

But she settled on a practical, cheap, VW Jetta that turned out to be a POS. And for the next 15 some odd years drove a work car, or mini vans hauling kids, spotting tbirds from time to time, and pointing them out. For the last 10 years she has always had a nice new mini vans, but stayed in love with the retrobirds.

This past mother’s day we were having lunch at her parents, where I had happened to stash an ‘03 Tbird with a custom teal paint job, 80k miles, with her name on the title in the garage. Grandma was so excited she kinda blew the surprise a bit, but it was a glorious memory that I’ll always cherish. Cheapest car I ever bought at $10k, by far the most fun and exciting. We still have a van for the whole crew, but now everybody fights to be able to ride shotgun in moms tbird. The chrome on the door handles are peeled, the brakes where in need of a job, I’d like to replace the whole suspension (and probably will), and the soft top is starting to come apart. I’ve already put $5k into the thing. But it’s everybody’s favorite, including myself. Sorry this critic missed out on the fun/cool factor with the retro birds. His loss.

 

[George C]

Most of you won't find much to agree with in Doug's assessment of our cars. Doug makes some valid points, but he grossly underestimates the beautiful lines of the car, and the cool factor.

Hi,
I have several comments:

1. That's my car! I own a silver 2004 w/o the hardtop (which I did not want). I bought it earlier this year, after someone had brought from Arizona to New Jersey, where it spent most of its life, but then decided to trade it for a Porsche.

2. The review was written as if the vehicle was brand new, if I wanted to buy a new convertible for $50,000, I would buy an Audi A-5, which I used to own. It would answer all of the objections presented by Doug and it looks fantastic, but I wasn't looking for a $50,000 convertible.

3. My goal was to find a reasonable priced used convertible in good condition, with good reliability, that is easy (and not outrageously expensive) to maintain, and has nice distinctive styling, that I could drive as a fun car with the top down.

4. I liked and admired the original Thunderbird when I was young (and poor) so this Thunderbird was a perfect choice; "looks like new" condition, relatively up to date safety features, great styling, readily available service
at the Ford dealer down the street, and only 56,000 salt free miles for less than $15,000 including tax and fees.

5. My other car is great driver, an Audi sedan, but the Thunderbird is my car of choice if the weather is nice!

I love reading about the experiences of other owners on this site!

Thanks!

 

[JW in Dixie]

Mine too - silver 04 with black interior. Ditto all of the above, George. Happy birding! 🙂

 

[Waltbird]

And if he tongue bathed the car would you say he is great? I've watched most of his videos and I wouldn't call him names because I disagree with his opinion.

Is schmuck a name, or a descriptor? Me thinks it a valid description.

 

[cbird]

I watched the review and was not impressed. He basically sneered at the Tbird and his review consisted mostly of "see, I sneered at it, so it can't be any good", but completely overlooked the larger issues with the car that a potential buyer would be interested in knowing. He starts out mentioning that it was the Motortrend car of the year when it first came out, then also mentions that the PT Cruiser was the Motortrend car of the year the preceding year, as though to imply "but what do they know!?". Well, they know the results of comprehensive performance and handling testing that they did (and which Doug has not at all done, beyond taking it for a short drive). What Motortrend said when they explained why the Thunderbird was named car of the year was that, although the Thunderbird had not taken first place in any of the several types of testing they had put all of the cars through, it was so close to the top in almost every type of test that they were very impressed and named it car of the year based on its impressive performance and not based on its styling, although they were impressed by the styling as well. Having owned my 2005 since new, now with 265,000 miles on it, I am much more qualified to comment on it as a car than Doug is and would say it is unusual for being a two seat sportscar that is also an outstanding freeway cruiser (I've done 800 miles a day three days straight without feeling beat up or rushed), yet is agile on twisty turny roads and also has a five star crash test rating. It is also unusual in that, like vintage Thunderbirds, it is not only sporty, but also fairly elegant, appealing to anyone from eight year olds to eighty year olds (whereas Mustangs and Corvettes would have a more limited appeal). I agree with his statement that the trunk is smallish, but anyone can see that at a glance. True, I am a Thunderbird fan (have a '59 also), but would not speak highly of mine if it hadn't earned my appreciation (those Thunderbirds of the '70's and "80's never impressed me). My main conclusion from watching Doug's review is that I wouldn't bother looking for a review from him on any other car I might be interested in as he doesn't seem to know how to make a substantitive, objective car review.

 

[usmcdad]

In 2002 when the Retrobirds came out, my wife and I were just out of college, still dating, months away from being engaged. She needed a new car, because her little old Honda was starting to show its miles. Everyday for work, she drove past a ford dealership with a metallic thunderbird blue one on a pedestal. I went with her to test drive it. Of course neither of us could it afford it, and it wasn’t the least bit practical. But she fell in love with it. I wished I could by it for her.

But she settled on a practical, cheap, VW Jetta that turned out to be a POS. And for the next 15 some odd years drove a work car, or mini vans hauling kids, spotting tbirds from time to time, and pointing them out. For the last 10 years she has always had a nice new mini vans, but stayed in love with the retrobirds.

This past mother’s day we were having lunch at her parents, where I had happened to stash an ‘03 Tbird with a custom teal paint job, 80k miles, with her name on the title in the garage. Grandma was so excited she kinda blew the surprise a bit, but it was a glorious memory that I’ll always cherish. Cheapest car I ever bought at $10k, by far the most fun and exciting. We still have a van for the whole crew, but now everybody fights to be able to ride shotgun in moms tbird. The chrome on the door handles are peeled, the brakes where in need of a job, I’d like to replace the whole suspension (and probably will), and the soft top is starting to come apart. I’ve already put $5k into the thing. But it’s everybody’s favorite, including myself. Sorry this critic missed out on the fun/cool factor with the retro birds. His loss.

Happy Wife, Happy Life! 😉