Are these Vloggers just a scam? SOL or Shmee etc? (Vol 2)
Discussion
culpz said:
Does anyone know what actually happened with this whole Joe Achilles speeding thing?
I watched his Cupra Ateca review the other day and his final comment before the end of the video was something along the lines of; "Don't believe everything you read in the media".
What I read online was that the local Police force had done some kind of average speed checking, just from watching his video of him in the R8, and had managed to work out that his minimum speed was never under the speed limit and the maximum was just under 100 mph.
I know the Police can do this kind of thing and I'm sure newer technology can assist with it, but I do smell BS. Apologies if this has been discussed on earlier pages.
Briefly discussed a few pages back, the entire thing confuses me because Joe is miles away from being the worst when it comes to driving 'enthusiastically' on camera. How the likes of LLF still has a driving licence amazes me. I watched his Cupra Ateca review the other day and his final comment before the end of the video was something along the lines of; "Don't believe everything you read in the media".
What I read online was that the local Police force had done some kind of average speed checking, just from watching his video of him in the R8, and had managed to work out that his minimum speed was never under the speed limit and the maximum was just under 100 mph.
I know the Police can do this kind of thing and I'm sure newer technology can assist with it, but I do smell BS. Apologies if this has been discussed on earlier pages.
I noticed when watching Joe's latest 340i review every time he accelerated the camera cut away to a static shot of the car. Clearly he's taking no chances these days.
Shmee said:
TorqueR said:
I saw a brand new BMW M8 Competition on the M1 earlier today, followed by an M850i and new M340i so presume they were all in convoy.
I hadn’t realised that the M8 had been released yet. Tim, when do you expect to have your M8?
The press fleets have their cars so it was quite likely that. Normally their plates start "YK" or similar.I hadn’t realised that the M8 had been released yet. Tim, when do you expect to have your M8?
I'm thinking it will arrive around January/February but waiting for confirmation.
Same reason so many VAG fleet vehicles start with a G prefix - their PDI centre is in Sheerness - https://goo.gl/maps/bBTUYkVeYgqrLgMR8
Shmee said:
The press fleets have their cars so it was quite likely that. Normally their plates start "YK" or similar.
I'm thinking it will arrive around January/February but waiting for confirmation.
Yes, they were all “YK69” plates but I believe that BMW register their fleet cars in South Yorkshire.I'm thinking it will arrive around January/February but waiting for confirmation.
I spotted them going northbound just after J29a toward J30 so could’ve been returning to HQ.
TorqueR said:
Shmee said:
The press fleets have their cars so it was quite likely that. Normally their plates start "YK" or similar.
I'm thinking it will arrive around January/February but waiting for confirmation.
Yes, they were all “YK69” plates but I believe that BMW register their fleet cars in South Yorkshire.I'm thinking it will arrive around January/February but waiting for confirmation.
I spotted them going northbound just after J29a toward J30 so could’ve been returning to HQ.
jayemm89 said:
I have never spent a cent on likes or advertising for the channel. It would just be lying to myself, pointless
No idea who you are sorry but there's nothing pointless about a legal means of boosting numbers to get a channel to the point where manufacturers might start showing an interest. Fair play to Shmee or anyone else who was able to resist that temptation but most businesses are happy to take any opportunities to transform their revenue that are available. It's another advantage that the wealthy youtubers have. They can buy their way into recognition. I have no issue with anyone being born into a wealthy family, but I object to the lie that is being sold that anyone with an iphone can set up a youtube channel and end up in a McLaren Senna if only they upload a video once a week. The lack of honesty among the youtubers and willingness to mislead young kids is worse than boosting a channel's numbers via a clickfarm don't you think?
The big car youtube channels aren't really about cars at all but more a fantasy lifestyle, I get that. People in my generation used to watch Dallas and Dynasty for much the same reason. But we weren't being tricked into thinking that we could start an oil empire from our bedrooms.
Youtubers have a responsibility to be more honest and open and invest some of the time they spend filming themselves on learning about chassis dynamics and improving their driving ability if they are going to comment on how a car drives. Particularly those who would never stoop to paying for views.
Youtubers have a responsibility to be more honest and open and invest some of the time they spend filming themselves on learning about chassis dynamics and improving their driving ability if they are going to comment on how a car drives. Particularly those who would never stoop to paying for views.
twinturban said:
No idea who you are sorry but there's nothing pointless about a legal means of boosting numbers to get a channel to the point where manufacturers might start showing an interest.
I'm quite happy with how things worked out for me. Buying views/subs would have only led to YouTube probably shutting the channel down.And, not every car YT channel is a lifestyle vlog. Granted, *many* are - but I have tried very hard to stay away from that, or at the least encourage people to realise that fun and budget are not directly related.
twinturban said:
Can any of the 'Youtubers' on here honestly say, hand on heart, that they have never bought views, likes or subscribers?
Why would, or should, anyone care what people who can't drive have to say about a car? If people find youtubers entertaining that's fair enough but their views about cars are worthless. I hope car makers are beginning to realise this.
Remember the youtubers early views on the McLaren 720S? They were given unprecedented early access and were mostly underwhelmed because the exhaust didn't pop and bang enough (or whatever). When people who could actually drive a car got hold of them we started to get a more accurate picture of a car that (when working properly) moved the goalposts for the supercar class.
Is buying subs a big thing on Youtube though? Sure, I've heard of it on Instagram plenty of times but not Youtube?. I vaguely recall seeing a video about Youtube deleting fake accounts and thus subscribers to cut down on such things?Why would, or should, anyone care what people who can't drive have to say about a car? If people find youtubers entertaining that's fair enough but their views about cars are worthless. I hope car makers are beginning to realise this.
Remember the youtubers early views on the McLaren 720S? They were given unprecedented early access and were mostly underwhelmed because the exhaust didn't pop and bang enough (or whatever). When people who could actually drive a car got hold of them we started to get a more accurate picture of a car that (when working properly) moved the goalposts for the supercar class.
In the (very) small corner of the automotive pond that us Classic Mini Youtubers inhabitat I was recommended a channel recently, the guy had less than 20 videos up i think, yet had 15,000 subs, (which is a lot when most are are in the hundred's and a few thou at most) and I'd never heard of him before, his mini, his instagram etc etc which seemed suspect as hell to me.
Sten. said:
Briefly discussed a few pages back, the entire thing confuses me because Joe is miles away from being the worst when it comes to driving 'enthusiastically' on camera. How the likes of LLF still has a driving licence amazes me.
I noticed when watching Joe's latest 340i review every time he accelerated the camera cut away to a static shot of the car. Clearly he's taking no chances these days.
If someone told me the Police officer had pursued the conviction purely because he was sick of seeing him acting like a teenage girl at a Bieber concert every time he sees anything with a BMW badge while continually uttering the cringeworthy term "MLITE" I would say the punishment wasn't harsh enough.I noticed when watching Joe's latest 340i review every time he accelerated the camera cut away to a static shot of the car. Clearly he's taking no chances these days.
twinturban said:
The only qualification necessary to become a car 'influencer' is to be enamoured by the sound of your own voice and watching endless hours of footage of your own face.
You're blathering on about how this stuff works in the face of actual, live, quite well-respected YouTubers telling you otherwise.If you think people making YouTube videos should first be qualified to talk about cars by a given metric, are you able to explain why you're qualified to talk about making YouTube videos?
Richspec said:
Is buying subs a big thing on Youtube though? Sure, I've heard of it on Instagram plenty of times but not Youtube?. I vaguely recall seeing a video about Youtube deleting fake accounts and thus subscribers to cut down on such things?
An issue with being able to look into this stuff is that YouTube is very secretive about how they run things. I strongly suspect they are quite good at detecting fake bossting of such metrics, and nuking it when it's not in line with their own interests.S11Steve said:
Same reason so many VAG fleet vehicles start with a G prefix - their PDI centre is in Sheerness - https://goo.gl/maps/bBTUYkVeYgqrLgMR8
Only the rentals are prefixed G Steve 
Volkswagen Groups own vehicles are either registered KX which is Milton keynes where they are based or OU which is Oxfordshire.E36Dan said:
Is that why a lot of BMW police cars start YK too? or perhaps I'm getting wires crossed. I'm sure most unmarked X5s I've seen start with YK
I couldn’t say for certain but it might be a loan car by BMW but if you’re based in Yorkshire, it might just a standard issue number plate.I’m aware that Derbyshire Police had an unmarked X3 M40i loaned to them earlier this year and Land Rover have just lent them a Discovery.
E36Dan said:
TorqueR said:
Shmee said:
The press fleets have their cars so it was quite likely that. Normally their plates start "YK" or similar.
I'm thinking it will arrive around January/February but waiting for confirmation.
Yes, they were all “YK69” plates but I believe that BMW register their fleet cars in South Yorkshire.I'm thinking it will arrive around January/February but waiting for confirmation.
I spotted them going northbound just after J29a toward J30 so could’ve been returning to HQ.
93DW said:
S11Steve said:
Same reason so many VAG fleet vehicles start with a G prefix - their PDI centre is in Sheerness - https://goo.gl/maps/bBTUYkVeYgqrLgMR8
Only the rentals are prefixed G Steve Volkswagen Groups own vehicles are either registered KX which is Milton keynes where they are based or OU which is Oxfordshire.The G prefix vehicles are usually VW UK HQ administered, such as VW Financial Services and any fleet deals set up by the HQ, but a lot of the regional dealer groups, will also use a central PDI facility such as the one at Thurleigh, or Thorne as mentioned before for the BMW.
A large chunk of PSA Group vehicles go through GEFCO at Sandtoft, ( https://goo.gl/maps/uwnRX5jvdfTBT2qT9 ) but are registered via a link to DVLA Swansea - hence why so many PSA vehicles have a C prefix, regardless of where they are supplied from.
I've spent waaaay too many years working in fleet to know useless crap like this!!
twinturban said:
Youtubers have a responsibility to be more honest and open and invest some of the time they spend filming themselves on learning about chassis dynamics and improving their driving ability if they are going to comment on how a car drives. Particularly those who would never stoop to paying for views.
The stuff the Youtubers comment on is more relevant to more buyers of enthusiast cars than how easy a car is to drift round Anglesey. As it happens I don't like very loud exhausts and I like to keep my cars the way they come from the factory but if I am interested in a car I can watch Harris and Catchpole for their views on the handling and Youtubers to see all the details. Why should Youtubers spend time on stuff which would not improve the performance of their businesses? You do understand that this is their business, don't you?
S11Steve said:
93DW said:
S11Steve said:
Same reason so many VAG fleet vehicles start with a G prefix - their PDI centre is in Sheerness - https://goo.gl/maps/bBTUYkVeYgqrLgMR8
Only the rentals are prefixed G Steve Volkswagen Groups own vehicles are either registered KX which is Milton keynes where they are based or OU which is Oxfordshire.The G prefix vehicles are usually VW UK HQ administered, such as VW Financial Services and any fleet deals set up by the HQ, but a lot of the regional dealer groups, will also use a central PDI facility such as the one at Thurleigh, or Thorne as mentioned before for the BMW.
A large chunk of PSA Group vehicles go through GEFCO at Sandtoft, ( https://goo.gl/maps/uwnRX5jvdfTBT2qT9 ) but are registered via a link to DVLA Swansea - hence why so many PSA vehicles have a C prefix, regardless of where they are supplied from.
I've spent waaaay too many years working in fleet to know useless crap like this!!
Anyway, back to topic, it's nice seeing Archie so happy (for now) with his SVR (0.4 seconds faster to 60 than the old one he had)
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