The Truth About Cars

The Truth About Cars (TTAC) is a website covering automobiles, automotive products and the auto industry. It's best known for the infamous GM and Ford “Death Watch” and Chrysler "Suicide Watch" series. The site began publishing in 2002 [ [http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com New Car Reviews, Ratings & Pricing, Auto News for New Models | The Truth About Cars ] ] , and features a mix of automotive reviews, editorials and news with an "in your face, no holds barred" attitude. The site is home to the annual Ten Worst Automobiles awards, [ [http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2006/11/08/028053.html The Truth About Cars Website Names Its Ten Worst Automobiles for 2006 ] ] which are nominated and selected by the readers.

The web site currently receives over 1.6 million page views hits per month and over 600,000 unique visitors, with a strong demographic favorable to automotive products and accessories. [ [http://www.romow.com/detail/link-8416.html Thetruthaboutcars.com - Car Reviews ] ] [http://jalopnik.com/tag/the-truth-about-cars/] Forbes Magazine lists TTAC as a “Best of the Web.” [ [http://www.forbes.com/bow/b2c/category.jhtml?id=322 Forbes.com Best of the Web ] ] . PC Magazine lists TTAC as one of their "100 Top Websites." [ [http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l=216520&s=27153&a=216536&po=88,00.asp Our 100 Favorite Blogs - The Truth About Cars ] ]

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Site Publisher, Robert Farago
Managing Editor, Justin Berkowitz
Road Test Editor, Mike Solowiow

Regular contributors:
Stephan Wilkinson, author and former "Car and Driver" Editor-in-Chief
Sajeev Mehta
William C. Montgomery
P.J. McCombs
Adrian Imonti
Paul Niedermeyer
Matthew Neundorf
Jonny Lieberman
Megan Benoit
Alex Dykes
Samir Syed
Martin Schwoerer
Jay Shoemaker
and Frank Williams

Andrei Avarvarii provides conceptual drawings of future models.

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The site has a fiercely independent coverage of the automobile world with strong editorial independence. [ [http://www.autobloggreen.com/2007/05/24/the-truth-about-cars-judges-the-scion-xb-verdict-guilty The Truth About Cars judges the Scion XB. Verdict: Guilty! - AutoblogGreen ] ] TTAC offers its writers total editorial freedom to serve its intelligent, informed readership. [http://www.newsobserver.com/1566/story/909658.html] Reader comments are moderated to prevent flaming the site, its authors or fellow commentators to maintain a civil discourse and an air of civility in the comments. Although some readers claim the site has a pro-import bias, the writers are equally outspoken in their criticism of both domestic- and foreign-branded automobiles.

Criticism

Because of their outspoken opinions, writers from the site have been excluded from many major manufacturer press events. Automakers such as GM officially refuse to acknowledge the site's existence. However, user logs indicate there are quite a few readers from the GM, Ford and Chrysler domains. All automakers have been explicitly invited to disprove any controversial statements.

Their controversial review describing the grill of the Subaru B9 Tribeca as a "flying vagina" caused BMW to officially stop providing any review cars. Many other manufacturers also withheld access to their press fleets in the past, but that is rapidly changing as readership grows. Aston Martin, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Volkswagen, Cadillac, Jaguar, Kia, Maserati, Mazda and Land Rover now provide access to their press cars, and others are following suit.

Content

*Detailed car reviews and editorials from contributing writers
*“Death Watch” editorials detailing the decline and fall of the US car industry
*Annual Ten Worst Automobiles award, based on reader selections
*News blog and commentary
*Specifications and pricing information from TrueDelta.com
*Open comments section
*Daily podcasts between Mr. Farago and Managing Editor Justin Berkowitz where they discuss automotive topics from the news [ [http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=171804494 podcast on phobos.apple.com] ]

Notes and References

External links

* [http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com The Official Site]