Good & Bad on Honest John car reviews – who posts? - TheAuthor

I've been using Honest John's site for a while now to read car reviews, but I have a question.

Under the car reviews there is a 'Good & Bad' link near the top, see this example:

www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/audi/tt-coupe-2006/

When you click said link you have 'What's Good' and 'What to watch out for'.

Some cars, many BMW's and Mercedes for example, have page upon page of 'What to watch out for' with red 'X's' all over the place, warning.

My question is, who posts all that stuff because I'm sure John himself could not possibly have enough time (not in this lifetime) to find all that stuff out, or know all that. I get the impression that most is posted by Joe Bloggs who's experienced these various mechanical faults.

Only, if you were to read that, there is not a single car review on this site that is free of 'What to watch out for', hence you would not by any car by any maker.

So, who posts it all and where does all that information come from?

Good & Bad on Honest John car reviews – who posts? - Avant

Readers of HJ's 'agony column' and his column in the Telegraph motoring section tell him about things that go wrong with their cars.

Remember that by and large, people whose cars don't go wrong are much less likely to post, although you should balance your judgement by looking at the owners' reviews as well, many of which are very positive..

Good & Bad on Honest John car reviews – who posts? - TheAuthor

Anybody else?

Good & Bad on Honest John car reviews – who posts? - Engineer Andy

Avant is a moderator, so probably knows more than most here what HJ's Review section is based on - essentially (other than information HJ gleens from his and colleagues test drives and longer-term ownership reviews) what members here and the public write to him (HJ) and his colleagues giving good and bad experiences of ownership, including specific problems.

Edited by Engineer Andy on 29/12/2018 at 14:53

Good & Bad on Honest John car reviews – who posts? - Senexdriver
So is HJ an individual? I had rather thought it was a name for a company or business, where a number of motoring journalists contribute to the apparently singular opinions and advice.

Would it be indelicate to ask who the actual Honest John is?
Good & Bad on Honest John car reviews – who posts? - Avant

Yes, he's a real-life chap, but there are other journalists in the organisation, who put their names to some of the road tests.