u/mikeykun15

My Clarkson, Hammond, and May Miis on Tomodachi Life Living The Dream.

The keyboard solo of Galactic Funk 🤯

It’s a minor accident and a bit hard to see in the photo, but IRl it looks like someone breathed on a mirror.

Disclaimer: This is a post that I feel needs to be made, especially because of yesterday’s “Hot Takes” video and the massive backlash it received in its comments section. I have been watching Doug’s content since 2019 and invested thousands of hours into his videos and podcasts. No matter what he may say on his videos, I am still a fan of his. Please keep your comments constructive and level-headed, as I’m creating this post with the intention that Doug himself could hear our humble opinions and valid criticisms regarding the fine lines we feel he has crossed within his content.

For those who have not yet seen his latest “Hot Takes” video with Hagerty’s Jason Cammisa, Doug explained how he “doesn’t hate” both street takeovers and dealer markups. The usual “Doug is out of touch” comments flooded that video by the dozens, but in this case (and frankly, most cases) I feel like they’re 100% right. First, for those who live in the inner city, intersection takeovers are a truly massive inconvenience. Also, many of these cars used in these takeovers are stolen vehicles and it’s not uncommon for these events to end in tragedy. Second, this wasn’t the first video in which Doug defended (albeit lightly) dealer markups, but it is still a very controversial take, especially when coming from someone who is a multi-millionaire that has the luxury of paying marked-up prices for automobiles. All of us in the car community know how unfair markups have been and how they have tainted the sales of “affordable” enthusiast cars like the Honda Civic Type R, Toyota GR Corolla, and Nissan Z. I truly expected this “Hot Takes” video to be removed the next day like in the case of Doug’s “The Myth of I’m Successful Because I Had Rich Parents” video. I’m also still super surprised that the “worst car car spotting” video where Doug and the crew poked fun at someone’s beater Infiniti G35 drift car (https://youtu.be/kxVhsvK19j4?t=1574) for being the worst car they’ve spotted is still on the Cars & Bids channel.

Overall, I feel like Doug DeMuro’s disconnect is his biggest weakness. In my opinion, this alienates his YouTube audience. I’ve always wished Doug could understand what life looks like from my perspective. I gravitated toward his quirky personality because it made him seem relatable, but our realities couldn't be more different. By my age, Doug had already hit major social and lifestyle milestones. Meanwhile, because I'm on the autistic spectrum, I still struggle with just being an independent adult.

Then there’s Doug’s personality and behavior. I have no problem with Doug being the more (no offense) yuppie or WASPy type, but its a bit unsettling that his friends and Cars & Bids coworkers all seem to fit that exact same mold, with the exception of Ryan Lopez. And even though Doug has toned car-bashing down considerably since the earlier episodes of his podcast, his use of repeating the word “heinous” when reacting to unusual or wild-styled cars and modification culture has always felt offensive to me, as a fan of widebody kits, big wings, and the like. Again, I think hiring Ryan Lopez, a drifting enthusiast with similar car taste to mine, has resulted in Doug being a bit more down to the general car enthusiast earth, especially regarding modded cars and JDM. Maybe he’ll finally mutter the words “Initial D” (Ryan made Kennan and Fillipo do that) and even review a Toyota AE86, which I know many of his younger fans have been waiting years for.

Finally, we have to talk about Doug’s WhistlinDiesel situation. I don’t know if Doug referring to WhistlinDiesel as his favorite YouTube channel and idol in his podcasts is a genuine joke, but I find it very polarizing that him and the Cars & Bids employees acknowledge him. Whistlin (Cody) is a man that a lot of us like to pretend doesn’t exist for the way he treats cars thanks to his own privilege. Also, I think that Doug’s frequent appearances on cringey clickbait-thumbnail podcasts (like Iced Coffee Hour) has damaged his rep, in addition to his channel going from “no ads for stuff like cheap watches” to NordVPN plugs, but that’s another topic entirely.

Doug’s channel has been a massive success, which he has totally earned, and Cars & Bids is a fantastic website (I’ve even purchased a car off of it). In addition, I will always credit his humorous personality (similar to that of Jeremy Clarkson) as one of the things I like most about his content that has made me still a fan all these years later. However, like Clarkson had to deal with himself, I think that Doug should listen to his fans and viewers whenever we feel that something that he says crosses any line or feels out-of-touch due to his status. We just want him to both relate to and understand his audience a little more.