Should my grandma buy a souped-up Ford Taurus?
A little about my 40+ year history helping people find cars, i.e. Welcome to Hybridiot!
I’ve been recommending cars for nearly 40 years. I’m also 47. Here’s my math:
Any ‘80s babies out there remember magazine drives? Your school or organization would raise money by encouraging the community to buy magazine subscriptions? This ‘80s baby would tick the boxes for Car & Driver and Motor Trend (along with Sports Illustrated and SPORT, and maybe Nintendo Power).
In the days before the Internet, I devoured car magazines from cover to cover, but it was always “normal” cars that captured my admiration. Like, there was a Lamborghini Countach poster up in my basement, but I’m not sure how it got there (probably my dad?). I loved being able to identify cars by their headlights or taillights while riding in my parents’ backseat at night. I remember mild obsessions with offbeat models: the Nissan Pulsar NX Sportbak, the Renault Fuego, the Merkur XR4Ti, the Honda CRX.
I channeled the supposed wisdom I’d gained by reading those magazines into a job as car-buying expert — like a juice box-sipping version of Tom McParland — and my first client was my grandmother, who was seeking a replacement for her withering Oldsmobile. My top recommendation, as an 8-year-old in 1986? A Ford Taurus. It was the cool car of the moment, a novel American effort to fight Accords and Camrys. I suggested she should opt for the SHO edition. She did not. Instead, she chose the No. 4 recommendation on my list: a Volvo 740 GLE. My pitch for the Volvo? “You’ll never need to buy another car, Grandma!” My mom gasped.
The rattle of internal combustion soundtracks my life. My dad’s ill-fated, secretive (but sort of precocious / Radwood-y?) purchase of an Escort GT in 1986 prompted the final blowout of my parents’ marriage. Then, my stepdad arrived in 1988 with amateur mechanic skills and a DeLorean, ’67 Mustang, and ’67 Stingray in tow. My mom and I crashed two of the three — he stuck around, so he must really love us. And his passion for cars deepened mine even further.
These days, I spend too many hours binge-watching car content on YouTube and watching auctions for attainable classics on car auction sites. I’ve also been a proud (used) EV owner, a strong believer in the future of electric mobility. And I’ve been casually back to my old tricks as a car buying resource for people I know and love, especially here in Brooklyn, as folks reimagine what car ownership means.
That experience encouraged me to start writing Hybridiot. There are some absolutely fabulous content creators in the automotive space (scroll to the end for a list of some of my favorites), and many of them approach their craft with the same deep passion for cars that I share. But sometimes, when I share their videos with friends who are car shopping, the level of detail can feel overwhelming.
On Hybridiot, my goal is to channel my passion into accessible, useful information for anyone interested in buying an electrified vehicle, new or used. Next to a home, a car is the biggest purchase many of us will make in life, and it probably will feel daunting, no matter how prepared you might feel. But it should also feel fun and exhilarating — those first minutes, driving off the dealer lot, can be one of life’s more amazing feelings, and it can feel even better if you’ve made a choice that’ll be better for the planet our kids will ultimately inherit.
Speaking of lasting relationships, I should wrap up the story about my grandmother. Magnificently, she outlived the Volvo, which ultimately became my hand-me-down college wheels when she bought a brand new Lexus in the mid-‘90s. We donated the well-worn Swede to charity in 1999, years before Grandma passed and with 160,000+ miles on the clock. If anything, this all goes to show that my recommendation chops pass the smell test (even if my delivery was a little bit off-putting, for an 8 year-old).
Hybridiot’s favorite YouTubers:
Auto Buyers Guide. Formerly “Alex on Autos,” this channel offers truly thorough reviews of new cars from across the spectrum, from EVs to trucks to SUVs and everything in between. Alex covers every possible detail of each vehicle he covers, and you should definitely watch his videos before heading to a dealership to check out a car in-person. He also produces the EV Buyers Guide.
Bjørn Nyland. This guy seems goofy at first glance, but he applies a lot of science to testing real world vehicle range and other characteristics in Norway, which is the world’s most EV-loving country.
Driven. It’s a shame that The New York Times stopped producing Tom Voelk’s exceptional car review videos, but Tom has kept the series alive on his own YouTube channel. Look for Tom’s signature TP Test where he measures cargo capacity using Costco multipacks of the two-ply.
The Fully Charged Show. All EVs all the time from this longstanding, UK-produced show, and while they do often cover cars that you can’t buy in the US, their reviews are thorough and fun, especially when 6’5” presenter Jack Scarlett tests interior roominess.
Out of Spec Reviews. If you want to go extra deep on all things EV, then this is your channel. Host Kyle Connor is the most knowledgeable person I’ve ever seen on YouTube when it comes to electrified driving, and while I sometimes wish his videos were a little bit shorter (90 mins on 3 months of Lucid ownership, my dude?!), Out of Spec is great for real-world range tests, reviews, and ownership/buying advice.
Redline Reviews. Lead editor Sofyan Bey, like Alex on Autos, is another super-thorough reviewer, and he gets pretty much every car through his tests in Pennsylvania. I always appreciate Sofyan’s candor about things that bother him with cars, like seat comfort, infotainment, and performance.
The Straight Pipes. While this Canadian duo still loves a gasoline-powered V8, they also review tons of EVs and hybrids, and as new dads, they routinely talk about each vehicle’s ability to be used with kids and car seats.
No love for DeMuro or Hoovie?
That’s my hybridiot. ❤️