---
title: 'My 6 Worst Moments As a Car YouTuber'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZVLrNs_iY1I'
video_id: 'ZVLrNs_iY1I'
date: 2026-06-28
duration_sec: 0
---

# My 6 Worst Moments As a Car YouTuber

> Source: [My 6 Worst Moments As a Car YouTuber](https://youtube.com/watch?v=ZVLrNs_iY1I)

## Summary

Doug DeMuro shares the six worst moments of his career as a car YouTuber, ranging from dealing with online hate to technical failures and personal tragedies. He emphasizes that while his job is rewarding, it comes with significant challenges that are often hidden from viewers.

### Key Points

- **Mean comments from viewers** [2:31] — DeMuro discusses the difficulty of dealing with mean comments, especially early in his career when he was uncertain and anxious. He notes that anonymous critics often don't see creators as real people.
- **Getting facts wrong** [6:49] — He explains the pressure of being factually accurate in his information-heavy videos, and the harsh backlash when he makes mistakes, even minor ones.
- **Memory card failure on 4Runner video** [9:21] — After filming a Toyota 4Runner press launch, he discovered the footage didn't save to the memory card, forcing him to reshoot the entire video on a weekend.
- **Australia dealership reneging** [11:52] — A dealership in Australia (Dutton Garage) reneged on a promise to let him film several rare cars, wasting his time and causing frustration.
- **Working through personal hardships** [14:17] — DeMuro describes the challenge of maintaining a strict two-video-per-week schedule for over a decade, including filming on the day he learned of his wife's miscarriage.
- **Damaging a Rolls-Royce** [17:38] — He damaged a Rolls-Royce's self-opening door by letting it bump into a wall, which he considers his worst moment despite the dealer's kindness.

## Transcript

This is Doug DeMuro, and today I'm going
to talk through my six worst moments as
a car YouTuber. The worst things that I
love this job. It is absolutely
wonderful and fantastic and rewarding.
It is not always great and amazing.
There have been bad things that have
happened, and I'm going to walk you
through the six worst things that have
happened since I've done this job.
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>> Okay, so the worst uh parts, worst
moments of car YouTube. A couple years
ago, I think I made a video about the
worst things that have happened to me
while filming. This one is a bit
broader. I I'm really getting into like
the stuff that that has specifically
made this job hard, not just camera, you
know, and and that kind of thing, but
like really actually, like this is a fun
job, and there's a lot of amazing parts,
and you might not imagine
uh as you the viewer that there are hard
things but there have been. So I've kind
of organized six
rather difficult things. Some were very
specific on this list and some are just
a little bit generic and all
encompassing of a time period or stuff
that happened. So regardless these are
my worst moments. It's It's been
interesting to compile this list and
kind of relive them. It's actually been
a little bit cathartic to do so
and to just talk about it a little which
I'll do with you now. So I've actually
more or less ranked these starting with
court of the the less worse moments
right on up to the worst moments I've
had. Starting with the first one. For
for years mean comments from people were
very difficult. I don't think that you
can truly understand how difficult it
can be to deal with mean people on the
internet unless you have spent time on
the internet dealing with the general
public like a YouTuber or a TikToker
has. I think that there is a general
thought among people that dealing with
mean comments is hard and I think people
have that feeling and I think there's a
little bit of empathy towards content
creators because of that. I don't think
you can quite understand just how
difficult it is unless you have actually
done it. It is especially hard when you
are little and when you are trying and
when you are starting off and when you
are uncertain and anxious and you're
confused about what to do to get biting
difficult mean rude comments from people
who are faceless. People who are total
cowards unwilling to show their name or
show their face or say who they are.
And on Twitter when I used to use
Twitter I stopped replying to people who
didn't have a location in their Twitter.
It's like you're not a real. I don't
believe it. Because I just it was just
like you are so anonymous that I just
don't I'm not going to do it. And I
don't think people understand how hard
that can be. Now, it is easy for me now
to do it. I have made a lot of money. I
have gotten a lot of views.
I have gotten validated that I'm good.
Like so no matter what people say, it
isn't going to change it isn't going to
be able to reframe that I know that I'm
good, that I'm successful. I got 2
billion views. To this day I still get
people who say, "Doug DeMuro is the
worst. He's so terrible. He has horrible
car reviews." I'll read this stuff and
it's like, "Well, 2 billion people.
2 billion views on my content."
I'm not saying you're wrong,
but I'm also saying like I think I I
think maybe it doesn't appeal to you,
right? But there are people AND THERE'S
A LOT OF THEM.
And I've tried to make that point
mentally to myself when I get those
comments. And I don't even have to make
the point to myself anymore because it
doesn't worry me. I don't get hurt by it
anymore. But there was a time when it
was tremendously difficult not to let
things like that have an effect on
myself, on my psyche. There were very
dark days. There were very hard moments
where you're thinking about as a
creator, you're getting a small number
of views on this article, on this video
and you're thinking, "Should I give up?
Should I stop doing this?" And you get a
bad comment that is said in a mean way
by someone and you're it just sends you
even further down that spiral. And um
>> [snorts]
>> it's tough.
It really really really is tough. And
those some of those early days and some
of the mean stuff that was said, I think
a lot of people just don't um
view content creators as real people. I
just straight up. I think that's the
wholesale truth is that a lot of people
just think they can say mean stuff
because this guy's on a screen and he it
doesn't matter. He's not a person. He's
not a person that I know. And you see
this on Reddit. Every single month on
the Reddit and the cars section there is
a post, "Which car YouTubers do you
hate? And even though there are strict
rules in that section about saying mean
things and being offensive and bad
language toward your fellow Redditors,
it's totally okay for thousands of posts
to come out saying trashing me and all
of my friends. Some of whom use Reddit
are right there in the post.
Uh it's totally okay because the
moderators and the users have decided
that these are not real people and that
it is okay for for very mean things to
be said. And it's I'm not just talking
about like, oh, I think he could have
done this better. Oh, I think I'm
talking about some of my fellow viewers
get comments about their weight. All of
us get comments about our voice. We all
have annoying voices. It's tough. And um
you know, the way they look, the way
they act, the stuff they say. You make a
word mistake, a verbage mistake, and you
are pounced on.
Um it's hard. Sometimes that stuff is
really hard. And for years that was hard
for me. And those are some of my worst
moments. I think back some of those
early days and some of my lowest,
hardest, most difficult moments. On that
subject, another one that is difficult
as a car YouTuber, as a YouTuber in
general, is when you get stuff wrong. My
videos are tough, uh especially for
this, because my videos were, are, will
be, have always been more heavy on
information than other car viewers. I am
consistently impressed when I watch a
lot of other car reviewers by how much
they can skate by talking about feel and
experience, and people still watch,
whereas I have to you know, in my
videos, my format, I spend 20 minutes on
like this button does this, this does
this, this was designed this way because
of this, X, Y, and Z. I am very fact
heavy, and I am a lot less experience
heavy. Reminded of that famous Katy
Perry line where she says, "In my next
life, I'm going to come back as Ed
Sheeran, who just gets up on the stage
with a guitar and sort of strums." And
she's like in a costume, has learned 50
different dances, there's fireworks
going off. And that's kind of sometimes
how I think about it. It's hard when you
get stuff wrong
because you're pounced on immediately.
You know you messed up. It's hard to
mess up. It's sad. It's difficult. And
you're pounced on in a way that isn't
just like, "Hey, you messed this up."
You're pounced on like, "This I can't
believe you're so stupid. You know
nothing about cars. You're a complete
idiot. You're terrible." The well,
actually crowd comes out for basically
every video. Although most of the stuff
they say I find it completely
irrelevant.
Often they come out when I'm not even
wrong. It's like, "Well, actually you
didn't mention that the history of the
fender vent goes back to the 1931
Footmobile." And it's like, that wasn't
what this video is about. But sometimes
you'll get a whole commentary and be
like, "Dude, misses everything now." And
it's like, I only have so much time.
Um when you are wrong, it's hard. Your
accuracy is important, especially for me
in my videos. Accuracy is important.
Years ago when I didn't have a big
audience, it didn't matter as much. Now
I do. A lot of people are watching and
you can't make mistakes. And I got to be
honest, I've refined my process to the
point where I do not make a lot of
mistakes. It has taken a long time to
get refined to that level and it is
difficult. But it still happens
sometimes and it is still always hard.
You're hard on yourself and then in
addition to that, the commenters are
really really hard on you. And it's not
polite. They're not like, "Oh hey, you
messed this up." I sometimes I'll watch
a video with one of my colleagues, my
YouTube colleagues and I'll hear
something they've said wrong and I think
to myself, "Oh man."
I just know what you're going to get in
your comments if I scroll down. I'm not
going to say anything. I'm not even
going to text you.
Um
cuz I already know what you're feeling.
Okay, next one, hardest moments as a
YouTuber. This was an actual moment and
it happened since that last video I did
where the hardest things have happened
to me filming. Uh new 4Runner. Great
car. Love it. The new 4Runner, they
launched it here in San Diego as a press
launch and uh didn't go on the press
launch. I a kids. I don't like stay two
nights at a hotel to have dinner with PR
people. But, I did go down to the hotel,
and I picked up a 4Runner, and I and I
filmed a video with it. The 4Runner
video is very important. This is a very
popular car. It was my first drive with
the car. It was anybody's first drive
with the car. It was a big deal getting
this video. Toyota had carved out four
good hours for me with the car that I
could do this. It's great.
Uh did the whole video, filmed the whole
thing, drove back, dropped off the car,
came home, put the video on my computer,
and found out that it did not write to
the memory card. Now, when it's a press
car, and I have it for a week, uh when
it's a car in our office, the cars and
Bids Cars that are there for months, it
sucks when it doesn't write to your
memory card. It's never happened. But,
it sucks because you did all this work,
but you just go film it again the next
day. It's just sitting there waiting for
you. This car was the press launch. They
had carved out 4 hours for me, and I had
used all 4 hours. I called Toyota.
Please I
It didn't write to my memory card. I'm
so sorry. I screwed up. Graciously, they
gave me a car for a little while, not
quite as long. They didn't have it as
long because I had gone over my
allotment. That was hard. I had to film
the entire video again. That's a tough
one, especially because that was on a
weekend, and I remember I woke up at
8:00 a.m. on
Weekends are for my kids. I don't do any
car stuff. I don't do any video filming.
Weekends are for my kids. Waking up at
7:00 a.m. to go to the hotel to get the
car, and be done by noon, back hanging
out with my kids, instead I finish at
3:30, having filmed two videos of the
same car. That's hard. That is hard.
That is legitimately difficult as a
content creator when that happens. That
was the first time to me it had ever
happened. I've been doing this for 13
years.
Um so, I got lucky, and I got lucky that
they still had time for me with the car.
Uh but, that is a tough blow when you go
to the computer, and you realize, "Oh,
no. It didn't write." That is just
discouraging, and difficult, and hard,
and taxing in the worst ways. And I'm
lucky again that I'm big enough and far
enough along in my career that I'm just
like, "Hey, it's part of this. I can
just do it again." But if I'm a small
YouTuber and I've put a lot of work and
effort into a big video and that happens
and this is a make or break video, my
channel's growing, maybe this will do
well, maybe it won't. Man, talk about
discouraging. That is a just incredibly
frustrating moment. Okay, next up, I
guess this is number three on my list of
frustrating
difficult moments as a YouTuber. I've
talked about this one a little bit here
and there. I'm not going to get too far
into it, but there was a time on my
channel where I flew to Australia to
review a series of cars that I was
promised to review. And when I got
there,
the dealership, Dutton Garage, reneged
on me filming those cars. The Australia
thing wasn't that big of a deal because
I was going on my honeymoon to New
Zealand at the same time. And so I
tacked two extra days on to my honeymoon
at the start
to go to Australia and film videos with
these cars. And what happened was I got
there and supposed to film the videos.
It was a pretty serious list. The reason
I go into Australia, Dutton Garage has
some really serious cars and it was
going to be a really serious list of
cars and I showed up and it was like,
"Oh, no, actually we're not going to
We've agreed to this, but we're not
actually going to let you do it." I
learned a lot of lessons there. I
actually don't, believe it or not,
harbor ill will at this point anymore to
Dutton Garage. I still was able to film
a really good tour video of the Ferrari
Enzo, which was really popular and
remains really popular. And we also
pivoted so I could do a Maybach S-Class,
I think I did as well. But I was
supposed to do like an Enzo, an EB110,
other really serious cars that I was
able to get later in various other
places, but you know, I went all the way
there. And I actually left a day early,
which I've never done before and I left
angry, which I've never done before. I
left
with some very unkind words to say to
their people
about what they had done. And there was
a lesson there. The guy who was the head
of social media had kind of been told
that I could do this, had promised that
I could do this. We had sort of set that
up, and then when I got there, the guy
who actually runs the dealership was
like, "Nah, can't do it." And I learned
like, "No, you got to go to number one,
and you got to get real approval from
real people to do this if you're going
to devote time." And I lost that time,
and that was hard, and I lost the first
I didn't get to go on my honeymoon with
my like to my honeymoon with my wife. I
picked up at the airport in a Ford
Ranger. It was fine,
but that was annoying. And that was a
tough moment, and it was a good learning
experience, I think, for everyone
involved in that video.
And that was that was a hard thing that
happened. Next up, number two hardest
moment as a YouTuber moments has been
working when
life sucked.
I
have put out
>> [snorts]
>> videos more consistently
than anyone else in this space, pretty
much. Two videos every Tuesday and
Thursday. I've probably stuck to that
schedule for 12 years
uninterrupted. Sunday videos more or
less the same. When when I have not put
out Sunday videos, it hasn't been
because I didn't make one. It was
because we were pivoting our strategy or
whatever but
more or less, I have had this format,
and now we have a podcast.
And there are no days off.
Ever.
There are no misses of Tuesdays and
Thursdays. I have moved cross-country. I
have had two children. I have had
weddings,
my own wedding and friends' weddings
that I've been in. I have traveled
globally around the world, literally, in
19 with my wife, and there are no
misses. There are no days where I was
not posting on Tuesday and Thursday. And
if you really think about the level of
effort that's required with that, it
really is a big effort. And it is not
always easy to be in the right frame of
mind. Uh there are days when I am sick,
when I am physically sick, when I have
lost my voice, and you can tell cuz I
lost my voice, when I am barely able to
get out of bed, but I have to shoot the
car cuz it's a press car and it's going
back tomorrow, or because I look at my
calendar and there is not another day,
or because I have promised X, Y, and Z
person that I will be there that day
then. I don't miss. If I schedule it,
I'm there, I'm doing it. It is not But
when I make the schedule, I do not
necessarily know how my frame of mind
will be, and sometimes it's hard. And
the the video that most comes to mind,
I've talked about it here and there
before,
um I filmed a Genesis review uh the day
that I learned that my wife and I had a
miscarriage. And it was hard.
Um my wife's there at home struggling.
I got to film.
Um and
you know, that's tough.
Um that was tough. That was a tough day.
I still remember it. I still remember
being there in that parking lot with
this knowledge, I got to finish this.
I'mma get home to her, but I got to
finish this.
And
or you film 12 days in a row and you're
exhausted.
Or it's your wedding tomorrow. Like, you
got to do it.
And um
I'm lucky now that my schedule has
changed to the point where I don't edit
my own videos
uh anymore. I don't do a lot of the
stuff that used to be annoying. I don't
usually travel for content. And so, my
flight my schedule is more flexible. I'm
able to get these videos done without as
much trouble. But that wasn't always the
case, and I've only gotten to this point
because a lot of years spent in the
other point where if it was my birthday
and I had to shoot, I was shooting. If
it was the day after my wedding and I
had the right video needed to be done, I
was doing it. If it was a miscarriage,
if it was a sickness, if it was my child
is sick, he's home from school,
I'm shooting. That's been hard.
That's been legitimately hard. Working
while life sucked has definitely been a
hard part about this job. But, to me,
the very number one worst thing that has
ever happened, my worst moment as a car
YouTuber, is the time that I damaged a
car. This happened one time. I have
filmed I got to be honest, credit to
Doug, I have filmed almost 2,000 car
reviews in one way or another. And I've
only damaged one car in the entire
history of my channel. And it's actually
kind of funny because I get criticism
for sometimes for the way I treat my own
cars. People come to me, "Your car is
dirty."
Folks, you don't understand how careful
I am with cars day in and day out.
>> [laughter]
>> Like, my personal cars, I am not as
careful with because I just don't have
the mental energy. I pride myself when I
film videos, I return the car in the
exact condition and order I found it,
with the only change being that there is
a suction cup mark on your windshield
from where I stuck my camera. Other than
that, the car is the same. If you turned
it If you gave it to me and the roof was
up, I demonstrated the roof going down
or me lifting it off or whatever, but I
return it to you roof up. If you gave it
to me and you had a bunch of crap in
your trunk, but I needed to show the
trunk, I took all your crap out, I shot
the trunk, I put all your crap back in.
That's what we do. And one time I was
filming a car at a dealership. Uh this
was a Rolls-Royce that had self-opening
doors. The door opened and bumped into a
wall. And um
self-opening doors are really stupid,
really stupid. They're especially stupid
when they don't have a sensor to stop
themselves from opening too far. It's
actually one of the dumbest features
ever. But in this case, regardless of
the stupidity of it, I should have known
and should have been aware. And the door
opened and you know, creased itself.
This was a brand new Rolls-Royce a long
time ago. And I had to report, "Oh my
god, I damaged your car." And the dealer
was incredibly nice about it. "Dude,
don't worry about it. We'll get it
fixed. Not a problem. No big deal." But
that was a really hard moment. That
whole weekend I was like, "I can't
believe I did this. This is the worst
thing. This is the worst thing I've ever
done. This is horrible."
Um that's tough. Especially cuz I've
never done it before or since.
Overall, this job is great. It's the
best. It really is. It is truly
wonderful. It is both a passion and a
life enjoyment and also a career. And I
truly love that going to work every day
is fun and awesome and exciting. And 13
years and 2 billion views later, I am
still just as excited every single day
about doing these videos as I always
have been. But it is not always sunshine
and wonderful and easy. There are hard
things.
Um nonetheless, I consider myself very
lucky even when it's hard. You know,
that day where I damaged the car or that
day where we had the miscarriage and I
had to still shoot. I'm thinking to
myself, "This really sucks. This is
hard. I'm sick and I'm still here. But
it could be worse. I could be sick or
having a miscarriage and I could be
delivering packages in Toronto in the
winter, you know? I could be There's a
lot of stuff." So even when it is hard
and even when people are saying nasty
things, you know, people say nasty
things at the airline ticket counter.
And I'd rather be hearing nasty things
when I'm making car reviews than there,
you know? So I still consider myself
incredibly lucky and I'm still
incredibly thrilled to have this job
even though, yes, there are definitely
times when it's hard and those are some
of my hardest moments.