Just to add my 2p to this thread:
1. TG generally make people sign contracts for their car to be allowed to be used, for the whole filming, you can't say "no, i'm taking my car back" because they will sue and given most people don't understand that this could possibly be thrown out of most courtrooms, people don;t back down, who wants to sue the BBC and incur the possible costs?
2. TG do not pay for repairs or give proper reimbursement for the use. The 911 turbo that featured a few weeks ago was owned by a PH person. They said they were given money but not even enough for 2 rear tyres. TG have insurance for damages done to the car, but not through hard use (only general accidents like on a road test)
3. TG has gone down to Lax Power levels to get audiences. I know what tyre smoke looks like, i don't need to see you donuting a classic car and damaging it which for the most part is irrepairable. Some pieces of motoring history were desgined to be preserved to be studied and admired, not to screw around with for ratings.
4. JC has become a completely benign presenter, bar a few anti-european jokes. The TG format is terrible IMO, remember Tiff? someone who gave cars a thrashing but still respected them, go watch his Mclaren F1 piece, there's an expensive RWD car that could do insane speeds.....did he donuting it? wheelspin? no, he took it round a test track for a few laps and kept within Murray's guidelines of how to treat the car. Does anyone care what car a celebrity drives? what Anne Robinson thinks of certain people's cars? I'm more for when TG was, Tiff taking a piece of exotica far out of the average person's budget and giving everyone something to drool at, then Quentin explaining something about the 2ndhand market and finally JC being amusing and slating a vauxhall or something. But JC has changed, read his column today finishing with "i know where you live" kind of commenets
5. A certain manufacturer manager who lent a car to TG has said to some people (myself included) "Stig was an arrogant and egotistical **** with no respect for people's property" whereas "Tiff was a true gent, chatted to the team and mechanics and asked about anything he should know not to do or what limits there are".
6. I know it's expected for journo's to trash the cars a bit, but we weren't talking about a production car here, we're talking about a limited edition racing car for which parts have to now to specially made which take away from it's history. But whatever they're dealing with, it should be remembered, it's not theirs and they're not paying for it. Nor are they doing anyone a favour, it's someone else's proeprty and needs to be treated with respect and obeying the owners requests. Put it this way, if you go out to test drive an STI from a private advertiser in autotrader, do you give it a good trash before you buy it with the owner sat next to you? you probably give it some stick, but you don't donut and wheelspin it. Other people's property needs to be treated with respect, it seems everyone forgets that in this country