Doug Demuro is one of the biggest automotive YouTubers with almost four million subscribers in just six years. His humorous and educational videos garner millions of views and he has even been featured alongside notable car enthusiasts like Jay Leno.
His signature segments include the “quirks and features” of a car as well as giving his own “Doug Score” to rank cars he reviews based on a variety of categories such as “cool factor” and “value.” It is almost impossible to introduce any car without saying “THIS! is a…” in his exact tone. For anyone who just recently became a fan or hasn’t been religiously following Doug for the last six years, here are some surprising things you may not know.
10 His Net Worth Is Approximately $3 Million
Without access to his financial records, it is nearly impossible to know how much he’s actually worth but according to best estimates, Doug is worth about $3 million when taking into consideration his income, the value of his cars including a Ford GT, and his new business Cars and Bids. Some of his active income streams include his multiple YouTube channels, writing for publications, and commissions from car sales on his website.
To be clear, this estimate does not mean Doug has $3 million just lying around, most of that money is tied up in cars or businesses that he would have to sell off in order to get that value but it is still impressive nonetheless.
9 He Worked For Porsche
Doug’s first job right out of college was working for Porsche as a “vehicle allocation manager” at the North American headquarters in Atlanta. Far from the glamourous image that many people might have when they hear about working for Porsche, he was in charge of sending the various vehicles to dealerships across North America.
It wasn’t all cubicles and spreadsheets; he did get a Porsche 911 as a company car which was about as good as it got for a 21-year-old Doug. Unfortunately, the novelty quickly wore off and he wanted to do more than work in a boring office job his whole life. After a business trip to Germany in the winter which forced him to miss his wife’s birthday, he gave in his resignation.
8 He Worked For Jalopnik
YouTube might be his bread and butter right now but many fans will know, Doug got his start in the Auto Media industry writing articles. Even while he was still working for Porsche, he wrote consumer-focused articles like whether people should buy a car at the end of a lease. His side gig evolved into a stable freelance career writing for Autotrader.
His big break came when he started writing for The Truth About Cars with a heavy focus on comedy writing. He grew his audience and was a feature writer on well-known publications like Jalopnik and his own blog called PlaysWithCars. Eventually, Doug was offered chief editor position at the newly formed Oversteer blog from Autotrader. He now posts exclusively on Oversteer and was given plenty of creative control over his content. Some of his reviews and columns have made it to mainstream media in the Philadelphia Media Network and The Philadelphia Media Network.
7 He Is An Author
It’s one thing to be a blog writer but Doug has also written three self-published books, Plays With Cars, Bumper to Bumper, and From My Perspective. The first book is a humorous take on his many years in the car industry also named after his defunct personal blog of the same name. Readers get to enjoy a more personal account of his experiences with past cars he’s owned including what it was like to buy a used Land Rover sight unseen or road-tripping across the US in a Lotus Elise. The second book, Bumper to Bumper is a follow-up to the first book with more car stories.
His second book takes a step back from the auto industry that he is known for and takes his humor and perspective to other parts of life. For fans that want a deep dive into the mind of Doug Demuro, this book is perfect as it touches on everything from dating and the weather to the American education system. There is still plenty of the Doug humor that fans are accustomed to and a quick solid read.
6 He Bought A Ferrari Just For Videos
One of Doug’s longstanding traditions is his “Doug Car” where he buys various cars to own and make videos/articles on. Most recently, Doug owned a Kia Stinger as his personal “Doug Car” that he bought to create more detailed content with. But his most well-known car bought just for content was the 2004 Ferrari 360 Modena he had while his YouTube channel was in its fledgling stages.
One of Doug’s most memorable videos was when he proved women don’t care about the car you’re driving. So, having an expensive car like a Ferrari to impress them is a futile effort. The video racked up almost six million views to date. In it, the video repeatedly tries to get women interested in the car but the only people who go out of their way to introduce themselves or talk to Doug are men. Many YouTubers have since tried to replicate the experiment with similar results.
5 He Has Owned More Than 28 Cars
Doug is first and foremost a car enthusiast which is why his content is so entertaining and resonates with so many people. He recently turned 32 years old and has already owned almost 30 different cars. Some cars have been common everyday cars just to get from point A to point B, but others are truly unique vehicles that are only appreciated by true car enthusiasts.
Some of the highlights include a Range Rover Classic, Nissan Skyline GT-R, Dodge Viper GTS, Ford GT, and his most recent purchase, the Audi RS 2 Avant. These are the cars with a truly unique story or a rich history that doesn’t come through in the looks or features of a car. For a full list of all the cars Doug has owned read his article or watch his more recent YouTube video.
4 He Isn’t A Car Journalist
Despite Doug being one of the most popular car reviewers on the internet he is not a car journalist in the traditional sense. At least that’s what manufacturers think. Unless the YouTube channel is attached to a well-known auto publication like Motor Trend or Kelly Blue Book it is notoriously difficult to get press cars for review. Press cars are sample cars manufacturers provide to the media, usually top of the line models. Unfortunately, car manufacturers do not recognize most car YouTubers as car journalists and are usually not allowed access to the press cars except large YouTubers that collectively pool their influence like the Automotive Video Association that feature channels like Engineering Explained and The Fast Lane Car.
Doug has made it clear that most of his cars are provided by dealerships or fans with unique cars. In his pursuit to be as objective as possible, he does not actively grow relationships with manufacturers and as a result does not enjoy perks like press cars, early access to cars before release, or track events that show off performances of new or upcoming cars. It is unlikely that car manufacturers will change their minds and consider Doug to be a car journalist anytime soon.
3 Cars And Bids Started On A Plane Ride
Doug has been open about his career post-YouTube acknowledging it is “unsustainable” in the long run. In a video explaining why he started Cars and Bids he claimed he has “no marketable skills” outside making YouTube videos and if it all ended due to an unforeseen YouTube algorithm change, he would be in trouble. He had been looking for sustainable opportunities since he reached popularity on YouTube outside of being an advertising billboard.
The idea of Cars and Bids, his recently created car auction website primarily for modern car enthusiast cars, came to him on a plane ride with no internet. Free from the usual torrent of messages and social media notifications, Doug imagined a modern sleek website to buy and sell modern sleek cars that he was actually interested in. Soon after, he met his best friend in a Cheesecake Factory to spitball ideas on what the platform would actually look and function like. Just like that, Cars and Bids was born.
2 Doug Personally Knows Many Car Celebrities
Being a car celebrity himself, Doug is actually quite modest and doesn’t think of himself as anything more than a car guy with a few popular videos on the internet. He references car “celebrities” like Top Gear presenters or famed Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee star Jerry Seinfeld quite often as the benchmark for fame. Coincidentally, he’s met and worked with celebrities himself.
In a YouTube video, Doug has a casual conversation with James May, a former Top Gear and current Grand Tour presenter. They riff on each other’s cars and even talk about the future of the car industry. Doug has also reviewed Jay Leno’s Mclaren F1 and was featured on Jay Leno’s Garage. While not as famous worldwide, Doug is certainly a fixture among car enthusiasts making him quite the celebrity himself.
1 He Admits The DougScore Is Irrelevant For Practical Car Owners
Doug introduced the now-famous “DougScore” back in 2017 but well after he started his channel as a way to rank cars he’s reviewed. He started with his own CarMax Range Rover and 22 cars he previously reviewed that he felt deserved a DougScore. The DougScore is comprised of “weekend” categories styling, acceleration, handling, fun factor, and cool factor as well as “daily” categories comfort, features, quality, practicality, and value.
There are over 400 vehicles that have DougScores from hypercars to family SUVs. But Doug himself had admitted that the score is largely useless for people looking to purchase cars. For instance, the car with the highest current DougScore is Jay Leno’s 1994 McLaren F1 with a score of 74. The most attainable car in the top 10 is the Audi RS6 Avant with an MSRP of well over $100,000.
Doug writes on his website, “Since I primarily review performance cars and special cars — and since my personal opinion is that performance cars and special cars are the best cars — the DougScore is designed to be geared towards exciting cars.” This means the DougScore is more about what was most fun than the quality of ownership.