YMMV / MotorWeek

• Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Their review of the infamous Yugo showed the Yugo apparently driving past, only to reveal that's its being pushed by two of their staffers who had lifted its rear wheels off the ground. One of them yells at the camera, "WHERE DO YOU WANT THE YUGO?"
• Harsher in Hindsight:
  • John Davis describing the 1990 Oldsmobile Toronado Trofeo as "Donald Trump, or at least his ego."
  • A 1997 "High Road" segment had Craig Singhaus visit a massive celebration for Oldsmobile's 100th birthday in Lansing, Michigan. Just three years later GM announced that the Oldsmobile brand would be phased out, with the last Oldsmobile model produced in 2004.
• Seasonal Rot:
  • The car reviews were more thorough in earlier episodes, with even a specific list of "hits" and "misses". In recent years, MotorWeek has been criticized for being too non-objective in their car reviews.
  • Similarly, the Goss' Garage segments used to be more in-depth and for a while revolved around Goss giving advice to viewers who would write in with their car problems in a manner similar to Car Talk, while today they revolve around general car care advice and how not to get scammed by a shop. In fairness, when Goss' Garage premiered it was common for laymen to work on their own cars, a practice that has faded over time as cars came to require less maintenance and have generally become too advanced for most people to service themselves. Now that a scan tool is required to diagnose most problems, Goss would wind up answering most letters with "Take it to a professional."
• Unintentional Period Piece: Given that its a topical show it's naturally bound to fall victim to this trope as episodes age. That may be part of the reason why the older episodes have become popular nostalgia pieces on the internet.
• Values Dissonance:
  • During the 1980s John Davis regularly used the term "oriental" in reference to cars from Asian manufacturers. At that time, "oriental" was considered to be an acceptable and objective term to use and didn't have the racist connotations it has today. Davis quit using the term by the 1990s.
  • A February 1982 episode showcases how General Motors is experimenting with possibly putting coal-powered turbine engines in its cars as a response of the fuel crisis of the 1970s. John Davis repeatedly proclaims how coal is "America's most abundant fossil fuel" and that if GM can make the technology work it can prove to be a sustainable alternative fuel for decades into the future. Given how coal slowly fell out of favor in the four decades since due to greater awareness of how coal burning is hurting the environment and contributing to climate change, to the point that some world governments started seeking to sundown widespread coal burning in its entirety come The New '10s, watching John Davis proclaim coal to be a "sustainable" and "alternative" fuel may make viewers who watch that segment today wonder if he's actually bring serious.
• Values Resonance:
  • MotorWeek made a point to include female test drivers and reporters as far back as the early 1980s, as well as featuring segments directed at female car shoppers in particular from very early in its run.
  • In the early 1990s MotorWeek had a special episode featuring Pat Goss and Lisa Barrow giving advice to car shoppers. The episode still serves as an incredibly useful tutorial 30 years later.
  • The old Goss' Garage segments have proven to be incredibly useful to enthusiasts repairing and maintaining vehicles from the applicable time period, now as classics.
  • John Davis has admitted that he was surprised by how popular the show's old segments have proven to be since they started being uploaded to YouTube.