motoo344

100%, Paul brothers, Ricegum, Keemstar...people who genuinely try to exploit young kids. There is a lot of toxic culture out there on YT but the automotive stuff is fairly good. I get a kick out of all of the salt, especially coming from a crowd that has constantly had to hear over the years how 'awful' the 996 is.

user 8298308

Indeed. The 996 finally gets some general interest and has reached a very affordable price point, but these aren't "true" fans. I really loved the "... but kids today!" posts early in this thread. Apparently it's not possible enjoy a vehicle unless you can rebuild the engine. Fun is a zero-sum game for some, apparently.

Most hobbies have a small slice of people who can't see past their own fingertips when it comes to expanding the interested audience. It always seem to be more of a concentrated problem with autos, though.

I'm loving my 996. I hope others smile like I do when they drive theirs. I've found a very positive community here, which makes some of the responses here stand out for their pettiness.

AnthonyGS

Political correctness has no place when it comes to machines. Embracing people that can’t tell the box end from the open end of a combination wrench, doesn’t make you a car guy or them.

Hoovie is in it for click revenue. Thinking that it’s anything more than that is disingenuous at best.

Instead of acknowledging that truth calling others salty, mean, or curmudgeons also doesn’t negate the fact.

Hoovie has as much automotive value as Krusty the Clown. The funny thing is car forums embrace the Hoovies and usually chase off the people with grease under their fingernails with this automotive PCness.

I remember a world when we judged people for their contributions instead of their feelings and intentions.

Hoovie does zip, the Wizard should be getting the money, not Hoovie.

barbancourt

Not sticking up for Hoovie or anyone else, but by your logic, the only people who can have car channels, magazines, give reviews, etc... are people who are also mechanics. I don't think this is rational.

Houtx996

what does that first paragraph even mean? You cant enjoy anything unless you prefer working on it over using it? You must be lonely that's to bad. it's a simple cost time equation when I send my car to someone else to unbolt and rebolt parts more efficiently/better than I can. In exchange for my money, I keep my time. Your club is terrible, guess I'm not a "car guy", I'm good with that. I'm also glad that your sentiments are not shared by the others in this online community I've interacted with.
You are also not very intelligent if you don't understand the business model of youtube and how they are buying all of their cars. I'm not going to defend/bash any of those channels they dont care about my opinion they are doing just fine. You on the other hand were worth commenting on while I watch my brisket finish while my newly restored 911 sits in the garage completed by a skilled American business....you fool

TexSquirrel

Ha! I’ve worked as a mechanic back in the 80s and 90s and since then I’ve had others work on my car.
Sometimes because they were experts. (Diesel Mercedes, Chevy transmission rebuild and Honda transmission rebuild)
Most of the time it was due to lack of time.
I’ve even paid for oil changes in Japanese vehicles when I had 60 hour work weeks. :O

Now days I do all my own work except for tires and alignments.
I have alignment tools, but the computer alignment are more accurate and less hassle for me.
I would never shame someone for not working on their cars.
That’s how I used to make money, working on people’s european cars.
...and for a while I was building Nissan race motors for a guy here in TX.
I’m glad he didn’t do all his own work!

I taught (pre-COVID) people how to work on their cars.
i hope to again soon.

motoo344

Exactly what his response was to and missed the whole point, gatekeeping. Can't have an opinion or content regarding autos unless you've been been a mechanic? Ridiculous. No one has said anything other than he's is entertainment, even though I think he comes off personable and seemingly genuine I understand its a show. Its all entertainment and all staged to some degree or another but that is Youtube. I like the Wizard and you think he's doing Youtube just for fun? Its another revenue stream, the guys got merch. Those two seem to have a good working relationship, hell I even like the other mechanic Johnny he goes to and wouldn't mind seeing him tear down more stuff, it looks like he has a nice shop. That being said its naive to think almost anybody doing Youtube that has any sort of following is just doing it out of the kindness of their heart. There definitely are channels that start out like that but if you can monetize why wouldn't you?

barbancourt

I'm a mediocre mechanic. I can do most basic stuff. I've built one race engine with a lot of over the shoulder help many years ago. I actually own two auto shops as a side business and still, I take some jobs on my car to other shops because I don't trust myself or my Midas/Firestone (that's not what I own but similar) techs to do certain things on my Porsche. I can do almost anything, but I don't really have time or desire to really get into big jobs on my cars anymore. I only do it when I feel like getting my hands dirty. That said, you'd be surprised when I talk to the managers or owners of indy shops and they laugh and say they do the same thing as me. They also use other shops or pay mechanics to work on their cars because they don't feel like it and/or want to transfer the risk if something goes wrong.

Believe it or not, I actually give techs advice on how to troubleshoot and how to fix things, because I have a better theoretical understanding of some things, even though they are better wrench turners.

wyovino

Lighten up, Francis. I find Hoovie's' videos to be very entertaining. I doubt that Jay Leno wrenches on his vast collection of cool cars, but I don't think anyone would say he's not a "Car Guy".

TexSquirrel

Jay is a walking encyclopedia of classic car knowledge.
He may not know everything, but he IS very knowledgeable.
I’m certain he has wrenched before, but now hires really good mechanics.
No one person could maintain his collection.
They must be some of the best mechanics to be able to do what they do.
Working on old steam engines one day and modern super cars the next.
Jay is a car guy!
So is Tyler...just not at Jay’s level.

Uber996

I've enjoyed the banter in this thread, and found I know many of the channels mentioned. As for Hoovie, I find him in some borderline between an automotive channel and self-deprecating tragic-comedy. It's obviously working for him, he'll be making quite a nice sideline out of it.

Regarding other interesting YT channels, I didn't hear of Heidi and Frannie's garage mentioned. It's something different given it's created by females and not just glitzy presenters but hands-on enthusiasts.

The other one I really like is Home Built By Jeff:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk_...F6sAwDg/videos
He's getting toward the end of a ground-up build on a 911RSR replica, some content from his 996 daily driver, a mad Ferrari-V8-engined Alfa 105 under construction, and other stuff. No BS, no hordes of people off camera doing the actual work, just him solving one problem after another with occasional star-quality cameo's by his lovely wife.

Has Project Binky been mentioned? Also great for the fabrication type stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/user/badobsessionmsport/videos

Imo000

Hoovie is a younger and less abrasive version of Clarkson. I like him he know a lot more than he shows. The Wizard has his own channel and I follow him to an do does The Humble Mechanic (he is a VW mechanic and know a lot about them). I also like Project Binky, it's a fascinating project to follow. There are others watch just for entertainment such as PFI, BoostedBoiz and the ultimate modern redneck, Cleetus McFarlen.

AnthonyGS

In order to have a show, yes you should actually have relevant subject matter expertise. Being a clown doesn't make one a subject matter expert when it comes to automobiles. And no one doesn't need to be a "mechanic" by trade, but you better have knowledge in this area. There are plenty of people doing other things than what they started out doing. I've had multiple "careers" to date, and will probably do something else before I retire completely too.

See that's one of the issues at play here, people value "entertainment" over actual subject matter expertise. Honestly, it dilutes the value of the forum considerably and chases off real actual subject matter experts.

AnthonyGS

This is the type of response I expect from most around here. 1) You miss the point. 2) You're too lazy to even start a sentence with a capital letter. 3) Then you move onto insults.
And no, you are no car guy I'd spend any time with.

It also sounds like your definition of a "mechanic" is a parts changer (someone who unbolts and rebolts parts). A real mechanic actually figures out what the problem is and fixes it.

And yes, if you know zip about the cars, your enjoyment of them is not the same as someone that knows more about them.

I'm really glad my sentiments aren't shared by everyone, because sure enough as time goes by, everyone is becoming like a cast type in the movie Idiiocracy.

Houtx996

darn, we can't hang out anymore....I'll miss your lectures and worldly opinions.