Horrible TikTok Car Advice and a Few Winners

The Internet School of Automotive Repair

I have friends who are mechanics that scoff at YouTube channels related to automotive repair. And they do so for good reason. However, I spend a good deal of time watching these videos and have found that my friends are not always correct on this matter. In fact, I’ve found that there are some very useful YouTube channels that are a boon to the DIY mechanic. What I try my best to do is to ferret through the videos and find some of the more useful videos and share them with our readership for either their information value or car related entertainment value.

There’s another value-based reason behind some of the selected YouTube channel videos---the comments section following each video. There are almost always some nuggets of automotive gold to be gleaned when people with real-life experience for a particular car model and problem, discuss in the comments section what they have found to be true.

The caveat to all of this, however, is that there is a lot more bad advice or “good enough for government work” advice than the accurate advice you may really need. It’s the nature of the internet beast and all that. Hence, my mechanic friends’ shared disdain of YouTube auto repair is not without merit.

Resources for Learning Automotive Repair without Going to School

Can you learn automotive repair without going to a technical school or at least a correspondence course? If you had asked me that 30 years ago when the internet was in its infancy I would have said “Not likely” unless you had a good mentor and a job in a garage to work in. Before the internet came into its own, all you had available were some repair manuals, special interest car magazines, and a lot of bad advice from “a guy I know who said you should…” or a father whose favorite tool was a hammer.

Call me a “Heretic”

Today, however, it is a very different story. What we are discovering as a society is that our concept of an “education” is changing. COVID has taught us that a combination of online learning, Zoom courses/meetings, and some self determination can educate as well if not better than a traditional institutionalized setting.

Call me a heretic, but the most important thing I learned from a higher education so many years ago was the concept of critical thinking: question everything, research the facts, test what is said and written, improve your problem-solving abilities, trust your judgement…and drink beer. The rest is just fluff in comparison to value and what you get from a higher education. Call me a heretic.

Is TikTok Car Advice Credible?

The point I am attempting to make is that like my mechanic friends who do not hide their dislike of YouTube auto repair videos, I felt the same way about TikTok because…well, it’s TikTok you know, and I am probably too old to “get it” and why it is so popular. But I’ve changed…a little.

Case in point: a Donut Media YouTube channel that proves to be not only entertaining but informative as well that I have to admit I learned something new---coffee filters for wiping down engine block cylinder walls rather than using pricey lint-free microfiber cloths. I will test this myself…of course…but it does look promising.

That said, and my point probably overstated, here is the video below:

Real Mechanic Reacts to Horrible TikTok Car Advice

And finally…

For additional articles about where I have learned something new, here are a few for your consideration and critical thought:

• What You Need to Know About Mixing Car Tires

• Consumer Reports Shows All-Wheel-Drive Owners How to Save Money on Their SUV Tires

• Consumer Reports Treadwear Testing Reveals How Long Some Tire Types Really Do Last

COMING UP NEXT: Top 10 Most Reliable Engines That Last 300,000 Miles or Longer for 2022 and 2023

Timothy Boyer is a Torque News automotive reporter based in Cincinnati. Experienced with early car restorations, he regularly restores older vehicles with engine modifications for improved performance. Follow Tim on Twitter at @TimBoyerWrites for daily new and used vehicle news.

Image Source: Pixabay