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Does YouTube Help or Hurt the DIY?

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  • #879957
    EricTheCarGuy 1EricTheCarGuy
    Keymaster

      I’ve been wondering about this since I started my channel. There’s a lot of information out there, but not all of it is good. I think bad information is worse than not knowing something. What are your thoughts?

    Viewing 6 replies - 1 through 6 (of 6 total)
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    • #879966
      Chris OrozcoChris
      Participant

        Hi Eric,

        I feel like there is a lot of grey area when asking this questing. For your particular channel, you are someone who posts very important intonation that’s essential for the job and your videos would help more rather than hurt provided the viewer understands and is able to apply it to their vehicles. There is also a lot of trial and error when you go to actually do the job so that has to be understood as well. I have viewed your videos and have had to re do things a few times before I got it correct like valve adjustments that can be tricky. The real problem is there are a lot of videos out there where the information may not be correct or the way they are doing it is a hack way of doing things and doesn’t exactly fix the problem. That is where a diy person can get hurt. Like anything else on the internet, you would want to research things and see what is correct and what isn’t. That’s something not many people understand. For a diyer, this is essential to be successful. I’ve grown to trust you so if I see it on your channel, I normally will only look at something different like a webpage or other video if something is missing in yours or if it’s at an angle I can’t see too well. Some things that are done “your way” like tightening valve cover bolts and not using torque wrenches would be something I would look up somewhere else if I was not familiar with how they are supposed to feel when tightening ect. All in all, your videos are the best with informing and thank you for that. I did a lot of validating when I first started watching and your methods are pretty much always correct and helpful. Thanks for what you do and I hope you continue that way.

        Chris

        #879972
        Randy CharltonRandy Charlton
        Participant

          As an Old Mechanic not working on cars in the Field anymore, but still fixing my own cars and Family’s cars. I find them helpful. I got out of working on Auto’s not because of anything more then wanting to make more money. New job make the same and not having to buy new tools, to do my job. I love working on cars though. I have not done a lot with the newer computers and Modules in todays Automobiles. I left right when OBDII came out. So your YouTube channel, Paul’s and Eric’s has been vary helpful. Paul’s has given me more knowledge then anyone with the understanding of how todays ECM work. I think if I was to start out fresh from High school today I would move and go to Rosedale TECH. If I didn’t need to still make a living (if I was rich I would go today). So keep it up love all you do. Wish I had a place like yours to hangout in. I hope to make it to one of your meet and greats some year.

          #880010
          VinceVince
          Participant

            You Tube Helps for sure.You tube has opened doors for me previously hard to open.When doing brakes for the first time a book shows the parts but your video shows application of them which is where my experience lacked.We are definitely better off for living in the age of information.Hands down you tube is a help!

            #880019
            DavidDavid
            Participant

              I find youtube videos to be very helpful – in particular when I am tackling something I haven’t done before, on a vehicle I am not familiar with, etc. – they give me insight into what I am going to be looking at when I get in there, how things come apart, etc. before I get into the repair. Service manuals are great, but they don’t have info on what to look out for/be careful of when doing a repair. Sometimes, the videos provide helpful tips to simplify a repair – or in some cases, to confirm to myself that maybe something is a bigger task than I want to undertake in my garage given whatever constraints I might have on time, tools, etc.

              I don’t like the quick-fix/shortcut videos that you see a lot of on youtube – the ones that gloss over details, etc. – I think those just get folks into trouble because they can be misleading, and result in someone getting in over their head on a repair.

              One of the things that really drew me to your videos was the completeness and attention to detail – seeing what might be a struggle, and what is straightforward as you do the work.

              #880111
              DaveDave
              Participant

                I absolutely think that YouTube, and more specifically your channel has helped the DIY community. Growing up I never really had an interest in working on cars, I think I’m somewhat mechanically inclined but nothing special. When I moved away to college and money got very tight your channel was a life saver. I’m absolutely what you called in your video the cautions type, working up from oil changes to brake jobs now to things like timing belts. I think your question however needs to be looked at in two parts. Good quality videos with accurate information like what you put out can save people like me thousands and even when something is beyond our skill level, the videos make us better informed customers. The low quality hack videos absolutely hurt the DIY community, making difficult things seem easy or simple and getting people in over their heads. I also think that those people who just throw caution to the wind and go for it would likely have done so regardless, these few shouldn’t ruin it for everybody. I think it all comes down to being a good consumer of information, applying what we see to our situation, and being realistic about what we are able to do.

                Your videos have helped me to develop a broader interest in automotive repair, and has saved me thousands of dollars on everything from brake jobs to timing belts and fuel pumps and I’m about to do my first transmission swap (using a re-manufactured unit). Thank you so much for what you do.
                Dave

                #880126
                James P GrossoJames P Grosso
                Participant

                  Overall I think having repairs on social media is a good thing.
                  As mentioned, the problem is there are videos that are good, and informative, but there are also many where the video is partly or totally incorrect.

                  I have found that it is nice to just google a subject and see the repair process compared to having to order an expensive Factory Service Manual (FSM), then wait for it just to do a basic job. Recently I replaced the ball joints on my truck, and found a decent video on it, but I had to do more searching to find the correct torque specifications because the video did not include that.

                  On other videos, the so-called “expert” referenced parts incorrectly, which will cause mis-understandings if the watcher asks for the “part” at the part store, and receives something they really did not want because it referenced incorrectly in the video.

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