autoevolution
 

Car Wizard Reveals How Fixing Cars for YouTube Stars Turned His Shop Into a Film Studio

Most mechanics look at the Internet as something to be feared. A place where disgruntled customers take to the web in their masses to chastise you for every mistake you've ever made working on cars. But for Dave, "The Car Wizard," success meant embracing online media.
Car Wizard 8 photos
Photo: VinWIKI
Car WizardCar WizardCar WizardCar WizardCar WizardCar WizardCar Wizard
The automotive chronologists and archivists at the VINwiki YouTube channel recently sat down to talk with Dave. Here, he discussed how teaming up with Tyler Hoover of Hoovies Garage left Omega Auto Clinic transformed. Now something altogether more special.

Dave wasn't always the well-known mechanic to the stars he is in 2021. He used to be your typical everyday master mechanic. The same as countless others in his Kansas neighborhood and worldwide. He started as a mechanical technician serving in the U.S. armed forces. Servicing everything from diesel trucks to Hummers and even tanks. He opened his shop, Omega Auto Clinic, in 2009.

This evolved into a small shop in the Kansas town of Halstead. While there, he ran into an upcoming young auto-journalist and self-professed doofus. His name was Tyler Hoover. The two met on an online Mercedes-Benz DIY Forum of all places. Wouldn't you know, "Hoovie," as he's known online, is only half the fool he makes himself out to be.

It turned out that Hoovie is actually a very passionate and educated petrolhead. A day-one gearhead with dreams of automotive Nirvana. Thanks to finding success in a slew of businesses, he now had the funds to make it happen. Daves labor and documenting Hoovies's car-purchasing fails online helped the pair become stars.

Car Wizard
Photo: Car Wizard
In doing so, Hoovie gained a level of notoriety that was once reserved for the upper echelon of auto journalists. Dave promptly joined Tyler in the professional YouTube game. He started his official YouTube channel back in 2012. But the earliest video currently on his page was uploaded in September 2018. Since then, Hoovie's smashed through the 1.3 million subscriber mark, and Dave is approaching 700,000.

Master mechanics with the knowledge Dave possesses are worth their weight in gold. This is even more true when they're media-savvy enough to make money by just blabbing about fixing cars on camera. When Dave speaks about how to fix a job properly, he's not just blabbing. He's giving you the gospel as he himself learned it.

The Bizzaro world of online media transformed Omega Auto Clinic into something different, something "more." Now just as much of a production studio as it is a Kansas-licensed shop. The video production workflow doesn't seem to meld with that of a master auto technician, as it happens. Dave was troubled by this as he acclimated himself to life as an online auto influencer.

Most techs would resort to hurling camera equipment and laptops across the shop floor. Assuming you forced them to contend with not bonking their head on a microphone. Or heaven forbid, a camera lens as they tried to balance your tires. But not Dave, who persisted. This turned out to be the defining choice of his long and illustrious career as a master tech.

Car Wizard
Photo: Car Wizard
You can still schedule a repair service at Omega Auto Clinic if you like. Just give Crazy D, Dave's office clerk and publicist, a call. There's no telling when you'll be able to get an appointment if we're honest. As Dave tells VINwiki, he may ask you politely for some extra time with your car to complete filming with Hoovie. That might be a bit of a shock if you don't come from a media background.

It's the opposite policy of any other mechanic, after all. But when you're the Car Wizard, his fans, who often become his clientele, accept this and put respect on the name. We'll wait for you, Dave, take as much time ad you need. Check back for more automotive YouTuber profiles here on autoevolution.

If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories