As a kid I remember passing my father wrenches and soldering tools as he lay in coveralls beneath his fixer-upper car of the month. He’d rebuilt an old Mustang convertible, a Thunderbird, and a black 1959 El Camino. The year I turned 16-years-old, he had enough foresight to find me the slowest 1986 Chevette hatchback to ever grace the road – it was like driving a gigantic hamster-powered potato.

That being said, the great thing about having a hideous car is that you are not afraid to attempt to resuscitate it. There’s the old saying, “Give a man a fish; you’ve fed him for a day. Teach a man to fish; and you’ve fed him for a lifetime.”

While I didn’t know it at the time, as I stood soaked by the side of the rainy highway with the hood up, my father was teaching me a valuable lesson – I was learning to fish, or rather, check my own oil and snap the fan belt back on.

FixYa members are teaching each other great life lessons every day. Whether we’re debating the merits of ethanol blends, solving the mystery of the bunk odometer, or simply gaining enough knowledge to speak to a mechanic, the FixYa car community is a great resource. If you think you’ve got what it takes to be a car expert, start helping your fellow motorists here.

Photo courtesy of Maciej Lewandowski.