Scotty Kilmer shares how he became one of the most recognizable motoring experts (2024)

Scotty Kilmer has one of YouTube's most-successful car channels with over six million subscribers (Image: YouTube @scottykilmer)

The popular mechanic Scotty Kilmer has opened up about how his passion for cars began and why he has gained fame online.

Scotty has one of the most popular motoring channels on YouTube, thanks to his regular videos advising motorists on the best cars to buy and how to avoid causing serious mechanical issues.

However, speaking to The Express US, Scotty recalled that his fascination with cars first began in the 1960s when he would watch his grandfather repair vehicles.

He said: “When I was 14, I started working at my father’s gas station at Lewiston, New York. My grandfather was Chief Mechanic there. And my grandfather, he wouldn’t teach me anything, but he would say I could watch. So, I watched and learned that way, which is good, because I generally don’t listen to people anyway!

“Of course, back in those days, cars were a lot simpler than they are today, but I got started on that and like any blue-blooded American boy, I wanted to drive machines around. The first car I had was an Opel, and then later I got a BSA motorcycle, that was a lot of fun. A combination of being fun and, of course, if you could learn to fix something yourself, you could go wherever you wanted.”

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Scotty began working at his father's gas station and learned by repairing his first car, a 1960s Opel (Image: Getty)

Whilst Scotty’s passion for cars and motorcycles came long before YouTube, his first debut to the public came with the launch of a TV program Crank It Up, for which he received a Regional Emmy Award in 2004.

He continued: “We were on vacation, having some margaritas at the top of this hotel looking at the ocean, and my wife says, ‘You ought to do something, you’re bored fixing cars.’ So, then I wrote my book Everyone’s Guide to Buying a Used Car, and that got me on CBS. They had me on one day answering live questions, which was fun. Machines don’t bother me, so I don’t care about cameras.

“So, I’m leaving, and I hear the director wanted to talk to me, so I go in and they said, ‘People love you.’ I said ‘Yeah, because I tell them the truth about stuff.’ She said, ‘No, you don’t understand. When we get new people on TV, we get nothing but complaints, but everybody likes you, even old ladies in nursing homes who don’t even own cars!”

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Before setting up a YouTube channel Scotty hosted a TV show called Crank It Up (Image: YouTube @scottykilmer)

Whilst the long-running program gained a considerable following, Scotty transitioned from television to a relatively young YouTube in 2007, following budget cuts at his local TV station.

He recalled: “They said they couldn’t pay me anymore and I said, ‘I’m not doing this stuff for free, bye,’ and then I just naturally went to YouTube. It just took off. I mean, I figured something would happen, certainly not as big as it is, but something, because when I was on air in Houston, the viewership would go from 150,000 to 400,000, and then when I went off it would go back down.

“I thought, ‘If that many people want to watch me in one city, the world’s a big place and people don’t know much about cars.’ So, if you tell people the truth about cars, they are going to appreciate it, because nobody likes getting ripped off when getting their car fixed or buying the wrong car, and when I expose all these things, people love it as they find out they’re not the only ones that got ripped off.”

With six million subscribers and counting, Scotty shows no signs of stopping his YouTube channel and encouraged others to follow their passions and create something unique.

He advised: “If you’ve got a knack for something, that’s what you have to follow up. Don’t try to force yourself to be something you aren’t because people will see that. It’s so obvious to anybody with any level of intelligence.

“There’s a lot of awful musicians out there, and they copy everybody, but for every 10,000 of those, there’s one David Bowie. Find your own route, don’t do what the crowds are doing. Find something you’re passionate about and follow it along.”

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