TheSamba.com :: View topic - Learn how to work on your VW (SF Bay Area)

Tue Jan 12, 2016 4:23 pm

My name is Carey, and I'm new to The Samba.

I am a graduate student working on a project to help people better learn about working on cars. Our team has a 67 Beetle, and so we've turned to The Samba for like-minded enthusiasts in the SF Bay Area.

If you’re looking for help with your DIY VW project, we want to help you connect with mentors. Our project coordinates 1-on-1 time with experienced VW enthusiasts that can help you accomplish your goals. We can help with general maintenance, repair, engine & chassis modification, and really anything you want to do. As a participant you pay a fee for in-person time with a mentor so that they can be paid for their time. fee's are roughly $30-$50/hour for in-person mentorship.

Your participation is greatly appreciated and we would ask to do a few brief phone interviews and possibly an in-person interview if you are available. these supporting interviews would help contribute to our research. If you have any additional questions about our project do not hesitate to contact us.

Here's a picture of our buddy Antonio with our Beetle when we got it back in May.

Tue Jan 12, 2016 4:25 pm

All that description and I forgot to write any contact info. You can contact me at [email protected]

-Carey

Wed Jan 13, 2016 4:34 am

Lets see, graduate student, first two posts on Thesamba... Is someone supposed to pay you or are you asking for someone with experience to join in? It's a great out of the box income source idea though.

Wed Jan 13, 2016 5:48 am

Seems to me this should be posted in classifieds services section. Correct me if I'm wrong, you are advertising to sell a service.

Wed Jan 13, 2016 5:48 am

50 bucks an hour? for "mentoring"?...hell I do that for free,I have no problem hanging out while someone else is working on their car,drinking beer and talking shit..as an added benefit I laugh when you do something stupid.

been working on Vw's since May? of last year? really?...and your graduate students? where did you graduate from?

Wed Jan 13, 2016 5:56 am

My going rate is beer.

Wed Jan 13, 2016 7:33 am

Absolutely not. I would not trust johnnypan with my car let alone some squids fresh outta "school".

Wed Jan 13, 2016 8:27 am

The way I read it he's proposing a match-making service between mentors and owners, not doing the work/mentoring himself. Kind of Uber for mechanics.

Colin might be willing to give you some pointers, he is a traveling mentor/mechanic:

http://itinerant-air-cooled.com/index.php
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2...p;start=20

I've told him he could do well if he settled down in one place and built a clientele. But he prefers to travel the country, so he probably won't view you as competition.

Wed Jan 13, 2016 10:12 am

johnnypan wrote: I have no problem hanging out while someone else is working on their car,drinking beer and talking shit..as an added benefit I laugh when you do something stupid.

:lol: I've got LOTS of friends to do that! Just wish they would bring the beer, sometimes. [-o<

Thu Jan 14, 2016 2:02 pm

I personally wouldn't pay. As long as I am genuinely willing to learn, participate and get my hands dirty, I have always been able to find mentors to show me for free.

Thu Jan 14, 2016 6:20 pm

Great idea, I work on my younger neighbors car occasionally, and my price is PIE. She loves to cook and bake, so its a win-win.

Fri Jan 15, 2016 11:13 am

Zeen wrote: The way I read it he's proposing a match-making service between mentors and owners, not doing the work/mentoring himself. Kind of Uber for mechanics.

Colin might be willing to give you some pointers, he is a traveling mentor/mechanic:

http://itinerant-air-cooled.com/index.php
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2...p;start=20

I've told him he could do well if he settled down in one place and built a clientele. But he prefers to travel the country, so he probably won't view you as competition.

Yeah, we're interested in the match-making side of things. definitely don't see ourselves qualified to be mentoring people. Thanks for the info, Zeen.

Fri Jan 15, 2016 12:42 pm

Couldn't you accomplish basically the same thing by joining your local VW club and attending a few meetings?

Fri Jan 15, 2016 1:13 pm

even better business model, give the mentors beer & keep the $50 an hour as "administration fees".

Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:08 pm

This guy has balls huh ? Real VW people those not running a retail business. help each not because of money but because friendships go way beyond just wrenching. The guy that taught me VWs owned a gas station VW and radiator repair shop, yes he was visionary. He let us hang there and we swept floors, ran for parts, did dirty brake jobs and he in turn trained us. No money involved the only money was beer money. You got some balls kid. I think you got it backwards. I laughed my ass off reading your post. If you lived a little closer you could come over here and sweep up :D I might teach you

Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:24 pm

Heres a tidbit you may have overlooked. VW people are among the cheapest penny pinching kind you'll ever meet. If I were you I'd look for the moneyed types that don't wanna get their hands dirty, maybe BMW,Porsche,Lamborghini
So I misread your proposal. The only thing you do is match so called experts with car owners needing work? Most of the folks here are asking questions because they do or are learning to their own work. You might have better luck selling vacuum cleaners door to door. :D

Sat Jan 16, 2016 10:40 am

I understand what the poster here is trying to do, and it may make sense, but not to this audience.

This website has active members who have built, repaired, restored, painted, and thoroughly researched every part of these cars for decades; and the share freely and openly. There are members here who worked for Volkswagen, and share what they know and remember as a service, expecting nothing in return.

There IS evidence that VW people (some... many...) are cheap. By the same token some (many) VW folks are also the most generous, with information, and even parts. For the 20+ years I have indulged in VWs, I have never been ignored when asking a question. I have sent AND received small parts and hardware I couldn't find for free.

You won't see this type of community and generosity with other cars; I grew up in a home that restored 50's Chevy's- cars and trucks, and I saw first hand what pricks people could be about old cars and restoration work.

That crowd, and those listed above, might NEED a service like you describe.

My first bug, I had to be cheap and learn to do things on my own- HAD to; I delivered pizzas in my bug, and was in school full time. I had no money to spare. I had to learn by reading manuals, and got help from my chev-restoring brothers, as well as counting on a lot of kindness from aircooled shops. I had to be smart and learn quickly, but it worked.

A service like you would offer might rob the community, especially those without a lot of resources, and those just starting out, by setting a perverse standard that VW owners should be expected to spend $50 an hour to participate in the same community that has long prided itself for its spirit of brotherhood.

It also suggest an elite-ness that has no place in the aircooled world.

There will come a day when scarcity drives the prices beyond the reach of many, and possibly then your concept would be sought after. I hope that's still a long ways off from now.