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AutoBahn Dan – The Tool Enthusiast

The Tool Enthusiast

Autobahn dan

Silicon Valley, CA

Who is Autobahn Dan?

Autobahn Dan is a YouTube personality and a close friend of Capri Tools. He runs a successful YouTube channel where he gives unbiased descriptions of different products he uses around the shop.

In his daily job, Dan is a smog tech, a GM dealer tech, a BMW dealer tech, and an independent BMW tech. He just recently celebrated his 20th year in the auto industry, and his experience shines through in every video he puts together. Autobahn Dan has reviewed several of our tools in the past, and we value his opinion highly because of his honesty and extensive experience in the industry.

This History of Autobahn Dan

Twenty years ago, Dan bought a lemon that always required a trip to the mechanic. After spending too much money, he decided it was time to take matters into his own hands.

He dedicated time to learning about cars and ultimately became a tech. It also helps that he was a big fan of staring at trucks and cars, so it was a matter of transforming his passion into a career.

What Are Typical Problems for the Everyday Driver?

We asked Dan what kind of problems auto mechanics typically see in cars that roll into the shop. He said it depends on the season. During the winter, he’ll see lots of cars that have water damage. This is probably due to snow melting in different parts of a car. Snow on the underside of your car can cause a lot of damage over time, according to Dan.

During other times of the year, Dan mostly sees oil leaks and pesky “check engine” lights. It can be hard to find an oil leak, but it can be especially hard to fix one. Getting a tool into the tight areas of a car can be tricky. The good news is that Capri Tools offers a range of crows foot wrenches that Dan can use in these situations to speed up the process.

So, When Did His Love for Tools Start?

Like his passion for cars and music, Dan’s love of tools started when he was a kid. He mentioned that his father didn’t have big name-brand tools, so that left young Dan to his own devices. He would build his own tools to fix things (and tear things apart, too).

Once he started working as a tech, he replaced his old, junky tools with brand new ones. As you probably know, once you start buying tools it’s hard to stop; Dan mentioned that he would find specialty tools that would save him time and energy on different tasks, so those were quickly added to his toolboxes.

The Premier Tool Reviewer

Dan’s YouTube page is mostly dedicated to reviewing different tools that he’s personally used. You’ll find brands like Milwaukee, O-line, Craftsman, and of course, Capri Tools.

Thousands of tool lovers listen to what Autobahn Dan has to say because he gives a straightforward, honest, and complete review for every tool he reviews.

Just like his career in the auto industry, his tool reviewing started from personal necessity and interest. Like most people, Dan was always looking for the latest and greatest tools. He found that a lot of tool reviewers weren’t doing a great job of giving straightforward reviews.

But Why BMWs?

If you’ve watched Autobahn Dan’s videos, you know his affinity towards BMWs. He is a professional and independent tech for that specific manufacturer – but why?

We asked Dan, and he pointed out that it was one of the higher-paying fields for a technician. There were a lot of BMWs on the streets where he lived when he first started.

He worked on BMWs so much that he laughed and said he could do it in his sleep. He has previous experience working at a dealership where he received conventional factory training to turn wrenches on BMWs.

Despite this, Dan’s dream car isn’t actually a BMW. In fact, his dream isn’t a car at all. He told us that he isn’t really into cars or trucks anymore, he’s more into music. His dream car revolves around having a loud, powerful, high-quality sound system that costs more than the car itself.

What Car Is the Toughest to Repair?

Speaking of size restrictions, Dan’s least favorite car brand happens to be one that has the least room to work in – the Mini Cooper. The car has a lot of hard-to-reach areas and small parts stacked up on one another, making automotive repairs almost impossible.

It’s tough to get a standard tool in these tough areas. He says that working on a Mini Cooper can be a pain in the neck, even with the right tools in his toolbox.

My desire to review tools ties to my addiction on finding the latest and greatest tools to make my life easier at work.

Autobahn Dan

What made you pursue a career in the automotive industry?

Started off being a tech because I had a vehicle that was a lemon and I was sick and tired of paying too much money to have it repaired. I was also partially into cars and trucks at the time as well.

Is there a reason you picked foreign over US cars?

I ended up choosing to work on BMWs because they have one of the top pays in my area and my area also has a lot of them.

What made you have a love for tools?

Realizing that I had more room for tools in a new toolbox setup, I decided to finally replace all my cheap tools that were giving me a hard time over the years. I kept finding more and more creative tools to make my life easier and it got addicting! Ha!

What made you start reviewing tools?

My desire to review tools ties into my addiction on finding the latest and greatest tool to make my life easier at work. It also has spread into finding the latest and greatest for my following!

What’s your favorite part of being in the automotive industry?

My favorite part of working in the automotive industry is that every day is different and each car has a new diagnosis challenge. It keeps things interesting! Lol

Is there anything you absolutely hate doing?

The worst part about working on cars I would say is programming. No two cars are the same. Each car has different features and if they have more bells and whistle‘s, more stuff can go wrong! Haha!

So far what is your favorite Capri Tool?

I keep going back to the Capri Tools ratcheting wrenches. They have a nice long pattern design and the angle on the ratcheting end works out great in a lot of situations! They also have a surprising bite on rounded off fasteners!

What advice would you give to automotive students?

My advice to automotive students would be to look into the future and see where the automotive field is going. It’s a great career that stays tough through hard times, but it is always constantly changing. So it’s good to see into the future on which car manufacturers will survive, that way you’re not left in the dust with a lower pay scale in a shop that runs out of work.

tools are my hobby

Autobahn Dan

Check out Autobahn Dan's YouTube Channel

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