10-Year-Old Mechanic From Altai Fixes Cars, Wows Internet

10-year-old Alexei Smolkin from Altai Krai became an internet star in just a couple of weeks. The schoolboy helped his sister repair her VAZ-2115, and the video of it went viral, racking up millions of views. Online users are joking that the boy reasons like an experienced dad and is too thorough for his age. Read about how the teen was thrust into popularity and how he got into cars in this article from NGS22.RU.

«We»re Used to Him Doing Everything Himself«

His father, who fixed his own and neighbors« cars and took the boy to the garage from age two, instilled an interest in automobiles from early childhood. At first, the young master simply played with tools, then gradually began to catch on and mimic his father — initially as an apprentice, holding a flashlight and handing over tools, but over time he started doing more work independently.

Lesha is the fifth of nine children. In such a family, you quickly learn to be self-sufficient: helping around the house, looking after younger siblings, and not being afraid to take responsibility, which comes in handy in his work.

His first and most important client was his 22-year-old cousin Masha. Not long ago, she got her driver«s license and bought a VAZ-2115. The woman admits she initially didn»t believe her younger brother could fix a car on his own, but now she turns to him every time she visits the village.

— Honestly, I didn«t trust him before, didn»t think he could fix a car, but when we recorded our first video, which got 9 million views, he helped me. Since then, I«ve started to trust him and turn to him without fear.

His first serious repair was the fuel pump. After that, the young mechanic deftly charged the battery, pumped up tires, and fixed other issues on his own.

— The hardest thing for me is rebuilding the engine, but we manage, the schoolboy says.

He has to work a lot, according to Masha: the car needs attention every day, with up to three breakdowns in a single trip, but the girl doesn«t despair and keeps driving to gain experience. Just in the last two days, the VAZ has surprised her three times:

— I was at the gas station, and a hose exploded under the hood, smoke came out. I had to leave the car there, but luckily someone helped change it. In the morning, the battery died, and when I got here — the fuel pump broke again, Masha recounts.

Each such situation becomes another chance for the teen to practice. True, he doesn«t yet have his own workspace — he does repairs either near the fence or with his father in the garage.

— For us, there«s nothing unusual about it. We»re somehow used to him doing everything himself, knowing everything. But for others, it«s surprising, Masha marvels.

Despite being almost 11, Lesha already has plans for the future and knows for sure he«ll become a car mechanic, and dreams of getting a driver»s license.

Repairs VAZ for Ice Cream

Lesha never dreamed of becoming popular: Masha just decided to post a funny video on her social media, though it sat in drafts for about a month. At first, only relatives knew the schoolboy could repair cars.

— I just recorded him for fun — it was funny how he does it all. I even thought about not posting it at first. Then I decided to. And that«s it. In a month, the video got about 9 million views, Maria recounts.

The clip of the boy calmly and confidently handling the car quickly gained popularity: in the first few days it hit a million views, and Lesha even started gaining fans. The post was captioned with a call to invite the boy to work at Barnaul car dealerships. In the comments, people compared him to a real experienced master and joked that the boy was somewhere between 12 and 67 years old.

— Someone wrote: «So small, but already a dad» — we laughed. People asked for more videos. Then they started sending gifts. They sent a wrench set, a multimeter, a flashlight, a thermos, a phone, and an auto scanner for diagnostics, and I brought it all to him as a surprise, Maria recalls.

Lesha himself admits he didn«t expect such attention.

— I was totally shocked when I found out. I didn«t even know she was filming. I thought she was just walking around with her phone, the schoolboy says.

Now his account has over 17,000 subscribers. His sister handles all the content so far: she manages both her and his accounts, edits, and replies to followers. True, she admits the path of a blogger is challenging, and she doesn«t always have time to create videos, not to mention ads. Lesha, despite his popularity, remains the same simple boy who dreams of growing up, starting to earn money for his work, and buying a piston kit for 2,000 rubles ($27 at current rates). By the way, he often does car repairs for ice cream and, it seems, doesn»t fully grasp the level of his fame.

— I think he doesn«t really pay attention to the number of subscribers, doesn»t understand. Do you realize 17,000 people follow you? That«s more than our village has, I think, Maria says.

— That«s a whole country! the schoolboy marvels.