Screwdriver by his own grace

Screwdriver by his own grace

A red Mazda MX5 with pop-up headlights floats on the lift, and two young men with wrenches are working on the front axle on the underside. “We have to replace the coupling rods,” explains Klaus Leischner expertly; he had only recently purchased the youngtimer convertible at a reasonable price. The hobby automotive technician is an IT specialist by profession, his friend and screwdriving buddy Günter is a self-employed energy consultant.
United by their enthusiasm for sporty two-seaters and by the desire to find a balance to their screen work, they pick up analogue tools made of honest metal in their free time. You can find out which spare parts are needed and how to install them from printed repair instructions and internet forums. If a screw has seized up or you have another mechanical problem, just ask “Vickerl”.

A Viennese original
Viktor Weintrager, commonly known as Vickerl, is the operator of the rental workshop in Vienna-Donaustadt and a real Viennese original. In a broad dialect, he argues about the ever-increasing repair prices at local car repair shops and draws the conclusion: “Many of those who do repair work for me can’t afford to buy a car any other way.” His customers include students, pensioners and even single earners who don't want to do without a car and at least want to save themselves the service costs by changing the oil, filters and tires themselves in the rental workshop. Vickerl disposes of the used oil and wearing parts properly and supports its customers with a lot of experience, a sunny disposition and a lot of “petrol in the blood” even with more complicated repair projects. Vickerl is actually a trained chef, but his big brother trained to be a master mechanic, and he's always kept an eye on him since he was little. Vickerl repaired his grandfather's motorcycle as a child, and at the tender age of 15 he bought his first car with the apprentice's money: a Fiat 124 Special, which he restored from the ground up.
Idea imported
After his cooking career, Vickerl spent most of his working life as a truck driver before one day he came across a rental workshop in Germany. He quickly quit his job and imported the concept to Vienna. In 2009 he opened “My Rental Workshop” at Stadlauerstrasse 41. There are five lifting platforms in the spacious hall, and a two-wheeled platform is also housed in an adjoining room. For a fee of 6 euros per hour, Vickerl provides fully stocked tool trolleys. If you bring your own wrenches, you only pay the hourly price of 10 euros for an indoor space or 12 euros for a lift space. “Some people are really clever hobbyists,” Vickerl is always amazed when someone, for example, has the courage to change the timing belt and has done it properly. “Others start something and then don’t know what to do in the middle,” says Vickerl, “but that’s what I’m always there for.” On the other hand, he was really impressed by a pensioner with a 560 Mercedes from the 1980s, who milled a small gear for a window regulator out of a brass blank with his own hands. Vickerl says: “He can easily afford any workshop, but he just has more fun doing the screwing.”

eyesore
Werner Fessl, guild master of Viennese automotive technicians, is naturally a thorn in the side of rental workshops. “I obviously see this as competition to the established companies, as they work under very questionable circumstances,” said the representative. Fessl would have no objection to simple service work carried out by himself, such as changing oil or tires, but “I definitely reject work carried out by laypeople on safety-critical components such as the chassis and brakes.”

Data & Facts

In Germany
is already widespread, the number of rental workshops in Austria is currently still manageable. There can therefore be no question of serious competition with established companies.

▶ Vienna
My rental workshop, 1220 Vienna:
www.myrent
werkstatt.at
Hobby Technology Association, 1230 Vienna:
www.hobby-technik.at

▶ Lower Austria
Car-motorcycle rental workshop, Traiskirchen: www.automietwerkstatt.at

▶ Styria
Car Lifts Leopold, St. Marein near Graz:
www.kfz-carlifts.at

▶ Tyrol
Screwdriver hangar, Kundl: www.schrauberhangar.at
Motor vehicle Hauser, Mils:
www.kfz-hauser.at  

▶ Upper Austria
Hobby Technology Association, Wels:
www.hobbytechnik.net

▶ Vorarlberg
screwdriver hell,
Bregenz:
www.schrauberhoelle.at