I'm a mechanic with no car knowledge, hmmm Options

[Red-ROM]

If you have an active skill (like auto mechanic)

but take no knowledge skill in it, and you want to make conversation or observations about cars, can you roll your active skill? do you have to default? this might not be the best example, but do you see where I'm going with it?

[nezumi]

I believe SR3 either specified, or it's a commonly held houserule, that you have automatically have a knowledge skill equal to the active skill by the same name (since it's unusual that you are able to do something, but don't know how to do it).

[Dragnar]

If it has something to do with fixing cars, it's part of "automotive mechanic". If you know how to do it, you can talk about it, so a conversation about why the new Ares engine is superior to the one mitsuhama threw on the market last year is fine.
Now, if you'd want to know about famous car races, car manufacturers, car-related triviva or whatever, that's something else and that would be its own knowledge skill.

[Meatbag]

To me, Knowledge skills represent deeper knowledge than the practicalities, but you can certainly hold your own in shop talk with Automotive Mechanic.

I have a greasemonkey in the family, and while he can fix and diagnose a wide array of problems, he's not an engineer. When asked how long the fan belt on an '84 Ford is, he simply replied "lemme get the tape measure and find out."

He's seen enough bad examples to know what works, but he can't identify specific brands and models from passing engine noise.

[Ravor]

Aye, although I would say that your family member does indeed have some knowledge skills related to cars, just self taught and at fairly low levels.

[DireRadiant]

Intuition or Logic + Active Skill
or
Default

[Draco18s]

Sure, you can talk about cars. You can talk about cars all day.

Right down to a level where most people zone out and stop listening (why X muffler is better than Y muffler do to different manufacturing methods and the mineral concentrations in the catalytic converter (a few grams of platinum, don't cha know)).

[Stahlseele]

You can REPAIR them like nobodys business . . but you don't even know the difference between a differential and the valves.
Yeah, your example is a bit weird. . you just instinctively hammer the right parts into shape and it simply works again.
Kinda like you can KNOW how something flies, but you will STILL leave a red smear on the ground if you try it without help.

[Tanegar]

I believe SR3 either specified, or it's a commonly held houserule, that you have automatically have a knowledge skill equal to the active skill by the same name (since it's unusual that you are able to do something, but don't know how to do it).

This makes perfect sense.

You can REPAIR them like nobodys business . . but you don't even know the difference between a differential and the valves.
Yeah, your example is a bit weird. . you just instinctively hammer the right parts into shape and it simply works again.
Kinda like you can KNOW how something flies, but you will STILL leave a red smear on the ground if you try it without help.

This makes no sense whatsoever.

[toolbox]

This makes no sense whatsoever.

Agreed. I have some very minor vehicle repair skills (acquired on my last job, where vehicle maintenance was sort of added onto my job description after I started), but I have no general knowledge of cars or anything of the sort. Still, I know the difference between valves and a differential. You can't fix the goddamn things if you don't.

[Stahlseele]

Magic does not make any sense either.
It's a Game. It's a Game-MECHANIC < = yes, i am proud of the pun in this context.

[toolbox]

Magic does not make any sense either.
It's a Game. It's a Game-MECHANIC < = yes, i am proud of the pun in this context.

That's nice. It's still impossible to have a skill and not know anything about it; that's sort of what "skill" means. A mechanic does know about fixing machines and can talk about it knowledgeably. There's absolutely no reason to believe otherwise.

[DireRadiant]

talking about cars convincingly...

Charisma + Auto Mechanic

Or

Int + Auto Mechanic Complimentary Skill test then Charisma + Etiquette

[kigmatzomat]

Imagine a US mechanic from 1960 going to Russia. They wouldn't recognize a single vehicle other than maybe a bmw or volvo.Their knowledge skill is functionally zero whiler their repair skill remains functional, albeit much more dependent on spec sheets.

Alternately, think of a mechanic from an R&D prototype team. He never works with off the shelf parts and the final models never look like the prototype.

Unlikely? Yeah. But possible.

I do think that part of being a good mechanic is learning the background knowledge but that's more on the "class" of auto mechanic rather than the repair skill.

[Zurai]

Imagine a US mechanic from 1960 going to Russia. They wouldn't recognize a single vehicle other than maybe a bmw or volvo.Their knowledge skill is functionally zero whiler their repair skill remains functional, albeit much more dependent on spec sheets.

Alternately, think of a mechanic from an R&D prototype team. He never works with off the shelf parts and the final models never look like the prototype.

Errr... neither of those are very good examples, and they definitely don't prove your point. A car is, for the most part, a car. The design principles that define a 1960's American car are pretty much identical to the design principles of a 1960's Russian car, from a mechanical engineering point of view. Same with an R&D mechanic -- he's working on cutting edge stuff, but whether he works with off-the-shelf parts has nothing to do with how much he knows about cars.