"Skill, maybe," Thierry replied, "Or maybe I just get real lucky every time, 'chere. But I take it apart, see what wrong, see what can be done, and then put it back together. Sometime you gotta go down to see what each piece do before you toss it aside." Thierry didn't really boast about what he could do, though he knew his uncle appreciated it a lot. So much that he'd been pretty bitter when it was time for Thierry to own up to the family debt.
He took a moment to think about how to answer her. "Don't know. Just some'ting I learn on my own. Started helpin' at my uncle's shop and wanted to see how 'tings work. Took 'tings apart, put 'dem back together." Some things about fixing cars and modifying them he learned from his uncle, but most of what Thierry knew about cars he learned on his own through exploration.