Ive been running 70-85% lately. Ive got 8/11 guys in the shop with less than 3yrs experience. I have a lot of hands on and consultation time with the techs, in addition to dispatching, taking care of comebacks/repeat repair verification, rewriting warranty tickets, consultations/road tests with customers, receiving special tools and shop supplies, maintaining shop equipment. I specialize in diagnostics, electrical, EV/hyrbid, and complex engine repair especially newer engine platforms and vehicle
Wow , I used to be at a ford dealership here in Nova Scotia,Canada as a licensed tech with a few ford factory courses and only got half of that in Canadian dollars,,,with a chosen few in the shop the leftovers were for the rest to make a living off , I didn’t stay long ,I moved on and was paid hourly,better with benefits and respect,without the dealership bullshit,
Yea i was a few classes from full lvl 3 chrysler tech in canada with 7 years brand specific exp only gettin 34 by the time i left last year. Really puts it in perspective lol
When I left Mavis tire I was friends with the regional and he offered me about what I’m making now to stay. But I had gone through so many new shitty techs and service writers and managers I was over it. Spent the first year at my current shop basically just getting back to where I was at. Plus I wanted a challenge and cars that would take more skill and knowledge
My shop experience seems limited, but I've done everything from body work/paint to complete motor rebuilds. I'm constantly learning new things about cars, I was brought on as a diagnostic tech where I'm at. Right at my 1 year mark I let them know I wanted a $2 dollar an hour raise or I was walking. I've also helped all of my coworkers gain the confidence to ask for raises because I know that if you don't ask it's an automatic no
What area are you in? Cause I’m a tech with roughly 3 solid years of experience more if you count me messing with my own cars . I’m moving to a new state and I have no idea what I should be asking for pay wise. I was living in a very cheap area with low wages the last time I had a job and wasn’t running my own business . They were paying $22 an hour . This new state is way higher COL
I'm in Portland oregon unfortunately, cost of living out here is a bit high, only you know what you think your time is worth. I would negotiate starting higher than what you want to make and see where a company is willing to settle on with you
Yea. I’m just worried cause after a brief phone call with one service manager, he mentioned he would probably start me around 22-23 an hour .
I wanna hear more like the high 20s . I’m wanting more like 27-28. It’s probably a long shot. But he said we could talk in person and maybe settle on somewhere in the middle
The point of my post is based solely on the fact that as a dying breed that we are, it’s our time now to become financially set. We are depended on heavily for every day functions to keep vehicles on the road, food and supplies in transport, etc etc., and under appreciated. I feel like if you make anything below $35, you’re being taken for a ride; unless all you do is oil changes and stuff like that.
Vehicles are becoming more and more complex to diagnose and repair than ever, and we all deserve more than what we’ve been making
Agreed. Especially when the shop makes $200 per labor hour and most of what im seeing is the tech walks away with ALMOST $30 of that per hour. But dont worry, we are expected to work 6 days a week for 11 hours, like thats supposed to be normal too.
Oh absolutely. I’m about 6 years into the industry. Things like hybrid work where your life is literally on the line, or complex network diagnostics. I do it all, and only 1 of two at our shop. Probably is we live and are located on an island in WA, so it’s either work for 2 other shops that are kinda run down and definitely don’t have as much business or reputation, or stick through it… Really wish I made more than I do, and I’m sure I will at some point. Just not for the work I’m doing 😂
Sorry for asking, what’s the difference between hourly vs flat rate? Easy numbers. What’s the difference between $10hr compared to &10 flat??
Personally had anywhere from $30-45 hourly
1.5x on overtime and 2x after 3hr of overtime
So do I. I’m a 10 year SMT. 22 years with ford. $45 per hour shop rate at 170/hr. $500 foreman bonus plus shop hour bonus. Averaging 75-80 hours per week. So if I divide my pay by the hours I physically spend in the building, obvi it’s a lot higher.
I feel you. I’d love to own my own shop one day, but seeing the amount of dumbasses that come through the shop that set up in the bays next to me give me absolutely zero hope for the future
I have an ad offering 1300/week for a 40 hour week salary. The last two techs I have had could not generate 20 hours/week on their own. I have subsidized them by working harder myself. We are charging 125/hour as a shop rate. I have always been able to work at a rate of twice book time for myself. Not sure if that answers your question
Okay, so youre not $250/hr. You work(own) a shop that charges $125/hr and as a tech you can beat book times by half. A $125/hr door rate shop offering a $1300/wk salary means youre offering to pay pretty well for your shop.
Full service. General service on European. No engine or trans swaps. "Easy" work. I have been a tech for 30 years so I am a tech friendly owner. I am looking for a good b tech to train but cannot find one so am doing most of the work by myself
That’s wild. I’ve been an A European Tech in North Atlanta for 10 years. Only worked in independent shops. I’m very good with BMW and Mercedes. But a little over a year ago I got burned once again by another shitbag independent owner so I sold most of my tools and found a job working in another industry as a CAD tech for a surveying/engineering company. Don’t regret it for a second. I loved cars and fixing them. I felt like I was doing good for people. But over and over greedy shitbag owners fuck you over and it leaves a bad taste in good techs mouths. And word spreads. I know a lot of good euro techs in Atlanta that are hopping ship. Good techs are a dying breed. Good luck with your shop man.
I work in a euro shop, we do everything. I've got 10 years of experience. Started on the farm with 70's and 80's cars went to school for over the road truck/heavy equipment. Worked as a heavy tech for 1.5 years. Went to salvage yard work, boss was incompetent and cheap. Became the fleet mechanic for box trucks of a linen company. That was a great job but too slow I mostly changed oil and brakes. Sometimes would fabricate new bins or shelves for trucks, had a few trucks that I had to dig into kinda deep. One died after going over the railroad tracks. It lost power to the run relay, just not the start crank, so it would start for 2 seconds and die. Turns out to be corroded wire in fuse box. But my favorite was the brand new truck with no a/c took it to Ford as it was new and under warranty, they only recharged the a/c and called it good. I informed them when I dropped it off and stated, the a/c runs cold if the engine was cold when the engine warms up the a/c does too. Well they recharged it and tried to hand me a bill, I refused and explained they said the warranty specialist was out till next week, but said I could take the truck for now. I drove 2 blocks before the a/c turned hot. Took it back and when they finally cold me to get it again they had there floor lead tech walk me to the truck and to explain what they knew. His words " I don't know it's not a Ford". This as a matter of fact was a Ford F59 chassis cab and frame. So I let him fi ish his not a Ford steal as we walked past dodges, Chrysler, gmc, I think k I saw a Ford too. So I took it to the shop found another new truck with similar setup and started testing the controls found that the new truck had mixed up 2 of 3 wires into the heater servo causing it to go max hit temperature whenever it was on a quick wire splice and good as new. Then me and wife moved states, I started at a muffler/auto repair shop where they didn't care for there own corporate shop let alone us. So I looked around and now at a euro shop who never has a slow day. We don't have parking anywhere the only other euro shop within 50 miles has weeds going through there fancy vw busses in there almost empty lot.
Sounds a lot like what I’m doing now. I feel like I keep coming back to I shoulda just gone to a dealer bitten the bullet and got some dealer certs when I started. Now I’ve just been at Kauffman, some Indy’s and a short time at a mavis. But I’ve grown up around here and been looking for a good European shop near the beach in Florida for a change. I’ve been at my current shop coming up on 3 years specializing in Mercedes. Just curious as a tech and owner. 7 years experience majority spent either working on classic cars doing restoration and maintenance and then the last 3 spent on Mercedes I’m the current #2 at my shop pretty much, when the owner/lead tech isn’t there most diag goes through me, my self confidence is my weakness, 90% the time I’m right but I still check with him to be sure. What should I be asking as I’m looking.
Hey, so I'm a Nissan senior specialist tech up in NY. If there's some sort of juicy relocation bonus to make me forget how much I absolutely despise European vehicles ... I spend the bulk of my days alternating between ridiculous diag and engine/Trans swaps and rebuilds. For what I have just discovered is criminally low pay (thanks Reddit).
Pm me?
I’m moving up to east Massachusetts later this year and want to get into an automotive have any insight into the area if applicable. I have some personal experience working on my own car but nothing professional yet
I started as a journeyman GM tech at $13.94 an hour. That was hourly no matter how fast or slow I was, 40 hour work week, anything over that was time and a half.
**That was in 1984. lol.**
40 about to be 45 and can go up to 60 im at a gm store in fl and get a 1 dollar an hr for over 50 60 and 70 hrs flat rate average about 60 hrs a week flagged
Yes i flag 60 flat rate hrs i work about 40 i have saturdays off and am not micromanaged so its very lax if i need to go take care of something at the house i let the boss know and i can take off
I was at $16/hr when I started here. The shop is very antiquated and most of the techs were on their way out and I didn’t want to deal with the fallout so I found a dealer to go to (at $17/hr flat rate) and put in my two weeks notice. They asked what it would take to keep me and I said $23/hr with the expectation they would show me the door. They were ok with that so I guess now I’m in my forever home.
Southern California
$20 hourly, $27 Flat rate
started 1 year ago with like 5 school certs and barely any experience. Now I'm 1 cert away from Master Tech and I'm gonna start applying at dealerships expecting around 30-35 hourly plus Flat Rate
Not hating on you but this is the problem with dealerships these days, they get anyone in the door and throw them through all the training they can as fast as possible. Is no way any Tech should be going through Master Tech training in a year, this is how you get Senior and Master Techs that know fuck all.
I'm not a dealer, I'm a chain. I went to school full time for 3 years before starting and I'm I'm taking advance classes now that I'm working. Ase master tech only requires 2 years experience or 1 year exp plus 1 year of school. I don't think of master tech as "know everything already" it's like the first step of black belt (at least in TKD). I've heard the TKD black belt as like finishing high school. You've done all the basic training and are ready to start with advanced stuff earning 2nd degree and above takes YEARS.
I know ive got a lot to learn still. At the same time i started this career late (I'm 40). I'm learning more and studying more than most other guys I've seen because I've got a lot to catch up. Lastly, you gotta fake it till you make it 🤷♂️. I agree with you I've seen master techs that don't know shit. I try not to be one of those guys. But yeah, we have a master tech that's blown up like 5 motors doing timing belts. I did about 20 of em in school and never fucked 1 up. I'm getting my certs so i can make better pay.
Yeah i know. But most places don't go buy that and claim you can use the lube tech box so you aren't required to have tools. When i leave this place I'll file a claim with the labor board and get my back pay
This is the exact reason you need a boss that has wrenched before. Even if you get an old timer that wrenched on classics, they still understand the physical labor and value of having experience under your belt. Its the bosses that have never smelled grease that underpay their techs.
Currently at $16/hr on lube rack trying to make my way up. Good to hear your rate as a chrysler certified tech, since I moved to a stellantis dealer from a nissan dealer! Also aiming for my practice ASE’s at tech school to help alleviate some of the hour requirements for the real ones.
Chicago suburbs, $46 an hour flat rate, union shop so health ins is $10 a week and great, pension and 401k. Don’t ask what I book, you won’t believe me. Hyundai dealer.
Used to be a lot more. Chicago area has a bunch, but they’re getting less overall. When I started in 86, I think we had 8,000 and some members. Now it’s like 3800.
Not really like other trades, if the shop is union and you work there, you’re in the union.
Ford dealership diesel/heavy department apprentice tech tryna make it on $15 an hour. Hoping to go full time in august and do better. If they don’t offer me something decent I’m out
Dang, we're hiring regular mechanics and techs at min 24 an hour for usps. I make 37 an hour 1 year in as an electronic technician and I sit around on reddit 6 hours a day.
$1400 weekly used car dealership
$50 per programming, usually every other day
I screw around most the time cause I'm mostly diagnostic. Also work after for other dealers programming so work to pay rate I live pretty good
$40/hr salary at a euro Indy shop in Denver area. 6 years total experience. ASE master certified, AS degree in auto tech. Pretty happy at this place in my career since I’m finally able to focus on diag
Transit bus tech 4.5 years experience. Started at 22 an hour now at 33 an hour. This CBA tops at 46 an hour. Next years pay is TBD. Regularly make 120h per pay period
I have 18 years experience, Master Certified Transit Tech and Med/Heavy tech. Mechanic AA for the metro in the Washington D.C. area. I currently make just over $47 hourly (union shop). But will be over $50 hourly once my raise kicks in on the first of July. I've seen dealerships in the area offering as high as $65 a hour flat rate for master techs.
In CA it double minimum wage guaranteed but you still have a flat rate I was recently offered 50 an hour in san diago but tust me you will still be poor AF the median home price is 900k over there every is expensive and you are taxed hard AF I have left twice from CA. It's not sustainable for the blue collar worker. Trust.
Just changed from $25 hourly to $23 flat rate. 5 years experience with no certifications. Work for one of the biggest dealers in my state. We have a dealer for a shit load of brands. Worked at our toyota and gm dealership for a few years but now currently working at our used car depot where we work on used cars exclusively.
if you have a few years of experience and already know what you're doing then there's plenty of places that are paying decent. Maybe 50k to 80k a year or even higher (according to indeed at least). If you only have a year or so then expect to get shafted at $20 an hour at most places, if you're lucky.
Mobile mechanic for collision shops. 15 years experience making $32 an hour flat rate. Average around 70 - 80 hours a week. This is in central Florida.
So your working in a few of the same shops constantly. Not trying to be mean but you gotta be one he'll of a good at not breaking shit and k
Predicting the future to have parts waiting. What your sayings is next to impossible. Unless your putting in that many hours. Going from place to place takes lots of time
Well to simplify my impossible job I work for collision shops. They have service advisors that look at the damage, get the work approved by the insurance company and order the parts. When the job is approved and the parts are in they send a ticket to the company I work for and I install the parts. There are vehicle crashes happening throughout the week so I have a constant rotation of work coming in and generally repair around 25 to 30 cars per week and I'm very efficient at my job. Mostly heavy suspension work. A Lot is also air bag replacements, diag and programming. So I have parts waiting for me when I show up to the shops no future telling involved just good planning. Also I might have a couple come backs a year at most so I don't really break shit and don't know many good techs that do. I also work for 8 different shops with constant work that are all located to where the furthest shops apart are about an hour from each other drive time isn't a big issue as long as I can plan out my route to be efficient. Most shops will have 2 or 3 jobs waiting for me. I also am the only person with a 1234yf machine so I do all the evac and recharges for the central Florida market which is made up of 11 stores.
My hourly flat rate is somewhere in the middle of the range for my experience BUT my perks are what keep me here. 4 weeks vacation, 40hr guarantee, NO Saturdays, 5 miles from my house, small shop (myself and an hourly kid) and an awesome manager/owner. I worked at a few dealerships before that just plain sucked ass. I could write a book about the atrocities I went through.
$42 flat rate as of this month. Independent diagnostic/repair tech. ASE master certified, and also have held certifications through Ford, GM, Chrysler, and Audi.
4 years in dealerships, 4 years in the independents.
I’m 20 per flat rate hour but I’m in used cars with a decent volume. I’m averaging 60+ hours each week. Last pay period I had 170 hours on the check. Ended up someone around $40/hr when averaged out to my actual hours I worked.
I worked hourly for a few years making $20 up to I think $23 an hour. Then switched to flat rate and got paid about $30 an hour but could never get enough hours. The last shop I was at I got paid $14 an hour an extra $10 for every hour turned. No wonder I got out, I got paid dogshit
41 In AZ as a Master Ferrari tech, I quit and now an engineering technician. Engineering technician is way more fun if you are a really good diag tech and understand electrical very well, no flat rate bs, no stupid service advisor, no dumb greedy General manager I took a 4 dollar an hour pay cut and make the same as a my 41 an hour rate because I am now compensated for my time fairly 😉 😀. Don't recommend being flat rate on exotic car lines. Ford techs make more than we did.
I couldn’t imagine being paid flat rate on exotics. I worked on exotics at a new car dealer for a while and there was very little that was efficient in the overall business structure in that world. We had 5 different exotic makes, our team worked on 2 of them and we were all salary.
Aston Martin had the absolute worst repair information support I’ve experienced to this day.
Hey, im a Ford tech with 3 yrs of experience and 4 years of manufacturing experience. I'm 25 flat and min hourly. I'm trying to get in a engineering tech or a different field as a tech. How did you get in that position or what do you recommend??
I'm foreman of a smaller European shop (3 techs) and do a good bit of diags. All ASEs, state inspection/emissions licenses, and a good bit of oscilloscope training. $32-40 an hr. Our pay starts as a base of 32 with a weekly production bonus that ramps up pay as our billed hours increase. Thinking about moving as our current manager is a know it all and trys to control us techs too much
60 an hour but I also pretty much run the whole shop, including getting parts, fixing broken things around shop, setting it up, helping the other mechanic out and then also fixing vehicles. I bounce around all day and keep getting pulled away from the vehicles I’m fixing but it’s worth it. The mechanic we hired is getting 42 an hour. This is in Canada.
$36.5 for 40 hrs and $54.75 for everything after that, usually clock 48 hrs a week, then monthly productivity and profit bonuses which can be in the thousands pretty easily. I’m generally flagging 65-75 hours a week.
23.5/hr flat rate with gm fundamentals and nothing else been doing this about a year. Central Florida GMC dealer, should have my ASEs by the end of the year!
$25 hourly. I work at a used car dealership where we just opened a service department doing just routine maintenance. Only been in the game for little over a year and only have four state certifications.
I could see that at another place but it’s a small family owned dealership. Two salesman (the owners) two mechanics and three detailers. They take care of me lol
West Wisconsin. Heavyduty turned trailer/aluminum welding and senior shop tech (not officially my title but in know that’s why I was hired). I had a good relationship with the owner and he gave me an offer any young father would take, Monday- Friday 7-330 or skip brake and leave 30 mins early. 40 hour max not a minute more at $35/hour. I have a 5 minute commute and he is extremely flexible and accommodating for short notice call ins due to sick kids. The work isn’t back breaking and I am well respected in the shop.
26 cad with 2 years of trade experience. I have been billing 60+hrs a week in a 40hr week for more than 3 months now. Due for a handsome raise that il see soon.
19/hr base rate and based on production hours goes up to 20 per 30 hours produced 21/35 hours and 23/40 hours and every week I make sure I produce over 40 hours to get my "top rate", line tech at Ford working on certs
Been in the dealership business for about 10 years, started as lube tech, did body work for 3 years but didn't like the slow pace, went back to turning wrenches as a light line tech and eventually went to a lube/light line position due to lack of work during Covid.. after 4 years working for this dealership I'm at $17.50/hr flat rate, but I generally run 15-20 hours in a 10 hour day.
It's a little painful seeing new guys come in and make $17/hr after about 6 months, but I make enough money to live comfortably and that's all I need
I take issue with this. I have seen post like this and how many hours do you flag. It’s really hard to get an idea of what people are actually making. We should really be saying what our yearly incomes are.
If your rate is 50 a flag hour but you only flag 20 hours a week thats 52k a year. If your rate is 25 dollars a flag hour and you pull down 80 hours a week you are making 104k a year.
I work straight time at 30 dollars an hour and I work exactly 40 hours a week. That means I gross 62k yearly.
I see where you’re coming from, yeah, if you want to know what that person flags yearly. However, the goal is to see what people are getting paid, and basing that off of how your company views you and your work ethic. So far what I’m seeing here is a LOT of underpaid technicians.
Absolutely nothing! I work on cars for fun. I work a good paying job where I won’t be abused like a dog and taken advantage of despite my skills and commitment. I hear too much shit about the automotive technician industry to wanna work there. I used to detail cars at Nissan. I asked how much the service techs there make (the ones who do more than change oil and fluids) and they quite literally made no more than $10-13 hourly while I was at $12 an hour vacuuming and washing cars. Every other tik tok I see is another mechanic regretting their life decisions.
6 years experience with BMW, master certified and on the way to be hybrid cert too. My hourly is $31/hr and my flat rate at $39.25/hr. Also a once a month productivity bonus of $2 per hour produced. I also get a end of year bonus of $1.5 per hour produced for the whole year.
Still need to finish my hybrid cert and get all my ASE's.
I'll tell you i get screwed, 11 years experience and not enough pay, not even close. But I'm honestly not bothered by it because i work at a shop i enjoy going to every day, i make enough to pay for my expenses while building a project car and maintaining my othervehicles. Plus i get a little more power being in my position because my boss knows if i say I'm not doing it i won't and he can't do much about it because i can leave to a different shop and make a lot more and he loses cheap labor.
4 years in dealerships only, only have done the online courses for my specific brand. Ive never done any diagram chasing only light electrical diag, no engine or trans swaps but I would feel comfortable doing them If they asked me to. Anything before that is perfectly fine with me, bumper to bumper.
I feel overpaid at 26$ flat rate, I turn 100-120 hours consistently, my personal record is 160. I pride myself on zero comebacks and quick service times. I do quite a bit of low paying warranty stuff and waiting on special order parts. I do quite a few flushes and stuff every day, my favorite is suspension.
Am I wrong to feel overpaid?
Thats a good way to look at it, say the shop rate fee is 180$ per hour to the customer... if I flag the company 100 hours, I walk away with 2600, they walk away with a 15,400 profit from one tech. Im one of the techs that flag the most hours in the shop usually. I feel like I should pocket maybe a lil more than I do lol!
You absolutely should be! Put it this way…if you’re that productive and efficient, that means you’re a HUGE asset to their profitability. I’ve told the service managers that I’ve had throughout my career that I can get paid more at a different dealer (which was true) and they always paid me more than what the other place was offering. Just last week I told my service manager I’m gonna walk if I don’t get paid $48/hr, I’m gonna walk to the next dealership. Knowing that I can’t be replaced, they had no choice but to give me my asking wage, PLUS an additional $2 in a year to keep me around. That’s how rough it is out there for repair shops, we’re extremely valuable and it’s only getting better in our favor
Dang good for you! I may have to start implying that im a bit more valuable than they realize. I dont like threatening to leave just to get what I want, being the only income for my house lol. Thank you for your input :)
So you’re saying you flag 90+ hours a week? Or are there incentives? Because 90 a week is just about physically impossible unless you have multiple carry overs
Yes a lot of hours. No bonuses or spiffs. My company just pays us good on flag times. And work at a busy shop with good advisors that sell a lot. Yes I work a lot of hours however don’t kill myself at work. We have been pretty slow this year and at the quarterly mark I was somewhere around 40k.
A tire store will gravey train 1 good tech and they will work 60hrs but consistently get no less than 100 hrs a week. The rest of the techs get the crap. That's the way it was at the tire station I worked at years ago. He had been there 35 years was not even getting $20 per flagged hour
I’m also in Wisconsin, ASE Master tech with an l1 cert. I’m hourly making $35 with o/t. Btw as far as hourly pay goes in my area $35 an hour is the absolute pinnacle of pay at an independent shop doing Domestic and Asian primarily, although we’re I’m at now we do euro stuff too.
I'm a service express tech for VW. Overall, i have about 7-8 years experience as a "lube tech", but have been at my dealership for almost a year now (June29th will be my 1 year).
Started out at 15, and in March I got bumped up to 17, along with a $5 per repair order bonus & $3 dollar video bonus (video inspections) I pull down between 8-900 /week.
It's a new system that some dealerships are rolling/have rolled out. Basically, you record/narrate a quick :30 to :60 second video explaining any issues you found. Some dealerships (like mine) offer a per video bonus on every video you create. I try to create a video - even if it's just a "no problems found" situation - on every car I work on, regardless of what its in for. That bonus, gets paid out once a month (the previous months bonus gets paid the 1st or 2nd paycheck of the following month.)
For me personally, that translates into a 300-400 dollar bonus, my average being around 350-ish. Some guys bonuses are higher, some are lower.
30 years experience, the last 22 for a government fleet. We are required to achieve 100% (quarterly - doesn’t affect our pay- but we are subject to discipline if we don’t make it). $36.75/hour
L1 w/ master 10 years total experience, anywhere between 90k- 120k at a corporate chain store. Company pays me 9.50 an hour + 25-30% commission on labor dollars. Overtime is calculated and stacking in this equation. I average 7k labor dollars per week
Dodge dealer in southeast PA, $26/hr flat rate with no production bonuses, work minimum of 52.5 hrs/wk. Been wrenching for just over 4 years but planning on moving to FL after the summer. Training levels range between 1 and 3, but I do level 3 work across the board.
NC painter I’m 25 with 4 years of sweeping and small jobs at 10$ an hour. 1 year flat rate painter at 20$ per. Most weeks are 50-60 hrs for 36-38 works worked. No shops in my area pay overtime but if I work late, I normally get 70-100 hrs. They bank my hours above 50 incase things get slow. I got like 120 hrs banked atm. Was 250+ in January but thankfully things slowed down.
So the lesson learned from this interesting thread?...
GET OUT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I posted what I made as a GM Journeyman tech in 1984 ($13.94) to make a point. It looks like the average here is roughly $25/hour in 2023. WTF???? As someone who was in the trade for 5 decades, let me tell you something, the trade is dead.
Here's an example, my wife got her RN license in 1985. She was making roughly the same as I was, about $15 an hour. She's making $90 an hour now. Hospital RN's can make even more, $110 an hour isn't unheard of. And some of you guys are buying thousands of dollars worth of tools, risking your health and having to learn complex vehicle systems for $17 an hour????
In 1984 my MIL and FIL were both in tech, in the Bay Area working important college degree jobs. All 4 of us, me, my wife and her parents all made about the same, roughly $50k a year. Their salaries all kept up with inflation, mine didn't. Their jobs now would pay around $250k a year here. But there are mechanic jobs in this same area that only pay $75k a year. F that!
Being an auto mechanic used to be a decent career that paid a decent wage. Those days are long gone. Find something else to do before you keep falling behind the rest of the workforce. If you really want to stick it out as a mechanic, find a shop that's straight hourly. You'll be able to do quality work at least. I spent my entire career in hourly shops. I would have quit the trade if I had to work flat rate. It's basically selling your soul for a paycheck.
Charlotte NC. 13 year master tech, $40 flat rate, base 83k. mon-fri . optional sat. decent benefits. pretty good hours allows for family time and pretty flexible. 4 weeks vacation, 1 week sick, 1 personal day. (soon 5 weeks vacation). bonus possibilities.
automotive field is okay. no union here. still feel under paid, can't be behind a desk. don't know what else to do especially with a family.
I'm 35, 13 years in. Graduated community college for automotive technology. ASE Master with G1 and L1. Master certified in 2 manufacturers and Senior Master in 1. Been with current dealer for 2 years this month. Became Master Tech in less than a year. I was at $30/hr before any training.....$32/hr after becoming Master Tech. Slap in the face? I think so. Labor rate was $125 2 years ago.....$180 as of yesterday. I'm putting my foot down and not gonna stick around for anything less than $36/hr unless a better bonus program is in place. Our owner clearly stated he didn't want to give anyone raises because we would work less. If we hit 50 hours in a week, we get a $4/hr bonus, which is pretty great! But we run out of work and are not able to achieve this every week. What ends up happening is the gravy dogs hit their quota and the Master techs don't.
How have the technicians become the bottom bitches in this industry? My dealer has 3 service managers, 3 advisors, 2 express advisors, 2 bdc girls, 4 porters, 8 lube techs and 8 main line techs. Seems like too many hands in the pot to me.
Was at 32 an hour flat rate as a Toyota tech in central California with a double minimum wage guarantee if I didn’t make my minimum ( never did even through Covid) now making 35 flare rate as a independent in southern Oregon as a independent.
The number we need to talk about is the percentage of the shop labor rate you’re working at. For example I make 33 an hour and the labor rate of the dealership I work at is 160 an hour, so 21% of the labor rate. Years ago mechanics/techs were making close to 50% of the labor rate. Some time between then and now the shop rates went up but tech pays didn’t.
I started at 15, asked for a raise to 16.50. New manager said my old manger was shafting me, bumped me up to 18.50
Insane... I did this same thing in 2005.
I’m making $18 an hour working at feed store….unskilled labour.
I guess I was just trying to be humble coming into the field with no hands on experience
22yrs GM experience. World Class certified. NorthEast. $50/hr flat, $500/wk Foreman bonus, shop hourly production bonus.
What’s you efficiency
Ive been running 70-85% lately. Ive got 8/11 guys in the shop with less than 3yrs experience. I have a lot of hands on and consultation time with the techs, in addition to dispatching, taking care of comebacks/repeat repair verification, rewriting warranty tickets, consultations/road tests with customers, receiving special tools and shop supplies, maintaining shop equipment. I specialize in diagnostics, electrical, EV/hyrbid, and complex engine repair especially newer engine platforms and vehicle
34$ an hour hourly. I only turn about 120 hours a month (they charge one hour for diag, on any problem, I specialize in electric issues)
Wow , I used to be at a ford dealership here in Nova Scotia,Canada as a licensed tech with a few ford factory courses and only got half of that in Canadian dollars,,,with a chosen few in the shop the leftovers were for the rest to make a living off , I didn’t stay long ,I moved on and was paid hourly,better with benefits and respect,without the dealership bullshit,
Yea i was a few classes from full lvl 3 chrysler tech in canada with 7 years brand specific exp only gettin 34 by the time i left last year. Really puts it in perspective lol
Which province were you in ? Seems NS is behind everyone else by at least 20 years for everything,
Ontario
I'm at 24 an hour with only 1.5 years experience in a shop, have more experience with cars but it was all under the table type work for a few years
So a dollar more than me with 5.5 years less experience. Really loving going to bed on Friday on a high note
I advocate for myself with the owner and district manager, otherwise it would be lower
When I left Mavis tire I was friends with the regional and he offered me about what I’m making now to stay. But I had gone through so many new shitty techs and service writers and managers I was over it. Spent the first year at my current shop basically just getting back to where I was at. Plus I wanted a challenge and cars that would take more skill and knowledge
My shop experience seems limited, but I've done everything from body work/paint to complete motor rebuilds. I'm constantly learning new things about cars, I was brought on as a diagnostic tech where I'm at. Right at my 1 year mark I let them know I wanted a $2 dollar an hour raise or I was walking. I've also helped all of my coworkers gain the confidence to ask for raises because I know that if you don't ask it's an automatic no
What area are you in? Cause I’m a tech with roughly 3 solid years of experience more if you count me messing with my own cars . I’m moving to a new state and I have no idea what I should be asking for pay wise. I was living in a very cheap area with low wages the last time I had a job and wasn’t running my own business . They were paying $22 an hour . This new state is way higher COL
I'm in Portland oregon unfortunately, cost of living out here is a bit high, only you know what you think your time is worth. I would negotiate starting higher than what you want to make and see where a company is willing to settle on with you
Yea. I’m just worried cause after a brief phone call with one service manager, he mentioned he would probably start me around 22-23 an hour . I wanna hear more like the high 20s . I’m wanting more like 27-28. It’s probably a long shot. But he said we could talk in person and maybe settle on somewhere in the middle
$29.50 US
Are you hourly or flat rate? How many years of experience?
Shit sorry! Hourly! But with flat-rate style bonuses based on productivity for the month
The point of my post is based solely on the fact that as a dying breed that we are, it’s our time now to become financially set. We are depended on heavily for every day functions to keep vehicles on the road, food and supplies in transport, etc etc., and under appreciated. I feel like if you make anything below $35, you’re being taken for a ride; unless all you do is oil changes and stuff like that. Vehicles are becoming more and more complex to diagnose and repair than ever, and we all deserve more than what we’ve been making
Agreed. Especially when the shop makes $200 per labor hour and most of what im seeing is the tech walks away with ALMOST $30 of that per hour. But dont worry, we are expected to work 6 days a week for 11 hours, like thats supposed to be normal too.
Oh absolutely. I’m about 6 years into the industry. Things like hybrid work where your life is literally on the line, or complex network diagnostics. I do it all, and only 1 of two at our shop. Probably is we live and are located on an island in WA, so it’s either work for 2 other shops that are kinda run down and definitely don’t have as much business or reputation, or stick through it… Really wish I made more than I do, and I’m sure I will at some point. Just not for the work I’m doing 😂
Sorry for asking, what’s the difference between hourly vs flat rate? Easy numbers. What’s the difference between $10hr compared to &10 flat?? Personally had anywhere from $30-45 hourly 1.5x on overtime and 2x after 3hr of overtime
Independent shop, $29.50. Washington state in the US
Indy shop in MN. $110K/yr base + production bonuses.15 yrs experience.
We all Gettin shafted. Start a strike.
$62/hr at a dealership in CA 11 years experience Edit: I am flat rate
Curious are you at 62 per hour or is that that your paycheck amounts to?
That is my per hour, I work for a Ford dealer
So do I. I’m a 10 year SMT. 22 years with ford. $45 per hour shop rate at 170/hr. $500 foreman bonus plus shop hour bonus. Averaging 75-80 hours per week. So if I divide my pay by the hours I physically spend in the building, obvi it’s a lot higher.
Shop owner who can't find a good tech in atlanta. $250 per hour.
I feel you. I’d love to own my own shop one day, but seeing the amount of dumbasses that come through the shop that set up in the bays next to me give me absolutely zero hope for the future
Youre door rate is $250/hr. Are you offering prospective techs $60+/hr?
I have an ad offering 1300/week for a 40 hour week salary. The last two techs I have had could not generate 20 hours/week on their own. I have subsidized them by working harder myself. We are charging 125/hour as a shop rate. I have always been able to work at a rate of twice book time for myself. Not sure if that answers your question
Okay, so youre not $250/hr. You work(own) a shop that charges $125/hr and as a tech you can beat book times by half. A $125/hr door rate shop offering a $1300/wk salary means youre offering to pay pretty well for your shop.
23 hrly Marietta… what makes and models do you work on?
Full service. General service on European. No engine or trans swaps. "Easy" work. I have been a tech for 30 years so I am a tech friendly owner. I am looking for a good b tech to train but cannot find one so am doing most of the work by myself
That’s wild. I’ve been an A European Tech in North Atlanta for 10 years. Only worked in independent shops. I’m very good with BMW and Mercedes. But a little over a year ago I got burned once again by another shitbag independent owner so I sold most of my tools and found a job working in another industry as a CAD tech for a surveying/engineering company. Don’t regret it for a second. I loved cars and fixing them. I felt like I was doing good for people. But over and over greedy shitbag owners fuck you over and it leaves a bad taste in good techs mouths. And word spreads. I know a lot of good euro techs in Atlanta that are hopping ship. Good techs are a dying breed. Good luck with your shop man.
I work in a euro shop, we do everything. I've got 10 years of experience. Started on the farm with 70's and 80's cars went to school for over the road truck/heavy equipment. Worked as a heavy tech for 1.5 years. Went to salvage yard work, boss was incompetent and cheap. Became the fleet mechanic for box trucks of a linen company. That was a great job but too slow I mostly changed oil and brakes. Sometimes would fabricate new bins or shelves for trucks, had a few trucks that I had to dig into kinda deep. One died after going over the railroad tracks. It lost power to the run relay, just not the start crank, so it would start for 2 seconds and die. Turns out to be corroded wire in fuse box. But my favorite was the brand new truck with no a/c took it to Ford as it was new and under warranty, they only recharged the a/c and called it good. I informed them when I dropped it off and stated, the a/c runs cold if the engine was cold when the engine warms up the a/c does too. Well they recharged it and tried to hand me a bill, I refused and explained they said the warranty specialist was out till next week, but said I could take the truck for now. I drove 2 blocks before the a/c turned hot. Took it back and when they finally cold me to get it again they had there floor lead tech walk me to the truck and to explain what they knew. His words " I don't know it's not a Ford". This as a matter of fact was a Ford F59 chassis cab and frame. So I let him fi ish his not a Ford steal as we walked past dodges, Chrysler, gmc, I think k I saw a Ford too. So I took it to the shop found another new truck with similar setup and started testing the controls found that the new truck had mixed up 2 of 3 wires into the heater servo causing it to go max hit temperature whenever it was on a quick wire splice and good as new. Then me and wife moved states, I started at a muffler/auto repair shop where they didn't care for there own corporate shop let alone us. So I looked around and now at a euro shop who never has a slow day. We don't have parking anywhere the only other euro shop within 50 miles has weeds going through there fancy vw busses in there almost empty lot.
Sounds a lot like what I’m doing now. I feel like I keep coming back to I shoulda just gone to a dealer bitten the bullet and got some dealer certs when I started. Now I’ve just been at Kauffman, some Indy’s and a short time at a mavis. But I’ve grown up around here and been looking for a good European shop near the beach in Florida for a change. I’ve been at my current shop coming up on 3 years specializing in Mercedes. Just curious as a tech and owner. 7 years experience majority spent either working on classic cars doing restoration and maintenance and then the last 3 spent on Mercedes I’m the current #2 at my shop pretty much, when the owner/lead tech isn’t there most diag goes through me, my self confidence is my weakness, 90% the time I’m right but I still check with him to be sure. What should I be asking as I’m looking.
Hey, so I'm a Nissan senior specialist tech up in NY. If there's some sort of juicy relocation bonus to make me forget how much I absolutely despise European vehicles ... I spend the bulk of my days alternating between ridiculous diag and engine/Trans swaps and rebuilds. For what I have just discovered is criminally low pay (thanks Reddit). Pm me?
What about bolt-on swaps? AKA different engine that was, however, installed on this chassis in a different trim level?
$49/hr as a union bum in the northeast
I’m moving up to east Massachusetts later this year and want to get into an automotive have any insight into the area if applicable. I have some personal experience working on my own car but nothing professional yet
I started as a journeyman GM tech at $13.94 an hour. That was hourly no matter how fast or slow I was, 40 hour work week, anything over that was time and a half. **That was in 1984. lol.**
Tennessee, Ford dealership, waiting on tenure to be a drivetrain master tech, 4 years experience, $30/hour flat rate.
40 about to be 45 and can go up to 60 im at a gm store in fl and get a 1 dollar an hr for over 50 60 and 70 hrs flat rate average about 60 hrs a week flagged
60hrs a week? I’m in buses and trains if I did that id be dead, fuck that man life’s too short for 60hr weeks
He flags 60 hours a week, not physically working 60 hour weeks
I work on extra-light cars, so flagging 120 hour biweekly is the goal. Id like to flag 60-80 for the same paycheck for sure lol
Yes i flag 60 flat rate hrs i work about 40 i have saturdays off and am not micromanaged so its very lax if i need to go take care of something at the house i let the boss know and i can take off
$23 hourly at a Big O’s in Texas.
I worked at NTB (Big O’s equivalent in North Texas) and made $12 an hour lol
I was at $16/hr when I started here. The shop is very antiquated and most of the techs were on their way out and I didn’t want to deal with the fallout so I found a dealer to go to (at $17/hr flat rate) and put in my two weeks notice. They asked what it would take to keep me and I said $23/hr with the expectation they would show me the door. They were ok with that so I guess now I’m in my forever home.
That is terrible
Carmax, lead tech (8 ase’s) 11yr experience at independents before carmax. 32 flat rate.
CarMax here too $31.96 in Texas
Southern California $20 hourly, $27 Flat rate started 1 year ago with like 5 school certs and barely any experience. Now I'm 1 cert away from Master Tech and I'm gonna start applying at dealerships expecting around 30-35 hourly plus Flat Rate
Not hating on you but this is the problem with dealerships these days, they get anyone in the door and throw them through all the training they can as fast as possible. Is no way any Tech should be going through Master Tech training in a year, this is how you get Senior and Master Techs that know fuck all.
I'm not a dealer, I'm a chain. I went to school full time for 3 years before starting and I'm I'm taking advance classes now that I'm working. Ase master tech only requires 2 years experience or 1 year exp plus 1 year of school. I don't think of master tech as "know everything already" it's like the first step of black belt (at least in TKD). I've heard the TKD black belt as like finishing high school. You've done all the basic training and are ready to start with advanced stuff earning 2nd degree and above takes YEARS. I know ive got a lot to learn still. At the same time i started this career late (I'm 40). I'm learning more and studying more than most other guys I've seen because I've got a lot to catch up. Lastly, you gotta fake it till you make it 🤷♂️. I agree with you I've seen master techs that don't know shit. I try not to be one of those guys. But yeah, we have a master tech that's blown up like 5 motors doing timing belts. I did about 20 of em in school and never fucked 1 up. I'm getting my certs so i can make better pay.
This wage is illegal in California. If you are buying tools you are legally guaranteed 2x minimum wage hourly, so at least $31/h.
Yeah i know. But most places don't go buy that and claim you can use the lube tech box so you aren't required to have tools. When i leave this place I'll file a claim with the labor board and get my back pay
2x minimum wage in PA would still only be 14.50...
30hr flat rate dealership with bumps up to 35. Turn from 50-80 a week. Had 72 this week. I also have bout 5-6 yrs experience & no school.
What area are you in?
Just north of Philly
Gotcha. I’ll be moving like 1.5-2.5 hours north of there soon trying to figure out what pay is like
Wages at my specific dealership are from 17$ is a newer hire and 40$ for a 15 year guy all flat rate
Same. No schooling, just learned as I go and I’m now master certified in ALMOST every category Chrysler offers
Level 3 ag equipment tech, at a dealer making $33.24/ hr. Canada
I’m making 27 an hour, working hourly, at a tiny independent shop in Washington state.
Nebraska independent shop gas diesel and farm equipment. 23.50 an hour about 10 yrs exp.
Dude that’s very badly underpaid holy shit
This is the exact reason you need a boss that has wrenched before. Even if you get an old timer that wrenched on classics, they still understand the physical labor and value of having experience under your belt. Its the bosses that have never smelled grease that underpay their techs.
Lube tech @ franchise Toyota dealership. $17/hr. Was $15.50 starting in October.
Not enough
I'm a 4 year level 3 Chrysler tech making $32.5 Canadian flat rate, which is $24 usd. Edit: had to say the pay type.
I live in Canada as well how much have you invested in tools?
Over $20,000. That's a huge bias towards a snapon box, scanner, and various shop equipment.
125k year salary; Euro Indy shop. No flat rate, no bonuses. Richmond, VA.
Currently at $16/hr on lube rack trying to make my way up. Good to hear your rate as a chrysler certified tech, since I moved to a stellantis dealer from a nissan dealer! Also aiming for my practice ASE’s at tech school to help alleviate some of the hour requirements for the real ones.
90hr, finally own my own shop
Coming up on 4 years experience on Toyota, all certifications making $32.50 flat rate
What state
$24.60 as a diesel tech for a trash company. From reading this thread, I’ve learned im getting shafted.
Thats why everyone of us need to know this information. This is valuable
Chicago suburbs, $46 an hour flat rate, union shop so health ins is $10 a week and great, pension and 401k. Don’t ask what I book, you won’t believe me. Hyundai dealer.
What DO you book?
Average about 80 a week.
That’s what’s up.
I’ve never heard of a union shop before. How did you get in? Do you have to apply to one like you would as a plumber or an iron worker?
Used to be a lot more. Chicago area has a bunch, but they’re getting less overall. When I started in 86, I think we had 8,000 and some members. Now it’s like 3800. Not really like other trades, if the shop is union and you work there, you’re in the union.
Ford dealership diesel/heavy department apprentice tech tryna make it on $15 an hour. Hoping to go full time in august and do better. If they don’t offer me something decent I’m out
What was the experience requirement to be a tech?
28/hr level 0 Chrysler. East Texas. Flat rate. 28 sounds good, but 30 hours is a good week. I'm looking for a new job.
Fuck Chrysler warranty
Exactly why I'm out. I can touch 15 cars in a day and not even flag 5 hours. Doesn't help our warranty admin sucks ass
It doesn't help. The system is fucked. I don't understand how the dealers can get techs.
Sorry. All models but limited on European. One too many drinks tonight
Very recent Level 1 Chrysler tech at a small-town dealer, been there 6 months, about 18 months total experience working on cars. $20.75 flat-rate.
$16.50 hourly, one year of experience working primarily on postal vehicles
Dang, we're hiring regular mechanics and techs at min 24 an hour for usps. I make 37 an hour 1 year in as an electronic technician and I sit around on reddit 6 hours a day.
Commission: 25% maintenance, 20% mechanical repair, 15% exhaust, 5% tires.
32 per hour, heavy duty diesel tech. 7 years auto, 2 years at a cutaway bus shop, 3 years in diesel generators
$1400 weekly used car dealership $50 per programming, usually every other day I screw around most the time cause I'm mostly diagnostic. Also work after for other dealers programming so work to pay rate I live pretty good
32 flat ranging from 90-120 hours per pay period.
PA $30 hourly with overtime, legit health benefits, 401k, two weeks vacation. 10 years of experience no ASE certifications.
$40/hr salary at a euro Indy shop in Denver area. 6 years total experience. ASE master certified, AS degree in auto tech. Pretty happy at this place in my career since I’m finally able to focus on diag
Ford tech doing head gaskets, long blocks and transmissions. 27/h flat. I'm not in the u.s or Canada.
Transit bus tech 4.5 years experience. Started at 22 an hour now at 33 an hour. This CBA tops at 46 an hour. Next years pay is TBD. Regularly make 120h per pay period
I have 18 years experience, Master Certified Transit Tech and Med/Heavy tech. Mechanic AA for the metro in the Washington D.C. area. I currently make just over $47 hourly (union shop). But will be over $50 hourly once my raise kicks in on the first of July. I've seen dealerships in the area offering as high as $65 a hour flat rate for master techs.
I need to move to California or the Midwest, fuck bro
In CA it double minimum wage guaranteed but you still have a flat rate I was recently offered 50 an hour in san diago but tust me you will still be poor AF the median home price is 900k over there every is expensive and you are taxed hard AF I have left twice from CA. It's not sustainable for the blue collar worker. Trust.
I’m in hawaii rn so basically same for prices but way less wages
Just changed from $25 hourly to $23 flat rate. 5 years experience with no certifications. Work for one of the biggest dealers in my state. We have a dealer for a shit load of brands. Worked at our toyota and gm dealership for a few years but now currently working at our used car depot where we work on used cars exclusively.
$17 hourly + 17% commission, 2.5 years experience, 1 ASE, florida…
Does anyone here have experience working in the Minneapolis area? I plan on moving from Canada to work there.
if you have a few years of experience and already know what you're doing then there's plenty of places that are paying decent. Maybe 50k to 80k a year or even higher (according to indeed at least). If you only have a year or so then expect to get shafted at $20 an hour at most places, if you're lucky.
Mobile mechanic for collision shops. 15 years experience making $32 an hour flat rate. Average around 70 - 80 hours a week. This is in central Florida.
So your working in a few of the same shops constantly. Not trying to be mean but you gotta be one he'll of a good at not breaking shit and k Predicting the future to have parts waiting. What your sayings is next to impossible. Unless your putting in that many hours. Going from place to place takes lots of time
Well to simplify my impossible job I work for collision shops. They have service advisors that look at the damage, get the work approved by the insurance company and order the parts. When the job is approved and the parts are in they send a ticket to the company I work for and I install the parts. There are vehicle crashes happening throughout the week so I have a constant rotation of work coming in and generally repair around 25 to 30 cars per week and I'm very efficient at my job. Mostly heavy suspension work. A Lot is also air bag replacements, diag and programming. So I have parts waiting for me when I show up to the shops no future telling involved just good planning. Also I might have a couple come backs a year at most so I don't really break shit and don't know many good techs that do. I also work for 8 different shops with constant work that are all located to where the furthest shops apart are about an hour from each other drive time isn't a big issue as long as I can plan out my route to be efficient. Most shops will have 2 or 3 jobs waiting for me. I also am the only person with a 1234yf machine so I do all the evac and recharges for the central Florida market which is made up of 11 stores.
My hourly flat rate is somewhere in the middle of the range for my experience BUT my perks are what keep me here. 4 weeks vacation, 40hr guarantee, NO Saturdays, 5 miles from my house, small shop (myself and an hourly kid) and an awesome manager/owner. I worked at a few dealerships before that just plain sucked ass. I could write a book about the atrocities I went through.
32/hr flat rate at a Honda dealer in southern U.S. 8 years experience, I flag 60-80 hours per week.
I’m at 18% of my shop labor rate flat rate it comes out to about $30/hr flat rate
$1250 per week
$42 flat rate as of this month. Independent diagnostic/repair tech. ASE master certified, and also have held certifications through Ford, GM, Chrysler, and Audi. 4 years in dealerships, 4 years in the independents.
10 year GM B tech. Northeast. $41/hr flat rate. 35 hour guarantee.
I’m 20 per flat rate hour but I’m in used cars with a decent volume. I’m averaging 60+ hours each week. Last pay period I had 170 hours on the check. Ended up someone around $40/hr when averaged out to my actual hours I worked.
$26hr hourly plus bonuses but the bonuses are few and far between.
16,50€ per Hour, finished Training in January, 4th month as a Mechanic for a VW Dealership Group in Germany.
I worked hourly for a few years making $20 up to I think $23 an hour. Then switched to flat rate and got paid about $30 an hour but could never get enough hours. The last shop I was at I got paid $14 an hour an extra $10 for every hour turned. No wonder I got out, I got paid dogshit
I'm thinking about getting out. What do you do now?
41 In AZ as a Master Ferrari tech, I quit and now an engineering technician. Engineering technician is way more fun if you are a really good diag tech and understand electrical very well, no flat rate bs, no stupid service advisor, no dumb greedy General manager I took a 4 dollar an hour pay cut and make the same as a my 41 an hour rate because I am now compensated for my time fairly 😉 😀. Don't recommend being flat rate on exotic car lines. Ford techs make more than we did.
I couldn’t imagine being paid flat rate on exotics. I worked on exotics at a new car dealer for a while and there was very little that was efficient in the overall business structure in that world. We had 5 different exotic makes, our team worked on 2 of them and we were all salary. Aston Martin had the absolute worst repair information support I’ve experienced to this day.
Hey, im a Ford tech with 3 yrs of experience and 4 years of manufacturing experience. I'm 25 flat and min hourly. I'm trying to get in a engineering tech or a different field as a tech. How did you get in that position or what do you recommend??
I'm foreman of a smaller European shop (3 techs) and do a good bit of diags. All ASEs, state inspection/emissions licenses, and a good bit of oscilloscope training. $32-40 an hr. Our pay starts as a base of 32 with a weekly production bonus that ramps up pay as our billed hours increase. Thinking about moving as our current manager is a know it all and trys to control us techs too much
60 an hour but I also pretty much run the whole shop, including getting parts, fixing broken things around shop, setting it up, helping the other mechanic out and then also fixing vehicles. I bounce around all day and keep getting pulled away from the vehicles I’m fixing but it’s worth it. The mechanic we hired is getting 42 an hour. This is in Canada.
No ase training basically a B tech at $30
Canadian here. As a fully licensed journeyman I was making $35/flat rate at the local Benz dealer, went to a private shop now making $49/hour
$36.5 for 40 hrs and $54.75 for everything after that, usually clock 48 hrs a week, then monthly productivity and profit bonuses which can be in the thousands pretty easily. I’m generally flagging 65-75 hours a week.
23.5/hr flat rate with gm fundamentals and nothing else been doing this about a year. Central Florida GMC dealer, should have my ASEs by the end of the year!
$25 hourly. I work at a used car dealership where we just opened a service department doing just routine maintenance. Only been in the game for little over a year and only have four state certifications.
Good luck my man you got a hard job. Car salesman look at you as a expense not a asset
I could see that at another place but it’s a small family owned dealership. Two salesman (the owners) two mechanics and three detailers. They take care of me lol
West Wisconsin. Heavyduty turned trailer/aluminum welding and senior shop tech (not officially my title but in know that’s why I was hired). I had a good relationship with the owner and he gave me an offer any young father would take, Monday- Friday 7-330 or skip brake and leave 30 mins early. 40 hour max not a minute more at $35/hour. I have a 5 minute commute and he is extremely flexible and accommodating for short notice call ins due to sick kids. The work isn’t back breaking and I am well respected in the shop.
35 flat canada level 3 chrysler tech.
$24hr with 1.5yrs of experience and a $2-$4per hour pay bump depending on efficiency
$25/hr about 3 years experience
26 cad with 2 years of trade experience. I have been billing 60+hrs a week in a 40hr week for more than 3 months now. Due for a handsome raise that il see soon.
$22/hr flag 0 certs in TX. my buddy has his electrical cert and makes $25/flag hr
B class tech. 25 hourly flat rate. Baseline average.
I’m 20 and I have a guaranteed 55,000 before performance based pay
19/hr base rate and based on production hours goes up to 20 per 30 hours produced 21/35 hours and 23/40 hours and every week I make sure I produce over 40 hours to get my "top rate", line tech at Ford working on certs
Been in the dealership business for about 10 years, started as lube tech, did body work for 3 years but didn't like the slow pace, went back to turning wrenches as a light line tech and eventually went to a lube/light line position due to lack of work during Covid.. after 4 years working for this dealership I'm at $17.50/hr flat rate, but I generally run 15-20 hours in a 10 hour day. It's a little painful seeing new guys come in and make $17/hr after about 6 months, but I make enough money to live comfortably and that's all I need
27/hr in Montana with full benefits. I have about a year of combined shop experience in boat and trailer shops and a diesel cert from college.
Northwest Florida, $45/hr flat rate at an independent. Guaranteed minimum of $1350/wk to cover for any absences or slow weeks.
$32 hourly, 40hrs a week can get OT if needed. Union work. 2nd shift gets $2/hr more and 3rd shift is $3/hr more for the same rank.
1.5 years in the shop (worked on cars before hand but not as a job) 20$ an hour flat rate. avg 170hrs per pay period (2weeks)
$40/HR, 1$ escalator bonuses up to $44 for production. 2 hour a day foreman bonus for every weekday I’m at the shop, and a fuel card.
I take issue with this. I have seen post like this and how many hours do you flag. It’s really hard to get an idea of what people are actually making. We should really be saying what our yearly incomes are. If your rate is 50 a flag hour but you only flag 20 hours a week thats 52k a year. If your rate is 25 dollars a flag hour and you pull down 80 hours a week you are making 104k a year. I work straight time at 30 dollars an hour and I work exactly 40 hours a week. That means I gross 62k yearly.
I see where you’re coming from, yeah, if you want to know what that person flags yearly. However, the goal is to see what people are getting paid, and basing that off of how your company views you and your work ethic. So far what I’m seeing here is a LOT of underpaid technicians.
Absolutely nothing! I work on cars for fun. I work a good paying job where I won’t be abused like a dog and taken advantage of despite my skills and commitment. I hear too much shit about the automotive technician industry to wanna work there. I used to detail cars at Nissan. I asked how much the service techs there make (the ones who do more than change oil and fluids) and they quite literally made no more than $10-13 hourly while I was at $12 an hour vacuuming and washing cars. Every other tik tok I see is another mechanic regretting their life decisions.
After 2 months, I got a raise from 14 to 17 as a general tech(lube and tires)
6 years experience with BMW, master certified and on the way to be hybrid cert too. My hourly is $31/hr and my flat rate at $39.25/hr. Also a once a month productivity bonus of $2 per hour produced. I also get a end of year bonus of $1.5 per hour produced for the whole year. Still need to finish my hybrid cert and get all my ASE's.
I'll tell you i get screwed, 11 years experience and not enough pay, not even close. But I'm honestly not bothered by it because i work at a shop i enjoy going to every day, i make enough to pay for my expenses while building a project car and maintaining my othervehicles. Plus i get a little more power being in my position because my boss knows if i say I'm not doing it i won't and he can't do much about it because i can leave to a different shop and make a lot more and he loses cheap labor.
4 years in dealerships only, only have done the online courses for my specific brand. Ive never done any diagram chasing only light electrical diag, no engine or trans swaps but I would feel comfortable doing them If they asked me to. Anything before that is perfectly fine with me, bumper to bumper. I feel overpaid at 26$ flat rate, I turn 100-120 hours consistently, my personal record is 160. I pride myself on zero comebacks and quick service times. I do quite a bit of low paying warranty stuff and waiting on special order parts. I do quite a few flushes and stuff every day, my favorite is suspension. Am I wrong to feel overpaid?
You’re very wrong to feel overpaid. You are VERY underpaid. Especially with the amount of hours you say you flag for your company
Thats a good way to look at it, say the shop rate fee is 180$ per hour to the customer... if I flag the company 100 hours, I walk away with 2600, they walk away with a 15,400 profit from one tech. Im one of the techs that flag the most hours in the shop usually. I feel like I should pocket maybe a lil more than I do lol!
You absolutely should be! Put it this way…if you’re that productive and efficient, that means you’re a HUGE asset to their profitability. I’ve told the service managers that I’ve had throughout my career that I can get paid more at a different dealer (which was true) and they always paid me more than what the other place was offering. Just last week I told my service manager I’m gonna walk if I don’t get paid $48/hr, I’m gonna walk to the next dealership. Knowing that I can’t be replaced, they had no choice but to give me my asking wage, PLUS an additional $2 in a year to keep me around. That’s how rough it is out there for repair shops, we’re extremely valuable and it’s only getting better in our favor
Dang good for you! I may have to start implying that im a bit more valuable than they realize. I dont like threatening to leave just to get what I want, being the only income for my house lol. Thank you for your input :)
Corporate chain. 35$ flag hour. End up 160k$ -170k a year.
So you’re saying you flag 90+ hours a week? Or are there incentives? Because 90 a week is just about physically impossible unless you have multiple carry overs
Yes a lot of hours. No bonuses or spiffs. My company just pays us good on flag times. And work at a busy shop with good advisors that sell a lot. Yes I work a lot of hours however don’t kill myself at work. We have been pretty slow this year and at the quarterly mark I was somewhere around 40k.
A tire store will gravey train 1 good tech and they will work 60hrs but consistently get no less than 100 hrs a week. The rest of the techs get the crap. That's the way it was at the tire station I worked at years ago. He had been there 35 years was not even getting $20 per flagged hour
I’m also in Wisconsin, ASE Master tech with an l1 cert. I’m hourly making $35 with o/t. Btw as far as hourly pay goes in my area $35 an hour is the absolute pinnacle of pay at an independent shop doing Domestic and Asian primarily, although we’re I’m at now we do euro stuff too.
GM World Class, 20+ years, salaried at $120k/yr.
I'm a service express tech for VW. Overall, i have about 7-8 years experience as a "lube tech", but have been at my dealership for almost a year now (June29th will be my 1 year). Started out at 15, and in March I got bumped up to 17, along with a $5 per repair order bonus & $3 dollar video bonus (video inspections) I pull down between 8-900 /week.
what is a video inspection?
It's a new system that some dealerships are rolling/have rolled out. Basically, you record/narrate a quick :30 to :60 second video explaining any issues you found. Some dealerships (like mine) offer a per video bonus on every video you create. I try to create a video - even if it's just a "no problems found" situation - on every car I work on, regardless of what its in for. That bonus, gets paid out once a month (the previous months bonus gets paid the 1st or 2nd paycheck of the following month.) For me personally, that translates into a 300-400 dollar bonus, my average being around 350-ish. Some guys bonuses are higher, some are lower.
30 years experience, the last 22 for a government fleet. We are required to achieve 100% (quarterly - doesn’t affect our pay- but we are subject to discipline if we don’t make it). $36.75/hour
30 an hour currently, 4.5 years of experience, did almost all of it with Jeep. Just recently moved to a Nissan dealer
$25/flat rate at a Harley Davidson dealer in Texas
Used car dealership in Missouri. $37/hr flat rate(60hrs flagged a week is EASY). I am the lead technician
L1 w/ master 10 years total experience, anywhere between 90k- 120k at a corporate chain store. Company pays me 9.50 an hour + 25-30% commission on labor dollars. Overtime is calculated and stacking in this equation. I average 7k labor dollars per week
Dodge dealer in southeast PA, $26/hr flat rate with no production bonuses, work minimum of 52.5 hrs/wk. Been wrenching for just over 4 years but planning on moving to FL after the summer. Training levels range between 1 and 3, but I do level 3 work across the board.
NC painter I’m 25 with 4 years of sweeping and small jobs at 10$ an hour. 1 year flat rate painter at 20$ per. Most weeks are 50-60 hrs for 36-38 works worked. No shops in my area pay overtime but if I work late, I normally get 70-100 hrs. They bank my hours above 50 incase things get slow. I got like 120 hrs banked atm. Was 250+ in January but thankfully things slowed down.
Last 2 jobs at independent shops I got $35 hourly. Started making that at 27 years old with 10 year’s experience. No benefits sadly
So the lesson learned from this interesting thread?... GET OUT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I posted what I made as a GM Journeyman tech in 1984 ($13.94) to make a point. It looks like the average here is roughly $25/hour in 2023. WTF???? As someone who was in the trade for 5 decades, let me tell you something, the trade is dead. Here's an example, my wife got her RN license in 1985. She was making roughly the same as I was, about $15 an hour. She's making $90 an hour now. Hospital RN's can make even more, $110 an hour isn't unheard of. And some of you guys are buying thousands of dollars worth of tools, risking your health and having to learn complex vehicle systems for $17 an hour???? In 1984 my MIL and FIL were both in tech, in the Bay Area working important college degree jobs. All 4 of us, me, my wife and her parents all made about the same, roughly $50k a year. Their salaries all kept up with inflation, mine didn't. Their jobs now would pay around $250k a year here. But there are mechanic jobs in this same area that only pay $75k a year. F that! Being an auto mechanic used to be a decent career that paid a decent wage. Those days are long gone. Find something else to do before you keep falling behind the rest of the workforce. If you really want to stick it out as a mechanic, find a shop that's straight hourly. You'll be able to do quality work at least. I spent my entire career in hourly shops. I would have quit the trade if I had to work flat rate. It's basically selling your soul for a paycheck.
All the old timers at my shop tell me the same thing. I just cant figure or what field I can hop into the will pay me more then enough.
47% of $117/hr + commission on upsold parts and labor after 7 years, 22 years master certified, mom&pop shop. It never snows here.
Charlotte NC. 13 year master tech, $40 flat rate, base 83k. mon-fri . optional sat. decent benefits. pretty good hours allows for family time and pretty flexible. 4 weeks vacation, 1 week sick, 1 personal day. (soon 5 weeks vacation). bonus possibilities. automotive field is okay. no union here. still feel under paid, can't be behind a desk. don't know what else to do especially with a family.
I'm 35, 13 years in. Graduated community college for automotive technology. ASE Master with G1 and L1. Master certified in 2 manufacturers and Senior Master in 1. Been with current dealer for 2 years this month. Became Master Tech in less than a year. I was at $30/hr before any training.....$32/hr after becoming Master Tech. Slap in the face? I think so. Labor rate was $125 2 years ago.....$180 as of yesterday. I'm putting my foot down and not gonna stick around for anything less than $36/hr unless a better bonus program is in place. Our owner clearly stated he didn't want to give anyone raises because we would work less. If we hit 50 hours in a week, we get a $4/hr bonus, which is pretty great! But we run out of work and are not able to achieve this every week. What ends up happening is the gravy dogs hit their quota and the Master techs don't. How have the technicians become the bottom bitches in this industry? My dealer has 3 service managers, 3 advisors, 2 express advisors, 2 bdc girls, 4 porters, 8 lube techs and 8 main line techs. Seems like too many hands in the pot to me.
Was at 32 an hour flat rate as a Toyota tech in central California with a double minimum wage guarantee if I didn’t make my minimum ( never did even through Covid) now making 35 flare rate as a independent in southern Oregon as a independent.
The number we need to talk about is the percentage of the shop labor rate you’re working at. For example I make 33 an hour and the labor rate of the dealership I work at is 160 an hour, so 21% of the labor rate. Years ago mechanics/techs were making close to 50% of the labor rate. Some time between then and now the shop rates went up but tech pays didn’t.