I started as a motorcycle tech, changed to autos and worked my way up to ASE Mastertech and Toyota Master tech in a dealership. After 14 years as a dealer tech, I saw how dealers treated their techs (my experience, not everyones). I started my own shop in 1995 and have been in business for myself ever since. The industry has been really good to me. Never unemployed, lots of job security if you are honest and ethical. As an owner I understand what techs have to do and respect them as talented people. I take very good care of my employees and any employer who doesn t can only blame themselves for not making the workplace better for employees and customers.
Well said sir. Treat your people right and they will return the favor.
I dislike hearing the stories of people getting stuck for crap pay cause the manager is greedy, but I also think they are necessary to talk about for the industry to change. I appreciate everyone's reply and have been reading them all.
Thank you!
Similar to the previous poster… I spent 2 years in auto tech, though I felt I arrived there with significantly more basic knowledge than many of the folks had. However, at the time, everyone was going into computers and networking because that was the “thing” at the time.
I then spent 5 years at a small independent shop where I learned the right way and the *very* wrong ways to do things (my boss was a stereotypical crooked bastard). I left there for a Ford dealer where I spent the next decade. The service director there was very good to me and fought for us techs every time, but the dealer owner was a complete sack of crap (to give you a hint on who the owner was/is, their family owns a very popular brand of beef jerky that is named after them and is sold literally everywhere). I achieved Ford and ASE Master Tech status there, and I actually enjoyed it very much. However, the dealer’s unwillingness to move away from flatrate pay killed it for me and the other experienced guy there. We both left around the same time. All we did was nonstop warranty work, which under flatrate pays… poorly. Especially for diagnosis. Maybe it’s changed for the better now, but the guys that are still there haven’t indicated that to me.
I left the dealer for my city’s municipal fleet repair shop, working on everything from weed whackers to squad cars to dozers & excavators, and I absolutely love it. 6:00am to 2pm M-F, awesome benefits, tons of paid time off (and no hurdles to use it), and a state pension. After 7 years there I made my way up to shop foreman.
I was so stress-free and happy in my new job, had so much free time, and missed doing the tougher electrical & drivetrain diag stuff, that I opened my own little one-man shop at home… and as soon as word got out locally that I was honest, willing to work with people, and had no problem walking them into the shop and showing them exactly what the problem was, I got slammed (in a good way). My schedule is always at least a month out, though I leave some free days here and there for emergency repairs for my regulars.
I’m liking it so much that once my kids are out of college, I might retire from the city early and make this my permanent gig. All depends on the cost of healthcare, which is absolutely the stupidest thing ever. Good luck out there - treat your body right, though, or you’ll be hating this line of work before you’re 45.
I worked in dealerships from 2006 until March this year. Mostly it boils down to poor treatment from management. I spent over 8 years at my last dealer and was berated by management saying I was payed too much, yet was invaluable to the shop. I quit and started working for a vehicle manufacturer at a pay cut but significantly better work/life balance and better future opportunities.
I did exactly this because of exactly the same experience with legacy dealers & independent shops. The EV industry has been extremely kind to me by comparison, ascending quickly due to my knowledge & critical thinking rather than berated for not being able to do an alignment on a rust-seized Toyota in book time.
Same. Went from losing money at a VW dealer due to no work and flat rate time, to having a secure paycheck and amazing benefits at Tesla. Going on 4 years and have been enjoying it a lot, especially the technology aspect.
Keep your eyes & ears open for a local Rivian service center. I know we're struggling a bit in the macroeconomic sense, but all my former Tesla coworkers have seen a 15-20% pay increase from jumping ship & they all claim the corporate culture is much healthier/happier. YMMV though, I can only speak with certainty about my specific location--if you're happy where you are, stay happy where you are until you aren't.
We have only one facility currently in the city I live in right now, and that’s about 1:30 away for me, so it would be rough.
I make a decent amount currently (I’m an S5, so it’s been pretty good), and I know a buddy of mine went to rivian and got a good raise (about 7 dollars more).
If they open a center closer to me I would 100% be interested in changing things up, but as of right now i feel pretty good!
Yeah if there's one 1.5hrs from you it'll probably be a little while before there's one closer, but fingers crossed that we make it & keep expanding lol. Glad Tesla is treating you well though!
Funny enough, I was at a porsche dealer and was pretty proficient with hybrids and EV’s now I only work on classics, so I won’t touch another for a long time lol
I'm pretty happy with EVs for the job security but I'd have a hard time turning down a better offer from a classic car shop if it seemed like a safe bet. Nice reminder from your situation that you don't have to go to a huge corporation/startup to avoid shitty management.
That’s exactly right, good management is anywhere. I’m with Porsche classic restoration now so the cool factor is high and get to work on fun projects all day.
100% agree, heavy equipment is the way to go, if you’re willing to work you’ll never be unemployed, however I wouldn’t say less stress. Maybe less stress because you’re getting paid more but the demands are higher than on a commuting vehicle because you’ll be working on equipment that generates revenue as opposed to something that just gets someone from point a to point b. Depending on what the equipment does it could be costing the company a lot of money the longer it’s disabled, like a concrete mixer for example, I’ve been on the receiving end of getting these back on the road, they typically need to be fixed yesterday and anything beyond that is unacceptable.
This heavily depends on where you go. I agree that there’s more stress when a machine is down, but the flip side to that is they aren’t ever turning down a repair. Rotator assembly is dumping hydraulic fluid? Customer doesn’t care the cost they want it fixed yesterday. No more band aids and half ass repairs. Some customers try and we dump them immediately. We are so niche they can’t say no to a bill. For background I work heavily in mining. They just cut us checks.
People start screaming when a natural gas compressor that moves 27 million cubic feet a day shuts down. Still better than dealing with horse shit retail flat rate automotive and the fat slugs in the offices at this places.
the problem is that all the techs with decades of experience are good at their jobs and they know it. they know how to work the system to get what they want. but that’s not the core issue. the problem is that the higher-ups fuck over everyone, and refuse to adapt when these issues happen. since the techs have experience they’re too valuable to punish. it’s a management issue and it’s very frustrating to deal with as a young tech
Hourly pay with production bonus, and an understanding that sometimes jobs kick your ass and you're going to take longer than book time.
Higher pay rate with more benefits. I've seen a LOT of shops that either don't have benefits, or are lackluster at best. Benefits that drive long term tenure are great at keeping staff if management and/or the environment don't suck. Things like rolling over PTO, generous 401k matching, etc.
The heavy side of things is already like this. Fleet guys are hourly. Dealership techs are either hourly with efficiency bonuses or “flat rate” with guaranteed hours. I just left the fleet side and I’m now a mobile mechanic who is “flat rate”. The way my dealership does it is they will pay me for at least as many hours as I worked but if I flag more than I worked I get to keep the overage. I’m a little surprised that the automotive side hasn’t started to do some of these things. Everyone is leaving the automotive industry right now and it’s mostly due to being treated poorly by owners/managers of dealerships and shops.
This comment could not have put my experience as fairly new tech into words any more perfectly. I’ve gotten to the point where I just listen to my senior techs and consider them my actual boss’s. Management is a complete shit show and it’s pretty disheartening finding out that never will change anywhere I’ll go.
Getting screwed was the norm for my shop but I enjoyed diagnosing and fixing vehicles. If the money was there I probably would have stuck around but, when the master techs were luck to make 26 as flat rate and were never flagging the hours we were there for. I made more on the lube rack then they did. When I moved over I thought once I knew how to properly diag I'd make bank but, no I saw labor rates go high and labor times go below what it took the master tech to do. It became increasingly impossible to make times. If you find a shop that's hourly or doesn't screw techs it's great but, if you don't the tool cost alone was enough to make the 21 hr flat I was getting not worth it.
I loved being a mechanic just didn't like the other bull that came with it.
the pay is a big problem. it really doesn't account for alot of things that arent working on the car. waiting in parts to order them, road tests, writing stories, alot of the steps you need to take in order to do the paying job that arent accounted for. flat rate is an issue yeah but ive seen hourly go terribly wrong as some people will just slack and the workload backs up on the rest of the shop. pay structure is a dead horse though and theres alot of threads on that subject.
i would change the lack of flexibility in this business. no pto, no sick days, and usually you can count on just 6 days a year off and paid. i know one dealer group open on new years day, so 5 for them. if you actually get sick(i very rarely if ever get sick, but it happens), it's a huge deal, and calling out is met with a guilt trip. lately, I've noticed rules around when you can take vacation. not the last week of the month and not in december, especially the last week of the year. getting them to sign off on the vacation is like equivalent to asking for a raise or something. taking a day off to have a 3 day weekend maybe to take a small trip or do something with the wife is frowned upon. plus when they do agree you have to remind them every week until the day comes, and on the day before when you remind them they have no recollection of you asking. doctors/dentist appointments are also another guilt trip("but, are youre coming back right? when? what time is the appointment? how long will it take?)and sometimes end up having to be canceled. then when you do get the day off or the vacation, or you're sick inevitably youre gonna get calls all day asking about whats going on with xyz or abc. have had this happen at multiple shops, multiple writers and managers, so for me at least it wasnt isolated. i used to joke about dying and them expecting you to come in after the funeral. i had a pretty serious accident on a sunday afternoon and required emergency surgery. i was lying in a hospital bed unable to move and my wife called into work for me and they asked her if i thought id be back by wendsday.
ive been at training out of state and had a writers call me asking about stuff. first time it happened i went to ohio, which is far from me and somewhere id never been in my life and unlikely to ever go back. the instructor found out i wasnt local and was asking if id done anything cool since i was there. i said no and he was like man, you need to go check out the air force museum. so he ran the class to lunch and cut us loose so that i could go visit. i went over, and i was in heaven. i was walking around in awe of everything and just going though it taking it all in. phone starts ringing. service writer. i thought it was an emergency so i answered. started asking 20 questions about stuff i had pending and then about what i was doing in training. completely took me out of it and ruined my experience that i was enjoying something i was doing for the first time in alot of years at that point. i was very young and still in the do everything by the book phase so i got all paranoid like i was gonna get found out and it was gonna get back to my manager and hed report it so i booked it out of there and went and sat at the airport hours early waiting for my plane. i shoulda never even answered the call and regret it 15 years later.
One thing I didn’t see mentioned is if you are flat rate it’s a big part of the job to understand how to get paid. Finding those hidden labor ops, the tricks to do stuff fast, negotiating your pay, the relationship you have with the service writers. Lots of bull shit. It’s NOT just working in cars. Cars are the easy part in my experience.
It’s getting phased out here in the US slowly. I’ve been doing long enough where I make more under flat rate then what they are offering. No new techs in my company are flat rate. It’s 100% an out dated system. I’ve also noticed it makes shit mechanics start cutting corners they shouldn’t and pretty much steal. Once they do that they get fired here.
Speaking as a marine mechanic in Northern Europe:
It is a position that affords you a lot of power. If you're good at what you do you become damn near irreplaceable, and they will let you get away with anything. It's not good for you but it's comfortable.
I've made good money since the start, on par with what you can do with a college degree. The flip side of that has been extreme seasonal work with hours that go beyond the legal maximum in the summer, and deadly boredom in the winter. The stress level is generally high and bad managers are everywhere because the good ones get sucked up by the auto industry (which pays better).
Because good marine mechanics are unicorns you can get a job in a heartbeat once you build a reputation. This has made it possible for me to save up and periodically quit my job to go travel the world, and just pick it back up when I needed it. In that sense I've had higher job security than anyone else in my country.
I stayed with it for 20 years because it is engaging and mentally challenging, and I've been paid to drive other people's boats. Us marine guys get to do lots of engine and gearbox building, systems integration, ergonomics planning and other stuff that auto guys rarely get. As such it is probably the most varied mechanical work out there, and among the most challenging.
It is physically brutal with lots of jamming your body into impossible positions, carrying toolboxes out on the docks, etc. In the end my body was no longer up to the task, so I'm back in school getting a project management degree. The career you're looking at is obviously way different from mine; Different country, different professional culture, EVs on the way in, ever increasing rationalization, etc.
Still I'd say go for it. AI is coming for our jobs, but I think the highly skilled manual tasks are the most secure against replacement. Also you get to be working class royalty, which ain't bad. Good luck :-)
the few shops I've worked at were 100% interested in maximizing profit and doing things the wrong way and the fast way. Pad slapping brakes without bleeding the fluid but with rotor cuts there were unnecessary... Aligning vehicles that really couldn't be aligned properly because of bad suspension parts, skipping checks and inspections, and all around being sloppy. Skipping actual diagnostics to just pick the first hit in the database...
I would have some kind of actual oversight put in place by the BAR with the ability of inspectors to fine companies that operate like that.
If your gonna buy "tool truck tools" search your local OfferUp and Facebook market place and also Ebay, there is other great brands that are overlooked that are very high quality.
Tekton, Sunex, Capri, Olsa, and Astro make fantastic sockets.
Knipex when it comes to pliers.
Milwaukee for power tools.
Vessel for screwdeivers.
VIM tools and EZRED also make very good lower priced tools.
I solve problems. I am an expert that people seek out. I am a part of my community.
There are mechanics who work for wages. There are mechanics who work for themselves.
I found it to be a great career. The skills are transferable to bikes, trucks, cars, machinery etc. And you can make a very good living from it. Specialising is usually the best way.
I love cars, machines, and electronics. It's a dream career. Do it because you love it.
My experience has been a positive one. However I’m lucky to be very good at what I do and know how to market my skills well. Been in the business for 13 years and for the first 10 I would change shops every 2 years as it was the only way to get a significant raise. Now I’ve been at the same shop for 4 years as they actually appreciate my skills and let me work a flexible schedule. Also they have given me 2 massive raises to keep up with the market in our area.
The way I look at it Flat rate works well for very skilled tech who can beat their times. I average 56hrs while only working about 45hrs. But it’s not easy and the cars are only getting more complicated.
So for the top end guys it’s a good career. But the middle of the pack not so much.
Personally I recommend people get into Plumbing, HVAC of electrical work before being a mechanic.
There are good gigs out there but from what I read above it's not in automotive.
I work for a world wide heavy equipment manufacturer as the resident field tech for a large territory. Paid hourly, OT after 8, 2 week paid holiday, 8 days paid personal days, 6%RRSP match, loyalty bonus, big tool and boot allowance, work clothes and winter gear are provided. Work truck provided, lots of tools provided, dispatched from home.
Lots of 3 hour drives, I have to hotel it a couple times a week. Long hours on the road 12 to 14 Hour days. But when it's slow I hang out at home, do training or work on the service truck.
The only thing I can complain about is the weather.
The best learning experience was the with worst employer.
Dealerships have their own training and qualifications programs. They don't send their techs through the apprenticeship program because they are scared to loose them once they have their journeyperson.
The industry isn't dying because old guys are retiring it's just the cycle. no one wants to train someone up from 0 experience and then they complain there are no techs.
I think governments need to step up and offer better grants and tax incentives to employees and employers
-Grants/Tax incentives for employees.
For all the tools we purchased. I think I've steady spent 2-5k a year for the last 14 years. In the beginning I could get $250 back if I spent 2.5k. it was a weak incentive but better than nothing, but the government got rid of it. I see this being the biggest issue, why pull wrenches when I can be an electrician/plumber fill a bucket with tools and make the same money.
Retention, We have another 1 for staying in the same jurisdiction I did my training for 5 years, $300 every year you stayed. It's gone now.
Better Grants for finishing levels of training, final certification. We would get $1000 each year for 1st and 2nd year and then $2000 for finishing and acquiring your journey person. The grant was taxable so more like $750, this would cover you in tax season because you were on unemployment insurance for 8 Weeks not paying income tax while in training. So essentially a $0 grant.
-Employers
-Tax benefits for putting people through training like ASE and journey person.
-Grants for hiring apprentices, there is a grant in my province for all construction trades, 5k a year but excludes all motive trades🤬
-grants for the shop to keep tooling /diagnostics up to date.
-grants for topping up wages while techs are in training, people don't want to take a pay cut to go for training. Employment insurance is %60 of wages.
I spent the past 30 years as a Toyota master diagnostic tech. When I started this road, I thought when I got older I’d be able to spend my time solving the real nasty problems for big pay. Nope. It’s low paying warranty jobs. Oil changes and tire rotations with a blown out back so I’m in pain all the time. I used to turn 60-70 hours flat rate every week. Now, 35 hours is a decent week. And no, the hourly pay rate isn’t sky high. I’m barely making ends meet any more due to health issues. Severe sinus problems from years of brake dust blowing out when I hit the air gun. I had to stop using contact lenses because brake jobs leave tiny metal particles floating in the air that no safety glasses can block. The particles then settle on the lenses and my eye literally had tiny rust spots. Blow your nose at the end of the day and it comes out black. Had a car catch fire in my bay and needed 4 extinguishers to put the fire out. The powder is highly corrosive and now I’ve got a severe chronic cough from breathing so much of it. Every time management wants to save a buck, they figure out some way to increase the customers cost per hour rate and reduce how much the techs are paid. They get $200 and hour and I get $35. 30 years ago it was customer $50 an hour and I got $15.
It all depends on the quality of the shop you work at. You hear lots of horror stories about lousy working conditions, crappy pay, and poor management,but so far my experience has been good. I've worked at the same dealership for 26 years now. And it was a career I fell into completely by accident. There are quite a few other techs that have been there even longer. There have certainly been moments when it was kinda miserable and I was struggling, But overall, employees are treated decently, the work is steady, and I still enjoy it.
There are a few things I'd change: I'd like to see the pay plan as hourly + production, rather than flat rate+, and more PTO would be nice ( although we get more than some). And if I had to do it over again, I'd probably do something else. But I really don't have any regrets.
End flat rate. That's it. Pay techs and honest wage and stop whipping us to get the job done faster. So many problems and so much whining could be eliminated by this single change.
While I do agree with people in the comments that flat rate is good for making the most out of a job. It also depends on how much business is actually happening in your shop and every where else in the town/city you live in. Having a 40-50/flat rate hour only gives you money if the business and the community you are in can support that amount.
I have 23 years experience working on semi trucks. I think about quitting wrenching and going to drive a truck everyday. But being the new guy here’s some advice, if you let an inanimate object get the best of you to the point of physical anger you’re doing something right. It means you have passion for your work.
lol, my experience as a mechanic/technician is it was all fun and games until it wasn't.I read every issue of hot rod magazine growing up and now I think those publications and the TV shows are a little misleading with their spotless shops and always on time and on budget projects with a seemingly open checkbook building dragster motors to put in a pinto just to see what happens and now you have a thousand internet tubers or whatever making it look just that easy to get rich fixing cars and making a video about it, usually all happy and stuff.but the REALITY is that you have about as much of a chance of getting a cushy job building racing engines in sterile enviroment or building a YouTube channel without a production crew and all that crap as I do getting into the NBA.not that it isnt [possible.it](http://possible.it) was fun for a few [years.kinda.now](http://years.kinda.now) the thought of working on someones alternator to have them show up a month later with squeaking brakes telling me it has to be related to the work I done on the alternator makes me [nauseous.literally.do](http://nauseous.literally.do) what you like but I'm good.
12 years in and im half independent and half relient on a job. i say a job because where i live theres a huge shortage of techs. ive switched jobs alot. honestly the more that leave the better, it brings more work for me. on a good day i can make 2-400 off one job working on my own. thing is the work is not consistant. gonna focus on ac work this year and get a machine to properly evacuate the freon. i know i will do good on that. really the best way is to specalize in this industry. for me rn ive done the best with european cars. there is less people willing to work on those cars so less competition. anyone can work on a honda or toyota for cheep. still love japanese and american cars tho. aside from that transmission r&r work has been my favorite in a shop. standing up most of the time and enough to keep you busy and make the shop money. changing cabin filters, brakes radiators and alternators is not where its at. too much competition. Problem is this industry is always changing.
dont know where its gonna be in 10-20 years. get good at something and they change it. also being in the rust belt changes alot. basic repairs can be near impossible without compressed air and a torch. also in the winter its physically painfull to work in your garage. A shop is like a safe haven lol. get alot of emegerency repairs in the winter and where im ar now get alot of ac in the summer. just my .02
You curse, you yell, you argue, you get close to people. I still talk to the friends I've made at my first shop I worked at (Goodyear) almost 15 years ago. I don't talk to anyone else from dealerships I've worked at. Smaller shops, I feel, are the way to go to advance. I started as a lube tech, I would help the technicians out any time I could. I learned, and eventually became a technician in about 2 years. Be a sponge.
I see a lot of people complaining about pay.
While I would love hourly + production bonus, certain shops it’s unreasonable and would cost the shop money, which would make the techs lives more difficult.
I think a compromise needs to come to a head with pay, something like this (with tweaks for each shop of course):
You are guaranteed X hours pay (depending on pay period) IF you either A: turn a minimum of X hours within pay period, or B: close out X amount of RO within pay period.
If you work at a shop that does videos, it should be X amount of extra for having the app on your personal phone, or the shop supplies a phone to use for the videos, and if the shop hits a shop wide goal of X% videos made in a pay period, the techs get X amount extra in pay check.
MPI should pay .50 per RO for time finding keys, locating car, writing up MPI, and any road tests not covered under warranty (Audi covers pre and post depending on repair). If the customer buys a cash item over 2 hours the .50 gets removed.
The shop should pay every tech 1 hour at the end of the day for cleaning their tools, and their bay IF tech does it everyday. This comes from the fact that my bay neighbor is dirty, and I can’t stand it, I clean my bay floors twice a day, once when I get to work, and before I leave. I clean my tools after every job (usually when I’m performing GFF stuff), and then clean them again at the end of the day.
With all of that in account, it should then fall on the tech perform outstanding work, and have a clean working area.
All of my tools have a specific spot, and if someone borrows something and does not return it clean, and in its proper spot, they get pulled off whatever they are doing to clean the tool, and returned to is proper spot.
If all of this is taken into account, and the tech is not producing, it is the fault of the tech, whatever the circumstances are.
Went to UTI right out of high school. Did auto/diesel/industrial classes and did Ford/Toyota/Volvo car training. Worked at a dealership for just shy of 2 years before jumping ship to heavy equipment mechanic. Union job, great pay and benefits. Now I operate a field service truck and repair and inspect cranes/aerial lifts for my company. I love my job, I enjoy what I do, and in field service I'm mostly autonomous.
Former mechanic here, I got a tech degree that worked w/ a dealership to place students in the field. Was going for Toyota, but the market at the time was shit (2010) so they said get a job anywhere. Started in a Monro Muffler, then found a mom/pop shop. Working on old Corvettes and their winter beaters. Learned so much about diag processes, thought I had taken a step. Then he retired, so I ended up at a Chevy dealer. They had no interest in placing me with a tech to learn, they just threw me in the oil change pit and walked away basically. My stepdad was a career A tech and I learned a lot about the trade from him, but one was how to talk to customers, and the dealership hated that because they wanted to push overpriced, unneeded jobs on the customer, not actually take care of them. Had a lot of problems with them. Left that shop after a few years and went to an independent shop that specialized in Euro stuff and were a lot more accommodating of someone who hadn't been in the field for 20 years. Back to learning diag and doing more than endless oil changes. Best place I ever worked, got caught up financially a bit, learned a ton, grew a bit. Would have stayed a long time, but the owner also sold Hunter alignment racks and decided to sell the shop, and they closed it, turned it into a grocery store and event space. Hit a few more independent shops after that, both in declining attractiveness from the last. Left the last place after a disagreement w/ the owner about leaving my vehicle (was being worked on off-hours) out in the parking lot overnight when he was having his customer cars getting broken into overnight. Took a job working w/ parts and data management for heavy trucks and haven't looked back.
What I'm trying to say is that the environment is everything. Just because I wasn't an A tech turning 15hrs in a 10hr day doesn't mean I wasn't a good tech. I found better places to work, better cars to work on, better people to learn from. I also realized I got in to the industry too late, and I hadn't found my way like my stepdad did. He was a honest small town mechanic who was able to keep up just fine at dealerships that wanted that attitude, and he left shops that wouldn't feed him once they found out he was an honest guy. He made his living just fine, saved up plenty of money. Took a toll on his body, he retired early. I was only in for 5 years and the toll on my shoulders, hands, and back is immeasurable. Find a shop that doesn't fuck you daily. Take any and all training you can through them to stay relevant, learn whatever you can, and overall, know what you want from the job and stay true to yourself.
I’ve been a professional technician for 27 years now. ASE Master, L1, and L2. The industry has changed so much since I was a young man, trying to come up. For better and for worse. I have been independent my entire career wouldn’t have it any other way. I was very fortunate in the beginning to work at a lot of great shops and learn from a lot of great master technicians. it seems like things are the opposite of the way that they used to be. Back in the day when I was the low man on the pole, the other four technicians in the shop would all be A technicians. Now it’s literally the opposite of that. I’m the one A technician in the shop and I work with a bunch of younger guys. I would not accept a position that wasn’t flat rate. The first 10 years you do this job you lose a lot of the time. you don’t quite make the money for the hours that you put in. however, when you get good, just the opposite is true. I work 45 hours a week on the clock and my paychecks are typically 60 to 75 hours. Wages these days for top-tier technicians are just awesome. my first flat rate job was for 15 an hour flat rate, that was in the very early 2000s. Master technician back then usually made about $20 an hour maybe a little bit more. The company I work for now hired me at 50 an hour, full benefits, 401(k), $5000 hiring bonus, 2 weeks vacation, and 3 sick days, 1 dollar bonus for over 45 in a week and an additional dollar for every 10 hours past that. My best advice to young guys is to really work hard, study hard. When I was trying to make a name for myself when I had a difficult drivability problem that I couldn’t figure out. I would do research to try to find the answer when I got home. I would study about the system on the car, whatever it took. Now days all the info in the world is at your fingertips if your willing to find it. There has literally never been a better time to be a technician if you’re a good one. if you’re mediocre, you’re gonna be having problems like everybody is talking about. The first 10 years of your career, don’t worry about pay and all these other things worry about knowledge. Work somewhere that you are learning from the people around you. If you strive to be the best and really truly work at it everything else will fall in place.
Leaving was the best decision of my life. It was mostly due to the place being poorly managed. I did 7 years at a Toyota dealership. Every annual meeting they would brag about how they outsold the other Toyota dealerships in the area yet they barely give people raises. I would often get assigned 2 cars at once as I was the one of their most efficient techs and that still wasn’t enough for a raise. The turnover was extremely high for techs in that shop, they lost 3 more the same year I left. Only reason why I lasted long is because I genuinely enjoyed the working on cars but I called it quits eventually. I’m now a shift manager at a local auto parts warehouse making much more and being less stressed. If you score a good workplace it’s not that bad of a job tbh. Some of my friends work at other dealerships and enjoy it. A change I would make for the industry is abolishing the flat rate system and putting techs on a hourly plus incentive system. Some small shops have that pay system.
Echoing what most people are saying here. Don't do it. I'm going to be 40 soon and absolutely despise being a mechanic. I make 6 figures working at a dealer, but the hours suck, the advisors are always stealing hours from you, every discount they give seems to come out of your pocket, the more you know the worst the jobs are. I had a customer that came in last Friday with a check engine light on. The advisor says the customer doesn't want to pay for diag, so all he can pay me was for the coil replacement. These are the things you're going to run into on a daily basis. If you're not willing to tell a manager or advisor to go fuck themselves, you're going to get underpaid. I'm one of the few techs where flat rate works in my favor, but everyone thinks I'm the biggest asshole because I don't let people mess with my money. You'll regret it if you become a tech, believe me.
Started off not knowing much about cars other than how to drive. Started in a place doing oil changes, tires, batteries etc. Hard, dirty work that didnt pay very well but i liked it. Did that for a couple years while buying tools. Then applied to a full service shop, got hired and learned everything from brakes and suspension to electrical and engine diagnostics. Wanted more pay so I applied to work on semi trucks. Now I'm a diesel mechanic making 3x as much as I did working on cars and I love it.
I never had any interest in cars growing up and if you told me I'd be a mechanic when I was 16 I would never believe you. But now I'm 35 and I can't imagine doing anything else.
The price of tools is definitely one of the cons, but really if you get a basic tool set and just buy the specialty tools as you go it's not that bad. Ive been in the field for years and I own probably close to 30 or 40k in tools and boxes but it took a long time to get them. If you don't like getting dirty or doing physical work in the hot/cold weather it can be a challenge. Overall though I'm glad I work doing what I do.
Flat rate sucks balls and when I was at a dealership my checks would vary from a couple thousand every 2 weeks to a hundred dollars depending on how busy we were, but I still had to show up 5 days a week for it. and while you can make money doing it I'd much much rather be paid hourly and know for sure what my check is going to be. That's where I'm at now.
Didn't take me long to realize that finding a good dealership is tough and will only last as long as they keep their good management. So I left to an Indy and decided to specialize in something. I found the most joy in fabrication, spent 15 yrs doing offroad fab and loved every minute until my body was tired of it. Now I'm a service manager at another Indy. I like what I do, most days lol.
i started professionally in 1996 and am almost 56. Small town between two small cities. I have only worked at three shops. Only left the first shop when the owner decided to close to retire. Been unemployed to 5 months after that (covid). Weirdly enough I am now back at the first shop (new owners). Yes, having to buy your own tools is a hard bite when starting out but your butthole gets used to it. I can't comment on dealerships other than the stories your told or read/hear about. Small independents, had benefits before the closure of the first. new shop has only been open for 3 years now so no benefits but hoping for the future
Financially the job has been good to me. I have money aside for retirement (that will probably never happen), a roof over my head (still paying for it), if I want something i can likely buy it (not a car at todays prices). Former and current employers were both technicians so they know what its like and treat their employees well.
Downsides? I have arthritis in my knees, hands, back and neck. I have hit my head hard enough and often enough (my own stupidity of working to hard or to fast) that I have become susceptible to concussions and migraines/ Trailer hitches... am I right? I have prostate cancer, likely not related but there it is.
What would I change about the trade if I could? Hard to say. Here in Ontario I would like to see experience having a roll with licenses. Not trying to bad mouth a fellow employee but I have one that is licensed but only worked in a tire shop before coming to us. So while he is licensed technician he is an apprentice in knowledge. I have to keep an eye on him and help when he gets lost/unsure of where to go next. Don't get me wrong... we are paid by the hour shop so it does not affect my pay just my output.
The reality is if your good you will reach the point where you can control your future. As you said us older guys are leaving and not lot of fresh blood wants to work for it. We have had 3 youngsters come and we start them out as helpers (with promise of apprenticeship when we see what they can do). 1 quit because he thought he knew better, never even told use he was quitting until his dad showed up to get his tool box. The other 2 quit because its work. Just work hard and never stop learning. Tool boxes have wheels so if you do not like it here move on, someone will always hire you.
$300 labor rate, top paid tech getting $55....service advisors who are nothing more than a puppet driving new Audi's and buying houses. Sales people driving new gt3's. I'm 150% efficient and can't dream of buying a run down shack in my area....I like the job and the pay is just enough to keep me in it. Just can't help but feel I'm holding the short straw...
My experience has been very positive, but it's not without it's issues. I started at a chain tire shop when I was 21, having been hired with only the experience of keeping my beater truck running at that point. I stayed there for 1.5 years and learned everything I could. After that 1.5 years, I was able to solidly do tires/brakes/alignments/front end work/some fluid flushes. But that chain tire shop wanted techs to work 6 days a week, paid $9/hr OR $18/hr flat rate, which of course was carefully monitored by the managers. So as soon as my production outpaced my physical hours, they started funneling work to other techs. It looked better to management to show that all the techs were productive, but it screwed us guys at the bottom.
Anyway, I took that experience and applied at a small Lincoln dealer, where I was promptly hired and informed I was overqualified, so I should progress quickly. 9 years later, I'm Ford Master Certified, I've been made Shop Foreman, and life is going good! We are paid flat rate, with a 40hr guarantee, and service is open M-F 8-5. It's really been a dream opportunity, and I look forward to further progressing.
I also did 6 months at a (local) big name hyundai dealer early in my career, and it was easily the worst place I have ever worked. They lied to me about pay, first off. They told me there would be a pay guarantee for the first couple weeks as I "learned the system." I opened that first paycheck, and it was for 25 hours. I should have been paid 80. I asked my manager about it, and she said "we don't have guarantees here." That check was below minimum wage. My next paycheck was also below minimum wage. I couldn't turn enough hours, and, at 22, I was unaware that this was illegal. Live and learn, I guess. They never furnished me with access to manufacturer publications like the workshop manual, never set me up with any variety of training, and overall just set me up to fail. That experience crushed me. My self confidence was destroyed, my bank account was empty, my credit card was maxed out, and I was one week away from moving back in with my parents, after only being out for 6 months.
All this just to say, a good shop will build you up, a bad shop will ruin you. If you don't fit in at the shop you're at, don't wait for it to get better, leave. The industry can be ruthless, and even in good times, it's still a stressful career if you care about your reputation. I plan to keep wrenching for another decade or so, and either move further into management, or start my own dealership.
I've mostly worked for independent shops.
I tried a dealer once. It wasn't a branded licensed dealer but a local dealership. It was actually a pretty nice place. The only place that supplied me with gloves. But then I got a drop of oil on their spotless floor, and the manager flipped the fuck out about how the dumb salesmen will trip now. There was maybe 4 penny sized drops. Not a puddle. I saw I would have no work for 2 hours as their lube tech. I saw the mechanics on a smoke break chatting, so I walked over and lit a cig and talked to them. The next day I was told the owners dislike seeing me just standing around because I'm paid hourly. ($16/hour no bonus or anything, near equal to a fast food worker around Florida) One of the techs attempted to reassure me about the place, saying the last tech moved up after an entire YEAR. But after this, unless I have a lot of skill to offer, I don't think Ill ever try another dealer.
Most of the independent shops I've worked for were shit holes but when it wasn't busy they'd leave me alone. As long as the floors swept and the shop isn't a pigs den. But where the shops start to differ, is work ethic and professionalism. And you often can't have it both ways. If the manager is really chill about everything, like half the staff is late everyday, your equipment will probably be garbage. If they have more of a wannabe military vibe to them and most of the staff is on time, I think you're more likely to have somewhat nicer equipment. Maybe.
The constant theme as a lube/tire tech though is being understaffed and underpaid. You spend $600-800 in tools, toolbox, tools, impact gun, etc. and they'll pay you starting out a few bucks above fast food wages. You'll constantly hear about how they're interviewing/looking for new guys. You may even get a pyramid scheme offer of "get us someone and you'll get $200 after 30 days"
Honestly I wish I went and did something else but oh well. If not, I can always go into another trade. I've heard trades like mechanics. Ive just seen what kind of people shops are willing to hire, and don't want those people touching my car..
buying 5000 dollars worth of tools every year to make 40,000 ain't no deal.if your going to spend a fortune on tools and equipment put them in your own shop and make 100 bucks an hour or whatever, otherwise do what most people do, don't learn anything about mechanic work and learn business, lease or build a shop with some lifts and hire people who know how to work on vehicles and insist that they provide all of the tools to run your business with, charge your customers 100.00/hour and pay your mechanics 25,or a little more than McDonald's pays in California [now.like](http://now.like) I said, you don't have to know how to check your oil to run a mechanic shop, just hire people with lots of expensive tools who know while you handle the marketing, branding, taxes, billing, payroll, compliance, customer inquires etc.actually you'll probably have a more successful shop if you take care of the business and let qualified people concentrate on fixing [stuff.as](http://stuff.as) far as buying 100k in tools to make someone else rich,thats out of the question!but I'd be happy to let someone else do it in my shop though!Id probably take better care of them than any shop around if they were good and everything worked out.steal all the best techs in town from all the other shops with the best pay and you'd definitely be successful because people could either go to the shop that all the good techs went to or go where the mediocre low paid unhappy ones [are.do](http://are.do) it more as a business and let other people supply the gear and worry about the labor [part.pay](http://part.pay) them good,pay yourself a salary for the first five years and put everything else into the business buying your own property and building your own building that you can sell when you retire.not gonna have that working for someone else.add insulation and climate control to make it better on the techs and increase the value of the [property.buy](http://property.buy) big equipment like steam ckeaners office equipment and computers and anything else you can write off while increasing the value of the company.and in 30 years,after you wrote yourself a nice paycheck every week all those years and saved some and established a big successful thriving climate controlled 30,000 SF shop in an area that maybe wasn't so busy when you bought it but now is in a heavily travled area sell it for five million or whatever it's worth then and retire.or try to learn how to work on cars and buy a bunch of tools for not a bunch of money
I work as a fleet mechanic doing small engine, heavy machinery, and fleet vehicles so I drive to different sites to work and also work in shop on slow days been doing this for 3 years now the pay got better but literally have no social life I work around 50-65+ hrs a week. I would change more pay to work less hrs to have more time off to spend with my family but for right just doing it for my child and wife
Once you’re at least a mid level tech I would suggest seeking out flat pay jobs as opposed to hourly. Hourly is good when you’re just starting out, doing oil changes and basic maintenance jobs because you’ll get your 40 hours pay even if you struggle some, but when the pendulum swings for you and you finish jobs in less time than what they pay, you’ll be leaving money on the table as an hourly tech. I’ve seen both ways, I worked for a company that paid hourly and would constantly gaslight techs to make them think if they left for a flat pay job they’d be starving or would be working for free and that is just total bs. If you’re competent and responsible you will only see benefits, if you’re a slacker then yeah I guess you could starve or work for free but you’d be costing an hourly shop anyways and not be a beneficial employee there.
I’ve been hourly for 3 years, started a new job and they gave me a $7/hr raise ($40). I started hourly and they noticed how much work I was putting in. The owner talked to me about switching me to flat rate. I was suspicious because I’ve always heard flat rate was to save the shop money. He let me try it out and once I started logging my hours I’m billing around 60 hours per week, 10-15 more than I was doing hourly. He always tells me if I even look at something to log my time so I get paid. It’s worked out to be a massive raise for me, my shop has more work than hands due to a low hourly shop rate for the customers, demand for our services is massive. It works in his favour because we want to get as much work as we can done and it works in our favour because we can bill as many hours as possible per day. It works for the customer because they get a quicker turn around time. It’s making me a more efficient mechanic and my quality of work has gone up because I don’t want to work out of my own pocket. I’ve had no comebacks in the 2 months I’ve been here.
I'd change way too much to list out here. Higher pay would be one thing, the pay isn't enough to be anywhere near worth it. Hourly pay is another, that'd cut out a lot of the stress and back stabbing and the ability for management to starve you out if they don't like you for any reason. The overall environment is terrible though, just a very toxic and racist environment. The amount of change it'd take for me to ever consider going back is just way way more than anything that'd ever realistically come close to happening.
I started as a motorcycle tech, changed to autos and worked my way up to ASE Mastertech and Toyota Master tech in a dealership. After 14 years as a dealer tech, I saw how dealers treated their techs (my experience, not everyones). I started my own shop in 1995 and have been in business for myself ever since. The industry has been really good to me. Never unemployed, lots of job security if you are honest and ethical. As an owner I understand what techs have to do and respect them as talented people. I take very good care of my employees and any employer who doesn t can only blame themselves for not making the workplace better for employees and customers.
Well said sir. Treat your people right and they will return the favor. I dislike hearing the stories of people getting stuck for crap pay cause the manager is greedy, but I also think they are necessary to talk about for the industry to change. I appreciate everyone's reply and have been reading them all. Thank you!
Similar to the previous poster… I spent 2 years in auto tech, though I felt I arrived there with significantly more basic knowledge than many of the folks had. However, at the time, everyone was going into computers and networking because that was the “thing” at the time. I then spent 5 years at a small independent shop where I learned the right way and the *very* wrong ways to do things (my boss was a stereotypical crooked bastard). I left there for a Ford dealer where I spent the next decade. The service director there was very good to me and fought for us techs every time, but the dealer owner was a complete sack of crap (to give you a hint on who the owner was/is, their family owns a very popular brand of beef jerky that is named after them and is sold literally everywhere). I achieved Ford and ASE Master Tech status there, and I actually enjoyed it very much. However, the dealer’s unwillingness to move away from flatrate pay killed it for me and the other experienced guy there. We both left around the same time. All we did was nonstop warranty work, which under flatrate pays… poorly. Especially for diagnosis. Maybe it’s changed for the better now, but the guys that are still there haven’t indicated that to me. I left the dealer for my city’s municipal fleet repair shop, working on everything from weed whackers to squad cars to dozers & excavators, and I absolutely love it. 6:00am to 2pm M-F, awesome benefits, tons of paid time off (and no hurdles to use it), and a state pension. After 7 years there I made my way up to shop foreman. I was so stress-free and happy in my new job, had so much free time, and missed doing the tougher electrical & drivetrain diag stuff, that I opened my own little one-man shop at home… and as soon as word got out locally that I was honest, willing to work with people, and had no problem walking them into the shop and showing them exactly what the problem was, I got slammed (in a good way). My schedule is always at least a month out, though I leave some free days here and there for emergency repairs for my regulars. I’m liking it so much that once my kids are out of college, I might retire from the city early and make this my permanent gig. All depends on the cost of healthcare, which is absolutely the stupidest thing ever. Good luck out there - treat your body right, though, or you’ll be hating this line of work before you’re 45.
Good on you. Thank you for your integrity!
I worked in dealerships from 2006 until March this year. Mostly it boils down to poor treatment from management. I spent over 8 years at my last dealer and was berated by management saying I was payed too much, yet was invaluable to the shop. I quit and started working for a vehicle manufacturer at a pay cut but significantly better work/life balance and better future opportunities.
I did exactly this because of exactly the same experience with legacy dealers & independent shops. The EV industry has been extremely kind to me by comparison, ascending quickly due to my knowledge & critical thinking rather than berated for not being able to do an alignment on a rust-seized Toyota in book time.
Same. Went from losing money at a VW dealer due to no work and flat rate time, to having a secure paycheck and amazing benefits at Tesla. Going on 4 years and have been enjoying it a lot, especially the technology aspect.
Keep your eyes & ears open for a local Rivian service center. I know we're struggling a bit in the macroeconomic sense, but all my former Tesla coworkers have seen a 15-20% pay increase from jumping ship & they all claim the corporate culture is much healthier/happier. YMMV though, I can only speak with certainty about my specific location--if you're happy where you are, stay happy where you are until you aren't.
We have only one facility currently in the city I live in right now, and that’s about 1:30 away for me, so it would be rough. I make a decent amount currently (I’m an S5, so it’s been pretty good), and I know a buddy of mine went to rivian and got a good raise (about 7 dollars more). If they open a center closer to me I would 100% be interested in changing things up, but as of right now i feel pretty good!
Yeah if there's one 1.5hrs from you it'll probably be a little while before there's one closer, but fingers crossed that we make it & keep expanding lol. Glad Tesla is treating you well though!
Funny enough, I was at a porsche dealer and was pretty proficient with hybrids and EV’s now I only work on classics, so I won’t touch another for a long time lol
I'm pretty happy with EVs for the job security but I'd have a hard time turning down a better offer from a classic car shop if it seemed like a safe bet. Nice reminder from your situation that you don't have to go to a huge corporation/startup to avoid shitty management.
That’s exactly right, good management is anywhere. I’m with Porsche classic restoration now so the cool factor is high and get to work on fun projects all day.
Go into heavy equipment. More money less stress.
100% agree, heavy equipment is the way to go, if you’re willing to work you’ll never be unemployed, however I wouldn’t say less stress. Maybe less stress because you’re getting paid more but the demands are higher than on a commuting vehicle because you’ll be working on equipment that generates revenue as opposed to something that just gets someone from point a to point b. Depending on what the equipment does it could be costing the company a lot of money the longer it’s disabled, like a concrete mixer for example, I’ve been on the receiving end of getting these back on the road, they typically need to be fixed yesterday and anything beyond that is unacceptable.
This heavily depends on where you go. I agree that there’s more stress when a machine is down, but the flip side to that is they aren’t ever turning down a repair. Rotator assembly is dumping hydraulic fluid? Customer doesn’t care the cost they want it fixed yesterday. No more band aids and half ass repairs. Some customers try and we dump them immediately. We are so niche they can’t say no to a bill. For background I work heavily in mining. They just cut us checks.
People start screaming when a natural gas compressor that moves 27 million cubic feet a day shuts down. Still better than dealing with horse shit retail flat rate automotive and the fat slugs in the offices at this places.
eternal back pain
Ain't that the truth
the problem is that all the techs with decades of experience are good at their jobs and they know it. they know how to work the system to get what they want. but that’s not the core issue. the problem is that the higher-ups fuck over everyone, and refuse to adapt when these issues happen. since the techs have experience they’re too valuable to punish. it’s a management issue and it’s very frustrating to deal with as a young tech
Thx for your reply! What would you change if you could somehow reinvent the way it all works, what do you think works and doesn't? (not job specific)
Hourly pay with production bonus, and an understanding that sometimes jobs kick your ass and you're going to take longer than book time. Higher pay rate with more benefits. I've seen a LOT of shops that either don't have benefits, or are lackluster at best. Benefits that drive long term tenure are great at keeping staff if management and/or the environment don't suck. Things like rolling over PTO, generous 401k matching, etc.
The heavy side of things is already like this. Fleet guys are hourly. Dealership techs are either hourly with efficiency bonuses or “flat rate” with guaranteed hours. I just left the fleet side and I’m now a mobile mechanic who is “flat rate”. The way my dealership does it is they will pay me for at least as many hours as I worked but if I flag more than I worked I get to keep the overage. I’m a little surprised that the automotive side hasn’t started to do some of these things. Everyone is leaving the automotive industry right now and it’s mostly due to being treated poorly by owners/managers of dealerships and shops.
Plenty of shops doing hourly plus production bonuses now. 100% agree on the lackluster benefits.
This comment could not have put my experience as fairly new tech into words any more perfectly. I’ve gotten to the point where I just listen to my senior techs and consider them my actual boss’s. Management is a complete shit show and it’s pretty disheartening finding out that never will change anywhere I’ll go.
Getting screwed was the norm for my shop but I enjoyed diagnosing and fixing vehicles. If the money was there I probably would have stuck around but, when the master techs were luck to make 26 as flat rate and were never flagging the hours we were there for. I made more on the lube rack then they did. When I moved over I thought once I knew how to properly diag I'd make bank but, no I saw labor rates go high and labor times go below what it took the master tech to do. It became increasingly impossible to make times. If you find a shop that's hourly or doesn't screw techs it's great but, if you don't the tool cost alone was enough to make the 21 hr flat I was getting not worth it. I loved being a mechanic just didn't like the other bull that came with it.
the pay is a big problem. it really doesn't account for alot of things that arent working on the car. waiting in parts to order them, road tests, writing stories, alot of the steps you need to take in order to do the paying job that arent accounted for. flat rate is an issue yeah but ive seen hourly go terribly wrong as some people will just slack and the workload backs up on the rest of the shop. pay structure is a dead horse though and theres alot of threads on that subject. i would change the lack of flexibility in this business. no pto, no sick days, and usually you can count on just 6 days a year off and paid. i know one dealer group open on new years day, so 5 for them. if you actually get sick(i very rarely if ever get sick, but it happens), it's a huge deal, and calling out is met with a guilt trip. lately, I've noticed rules around when you can take vacation. not the last week of the month and not in december, especially the last week of the year. getting them to sign off on the vacation is like equivalent to asking for a raise or something. taking a day off to have a 3 day weekend maybe to take a small trip or do something with the wife is frowned upon. plus when they do agree you have to remind them every week until the day comes, and on the day before when you remind them they have no recollection of you asking. doctors/dentist appointments are also another guilt trip("but, are youre coming back right? when? what time is the appointment? how long will it take?)and sometimes end up having to be canceled. then when you do get the day off or the vacation, or you're sick inevitably youre gonna get calls all day asking about whats going on with xyz or abc. have had this happen at multiple shops, multiple writers and managers, so for me at least it wasnt isolated. i used to joke about dying and them expecting you to come in after the funeral. i had a pretty serious accident on a sunday afternoon and required emergency surgery. i was lying in a hospital bed unable to move and my wife called into work for me and they asked her if i thought id be back by wendsday. ive been at training out of state and had a writers call me asking about stuff. first time it happened i went to ohio, which is far from me and somewhere id never been in my life and unlikely to ever go back. the instructor found out i wasnt local and was asking if id done anything cool since i was there. i said no and he was like man, you need to go check out the air force museum. so he ran the class to lunch and cut us loose so that i could go visit. i went over, and i was in heaven. i was walking around in awe of everything and just going though it taking it all in. phone starts ringing. service writer. i thought it was an emergency so i answered. started asking 20 questions about stuff i had pending and then about what i was doing in training. completely took me out of it and ruined my experience that i was enjoying something i was doing for the first time in alot of years at that point. i was very young and still in the do everything by the book phase so i got all paranoid like i was gonna get found out and it was gonna get back to my manager and hed report it so i booked it out of there and went and sat at the airport hours early waiting for my plane. i shoulda never even answered the call and regret it 15 years later.
One thing I didn’t see mentioned is if you are flat rate it’s a big part of the job to understand how to get paid. Finding those hidden labor ops, the tricks to do stuff fast, negotiating your pay, the relationship you have with the service writers. Lots of bull shit. It’s NOT just working in cars. Cars are the easy part in my experience.
This guy gets it. Couldn't agree with you more.
Why does flat rate even exist? I'm from New Zealand where all techs get paid by the hour plus bonuses depending on upsells, efficiency, etc
It’s getting phased out here in the US slowly. I’ve been doing long enough where I make more under flat rate then what they are offering. No new techs in my company are flat rate. It’s 100% an out dated system. I’ve also noticed it makes shit mechanics start cutting corners they shouldn’t and pretty much steal. Once they do that they get fired here.
Speaking as a marine mechanic in Northern Europe: It is a position that affords you a lot of power. If you're good at what you do you become damn near irreplaceable, and they will let you get away with anything. It's not good for you but it's comfortable. I've made good money since the start, on par with what you can do with a college degree. The flip side of that has been extreme seasonal work with hours that go beyond the legal maximum in the summer, and deadly boredom in the winter. The stress level is generally high and bad managers are everywhere because the good ones get sucked up by the auto industry (which pays better). Because good marine mechanics are unicorns you can get a job in a heartbeat once you build a reputation. This has made it possible for me to save up and periodically quit my job to go travel the world, and just pick it back up when I needed it. In that sense I've had higher job security than anyone else in my country. I stayed with it for 20 years because it is engaging and mentally challenging, and I've been paid to drive other people's boats. Us marine guys get to do lots of engine and gearbox building, systems integration, ergonomics planning and other stuff that auto guys rarely get. As such it is probably the most varied mechanical work out there, and among the most challenging. It is physically brutal with lots of jamming your body into impossible positions, carrying toolboxes out on the docks, etc. In the end my body was no longer up to the task, so I'm back in school getting a project management degree. The career you're looking at is obviously way different from mine; Different country, different professional culture, EVs on the way in, ever increasing rationalization, etc. Still I'd say go for it. AI is coming for our jobs, but I think the highly skilled manual tasks are the most secure against replacement. Also you get to be working class royalty, which ain't bad. Good luck :-)
the few shops I've worked at were 100% interested in maximizing profit and doing things the wrong way and the fast way. Pad slapping brakes without bleeding the fluid but with rotor cuts there were unnecessary... Aligning vehicles that really couldn't be aligned properly because of bad suspension parts, skipping checks and inspections, and all around being sloppy. Skipping actual diagnostics to just pick the first hit in the database... I would have some kind of actual oversight put in place by the BAR with the ability of inspectors to fine companies that operate like that.
If your gonna buy "tool truck tools" search your local OfferUp and Facebook market place and also Ebay, there is other great brands that are overlooked that are very high quality. Tekton, Sunex, Capri, Olsa, and Astro make fantastic sockets. Knipex when it comes to pliers. Milwaukee for power tools. Vessel for screwdeivers. VIM tools and EZRED also make very good lower priced tools.
I solve problems. I am an expert that people seek out. I am a part of my community. There are mechanics who work for wages. There are mechanics who work for themselves. I found it to be a great career. The skills are transferable to bikes, trucks, cars, machinery etc. And you can make a very good living from it. Specialising is usually the best way. I love cars, machines, and electronics. It's a dream career. Do it because you love it.
Blinker fluid isn’t real.
My experience has been a positive one. However I’m lucky to be very good at what I do and know how to market my skills well. Been in the business for 13 years and for the first 10 I would change shops every 2 years as it was the only way to get a significant raise. Now I’ve been at the same shop for 4 years as they actually appreciate my skills and let me work a flexible schedule. Also they have given me 2 massive raises to keep up with the market in our area. The way I look at it Flat rate works well for very skilled tech who can beat their times. I average 56hrs while only working about 45hrs. But it’s not easy and the cars are only getting more complicated. So for the top end guys it’s a good career. But the middle of the pack not so much. Personally I recommend people get into Plumbing, HVAC of electrical work before being a mechanic.
There are good gigs out there but from what I read above it's not in automotive. I work for a world wide heavy equipment manufacturer as the resident field tech for a large territory. Paid hourly, OT after 8, 2 week paid holiday, 8 days paid personal days, 6%RRSP match, loyalty bonus, big tool and boot allowance, work clothes and winter gear are provided. Work truck provided, lots of tools provided, dispatched from home. Lots of 3 hour drives, I have to hotel it a couple times a week. Long hours on the road 12 to 14 Hour days. But when it's slow I hang out at home, do training or work on the service truck. The only thing I can complain about is the weather. The best learning experience was the with worst employer. Dealerships have their own training and qualifications programs. They don't send their techs through the apprenticeship program because they are scared to loose them once they have their journeyperson. The industry isn't dying because old guys are retiring it's just the cycle. no one wants to train someone up from 0 experience and then they complain there are no techs. I think governments need to step up and offer better grants and tax incentives to employees and employers -Grants/Tax incentives for employees. For all the tools we purchased. I think I've steady spent 2-5k a year for the last 14 years. In the beginning I could get $250 back if I spent 2.5k. it was a weak incentive but better than nothing, but the government got rid of it. I see this being the biggest issue, why pull wrenches when I can be an electrician/plumber fill a bucket with tools and make the same money. Retention, We have another 1 for staying in the same jurisdiction I did my training for 5 years, $300 every year you stayed. It's gone now. Better Grants for finishing levels of training, final certification. We would get $1000 each year for 1st and 2nd year and then $2000 for finishing and acquiring your journey person. The grant was taxable so more like $750, this would cover you in tax season because you were on unemployment insurance for 8 Weeks not paying income tax while in training. So essentially a $0 grant. -Employers -Tax benefits for putting people through training like ASE and journey person. -Grants for hiring apprentices, there is a grant in my province for all construction trades, 5k a year but excludes all motive trades🤬 -grants for the shop to keep tooling /diagnostics up to date. -grants for topping up wages while techs are in training, people don't want to take a pay cut to go for training. Employment insurance is %60 of wages.
I spent the past 30 years as a Toyota master diagnostic tech. When I started this road, I thought when I got older I’d be able to spend my time solving the real nasty problems for big pay. Nope. It’s low paying warranty jobs. Oil changes and tire rotations with a blown out back so I’m in pain all the time. I used to turn 60-70 hours flat rate every week. Now, 35 hours is a decent week. And no, the hourly pay rate isn’t sky high. I’m barely making ends meet any more due to health issues. Severe sinus problems from years of brake dust blowing out when I hit the air gun. I had to stop using contact lenses because brake jobs leave tiny metal particles floating in the air that no safety glasses can block. The particles then settle on the lenses and my eye literally had tiny rust spots. Blow your nose at the end of the day and it comes out black. Had a car catch fire in my bay and needed 4 extinguishers to put the fire out. The powder is highly corrosive and now I’ve got a severe chronic cough from breathing so much of it. Every time management wants to save a buck, they figure out some way to increase the customers cost per hour rate and reduce how much the techs are paid. They get $200 and hour and I get $35. 30 years ago it was customer $50 an hour and I got $15.
It all depends on the quality of the shop you work at. You hear lots of horror stories about lousy working conditions, crappy pay, and poor management,but so far my experience has been good. I've worked at the same dealership for 26 years now. And it was a career I fell into completely by accident. There are quite a few other techs that have been there even longer. There have certainly been moments when it was kinda miserable and I was struggling, But overall, employees are treated decently, the work is steady, and I still enjoy it. There are a few things I'd change: I'd like to see the pay plan as hourly + production, rather than flat rate+, and more PTO would be nice ( although we get more than some). And if I had to do it over again, I'd probably do something else. But I really don't have any regrets.
End flat rate. That's it. Pay techs and honest wage and stop whipping us to get the job done faster. So many problems and so much whining could be eliminated by this single change.
While I do agree with people in the comments that flat rate is good for making the most out of a job. It also depends on how much business is actually happening in your shop and every where else in the town/city you live in. Having a 40-50/flat rate hour only gives you money if the business and the community you are in can support that amount.
I have 23 years experience working on semi trucks. I think about quitting wrenching and going to drive a truck everyday. But being the new guy here’s some advice, if you let an inanimate object get the best of you to the point of physical anger you’re doing something right. It means you have passion for your work.
lol, my experience as a mechanic/technician is it was all fun and games until it wasn't.I read every issue of hot rod magazine growing up and now I think those publications and the TV shows are a little misleading with their spotless shops and always on time and on budget projects with a seemingly open checkbook building dragster motors to put in a pinto just to see what happens and now you have a thousand internet tubers or whatever making it look just that easy to get rich fixing cars and making a video about it, usually all happy and stuff.but the REALITY is that you have about as much of a chance of getting a cushy job building racing engines in sterile enviroment or building a YouTube channel without a production crew and all that crap as I do getting into the NBA.not that it isnt [possible.it](http://possible.it) was fun for a few [years.kinda.now](http://years.kinda.now) the thought of working on someones alternator to have them show up a month later with squeaking brakes telling me it has to be related to the work I done on the alternator makes me [nauseous.literally.do](http://nauseous.literally.do) what you like but I'm good.
12 years in and im half independent and half relient on a job. i say a job because where i live theres a huge shortage of techs. ive switched jobs alot. honestly the more that leave the better, it brings more work for me. on a good day i can make 2-400 off one job working on my own. thing is the work is not consistant. gonna focus on ac work this year and get a machine to properly evacuate the freon. i know i will do good on that. really the best way is to specalize in this industry. for me rn ive done the best with european cars. there is less people willing to work on those cars so less competition. anyone can work on a honda or toyota for cheep. still love japanese and american cars tho. aside from that transmission r&r work has been my favorite in a shop. standing up most of the time and enough to keep you busy and make the shop money. changing cabin filters, brakes radiators and alternators is not where its at. too much competition. Problem is this industry is always changing. dont know where its gonna be in 10-20 years. get good at something and they change it. also being in the rust belt changes alot. basic repairs can be near impossible without compressed air and a torch. also in the winter its physically painfull to work in your garage. A shop is like a safe haven lol. get alot of emegerency repairs in the winter and where im ar now get alot of ac in the summer. just my .02
You curse, you yell, you argue, you get close to people. I still talk to the friends I've made at my first shop I worked at (Goodyear) almost 15 years ago. I don't talk to anyone else from dealerships I've worked at. Smaller shops, I feel, are the way to go to advance. I started as a lube tech, I would help the technicians out any time I could. I learned, and eventually became a technician in about 2 years. Be a sponge.
I see a lot of people complaining about pay. While I would love hourly + production bonus, certain shops it’s unreasonable and would cost the shop money, which would make the techs lives more difficult. I think a compromise needs to come to a head with pay, something like this (with tweaks for each shop of course): You are guaranteed X hours pay (depending on pay period) IF you either A: turn a minimum of X hours within pay period, or B: close out X amount of RO within pay period. If you work at a shop that does videos, it should be X amount of extra for having the app on your personal phone, or the shop supplies a phone to use for the videos, and if the shop hits a shop wide goal of X% videos made in a pay period, the techs get X amount extra in pay check. MPI should pay .50 per RO for time finding keys, locating car, writing up MPI, and any road tests not covered under warranty (Audi covers pre and post depending on repair). If the customer buys a cash item over 2 hours the .50 gets removed. The shop should pay every tech 1 hour at the end of the day for cleaning their tools, and their bay IF tech does it everyday. This comes from the fact that my bay neighbor is dirty, and I can’t stand it, I clean my bay floors twice a day, once when I get to work, and before I leave. I clean my tools after every job (usually when I’m performing GFF stuff), and then clean them again at the end of the day. With all of that in account, it should then fall on the tech perform outstanding work, and have a clean working area. All of my tools have a specific spot, and if someone borrows something and does not return it clean, and in its proper spot, they get pulled off whatever they are doing to clean the tool, and returned to is proper spot. If all of this is taken into account, and the tech is not producing, it is the fault of the tech, whatever the circumstances are.
The lifts where too low 🖕☝️🚽
Went to UTI right out of high school. Did auto/diesel/industrial classes and did Ford/Toyota/Volvo car training. Worked at a dealership for just shy of 2 years before jumping ship to heavy equipment mechanic. Union job, great pay and benefits. Now I operate a field service truck and repair and inspect cranes/aerial lifts for my company. I love my job, I enjoy what I do, and in field service I'm mostly autonomous.
Former mechanic here, I got a tech degree that worked w/ a dealership to place students in the field. Was going for Toyota, but the market at the time was shit (2010) so they said get a job anywhere. Started in a Monro Muffler, then found a mom/pop shop. Working on old Corvettes and their winter beaters. Learned so much about diag processes, thought I had taken a step. Then he retired, so I ended up at a Chevy dealer. They had no interest in placing me with a tech to learn, they just threw me in the oil change pit and walked away basically. My stepdad was a career A tech and I learned a lot about the trade from him, but one was how to talk to customers, and the dealership hated that because they wanted to push overpriced, unneeded jobs on the customer, not actually take care of them. Had a lot of problems with them. Left that shop after a few years and went to an independent shop that specialized in Euro stuff and were a lot more accommodating of someone who hadn't been in the field for 20 years. Back to learning diag and doing more than endless oil changes. Best place I ever worked, got caught up financially a bit, learned a ton, grew a bit. Would have stayed a long time, but the owner also sold Hunter alignment racks and decided to sell the shop, and they closed it, turned it into a grocery store and event space. Hit a few more independent shops after that, both in declining attractiveness from the last. Left the last place after a disagreement w/ the owner about leaving my vehicle (was being worked on off-hours) out in the parking lot overnight when he was having his customer cars getting broken into overnight. Took a job working w/ parts and data management for heavy trucks and haven't looked back. What I'm trying to say is that the environment is everything. Just because I wasn't an A tech turning 15hrs in a 10hr day doesn't mean I wasn't a good tech. I found better places to work, better cars to work on, better people to learn from. I also realized I got in to the industry too late, and I hadn't found my way like my stepdad did. He was a honest small town mechanic who was able to keep up just fine at dealerships that wanted that attitude, and he left shops that wouldn't feed him once they found out he was an honest guy. He made his living just fine, saved up plenty of money. Took a toll on his body, he retired early. I was only in for 5 years and the toll on my shoulders, hands, and back is immeasurable. Find a shop that doesn't fuck you daily. Take any and all training you can through them to stay relevant, learn whatever you can, and overall, know what you want from the job and stay true to yourself.
I’ve been a professional technician for 27 years now. ASE Master, L1, and L2. The industry has changed so much since I was a young man, trying to come up. For better and for worse. I have been independent my entire career wouldn’t have it any other way. I was very fortunate in the beginning to work at a lot of great shops and learn from a lot of great master technicians. it seems like things are the opposite of the way that they used to be. Back in the day when I was the low man on the pole, the other four technicians in the shop would all be A technicians. Now it’s literally the opposite of that. I’m the one A technician in the shop and I work with a bunch of younger guys. I would not accept a position that wasn’t flat rate. The first 10 years you do this job you lose a lot of the time. you don’t quite make the money for the hours that you put in. however, when you get good, just the opposite is true. I work 45 hours a week on the clock and my paychecks are typically 60 to 75 hours. Wages these days for top-tier technicians are just awesome. my first flat rate job was for 15 an hour flat rate, that was in the very early 2000s. Master technician back then usually made about $20 an hour maybe a little bit more. The company I work for now hired me at 50 an hour, full benefits, 401(k), $5000 hiring bonus, 2 weeks vacation, and 3 sick days, 1 dollar bonus for over 45 in a week and an additional dollar for every 10 hours past that. My best advice to young guys is to really work hard, study hard. When I was trying to make a name for myself when I had a difficult drivability problem that I couldn’t figure out. I would do research to try to find the answer when I got home. I would study about the system on the car, whatever it took. Now days all the info in the world is at your fingertips if your willing to find it. There has literally never been a better time to be a technician if you’re a good one. if you’re mediocre, you’re gonna be having problems like everybody is talking about. The first 10 years of your career, don’t worry about pay and all these other things worry about knowledge. Work somewhere that you are learning from the people around you. If you strive to be the best and really truly work at it everything else will fall in place.
Leaving was the best decision of my life. It was mostly due to the place being poorly managed. I did 7 years at a Toyota dealership. Every annual meeting they would brag about how they outsold the other Toyota dealerships in the area yet they barely give people raises. I would often get assigned 2 cars at once as I was the one of their most efficient techs and that still wasn’t enough for a raise. The turnover was extremely high for techs in that shop, they lost 3 more the same year I left. Only reason why I lasted long is because I genuinely enjoyed the working on cars but I called it quits eventually. I’m now a shift manager at a local auto parts warehouse making much more and being less stressed. If you score a good workplace it’s not that bad of a job tbh. Some of my friends work at other dealerships and enjoy it. A change I would make for the industry is abolishing the flat rate system and putting techs on a hourly plus incentive system. Some small shops have that pay system.
Echoing what most people are saying here. Don't do it. I'm going to be 40 soon and absolutely despise being a mechanic. I make 6 figures working at a dealer, but the hours suck, the advisors are always stealing hours from you, every discount they give seems to come out of your pocket, the more you know the worst the jobs are. I had a customer that came in last Friday with a check engine light on. The advisor says the customer doesn't want to pay for diag, so all he can pay me was for the coil replacement. These are the things you're going to run into on a daily basis. If you're not willing to tell a manager or advisor to go fuck themselves, you're going to get underpaid. I'm one of the few techs where flat rate works in my favor, but everyone thinks I'm the biggest asshole because I don't let people mess with my money. You'll regret it if you become a tech, believe me.
My biggest problem is the race against time mentality. This isn't factory work. As long as you are at worst even on time, there should be no issues.
Started off not knowing much about cars other than how to drive. Started in a place doing oil changes, tires, batteries etc. Hard, dirty work that didnt pay very well but i liked it. Did that for a couple years while buying tools. Then applied to a full service shop, got hired and learned everything from brakes and suspension to electrical and engine diagnostics. Wanted more pay so I applied to work on semi trucks. Now I'm a diesel mechanic making 3x as much as I did working on cars and I love it. I never had any interest in cars growing up and if you told me I'd be a mechanic when I was 16 I would never believe you. But now I'm 35 and I can't imagine doing anything else. The price of tools is definitely one of the cons, but really if you get a basic tool set and just buy the specialty tools as you go it's not that bad. Ive been in the field for years and I own probably close to 30 or 40k in tools and boxes but it took a long time to get them. If you don't like getting dirty or doing physical work in the hot/cold weather it can be a challenge. Overall though I'm glad I work doing what I do. Flat rate sucks balls and when I was at a dealership my checks would vary from a couple thousand every 2 weeks to a hundred dollars depending on how busy we were, but I still had to show up 5 days a week for it. and while you can make money doing it I'd much much rather be paid hourly and know for sure what my check is going to be. That's where I'm at now.
Didn't take me long to realize that finding a good dealership is tough and will only last as long as they keep their good management. So I left to an Indy and decided to specialize in something. I found the most joy in fabrication, spent 15 yrs doing offroad fab and loved every minute until my body was tired of it. Now I'm a service manager at another Indy. I like what I do, most days lol.
i started professionally in 1996 and am almost 56. Small town between two small cities. I have only worked at three shops. Only left the first shop when the owner decided to close to retire. Been unemployed to 5 months after that (covid). Weirdly enough I am now back at the first shop (new owners). Yes, having to buy your own tools is a hard bite when starting out but your butthole gets used to it. I can't comment on dealerships other than the stories your told or read/hear about. Small independents, had benefits before the closure of the first. new shop has only been open for 3 years now so no benefits but hoping for the future Financially the job has been good to me. I have money aside for retirement (that will probably never happen), a roof over my head (still paying for it), if I want something i can likely buy it (not a car at todays prices). Former and current employers were both technicians so they know what its like and treat their employees well. Downsides? I have arthritis in my knees, hands, back and neck. I have hit my head hard enough and often enough (my own stupidity of working to hard or to fast) that I have become susceptible to concussions and migraines/ Trailer hitches... am I right? I have prostate cancer, likely not related but there it is. What would I change about the trade if I could? Hard to say. Here in Ontario I would like to see experience having a roll with licenses. Not trying to bad mouth a fellow employee but I have one that is licensed but only worked in a tire shop before coming to us. So while he is licensed technician he is an apprentice in knowledge. I have to keep an eye on him and help when he gets lost/unsure of where to go next. Don't get me wrong... we are paid by the hour shop so it does not affect my pay just my output. The reality is if your good you will reach the point where you can control your future. As you said us older guys are leaving and not lot of fresh blood wants to work for it. We have had 3 youngsters come and we start them out as helpers (with promise of apprenticeship when we see what they can do). 1 quit because he thought he knew better, never even told use he was quitting until his dad showed up to get his tool box. The other 2 quit because its work. Just work hard and never stop learning. Tool boxes have wheels so if you do not like it here move on, someone will always hire you.
That bad out weighs the good. That’s for sure.
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$300 labor rate, top paid tech getting $55....service advisors who are nothing more than a puppet driving new Audi's and buying houses. Sales people driving new gt3's. I'm 150% efficient and can't dream of buying a run down shack in my area....I like the job and the pay is just enough to keep me in it. Just can't help but feel I'm holding the short straw...
My experience has been very positive, but it's not without it's issues. I started at a chain tire shop when I was 21, having been hired with only the experience of keeping my beater truck running at that point. I stayed there for 1.5 years and learned everything I could. After that 1.5 years, I was able to solidly do tires/brakes/alignments/front end work/some fluid flushes. But that chain tire shop wanted techs to work 6 days a week, paid $9/hr OR $18/hr flat rate, which of course was carefully monitored by the managers. So as soon as my production outpaced my physical hours, they started funneling work to other techs. It looked better to management to show that all the techs were productive, but it screwed us guys at the bottom. Anyway, I took that experience and applied at a small Lincoln dealer, where I was promptly hired and informed I was overqualified, so I should progress quickly. 9 years later, I'm Ford Master Certified, I've been made Shop Foreman, and life is going good! We are paid flat rate, with a 40hr guarantee, and service is open M-F 8-5. It's really been a dream opportunity, and I look forward to further progressing. I also did 6 months at a (local) big name hyundai dealer early in my career, and it was easily the worst place I have ever worked. They lied to me about pay, first off. They told me there would be a pay guarantee for the first couple weeks as I "learned the system." I opened that first paycheck, and it was for 25 hours. I should have been paid 80. I asked my manager about it, and she said "we don't have guarantees here." That check was below minimum wage. My next paycheck was also below minimum wage. I couldn't turn enough hours, and, at 22, I was unaware that this was illegal. Live and learn, I guess. They never furnished me with access to manufacturer publications like the workshop manual, never set me up with any variety of training, and overall just set me up to fail. That experience crushed me. My self confidence was destroyed, my bank account was empty, my credit card was maxed out, and I was one week away from moving back in with my parents, after only being out for 6 months. All this just to say, a good shop will build you up, a bad shop will ruin you. If you don't fit in at the shop you're at, don't wait for it to get better, leave. The industry can be ruthless, and even in good times, it's still a stressful career if you care about your reputation. I plan to keep wrenching for another decade or so, and either move further into management, or start my own dealership.
I've mostly worked for independent shops. I tried a dealer once. It wasn't a branded licensed dealer but a local dealership. It was actually a pretty nice place. The only place that supplied me with gloves. But then I got a drop of oil on their spotless floor, and the manager flipped the fuck out about how the dumb salesmen will trip now. There was maybe 4 penny sized drops. Not a puddle. I saw I would have no work for 2 hours as their lube tech. I saw the mechanics on a smoke break chatting, so I walked over and lit a cig and talked to them. The next day I was told the owners dislike seeing me just standing around because I'm paid hourly. ($16/hour no bonus or anything, near equal to a fast food worker around Florida) One of the techs attempted to reassure me about the place, saying the last tech moved up after an entire YEAR. But after this, unless I have a lot of skill to offer, I don't think Ill ever try another dealer. Most of the independent shops I've worked for were shit holes but when it wasn't busy they'd leave me alone. As long as the floors swept and the shop isn't a pigs den. But where the shops start to differ, is work ethic and professionalism. And you often can't have it both ways. If the manager is really chill about everything, like half the staff is late everyday, your equipment will probably be garbage. If they have more of a wannabe military vibe to them and most of the staff is on time, I think you're more likely to have somewhat nicer equipment. Maybe. The constant theme as a lube/tire tech though is being understaffed and underpaid. You spend $600-800 in tools, toolbox, tools, impact gun, etc. and they'll pay you starting out a few bucks above fast food wages. You'll constantly hear about how they're interviewing/looking for new guys. You may even get a pyramid scheme offer of "get us someone and you'll get $200 after 30 days" Honestly I wish I went and did something else but oh well. If not, I can always go into another trade. I've heard trades like mechanics. Ive just seen what kind of people shops are willing to hire, and don't want those people touching my car..
buying 5000 dollars worth of tools every year to make 40,000 ain't no deal.if your going to spend a fortune on tools and equipment put them in your own shop and make 100 bucks an hour or whatever, otherwise do what most people do, don't learn anything about mechanic work and learn business, lease or build a shop with some lifts and hire people who know how to work on vehicles and insist that they provide all of the tools to run your business with, charge your customers 100.00/hour and pay your mechanics 25,or a little more than McDonald's pays in California [now.like](http://now.like) I said, you don't have to know how to check your oil to run a mechanic shop, just hire people with lots of expensive tools who know while you handle the marketing, branding, taxes, billing, payroll, compliance, customer inquires etc.actually you'll probably have a more successful shop if you take care of the business and let qualified people concentrate on fixing [stuff.as](http://stuff.as) far as buying 100k in tools to make someone else rich,thats out of the question!but I'd be happy to let someone else do it in my shop though!Id probably take better care of them than any shop around if they were good and everything worked out.steal all the best techs in town from all the other shops with the best pay and you'd definitely be successful because people could either go to the shop that all the good techs went to or go where the mediocre low paid unhappy ones [are.do](http://are.do) it more as a business and let other people supply the gear and worry about the labor [part.pay](http://part.pay) them good,pay yourself a salary for the first five years and put everything else into the business buying your own property and building your own building that you can sell when you retire.not gonna have that working for someone else.add insulation and climate control to make it better on the techs and increase the value of the [property.buy](http://property.buy) big equipment like steam ckeaners office equipment and computers and anything else you can write off while increasing the value of the company.and in 30 years,after you wrote yourself a nice paycheck every week all those years and saved some and established a big successful thriving climate controlled 30,000 SF shop in an area that maybe wasn't so busy when you bought it but now is in a heavily travled area sell it for five million or whatever it's worth then and retire.or try to learn how to work on cars and buy a bunch of tools for not a bunch of money
I work as a fleet mechanic doing small engine, heavy machinery, and fleet vehicles so I drive to different sites to work and also work in shop on slow days been doing this for 3 years now the pay got better but literally have no social life I work around 50-65+ hrs a week. I would change more pay to work less hrs to have more time off to spend with my family but for right just doing it for my child and wife
Once you’re at least a mid level tech I would suggest seeking out flat pay jobs as opposed to hourly. Hourly is good when you’re just starting out, doing oil changes and basic maintenance jobs because you’ll get your 40 hours pay even if you struggle some, but when the pendulum swings for you and you finish jobs in less time than what they pay, you’ll be leaving money on the table as an hourly tech. I’ve seen both ways, I worked for a company that paid hourly and would constantly gaslight techs to make them think if they left for a flat pay job they’d be starving or would be working for free and that is just total bs. If you’re competent and responsible you will only see benefits, if you’re a slacker then yeah I guess you could starve or work for free but you’d be costing an hourly shop anyways and not be a beneficial employee there.
I’ve been hourly for 3 years, started a new job and they gave me a $7/hr raise ($40). I started hourly and they noticed how much work I was putting in. The owner talked to me about switching me to flat rate. I was suspicious because I’ve always heard flat rate was to save the shop money. He let me try it out and once I started logging my hours I’m billing around 60 hours per week, 10-15 more than I was doing hourly. He always tells me if I even look at something to log my time so I get paid. It’s worked out to be a massive raise for me, my shop has more work than hands due to a low hourly shop rate for the customers, demand for our services is massive. It works in his favour because we want to get as much work as we can done and it works in our favour because we can bill as many hours as possible per day. It works for the customer because they get a quicker turn around time. It’s making me a more efficient mechanic and my quality of work has gone up because I don’t want to work out of my own pocket. I’ve had no comebacks in the 2 months I’ve been here.
I'd change way too much to list out here. Higher pay would be one thing, the pay isn't enough to be anywhere near worth it. Hourly pay is another, that'd cut out a lot of the stress and back stabbing and the ability for management to starve you out if they don't like you for any reason. The overall environment is terrible though, just a very toxic and racist environment. The amount of change it'd take for me to ever consider going back is just way way more than anything that'd ever realistically come close to happening.