Automotive Careers - Just curious what life is like as a tech.

Hi, I'm recently torn between what I want to do as a career. I'm currently going to a community college full-time as well as working at a dealership detailing part-time. I recently talked to the service manager who told me I could try out being a quick lube guy during the summer and possibly helping out the techs during the daytime with work. I'm currently majoring in Business Administration and I do pretty decent in school and try my best. I'm just not sure if I would be happier working with my hands or doing bookwork. I'm also afraid of not having enough work to do as a tech at the dealership and having people steal work. Can a tech get paid hourly instead of comission during slow periods? What does your average day consist of and how is the work assigned? Any bad effects of being a Tech in the long-term? Thanks guys I'd love to hear what you think.

DO NOT become a tech. I have been off and on tech forever and keep thinking I need to go and get some kind of business degree. I am very interested in the stock market as well as real estate, although just self studying right now and I am also very curious about business. I think you are on the right track with the business admin classes.

Yea, I've been thinking about trying two different things down the road part time to see if i can actually make decent money running my own business. I've thought about a hot dog stand/catering in the D.C area i've heard there's good money in that not really a career but better than the 9$ an hr job i have now. I've also considered having vending machines set up in certain places which is pretty much in my opinion a set it and forget it kind of job. The only thing I hate about going after my business degree is the stupid math and science classes i have to take in order to get it. Bio, Calc etc. I'm more of a History/English person.

Being a tech isn't bad. There is a lot of drama at a shop though mainly because of work thieves and bad service writers. No, you cannot be paid hourly during the slow months. You'll be starving for work at a dealership depending on the amount of techs vs. work ratio.

I spent 2.5 years in automotive school (not UTI or the likes) so that I could receive my Honda/Acura certification in service. I wish I would've spent that time on something different.

It all boils down to whether or not you enjoy working on people's daily driver cars day in and day out, despite not making much money sometimes.

I mean I don't mind working on dd cars but I'm just afraid of some stuff that I've never worked on before namely A/C, Rear Ends, and pretty much anything electrical. I guess I'm also afraid of straying from the cookie cutter rwd pushrod v8 cars lol.

You can be paid hourly at some dealerships, but it will ALWAYs be to the dealerships advantage. If you good, and fast you can make ok money working as a tech, but it is rough work, and people bring you all kinds of crappy cars to fix. You can't really pick and choose, but at least at a dealership you'll get newer vehicles to work on as well as extra training as new technology comes out.

A/C isn't too bad, and just about all cars AC operate on the same principle, so once you figure them out, they are easy money. Rear ends took me a few to get right, but kinda the same deal, but more involved. Stock gears are the easiest to set up.

Electrical can always be a PITA, but if your working on something newer, there is very few actual wiring problems that come about themselves (most wiring problems I seen were from other techs or body shops), it will almost always be a component/module that has a problem or a terminal in a connector, or just a loose ground or bad battery (always check those first!)

Not everything that comes in will be mechanical either, you get a variety of things. At a smaller dealership you would be expected to learn everything, but at larger dealerships you can specialize in one or two certain areas your good at since there would be more techs. What you make the most money doing would be light stuff like battery's, alternators, water pumps, AC... because you get them in and out quicker than lets say an engine replacement and those little jobs add up to be worth much more than that one big job and take less total time. ;)

I'm working on my autobody repair diploma right now, and then going to work at an autobody shop for the years it takes me to get my mechanics degree(2 years) and my diesel mechanics diploma/degree(not sure how long it will take and which one the college offers).

I love working on cars, and it's what I want to do. I plan on opening my own shop for custom cars. Custom painting, custom interior/exterior, detailing, stuff like that.

The autobody shops around here pay by the hour, but in a way, you can make well over that. Here, from what I've been told by a few people that work in shops and from my teacher that managed a few himself, you get paid by the hour but if you're fast, you can make more money. Say you get paid $10 an hour starting out. If you get done quickly you can get more cars done, which means you are actually making more than that $10 an hour. I guess it's hard to describe on paper(this post).

There is only 1 good shop that is ANYTHING like the one I plan on oppening, and their 2 workers are making about $50 an hour and have constant cars going in and honestly, I don't think they do that great of a job. The only detailing place that I know of is doing decent, and I'm not sure of their quality because I haven't seen any that I know of. So I think I'll do good.

It all boils down to if you like working on cars. I love the thought of being paid good to work on cars, being able to be creative, at the same time.

Being a tech sucks sometimes. I work at a midsize Ford dealership. Its hard to get a avg income. One week I will do really good and the next not so good. During summer I avg. 60-65 and thats not pushing my self. Here lately I'm doing good to stay in the 30 hrs range. You have to manage your money well. I make a lot more money on the side. I have two engine jobs I'm doing right now on the side.
Dont be scared to work on other cars beside the ones you favor. They maybe hard to figure out at first but with time it will be easy. Good luck in what ever you choose!

I've been a tech for about 2 yrs now and i like it. I find it satisfying :-). I'm hourly plus i get a productivity bonus. I work at a very small buick/pontiac/gmc dealership. we have 5 techs. The only stock we have is oil filters and some air filter and a few sets of brake pads. Anything else we order. as long as i hit 60% productivity for the pay period i'm good. if i make 100% then i get $1.25 per hour bonus. My pay right now is so so but i only have 2 yrs experience and i need to get 2 more ASE exams done. My manager wants to send me to get hyundai certified as well. The more experience and training you have the more $$$ you will make.

i was a tech at toyota when i started working on cars, i had very limited knowledge at the time. i learned a few things it was ok. moved to a big chevy dealorship. i was ther about 2 yrs. i was paid hourly which sucked, made terrible money no matter how much i did or didnt do. i started in ther ASEP program which consisted of heavy doses of school and then shop for on off @ 6 week intervals. i wasnt ever very book smart so i fell behind quick. sux too b/c id gootten taken into the transmission department and really like doing them, they got easy after awhile and i wasnt scared anymore of all the parts. of course soon afterwards i was let go b/c i couldnt keep up w/ the bookwork in school mostly the math ( trig ) and the electrical course i didnt do so hot in ( still terrible at diagnosising electrical 7 yrs later )
from my experience im glad i got out of being a tech. it kept cars fun and working on them something i could have fun doing on my own time n pace, which is why i started working on cars in the 1st place not to make bank but learn how to work on my own cars. if it was me GO TO SCHOOL! finish what you started get a good job that pays well so you can afford to play with your cars when you want to on your own timecard.

just look at it like this, how many techs do you see rollin around in the baddest cars? a few sure of course but not a ton. most are building this 67 camaro ect... but they been doing it for 7 yrs ect... they work on them all day at work then dont have the time, money or desire to work on their own stuff.
kinda like that old saying about being a gynocologist, you been looking , playin and sniffing it all day...... you get the point!

glad i could help :chug:

I went to school for something I hated and now im back to working on cars im 21 and jsut bought a small shop but still work at my other job as well I love it sometimes it frusturating but dont let anyone talk you out of anything you have to do it not anyone eles do whatever makes u happy

work on foreign cars they pay better and there is more of them i work on hyundia's good money

not triying to hyjack but, I also am thinking of going in the automotive career. I was woundering if anyone has an a idea of what a average tech makes a year? I know this would depend on the location and size of the shop but just a round about figure.

not triying to hyjack but, I also am thinking of going in the automotive career. I was woundering if anyone has an a idea of what a average tech makes a year? I know this would depend on the location and size of the shop but just a round about figure.
My boss at the current dealership that i worked out told me the avg amount a tech makes is anywhere from 20-50k a year depending on how much work is available at the shop. He said he made close to 100k a year as a crew leader doing alignments and suspension. Most of them from what I understand make flat rate he told me it was like 30$ per hr of labor.

wow see alot of stuff that its hard to be a tech.i know of some techs that start out the first year at 50k it really comes down to do you like the work or not if you dont like it then of couse you will feel you get under paid and that its sucks. some people are not ment to be a tech yea they can be good at it but just dont like doing the work every day. which is under standable and there is nothing wrong with that. its all personal opionan just like any thing else with cars lol.

As of late the repair Industry has been really Wierd. I work at a small independant shop. As of late business has been slow. The funny thing is you are either doing Maintance or you are doing Big ticket items. There no in between. The cost everything have gone through the roof and I think its finally starting to catch up with people. The news says everyone has a bunch of disposable income, but every single customer or shop we deal with is in the same boat. Money to pay for things. Take for example a retail brake Job. good parts. this will work for most car. Rotor $75 each, Pads $60 Labor 1.2 hr $90 plus tax. 300 Plus tax. A few yrs ago this would be a no Brainer sale, no I have to listen to why its so much BLAAHAHHAHA.

Back onto topic. Yes its a good field to get into, I have been fixing cars for almost 25 yr now and still enjoy going to work. I have never worked at the dealer, but have alot of freinds that do and they are not happy. If your in it for the money the dealers are the places that can net you a big check at points. But they are starting a trend around here of doing Hrly wages instead of flat rate. I make $35,000 a yr plus fuel and parts. But I too have to have a side job to make ends meet... But my side job consits of delivering freight 2 nights a wk 5hrs a night. Making $38hr driving(No stress) is very inviting.

Sorry to ramble
John

Id depends. If you can get a job that pays by the hour youll like it if its flat rate youll will hate it.
Techs are at the bottom of the totem poll, we are disliked, thought of as stupid uneducated grease monkeys. It the only job that people think they can do it themselves. "you want how much to do what?" "ill do it myself" I dont know how many times I heard that.
In flat rate shops there is alot of steeling and fighting going on. Its not all nice.
See your never sure if you can pay your bills, put food on the table etc etc. Its a week to week life. Atleast the tech advisors get a paycheck when they are supposed to.

Aviation wasnt all that better either.

Sometimes you shouldnt mix your passion with a carrer you may end up hating both.
The ultamite is when you can have fun working a carrer which is your passion.

working on cars sucks.....whenever the economy in the area tanks, so does your pay check, 2007 i made 12 k less than 2006, why, cuse the owner of the shop is greedy, and hired another tech..the shop makes more money, but actually retains less, so now instead of three guys making over 40 hours, everyone struggles to make 30. Then the boos decides he doesnt want us to starve so he uses vacation time to keep the checks decent. So I wind up with no vacation and crappy paychecks. There are a few places you can make a killing, but trying to do it as a rookie, good luck. there isnt a school in the world that can prepare you for the job either, you either can do it or cant. I have worked in several dealers, and some smaller independent shops @ 15 years total, and I cant make what i do at an entry level position in any other field so im stuck. Now that said I work at a great shop, with good people. We also have a company racecar, and i do most of the driving, for free lol, but I also put a few hundred hours in the car too. Would I suggest the field to someone, only if they were really good at it before doing it for a living. If you can do this and that on your own car, thats not good enough, you will flounder in low paying positions with no help, everybody else is probably paid flat rate so they want to hustle the job they are doing not help you. But if you do know somethings, then you go somewhere and turn hours, then nobody will talk to you cuse you are the fng whos taking all the work...screwed either way lol. Get the business degree and run the dealership lol

You said if carfixer
I worked for a large shop, Canadian Tire like a pepboys. The shop atmoshpere was great, we had a bunch of good techs too. We had about 10-11 bays cant remember but it was a flat rate shop. What made it worse was that duties were scattered. One guy was the the tuneup tech, the rest was general and one of the general guys was the front end tech. So to put it lightly everything that came through the door was basically tuneup. Bad batt's, electrical, nostarts, tuneups. The rest of us got brake jobs and rads, water pumps etc. Well the tune up guy had every bay full, he was taking almost 200K home the rest of us actually starved. Started at 8 am and finished at 10pm. Some days id go home in debt. Buy lunch or a coffee for that matter and you in debt cause you made no money.
GM was another hole. steeling, fighting, coruption within the company. Work was disperesed accordingly if you know what i mean. And warrenty was bullshit. Half or less than half of what the mitchell states.

My advise find a shop that pays by the hour or atleast gives you a base. other than that stay away.

jeez guys, you have me scared. i actually start a new painting job tomorrow at a independent shop.

well at least you will get to sniff paint fumes...lol

I thought about this too. But its not Daily Drivers I like to work on, its race cars. If I could work on race cars all day I'd love it.

I should mention though dont let what we say make you decision final. You should give it a try and really see how you will like it. You'll atleast have a heads up going in, than thinking someone should have told/warned me. You may actually like it, and not care about the bull. For example I was warned ten times over about getting into aircraft. Its a really shit industry to be in, but at the same time given the chance I'd go back and put up with the shit. Food for thought.

well at least you will get to sniff paint fumes...lol

yea, they forgot to order me a paint mask for the mourning delivery today so when it finally got their this evening i was already fruit loopey. still am a little lol. did i spell all this right, i hope so lol :eyes:

As of late the repair Industry has been really Wierd. I work at a small independant shop. As of late business has been slow. The funny thing is you are either doing Maintance or you are doing Big ticket items. There no in between. The cost everything have gone through the roof and I think its finally starting to catch up with people. The news says everyone has a bunch of disposable income, but every single customer or shop we deal with is in the same boat. Money to pay for things. Take for example a retail brake Job. good parts. this will work for most car. Rotor $75 each, Pads $60 Labor 1.2 hr $90 plus tax. 300 Plus tax. A few yrs ago this would be a no Brainer sale, no I have to listen to why its so much BLAAHAHHAHA.

Back onto topic. Yes its a good field to get into, I have been fixing cars for almost 25 yr now and still enjoy going to work. I have never worked at the dealer, but have alot of freinds that do and they are not happy. If your in it for the money the dealers are the places that can net you a big check at points. But they are starting a trend around here of doing Hrly wages instead of flat rate. I make $35,000 a yr plus fuel and parts. But I too have to have a side job to make ends meet... But my side job consits of delivering freight 2 nights a wk 5hrs a night. Making $38hr driving(No stress) is very inviting.

Sorry to ramble
John

who do you deliver freight for? they in Rochester too??

A lot of people will tell you to steer clear but as I have 10 years in the bussines I have seen alot . I tell you the facts and you decide . Oh and I am very happy in the field .

You will always have a job in this field if your good because there is a high demand for people that know waht they are doing . The field is flooded with a lot of people that probably shouldn't be working on cars (they need too have some sort of certified test but that will never happen ). It can be very competitive at times . You will never be rich but you can make a good living and live good . You will probably not get appreciated much by anyone boss customers ect . Unless you are doing proformance work .

Dealers will work the crap out of you for as little money as possaible . The big money is in the independent shops but you will usually get paid off the books partly , and may not get benifits some do offer it. and its a much more relaxed environment .

The dealer ,you will always be scrambling for the flate rate hours . and the manegment will like to keep you hours to a certen leven and higher more people when you start making consistent higher hours then they would like .

All and all its not bad if thats what your into and there are good jobs out here . Another thing to think about is every other trade will make doubble what you make ect. plumbers,electrican ....

Dealers will work the crap out of you for as little money as possaible . The big money is in the independent shops but you will usually get paid off the books partly , and may not get benifits some do offer it. and its a much more relaxed environment .

The dealer ,you will always be scrambling for the flate rate hours . and the manegment will like to keep you hours to a certen leven and higher more people when you start making consistent higher hours then they would like .


Just to expand on that.

That depends on the dealer. I have worked with techs that have made 90-100k. However they have been team leaders and have been working for a good 25+ years. it will really depend a lot on the dealer. I know all 3 of my techs make over $22 per hour. They have been here for a few years and been in the trade for 10-15 years. Some dealers will work the techs to death some do not. My guys are on a team system so they all share the hours. They are hustlers and can crank out 20-30 hours a man per day. The downfall to a team system is having a slow tech that can't keep up or lacking in diagnosing.

I have worked as a Service Advisor for both independant shops and dealerships and I can say the dealership is where the money is at if you work for a GOOD one.

I spent about six hours last week diagnosing a mirror problem on a Cayenne with 3 control units involved and CAN lines. Turned out to be some other tech had a problem and fixed it by swapping the two axis wires in the mirror harness. That worked for him but when the ACTUAL problem was fixed it caused that mirror to operate funky(up down was left right and vice versa) I figured it out driving home on the second day and checked it the next morning against the wiring diagram, i was PISSED!! friggin hacks. I really hate that crap but mostly i work on other people's babies. I even had one customer back up against a desk and put his finger in my face and say " that's' my baby, Don't Fu<k with it!" I guess a lot of people have had bad experiences at dealers.

I spent about six hours last week diagnosing a mirror problem on a Cayenne with 3 control units involved and CAN lines. Turned out to be some other tech had a problem and fixed it by swapping the two axis wires in the mirror harness. That worked for him but when the ACTUAL problem was fixed it caused that mirror to operate funky(up down was left right and vice versa) I figured it out driving home on the second day and checked it the next morning against the wiring diagram, i was PISSED!! friggin hacks. I really hate that crap but mostly i work on other people's babies. I even had one customer back up against a desk and put his finger in my face and say " that's' my baby, Don't Fu<k with it!" I guess a lot of people have had bad experiences at dealers.

lol I work detailing cars at my local ford dealership i know its not the best job but i'm in college and i plan on trying out a tech position in the summertime. I've cleaned one guys car it was a newer rousch 427 mustang and when i drove it back the guy was just staring at me the whole time i was parking it lol. I sometimes wonder why these guys do this they know we're going to have our hands on their vehicle so why not wash it themselves lol

i work for a small independent shop and get payed by the hour and its not too bad, mainly because its just me, the boss man and one other tech. the work can suck pretty bad sometimes, but if you dont mind busting your ass its not so bad

I've made good money working for Toyota as a flat rate tech in the last year. I was on target for making over $46,000 my first year as a flat rate tech. I only had 2 years experience in the automotive field before that. I was a lube tech at Ford for a year and a half. Then I went to Toyota as a lube tech and quickly moved up to a support tech. Within 4 months I was moved into full on flat rate tech. I made the transition very quickly and easily. The mechanical knowledge I obtained as a youngster helping my dad with various projects around the house and then working on my own cars starting at 15 really helped. I got very fast while maintaining accuracy.

Now, a year after becoming a full on tech, I'm moving out of the field. The ups and downs of incoming work as well as nasty shop politics have completely drained me of any and all aspirations of continuing on. I've totally lost my love for the hobby I once thrived on. In the last year I sold the last thing that occupied my mind outside of work. (My WS6) I no longer wanted to come home and wrench on it.

As a Toyota tech, I was involved in a team atmosphere. It was by far hundreds of times better than the "dispatch" shop style that I witnessed at Ford. Although, in a team there is still competition. In my last job, my team split the hours 3 ways between us three techs. It was split right down the middle. Yet no matter how good I did.....no matter how many hours I flagged.....it was NEVER good enough for my Team Leader. Even though I could only count 4 times in the 7 months I worked under him that I flagged LESS than him.....it still wasn't good enough. I showed up on time everyday and busted my ass. It was never good enough. Attitudes like his are unfortunately very common in the "older" tech crowd. It seems they are very afraid of us young guys coming in and being more savvy than they in the more advanced automotive diagnostics.

It's a very rough place to be I'm afraid. I always thought it would be fun. And turning wrenches was! I enjoyed being able to do something with my hands that the majority of people were unable to. I was good at what I did and I was very fast. I had a great work ethic and it all blew up in my face.

If it's what you want to do and you are thick skinned enough to deal with salty attitudes and the shop politics that run rampant through them......then by all means go for it. It is not as GREAT as some might lead you to believe. I cannot speak for independent shops as I've never worked at one. I never wanted to work on everything under the sky.

So as I step off my soap box I can only wish you good luck in what you decide to do. :soapbox:

Being a tech is great.Just last week about 10 Cook County Sheriffs came in with people from the bank and shut us down.Working as a dealer tech use to be great.It is very hard to earn the money that you really should make as a tech.IMO stay away from the auto business.If you are passionate about cars and really wanna work on cars go to school and work at a chassis shop/performance shop/machine shop.

Being a tech is great, being a dealership tech can be even better, being a race car tech is more work than you can imagine but it's a lot of fun. I spent four and a half years at a sears while I was going to school and did okay ($16/hr.) I had somone tell me "mechanics are scum" then wanted me to work on his car. On the other hand I had customers that wouldn't let anyone else touch their car and always asked for me, that gives you a really good feeling and is worth going to work for. Then I went to an independent shop and stayed at my same pay but I was hourly instead of flat rate. It was okay but my boss sucked so I only stayed there about six months before I got a job at the Mercedes dealership. This is the way to go.

The car are clean, have lots of fun toys, and are usually well taken care of. I made over fifty grand my first year and almost eighty my second year on the job. I got in trouble though because I was flagging too many hours and I needed to let other people get some work. I just ignored my boss and took any work we had if other people were busy. I ended up doing most of our diagnosis and other "crap work" that the slackers didn't want to do but I got used to it and still made plenty of hours. I love working on cars though and there were a lot of people at the dealership that didn't. They were usually the ones that took long smoke breaks and didn't work very hard, then complained that I was making more hours than they were. I just ignored them. As long as you work hard you'll do fine.

Then I got a job with a race team, which is what I always wanted to do. I now work longer hours for less pay, get dirtier than I ever did at Sears, work on the ground, in the dirt and all night long. I do get to take race cars out and play with them when we have time, I travel around the country in a tractor trailer tow rig/motorhome and have a very flexible schedule if we don't have a race. Oh yeah, we won the MX-5 cup national championship the last two years, and took second place both years as well. That's something not many people get to say, and when I see a car I've built take the podium it's a really good feeling. To get an idea of the amount of work it is though I've worked 85 hours in six days and been on the clock for 32 hours straight. I worked a full 24 hours straight a couple times last year, and the 32 hour day was a lot of fun (we won our class and got third overall at the 25 Hours of Thunderhill.)

I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you like working on cars, are a fast learner/good thinker, and don't mind hard work then become a tech, you'll do well. If you want good money for no work or are lazy then don't bother, you'll give the rest of us a bad name.

at my dealership - we have caddy -hummer - saturn- and recently added - sabb..--- going on 2 1/2 years as a full blown tech "on the line" as they say. - i worked as a tech at a local garage before that. for about 2 years.
all i can say -- there is money in there.. but its busting your ass everyday. ---- gotta hustle. ---there is a lot of stuff that you have to put up with. - the older guys that have been turning wrenches for a living---- tell me that im a fucking retard. im young. and i should do something more with my life-- if they could go back and do it all over again -- they would of been a SUIT... .. and then i know guys that wear suits for a living -- that say we have the coolest jobs in the world. and they wish they knew how to fix cars.--

IN THE END . I WAS IN YOUR SHOES A FEW YEARS AGO.. AND MADE A CHOICE. .. -- JUST ALL YOU NEED TO REMEMBER-- WHAT EVER YOU CHOOSE. TRY TO LEARN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE ABOUT THAT JOB., - -- so you can be good at what you do. ---

and besides. cars are easy to fix .. there just a bunch of nuts and bolts..
you will get the hang of it. sooner or later. DEALERSHIP OR NO DEALERSHIP

.. -- -------
P.S


but anyways- i started working. and made decent money.. became hooked.. -- now i take classes at night -- after work. -- so i can get out. of it in a few years.. i should have stayed in COLLEGE.=----

I've made good money working for Toyota as a flat rate tech in the last year. I was on target for making over $46,000 my first year as a flat rate tech. I only had 2 years experience in the automotive field before that. I was a lube tech at Ford for a year and a half. Then I went to Toyota as a lube tech and quickly moved up to a support tech. Within 4 months I was moved into full on flat rate tech. I made the transition very quickly and easily. The mechanical knowledge I obtained as a youngster helping my dad with various projects around the house and then working on my own cars starting at 15 really helped. I got very fast while maintaining accuracy.

Now, a year after becoming a full on tech, I'm moving out of the field. The ups and downs of incoming work as well as nasty shop politics have completely drained me of any and all aspirations of continuing on. I've totally lost my love for the hobby I once thrived on. In the last year I sold the last thing that occupied my mind outside of work. (My WS6) I no longer wanted to come home and wrench on it.



I can relate

You worked at Pauly Toyota or Elgin?

I was at a yota dealer for 5 years, very corrupted service manager. Who wasn't interested in me becoming a top technician, but made sure I was booking, just wanted me to pump out brake jobs, recalls and maintenances.

I pushed back by completing every online test, getting all 8 certs.

Its really messed up, all the Journeymen didn't want to work Saturday, so the service manager, made me a Journeymen provided I work every Saturday, then brought me aside and told me, "screw those guys i'll make sure you get 60hours a week."

In the 5 years I was there, not once was I sent to toyota school, ironically the day I went in give them my two weeks, they started the conversion, "hey your booked for electrical 100 class next month, now what did you want to talk about" at that point I really knew I was out of place.

I guess like any job it depends were you work. Im a tech for a fleet of 200 window lickin short busses ya i know its sound gay but its not iget paid by the hour, travel to help other divisions, road calls which you get atleast an hour of f off time and are shop is across from some kind of donut bakery and a school for fitness instructors or lots of hot chixs in spandex

ya being a tech is good

I can relate

You worked at Pauly Toyota or Elgin?

I was at a yota dealer for 5 years, very corrupted service manager. Who wasn't interested in me becoming a top technician, but made sure I was booking, just wanted me to pump out brake jobs, recalls and maintenances.

I pushed back by completing every online test, getting all 8 certs.

Its really messed up, all the Journeymen didn't want to work Saturday, so the service manager, made me a Journeymen provided I work every Saturday, then brought me aside and told me, "screw those guys i'll make sure you get 60hours a week."

In the 5 years I was there, not once was I sent to toyota school, ironically the day I went in give them my two weeks, they started the conversion, "hey your booked for electrical 100 class next month, now what did you want to talk about" at that point I really knew I was out of place.

Pauly Toyota. Before I moved up here Elgin Toyota asked me to come up for an interview. I did and they told me they wanted to get me in. 3 months later after hounding them with phone calls and showing up to find out what was going on......I gave up. Got the run around for far too long. It was nice working at Pauly after the new shop got built but my service manager was a complete moron.

Which one did you work at?

I've been working at a dealership for about 8 months now and I've learned that you have to bust your ass to get your hours but if you keep track of everything you do and try to get 10 hours a day everyday you will end up with your 40 hours a week. Try to find a dealership that has used cars because all the cars they buy and that get traded in have to have an inspection, so you can get some time off them cars to make up what you don't get on customer cars.

i love being a body fender tech, i always loved cars and seeing what can be done with your bare hands, i never worked at a stealership, but i have worked at cars collision, and that shop just drained me physically and mentally, and when they went to a flat booked hour rate, every one including me lost so much money, there was no pride in our work it was push and push and push and cars would come back left and right
now iam back in a small family owned shop i make more money and am stress free, we do insurance work and custom work, and none of us went to a trade school, i never did i think its a waste of time and money, i learned more from people then a school would teach, and iam ppg certified, ase, and i-car no school needed
insurance companies havent raised labor rates in 3 yrs, so the money has been the same , so with thats said you have to love working on cars i still do after 15 yrs, and now i couldnt be happier, but i made a name for my self have to prove your self ya cant just go in a shop and talk your self up with out proving it with your work
you say your going to be a painter, be prepared to ingest allot of nasty chemicals, wear gloves, wear your respirator, if the shop has a down draft wear a mask, if they supply a fresh air system use it, i quit painting about 3 yrs ago due to the paint sickness i was getting, oh ya enjoy that its fun, the painter is always at fault, lol, its true lol but overall its what you enjoy doing

oh ya almost forgot, if i wasnt into the martial arts my body would be fucked, but latley as i get older my knees hurt allot, even my back, my hands cramp up to the point i cant even hold a pen, when iam doin fab work or a door skin the pain in my forearms and elbows are so bad i have to take advil to keep going, so welcome to the automotive field enjoy the pain