Automotive Careers - UTI Schools

Hey guys, Im lookin at goin to UTI in houston in a couple years when my enlistment is up possibly. Im just wondering how the school and the training is and if anyone knows what a BMW, Benz or other brand like that pays and if its hard to get into their schools. I know this is very similar to the thread below me and I didnt really want to Hi-Jack his. what are the higher paying automotive careers? I have also looked at SAMs school in houston School of Automotive Machinists, little pricy but just lookin around since my GI bill can cover part of it anyway. any help would be well appreciated-Mike

I went to UTI in So Cal....I learned alot and advanced my career because of it. Lifetime job placement in the automotive field as well. If you choose to go to the manf programs you cant go wrong and will end up with a good career in time. You need perfect attendence/grades in order to get into Porsche and Bmw programs. I already had a job midway through school as an apprentice doing blower installs/suspension work etc...
Good luck whichever route you may choose !!

do you guys ever get burnt out on workin for other peoples crap because they are lazy?

I currently attend Mercedes Benz Elite program, was a graduate if UTI in Orlando graduated with perfect attendance 4.00 GPA 5-6 Soc's, bla bla... I thought UTI was an alright school. Its not as good as they make it out to but but its definitively not as bad as some people say it is. I would say go take a tour at SAM because i had kinda wish i went there. The ties UTI has with Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and other manufactures would make it worth the money and time spent, other then that i would look for cheaper alternatives. Any specific questions go ahead and ask......

what does a mercedes or higher manufacturer tech make?

Thats all going to depend on you and where you work. If that place has work or not. Take for example a big dealer in Cali your going to make 60-100K a year maybe more if your good. But the cost of living out there is a lot so they have to pay you that much. I would put it this way your going to make money at this profession or else people wouldn't be doing it. Your not going to make millions but you should have enough to have a very comfortable life style, and if you invest and save you should have enough for a nice 401k so you can retire. I have been told higher end tech's make more money but im not a tech yet so i couldn't tell you from personal experience. I will say this there is a lot more pride in diagnosing a C.A.N problem on the 221 (new S class) then there is doing a water pump on a Ford Focus. Another thing is up selling work. It is a lot easier telling a customer with money they need 500-1000 dollars worth of work on there car that makes an average 250K a year then it is telling that same estimate to one that makes 30,000... It takes a Different kind of tech to work on the higher end cars, but for me that is the only option. I refuse to work in a scum hole shop just being a parts changer guessing at problems. I have seen and heard so many horror story's of things that goes on in the lower end dealers that would make you sick. Dont get me wrong i Love F-bodys and Y-bodys but i would prefer to make my money on other vehicle's, not to mention working on those specific models all the time would be rare.

Thats all going to depend on you and where you work. If that place has work or not. Take for example a big dealer in Cali your going to make 60-100K a year maybe more if your good. But the cost of living out there is a lot so they have to pay you that much. I would put it this way your going to make money at this profession or else people wouldn't be doing it. Your not going to make millions but you should have enough to have a very comfortable life style, and if you invest and save you should have enough for a nice 401k so you can retire. I have been told higher end tech's make more money but im not a tech yet so i couldn't tell you from personal experience. I will say this there is a lot more pride in diagnosing a C.A.N problem on the 221 (new S class) then there is doing a water pump on a Ford Focus. Another thing is up selling work. It is a lot easier telling a customer with money they need 500-1000 dollars worth of work on there car that makes an average 250K a year then it is telling that same estimate to one that makes 30,000... It takes a Different kind of tech to work on the higher end cars, but for me that is the only option. I refuse to work in a scum hole shop just being a parts changer guessing at problems. I have seen and heard so many horror story's of things that goes on in the lower end dealers that would make you sick. Dont get me wrong i Love F-bodys and Y-bodys but i would prefer to make my money on other vehicle's, not to mention working on those specific models all the time would be rare. thats what i been saying alot of people are always like you wont make no money and stuff like that. but its like there would not be so many people out there wanting to do it if you cant make enough money.

Thanks a lot guys!

i graduated from uti in houston and currently for for a bmw dealer here in new orleans
i say go for it. bmw step is a good program and bmw,s are not hard to work on i average 45 to 60 hrs a week so its not a bad deal

Dude Dont let these people lie to you, UTI Sucks , If you like being in a class room for 6hours a day Then go For it . There are so much better schools, Trust me man dont make the same mistake that i did

Dude Dont let these people lie to you, UTI Sucks , If you like being in a class room for 6hours a day Then go For it . There are so much better schools, Trust me man dont make the same mistake that i did:werd: unless your are 100% set on one of the UTI only manufacturer programs. do some homework and go elsewhere.

i did get a jaguar PACE? offer and didnt take it mainly because i didnt fell like looking at power point slides for another 6 months

Dude Dont let these people lie to you, UTI Sucks , If you like being in a class room for 6hours a day Then go For it . There are so much better schools, Trust me man dont make the same mistake that i did

Sounds like this guy is butthurt because he didn't make the most of the school and didn't get accepted into a program. I honestly thought the school was pretty good for the most part. Yeah, any school is gonna suck to be stuck there for 30 hrs/week, but I don't know many other places where you can be at such a decent position for only a year's work.

well right now Im in the Coast Guard and Im debating staying in and keeping my hobby or gettin out and makin my hobby work. just not exactly sure if I would lose my hobby because it feels like work. also I net 1850 every two weeks and i dont put in 60hrs a week unless im underway, then its a 24/7 deal...in the ocean...anyways what other good schools are there? and what do you guys normally make? I know it changes depending on the work schedule but i was wondering average.-Thanks mike

Dude Dont let these people lie to you, UTI Sucks , If you like being in a class room for 6hours a day Then go For it . There are so much better schools, Trust me man dont make the same mistake that i did

Give me one reason why i would lie, like a dont have anything better to do then to make shit up about a school i went to. Get serious.

Well i went to UTI and i thought it was a big wast of time , now im currently inrolled at school of automotive machinst and loved every minute of it. Im not going to say that i didnt learn anything at UTI Because I did Learn alot, But They care to much about the rules more Than anything, There electrical Program is great and that pretty much it. I think that what you spend there is not worth the education. THIS IS JUST AN OPINOIN

lol yea me and wires dont get along!

well right now Im in the Coast Guard and Im debating staying in and keeping my hobby or gettin out and makin my hobby work. just not exactly sure if I would lose my hobby because it feels like work. also I net 1850 every two weeks and i dont put in 60hrs a week unless im underway, then its a 24/7 deal...in the ocean...anyways what other good schools are there? and what do you guys normally make? I know it changes depending on the work schedule but i was wondering average.-Thanks mike

Keep the hobby as a hobby and look at another career or stay in the Coast Gaurd. I sure wish I had taken that advice when it was given to me.

Keep the hobby as a hobby and look at another career or stay in the Coast Gaurd. I sure wish I had taken that advice when it was given to me.

Exactly, I was enrolled to go to UTI in Glendale Heights. I thought I had everything all planned out but then one day I was tinkering around on one of my Camaro's and I was like "wait a minute, I like to work on cars in my free time to help me settle down and take my mind off of things. If I worked on cars 8 hours a day and then came home I would be sick of working on stuff and become an asshat that pays people to do their work." So I didn't go. One of my friends did go to the UTI/NTI in North Carolina and he hated it. He came home after the first term. Said it was retarded and they treated you like highschoolers.

Just a heads up those german dealers don't usually make that kind of money . I worked for an acura dealer for 6 years that was linked with mercadies BMW and lexus and the the mercadies and bmw guys had a hard time makeing over 40 hours flate rate due to the fact they warrenty everthing . It just get difficult when you are try ing to beat warrenty time casue its usualy half reg time would pay .

Oh I am in NY so cali should be a little more but not much after 6 years I left and I was only in the low 50's . I am not saying its a bad field to get into ,I am very happy and currently working at an independet shop making a lot more money . I just wouldn't base the school you go to around the german dealer placement .

I don't know about UTI but I know wyothech has a great progam, not sure if there is one near you but if there is check it out . I wish I would have gone there .

i went to the uti in pennsylvania and did the ford fact and mercedes-benz elite program.


as a mercedes tech i was making around 45,000 a year once i went flat rate


currently im a service advisor for a honda dealership making quite a bit more. not a bad business to be in


Chris

Im A Asst. SM out here in Cali. Most of my UTI/Wyotech guys are usless. They're great for Quicklane/lube tech but thats it. They come out of school with such a "big head" thinkin they know everything but have no "hands-on" experience. Take forever for shit to get done even tho they have all the certs to do the job. Comebacks are commen. The guys who go throgh the comunity college manufacture sponsored corses are the best. Like Ford ASSET guys I have. Half classroom and half dealership experience. They come out of school master certified and I can trust their work. Dont waste you money to go to a UTI/Wyotech. Its like 30 grand? You come out like a heald college degree. Through a CC you can get at least a real degree with your schooling. Iv heard of cases of a UTI guy getting stuck as a lube tech got mad about it went throgh the ASSET program to get some real knoledge.

Im A Asst. SM out here in Cali. Most of my UTI/Wyotech guys are usless. They're great for Quicklane/lube tech but thats it. They come out of school with such a "big head" thinkin they know everything but have no "hands-on" experience. Take forever for shit to get done even tho they have all the certs to do the job. Comebacks are commen. The guys who go throgh the comunity college manufacture sponsored corses are the best. Like Ford ASSET guys I have. Half classroom and half dealership experience. They come out of school master certified and I can trust their work. Dont waste you money to go to a UTI/Wyotech. Its like 30 grand? You come out like a heald college degree. Through a CC you can get at least a real degree with your schooling. Iv heard of cases of a UTI guy getting stuck as a lube tech got mad about it went throgh the ASSET program to get some real knoledge.

Just curious but what the duration at the community college?

also just curious...do you just throw these kids on the line. like a sink or swim sort of deal?

I think the community college corse is like 2-4 semesters? Not shure but is long. Its so many weeks of classroom then they switch to hands on at the dealrship. The school places them at different dealrs in the area. We have them work with the Shop forman (master tech) and he assigns them work. If they dont work out we can fire them. Then they can try to get hired at a differnt dealer because they have to have the job to get credit. Oh yeah they get paid to work also. Ford has the ASSET program and Toyota has Toyota Tech school. Im shure all manufactures have their own but only two colleges in my area have these programs.

I'm not going to beat the drum for UTI, but it definitely isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be, and it definitely isn't as good as the reps will tell you it is. I think it's time somebody breaks it down into what it really is.

Most of the bad you hear about UTI is because of the students. Let me break it down for you. a good 75% of the kids there are total tools, absolute dip****s who think they know everything and are more then willing to write a novel on every car they profess to have owned from the 911 their parents bought them for a first car to the ferrari they have back home. 30% of the kids there will find out that they don't like what they're doing because they signed up only on the basis that they like cars, then they either drop out or stick around barely passing because they don't want to deal with their parent's ****. 25% of kids will go on what's called the "12 hour plan", which is where they spend the maximum amount of time out every phase before they fail attendance. Another 25% of kids go there simply because mommy and daddy are rich and wanted a quick excuse to get them out of the house for 2 years, these kids have no intention of working on cars, or doing anything with their life period.

Notice how I said "kids", not "students". That is why you are treated like a high schooler, because that's exactly what half the whiny little bastards that go to that school are...and of course the school has to keep them around to keep in business.

Probably about 10%-15% of the guys there actually try to learn something, and most of those guys have never even had a glimpse of what the field is like beyond oil changes and busting tires. There are people there who try to learn something, and those guys tend to stand out. Then there are guys who have worked in the field and know a bit about things, but are just trying to get a solid reinforcement on what we already know, and are trying to use the school to accelerate our career towards the upper level MSAT programs, us guys are outright rare around the school...but people know who we are, and as long as you don't act like king of the hill you'll get respect for it.

The MSAT programs you keep hearing about, Porsche, BMW, Audi, etc.... are nothing like normal UTI classes, I'm not in one but everyone I talk to says it's like going from a normal paced community college course to cramming 4 years of Harvard into 4 months. I've talked to the Audi and BMW teacher and they don't take any crap, they're not afraid to send people packing, and they treat every person like they were an actual tech from the classroom to the lab. However, getting into an MSAT basically means you've earned yourself a free ticket to a good career, all you have to do is keep at it and don't get your head get swollen.

Classwork is mostly power-point slides, the amount you'll learn will depend soley on your teacher. Most of them are great guys who will pass around examples of what the slides are talking about and let you screw with them, they'll draw pictures and prettymuch do anything they can to help you visualize what something is and how it works. If you get a good teacher, you'll learn a lot, laugh a lot, and have a great time. If you get a crappy teacher, you'll probably catch up on sleep then ask another teacher to explain what you were trying to learn...there aren't that many crappy teachers (at least not at the AZ campus) so it's not too bad.

Lab work, depending on what your doing, can either be a huge eye opener or a total joke. In any case, lab is easy...too easy, at least for me, but I've had some experience so you'll probably get a different opinion from someone who's never touched a wrench. My best advice for you is when you get into a lab where you work on your own cars, look at everyone's cars, take note on every last little thing you can see and how they all vary from one another. You'll have a lot of time to kill in lab, trust me, so make the most of it. When your not working on your own things, do as many of whatever your working on as you can, then help other people. I walked into the transmission lab never having seen the inside of a manual transmission, and by the time I finished the lab I could take a Saginaw 4 speed, tear it down, find gear ratios, put it back together and run it on the dyno in less then an hour. Sure, it's no T56, but auto and manual trans were the only things that ever really intimidated me about cars...now they're cake.

The one thing UTI seriously lacks, like said, is true in the field hands on experience. They give you TONS of good operation and diagnostic theory, but almost no application unless a student car is acting up, and then they get REAL strict on what you can do to it and when. This is where having a job comes in...in order to get the most out of school, you NEED to work in the field, it's critical that you have some way of applying what you are learning to what you are doing, or what you have done in the past, otherwise you won't get barely anything out of the curriculum.

In short, don't go if you don't want to work on cars. Don't go if you don't want to pursue some kind of MSAT program. Don't go if you don't want to or can't work in the field while attending school. Do go if you want to get a great head start on mechanical and electrical diagnosis and basic parts changing, but only if your willing to commit to learning. I can't stress it enough, you'll only get as much out of that school as you put in. Most teachers will tell you anything you want to know, all you've got to do is ask.



wow...that turned out a lot longer then I thought it would :lol:

I'm not going to beat the drum for UTI, but it definitely isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be, and it definitely isn't as good as the reps will tell you it is. I think it's time somebody breaks it down into what it really is.

Most of the bad you hear about UTI is because of the students. Let me break it down for you. a good 75% of the kids there are total tools, absolute dip****s who think they know everything and are more then willing to write a novel on every car they profess to have owned from the 911 their parents bought them for a first car to the ferrari they have back home. 30% of the kids there will find out that they don't like what they're doing because they signed up only on the basis that they like cars, then they either drop out or stick around barely passing because they don't want to deal with their parent's ****. 25% of kids will go on what's called the "12 hour plan", which is where they spend the maximum amount of time out every phase before they fail attendance. Another 25% of kids go there simply because mommy and daddy are rich and wanted a quick excuse to get them out of the house for 2 years, these kids have no intention of working on cars, or doing anything with their life period.

Notice how I said "kids", not "students". That is why you are treated like a high schooler, because that's exactly what half the whiny little bastards that go to that school are...and of course the school has to keep them around to keep in business.

Probably about 10%-15% of the guys there actually try to learn something, and most of those guys have never even had a glimpse of what the field is like beyond oil changes and busting tires. There are people there who try to learn something, and those guys tend to stand out. Then there are guys who have worked in the field and know a bit about things, but are just trying to get a solid reinforcement on what we already know, and are trying to use the school to accelerate our career towards the upper level MSAT programs, us guys are outright rare around the school...but people know who we are, and as long as you don't act like king of the hill you'll get respect for it.

The MSAT programs you keep hearing about, Porsche, BMW, Audi, etc.... are nothing like normal UTI classes, I'm not in one but everyone I talk to says it's like going from a normal paced community college course to cramming 4 years of Harvard into 4 months. I've talked to the Audi and BMW teacher and they don't take any crap, they're not afraid to send people packing, and they treat every person like they were an actual tech from the classroom to the lab. However, getting into an MSAT basically means you've earned yourself a free ticket to a good career, all you have to do is keep at it and don't get your head get swollen.

Classwork is mostly power-point slides, the amount you'll learn will depend soley on your teacher. Most of them are great guys who will pass around examples of what the slides are talking about and let you screw with them, they'll draw pictures and prettymuch do anything they can to help you visualize what something is and how it works. If you get a good teacher, you'll learn a lot, laugh a lot, and have a great time. If you get a crappy teacher, you'll probably catch up on sleep then ask another teacher to explain what you were trying to learn...there aren't that many crappy teachers (at least not at the AZ campus) so it's not too bad.

Lab work, depending on what your doing, can either be a huge eye opener or a total joke. In any case, lab is easy...too easy, at least for me, but I've had some experience so you'll probably get a different opinion from someone who's never touched a wrench. My best advice for you is when you get into a lab where you work on your own cars, look at everyone's cars, take note on every last little thing you can see and how they all vary from one another. You'll have a lot of time to kill in lab, trust me, so make the most of it. When your not working on your own things, do as many of whatever your working on as you can, then help other people. I walked into the transmission lab never having seen the inside of a manual transmission, and by the time I finished the lab I could take a Saginaw 4 speed, tear it down, find gear ratios, put it back together and run it on the dyno in less then an hour. Sure, it's no T56, but auto and manual trans were the only things that ever really intimidated me about cars...now they're cake.

The one thing UTI seriously lacks, like said, is true in the field hands on experience. They give you TONS of good operation and diagnostic theory, but almost no application unless a student car is acting up, and then they get REAL strict on what you can do to it and when. This is where having a job comes in...in order to get the most out of school, you NEED to work in the field, it's critical that you have some way of applying what you are learning to what you are doing, or what you have done in the past, otherwise you won't get barely anything out of the curriculum.

In short, don't go if you don't want to work on cars. Don't go if you don't want to pursue some kind of MSAT program. Don't go if you don't want to or can't work in the field while attending school. Do go if you want to get a great head start on mechanical and electrical diagnosis and basic parts changing, but only if your willing to commit to learning. I can't stress it enough, you'll only get as much out of that school as you put in. Most teachers will tell you anything you want to know, all you've got to do is ask.



wow...that turned out a lot longer then I thought it would :lol:

:judge::judge::judge:

But like I said...the Community College programs are cheaper to go through. Isnt it like 20-30 grand going through UTI? For the same education; and to get a real degree; go with the Community College program.

I'm not going to beat the drum for UTI, but it definitely isn't as bad as everyone makes it out to be, and it definitely isn't as good as the reps will tell you it is. I think it's time somebody breaks it down into what it really is.

Most of the bad you hear about UTI is because of the students. Let me break it down for you. a good 75% of the kids there are total tools, absolute dip****s who think they know everything and are more then willing to write a novel on every car they profess to have owned from the 911 their parents bought them for a first car to the ferrari they have back home. 30% of the kids there will find out that they don't like what they're doing because they signed up only on the basis that they like cars, then they either drop out or stick around barely passing because they don't want to deal with their parent's ****. 25% of kids will go on what's called the "12 hour plan", which is where they spend the maximum amount of time out every phase before they fail attendance. Another 25% of kids go there simply because mommy and daddy are rich and wanted a quick excuse to get them out of the house for 2 years, these kids have no intention of working on cars, or doing anything with their life period.

Notice how I said "kids", not "students". That is why you are treated like a high schooler, because that's exactly what half the whiny little bastards that go to that school are...and of course the school has to keep them around to keep in business.

Probably about 10%-15% of the guys there actually try to learn something, and most of those guys have never even had a glimpse of what the field is like beyond oil changes and busting tires. There are people there who try to learn something, and those guys tend to stand out. Then there are guys who have worked in the field and know a bit about things, but are just trying to get a solid reinforcement on what we already know, and are trying to use the school to accelerate our career towards the upper level MSAT programs, us guys are outright rare around the school...but people know who we are, and as long as you don't act like king of the hill you'll get respect for it.

The MSAT programs you keep hearing about, Porsche, BMW, Audi, etc.... are nothing like normal UTI classes, I'm not in one but everyone I talk to says it's like going from a normal paced community college course to cramming 4 years of Harvard into 4 months. I've talked to the Audi and BMW teacher and they don't take any crap, they're not afraid to send people packing, and they treat every person like they were an actual tech from the classroom to the lab. However, getting into an MSAT basically means you've earned yourself a free ticket to a good career, all you have to do is keep at it and don't get your head get swollen.

Classwork is mostly power-point slides, the amount you'll learn will depend soley on your teacher. Most of them are great guys who will pass around examples of what the slides are talking about and let you screw with them, they'll draw pictures and prettymuch do anything they can to help you visualize what something is and how it works. If you get a good teacher, you'll learn a lot, laugh a lot, and have a great time. If you get a crappy teacher, you'll probably catch up on sleep then ask another teacher to explain what you were trying to learn...there aren't that many crappy teachers (at least not at the AZ campus) so it's not too bad.

Lab work, depending on what your doing, can either be a huge eye opener or a total joke. In any case, lab is easy...too easy, at least for me, but I've had some experience so you'll probably get a different opinion from someone who's never touched a wrench. My best advice for you is when you get into a lab where you work on your own cars, look at everyone's cars, take note on every last little thing you can see and how they all vary from one another. You'll have a lot of time to kill in lab, trust me, so make the most of it. When your not working on your own things, do as many of whatever your working on as you can, then help other people. I walked into the transmission lab never having seen the inside of a manual transmission, and by the time I finished the lab I could take a Saginaw 4 speed, tear it down, find gear ratios, put it back together and run it on the dyno in less then an hour. Sure, it's no T56, but auto and manual trans were the only things that ever really intimidated me about cars...now they're cake.

The one thing UTI seriously lacks, like said, is true in the field hands on experience. They give you TONS of good operation and diagnostic theory, but almost no application unless a student car is acting up, and then they get REAL strict on what you can do to it and when. This is where having a job comes in...in order to get the most out of school, you NEED to work in the field, it's critical that you have some way of applying what you are learning to what you are doing, or what you have done in the past, otherwise you won't get barely anything out of the curriculum.

In short, don't go if you don't want to work on cars. Don't go if you don't want to pursue some kind of MSAT program. Don't go if you don't want to or can't work in the field while attending school. Do go if you want to get a great head start on mechanical and electrical diagnosis and basic parts changing, but only if your willing to commit to learning. I can't stress it enough, you'll only get as much out of that school as you put in. Most teachers will tell you anything you want to know, all you've got to do is ask.



wow...that turned out a lot longer then I thought it would :lol:

I would agreea with you pretty in total. i graduated from the Pace program the jaguar program they did have...i would say i learned more in that and ford F.A.C.T. than i did in all of UTI. But The core classes helped me to get to that point. I think anyone of the above could be great! it is what you make it!

well right now Im in the Coast Guard and Im debating staying in and keeping my hobby or gettin out and makin my hobby work. just not exactly sure if I would lose my hobby because it feels like work. also I net 1850 every two weeks and i dont put in 60hrs a week unless im underway, then its a 24/7 deal...in the ocean...anyways what other good schools are there? and what do you guys normally make? I know it changes depending on the work schedule but i was wondering average.-Thanks mike
whats your bah in kodiak im bm3 in corpus

:judge::judge::judge:

But like I said...the Community College programs are cheaper to go through. Isnt it like 20-30 grand going through UTI? For the same education; and to get a real degree; go with the Community College program.

yes, they are cheaper, and yes some programs I'm sure are comparable to that of UTI, however UTI does tie in the MSAT programs which are a definite advantage for those looking to settle in with mid to upper range manufacturer's...especially since all of them cover the mfg. training cost and in some cases total tuition, which is currently about $35K for an Auto/Diesel/Ford student.

I can't argue too much about it, but that was the biggest selling point about UTI for me. I don't know what the community colleges have to offer as far as job placement or program specifics so I won't say which is better or worse.

However, students at the Avondale, AZ main campus do receive an actual degree instead of just a paper saying "good job". I'm not sure when they started doing that, or why it's only the main campus, but that's the way it is. I know we get a lot of guys transfer from the California campuses for the last few phases just so they can get that degree.



I would agreea with you pretty in total. i graduated from the Pace program the jaguar program they did have...i would say i learned more in that and ford F.A.C.T. than i did in all of UTI. But The core classes helped me to get to that point. I think anyone of the above could be great! it is what you make it!

oh definitely, I'm learning quite a bit in the core classes but all my buddies in FACT say it's a whole different ball game...just like you said they learn a TON of stuff in FACT, but wouldn't have a clue what they were doing without the basic classes to work off of. MSAT guys say the same thing, it's taking the generals and applying them to specialized subjects in a much more advanced fashion.

i graduated from the UTI in pennsylvania a few years back...did the Ford FACT program and the Mercedes-Benz ELITE program in Orlando florida.

life as a tech isnt all that, the money is decent as stated in this thread though.


currently im a service advisor at a Honda dealership...money is a lot better and im not dead tired at the end of the day.


UTI is a school for very self motivated individuals in my opinion, its what you make of it

Im A Asst. SM out here in Cali. Most of my UTI/Wyotech guys are usless. They're great for Quicklane/lube tech but thats it. They come out of school with such a "big head" thinkin they know everything but have no "hands-on" experience. Take forever for shit to get done even tho they have all the certs to do the job. Comebacks are commen. The guys who go throgh the comunity college manufacture sponsored corses are the best. Like Ford ASSET guys I have. Half classroom and half dealership experience. They come out of school master certified and I can trust their work. Dont waste you money to go to a UTI/Wyotech. Its like 30 grand? You come out like a heald college degree. Through a CC you can get at least a real degree with your schooling. Iv heard of cases of a UTI guy getting stuck as a lube tech got mad about it went throgh the ASSET program to get some real knoledge.


Listen to this guy.

i graduated from the UTI in pennsylvania a few years back...did the Ford FACT program and the Mercedes-Benz ELITE program in Orlando florida.

life as a tech isnt all that, the money is decent as stated in this thread though.


currently im a service advisor at a Honda dealership...money is a lot better and im not dead tired at the end of the day.


UTI is a school for very self motivated individuals in my opinion, its what you make of it

Exactly, i graduated UTI-PHX back in 2000 and went on to PTAP(Porsche Training Apprentice Program) and most of the kids at UTI were there because their parents MADE them pick a "college" and it was their easy way out. I've been with the same dealer for over 7 years now and I'm making decent money. I was pretty motivated at UTI but i was also 10 years older than most of them and a military veteran.

The car biz has it's ups and downs(literally). But i've also had a lot of fun and sometimes you get to work on cars that you'd only see at a show or in a magazine.

So how's life as a service advisor? i know our guys get crap from all different angles... techs...customers...managers...salesmen, etc. Is the only reward money?

I was excepted and enrolled into the Houston school but backed out...and now I'm doing computer science:eyes:, which I kind of regret not going in a way. It was just so damn expensive when looking at the yearly earning ratio.

i went to UTI-Glendale Heights in IL. You get out of the school what you put in. Yeah, i messed around a lot, but i also learned a LOT. i think its a great school. MAKE SURE YOU GO THROUGH AN MSAT!!!!! I went through the ELITE service writer program.

I personally am not meant for a dealership. i am far too performance oriented. but the money is EXCELLENT in a dealer!

We just had a young man who graduated from UTI work at our shop. He was supposed to shadow one of our senior techs to kind of see what he could and could not do.....

All I can say is now he is working in the PDI(new car) dept.
I got lucky and started out changing oil 8yrs ago, and just kind of watched and learned. On the job training I guess, but no student loans to repay!!!

I went ot Uti back in 2000. Went to the Bmw Step program and now 6 years later I am knocking on the 6 figure mark. True some guys are worthless but not all guys that go through these programs are worthless. I am glad I applied myself and did it. I consider myself one of the best of the best with experience before I went to uti. I was into cars at age 11 and went to stat 2 times in High school auto tech. Josh

I was into cars at age 11 and went to stat 2 times in High school auto tech. Josh


Same here got 4th as a junior and 2nd as a senior in NY. I also hope to be hitting that six figures some day.

I took a tour of UTI in Arizona and was far from impressed. I them if they do any welding and they looked at me like I was crazy so I backed out. You don't need to spend 30k to learn to bolt shit on to a car. Also, coming out of the school the pay is nothing like what they promise you ($20/ hour starting). I worked at a mercedes dealership for awhile and the pay is nothing that is going to justify the money you spent on tuition. Just get some experience and turn in some applications. You'll work your way up just as fast as and you'll save yourself a lot of money on tuition.

Warning: In case you haven't heard this already. For a lot of people, when your hobby turns intoa job it stops being a hobby. Most of the techs at the dealership i worked at wanted nothing to do with cars outside of work (maybe 2 of them had fun car to play with at home). I enjoy working on my car but after working on other peoples shit all day everyday working on your car ends up being the last thing you want to do

I took a tour a SAM's about a year ago and thought it was an awesome school. I was set and ready to go but was having problems getting some loans sorted out. While all that was going on I ended up getting a good job (non car related) and have been doing that for the time being. but when i'm done with this I'm definitally considering going to SAM's.

I took a tour of UTI in Arizona and was far from impressed. I them if they do any welding and they looked at me like I was crazy so I backed out. You don't need to spend 30k to learn to bolt shit on to a car. Also, coming out of the school the pay is nothing like what they promise you ($20/ hour starting). I worked at a mercedes dealership for awhile and the pay is nothing that is going to justify the money you spent on tuition. Just get some experience and turn in some applications. You'll work your way up just as fast as and you'll save yourself a lot of money on tuition.


Hello, its a AUTO school, not a welding school. Captain obvious. Auto program at Uti was 14K when I went. Its around 20K now. I used Uti to get me in the door with Bmw. Thats the only reason. If you go there and dont go to a program then its a waist of time. We have had guys that are non Bmw step students or onesthat come in with no training. They dont last. They fall on their face and quit. They never promised 20/ hour starting out. It more like 15-17 an hour. Not trying to promote my product or sale anything, but giving you the facts. I am more than happy with what I make, of course I hustle and am good at what I do. Its also nice to make more than my wife who has a Masters of accounting from Ut. Talk about tuition there. Uti is much less than that if you wanna talk price. Josh

You're right, what could I possibly use welding for in the automotive industry. And I was told $20/hour by a couple of different reps. You're right, 15-17 is the avergae that i saw for people coming out of school. Also, if you're worried about specialized training a lot of dealerships will pay to send you off for training on new products as long as you can prove you're not completely useless.

But, i suppose my opinion is a little different since when i think of what i want to with cars it's more performance/aftermarket industry related. If you really want to work at a dealership than the school can help, but you can also get in there with a little bit of experience and some drive while saving some money. But don't think that just cause you're coming out of a school that you're automatically going to start higher up on the food chain than guy they got from a local wheel works.

I visited UTI, but ended up going through the high performance program at UNOH (It's like a hybrid of SAM and UTI). After 4.0 GPA, perfect attendance blah blah I was accepted in the STEP program. At the last second I got an offer to work at PAC Racing/Peterson Spring running the valvetrain dynamics lab. Looking back I believe it was the right decision for me. I have a way cool job and work with all kinds of race teams. I also have the freedom to do a lot of my own projects (new small .700" lift LSX dual for example). I don't think I would have been happy at a dealership. You can make good money in almost any field with hardwork.

I do wish I could go to SAM for the their block and cylinder head classes jsut for my own personal knowledge. UNOH's were only 3 months long. I'm still a decent machinist (even though I don't do any of that now), but I'm sure there's a ton of tricks I would love to learn.

I graduated from uti in 2001. All I can really ay about the school is that you get out of it what you want to get out of it. If you pay attention and want to learn you will learn a ton of very useful stuff. I have worked for a lot of dealerships since then. Ford, mazda, hyundai, honda, nissan, dodge, jeep, chevy, and others. I finally got sick of dealership politics and went into the aftermarket. My worst year sinc 02 was 54k and that is only working 40-45hrs per week. oh and I live in wisconsin so 50 k is pretty good money.

the biggest problem is within the automotive field, there are only two kind of techs... you have it, or you dont. i dont know how to explain it in much more detail, but make the choice yourself. you really need to sit back and think to yourself, do i just play around and enjoy swapping parts... or do i enjoy diagnosing and really fixing cars. to the guys knocking on UTI, what are you doing these days? UTI is a good school, but my only advice is if you are considering going, you are better off to not know anything at all, or go in completely open minded. personally i wrenched before i went, and it worked both to and against my advantage. What i found to be the BIGGEST problem with the school is people bitching that there isnt enough hands on, as i see it why in the hell would they let you wrench on and play around with cars and parts if you dont know how they function? UTI gives you a base to go from, it is a whole different ballgame once you graduate and go to work.

www.samracing.com click there if you want to learn to build race engines and work for some of the best teams and shops in the country after you graduate

UTI is all in for the money, and its a scam


Go else were

definitely not a scam!! I wouldn't be where i am today without UTI. I don't think they're the best school out there but i'm doing alright and i'm still in the field after almost 8 years.

I'll introduce my self into this. I will be starting at Nascar technical Institute in Aug 2008. Yes I am a student, not just some kid. I am going to be one of those students who stands out and makes the best of the school. I know so many kids go to NTI thinking they are going to get onto a nascar team. That doesnt happen that easy. It's true like 4% of the graduates actually make it onto a nascar team. You have to know someone who works on a team to get on a team. Its sad to realize that so many of the previous kids that went to the UTI/NTI schools had to put such a bad rap on the school. And you can't say there arent those students that leave the school and become something great. I have left my options open for both looking into the dealership programs after NTI and also the fact that a good family friend of mine. Who use to be a crew chief for Joe McCarthy Racing in Nascar north busch series at least what it was called when he was in it. Has stated to me that if I do good enough at the school. he will help me get onto a team. I want to make the best for myself. I have already worked in a shop and also an auto parts store, so I do have the basics. But once again like everyone says it's what you make of it. I want to make sure that when i leave I can have all postive marks about the school. And why even thou its $29k for the program its all worth it. As long as you are a student and not a kid.

the core program sucks and the ford fact trainging is bad ass... honelty i bull shitted my whole way through the core program but ford was actually worth it... and to get in to benz and bmw and shit like that you are goin got have to be there everyday all day and have a 4.0 which isn't hard to obtain but staying in that hell whole all day sucks ass

IMHO, i agree fully with the "keep your hobby as a hobby."

find something you can tolerate that pays the kind of money you need to live comfortably and be able to tool around in your hobby.

Automotive techs in a general sense do not have a very "fantastic" job. yes, some have it great and for some its a perfect job. But you gotta be realistic about the situation you have as a tech.

for example,
if you do poor quality/wrong diagnosis/ slow work, you either get fired or you stay on as the guy that gets the least amount of work scheduled. you compete with the other techs for work when things are slow, and that means a lot. if you are the best transmission guy in the shop, when things are slow it can be your meal ticket. the man that schedules the work is the same one that gets yelled at when you screw up and the car comes back to the dealership. he knows who excels at what and who the underperformer is. so, if you excel at nothing, the belt can get tight depending on the amount of work present.

if you were the kind of child that constantly took things apart and always asked "why" and "how," and you really, really have a genuine interest in all things mechanical and not just the aspect of "cool cars," then by all means go for it.

a majority of your work will be on everyday driver cars, like kia/honda/ford etc. etc. and that a sports car is a rare opportunity with 80% of the technicians out there. unless you land a rare job at the ferrari dealership, plan on working on everything from farmer joe's rusted out pile of shit with dirt constantly dropping into your eyes to grandma crack's horrid looking 1970-something junker car that seems to be worth five hundred dollars, not including the brick of dope in the trunk or the pistol in the door.

I think that almost any premium dealership like BMW or the like will want to see a minimum of three to five years experience in general tech work. that way you have a majority of your bonehead mistakes out of the way- like dropping a two-thousand dollar ferrari magnesium race rim on its front and putting cute little scratch-marks all over some bullheaded, irate mans prize car.

another thing to remember is that the tools required to do this job are horrendously expensive. it is not uncommon for a tech to have 40,000 dollars in tools. a decent snap-on toolbox sized for a tech will run a minimum of 3 grand alone. and that is the entry-level double bank toolbox. think closer to 8 and ten grand for a master series, which is designed for all day, every day use by a technician. A ten-piece set of standard sockets for the dinky 1/4" drive ratchet will run you a hundred bucks. and thats the shallow set. a universal clutch aligning tool is around 550. of course, the snap-on man will finance that for ya. right away.

I dont mean to sound like a prick trying to take down your dreams, but my goal is to add some realism to the mix of happy, cheerful, everythings-rosy mindset you get when you think you are gonna graduate and start out making 70 grand a year at a BMW or Porsche dealership. you really gotta be a mechanical person that enjoys or at least tolerates the work whether its a beater truck, a new honda, or a porsche. if you have the drive and the dedication, and you do eventually work at a ferrari dealership, I think thats fantastic- and if you are set on it then go do it. otherwise you might kick yourself for the rest of your life for not at least trying.

i went to the Pa campuse. its alright. if want to be a tech, then go for it. if you want to be an engine builder/machinist then go to SAM. i was lucky enough to get in at Ray BArton RAcing Engines straight from UTI. i guess it helped me get in. i make decent pay and i 'm the shop leader already.

<----I graduated from UTI orlando and I work here. Its all in what you make it.