it's not as easy as pie. just be realistic.

one of my client/friend is an ASE cert. master mechanic who worked at a big Mazda dealership (Brown's Mazda) in Arlington, VA (big metro area) for 12 years with numerous ASE certs and continuous updating classes paid by the dealership. i think he was one of the 2 top mechanics there out of at least 12.

but he quit to work as a Brink's Alarm installation guy. a complete career change in a profession that he had no experience in and had to be trained as an entry-level technician. his reason was that he just wasn't making enough money at the dealership. many dealerships are paying them on commissions now and not a set salary. so if there's no cars in for repairs, they don't get paid. this gets worse if you work for a small garage. 'cause they are counting their pennies even more.

 

i was thinking about just going to henry ford community college in detroit....i live in plymouth, so its only like 40 mins away.

what do you guys think about just going to a community college? would i be at any disadvantage by getting a degree there?

 

i got my bachelors degree of automotive technology from southern illinois university, you learn alot there and its a good school

 

i went to uti for my training, im a master tech at 20 years old. my buddy also graduated from uti and got in on the jaguar program and is working in virginia now. i make about 21 bucks and hour right now, im also in the mechanics union.. local 701.its not too bad because im actually going to school to become a fireman, but its a fun job most of the time, the other times are pain in the *** stuff like finding a broken wire or a short in a wiring harness and tearing apart the car.. good luck

 

I work on porsches, Been doing it for about 9 months, no previios porsche experience.
Cam from working on ambulances. I am an ase master and 22 years old. Never been to tech school got my edumaction in the driveway. Anybody thinking about being a tech needs to sit down and rethink. Being a tech sucks. There is decent money to be had in the high end cars ( I walked in the door at 23$) And will end the year at about 55k for 9.5 months. The other porsche tech been doing it forever made about 180k this year. Next year I will be over 100k.
BUT
dealer life is rough
theres no work. you dont get paid, you have to be there but you there for free
you screw up, you buy the parts and you do the labor.........for free
You have no retirement ( most places) besides 401k
Pay obsered healt insuracne ( I do 500 a month at 22yrs old for just me)
its hell on your body too, expet to get carpel tunnel by the time your 30 and I have really bad burcitious at 22

Its kind of funny how much I love my job when Im geeting a that pay check
and how pissed off I get when I have slow weeks like this (worked 10 hrs today made 0 dollars)
good luck to ya though

 

im not doing it for the money im doin it for the love of HP..and Torque

 

i was all set to start some mechanic classes my first year out of highschool, but during that summer i started working on my car and helping work on my friends cars and let me tell you... i would hate to do that every single day! i have a couple of mechanic friends (older guys) and they kept on trin to steer me away from it. they told me that if i wanted to have to work my *** off every day and not make good pay then this was the job for me! thats why i am on my way to becoming a fireman! lol salary pay with benefits and i dont even have to do any work unless there is a call!

 

To whom this may concern: when in college dont plan on modding your car untill you finish, unless you can really afford it. I found this out the hard way.

 

TRUE STORY!!! lol

 

As mentioned in my previous post the techs at my facility make bettween 55's- 65'K. I know that is not earth shattering but it is decent money in this part of the country and if you ENJOY it...... We pay on an hourly base plus % of dollars turned. (medical + 401K). There are a LOT of oppertunities for good techs willing to hustle. The # of good tech's to cars on the road ARE shrinking, supply and demand are "in effect".

 

Shoot for porche, BMW, mercedes, lexus, or another high dollar car manufacturer. Dont be satisfied with fixing peoples minivansand beaters, there is more money in the high dollar cars. The best thing is: YOU--"This is what it needs and cost" CUSTOMER--"Ya, ya, just get it fixed" No hassling about it. No, "oh, do I really need brake pads?" Good luck to you. I just finished up school last year, and now I am on to get my Mech. Engineering degrees.

 

high end car dealerships sounds better. probably needs lots of certifications and the openings are less though.

another thing my ASE friend from a Mazda dealership was complaining about was that he was merely a circuit board changer rather than a car mechanic (with all the cpu's in newer cars). i thought that this would be easier and less stressful.

dunno....fixing someone else's car all day long don't sound very fun.

 

I work at a BMW dealership as an assistant parts manager. I have been a parts advisor for about 5 years and I have come to know quite a bit about BMW and the service end of the business. Being efficient is VERY important while being paid on a flat-rate scale but that is not the only important issue. To make the flat-rate pay plan work for you, you have to be able to complete a given job faster then the book-time calls for; an example would be if you were given a front brake job that the flat-rate scale called for 2 hours but you got it done in 40 minutes, then you would be ahead and working on the next job. Now the opposite is also true, meaning if the brake job took you 2 hours and 15 minutes then you would be behind. As long as you were quick you could easily clock 20+ hours in a 8 hour day. Just remember that doing the job fast is always better; you have to do it right because if the car comes back you don't get paid twice for the same job. In order to make money as a flat-rate technician, no matter how efficient you are, you have to have a HUNGRY service advisor/writer. If your service writer isn't a good seller for customer-pay work then you will make no money other then warranty work. The service writer and technician HAVE to both be aggressive. Also...no matter how good the technician is or how aggressive the writer is, if your parts department doesn't keep a healthy inventory you won't make squat. Having a huge inventory doesn't mean sh#t if they don't have what you need, right? Making money in automotive repair is a team effort not just oone person.

 

I would HIGHLY recommend the GM ASEP program at a 2 year college. Im going into my last semester and in May I will graduate with an Associate of Applied Science Degree with a major in GM Automotive Technology. In the dealership I've seen people bring home over $100K a year. I already have 4 ASE certs and a few GM certs. The best thing is...this program is a co-op program where you go to school for 8 weeks and then you work in a dealership for 8 weeks while gettin paid. This sets you up to have a $25/hr job with the potential for 100+ hr weeks while only actually working 40 hours. Its a great program and I have no regrets. The total price of schooling is under $7,000 and you get a degree. go to www.GMASEPBSEP.com for more info.