I am curious as to the best way to enter into the field of being a mechanic.
I would like to know the best way to enter whether it is to go to a community college and take classes or just vjump right in and sweep floors at a shop.
I also want to know what cieling pay is for a mechanic at a dealership or the like. I've read some things that say that master certified mechanics have average yearly saleries of 70,000 dollars.
Thanks for any info in advance
Jeff

My advice is to go into electronics or some other job that is inside where it is air conditioned and climate controlled. I have been a mechanic for 38 years and my knees are about shot and the heat and humidity in the summer really gets to me. Just my 0.02. I work at a fleet and make $53,000 a year, I don't work any overtime and we work 5 days a week and that is enough for me, my wife has a pretty good job too. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

Best bet would be to go to school like I am. You'll be a couple steps ahead of the guys who start as a porter.

The two things I would strive to be the best at: Driveability and transmissions. If you can do these you can pull in mega bucks. Nobody really knows how to do these two things. Those people we call parts changers. Im actually pretty decent at driveability and aswesome at transmissions.

Thats my 20 bucks worth.

My cousin went to the Toyota sponsored program at his local community college.

It has worked out well for him financially. And the more toyotas people buy, the more fixin they are going to need.

Me, I like the AC in the summer and heat in the Winter. Working at a desk has made me fat though, so it does have its tradeoffs.

K

Thanks for the info guys...I apprieciate
Anybody else can chime in, I'm still listening?

Go into engineering if it's at all possible. I've spent years troubleshooting and repairing electrical equipment. Now I'm working directly with electrical and electronic engineers. While I can still troubleshoot and repair equipment, I'm learning many new things every day. It's exciting, and the pay isn't bad.

I can work on anything. And I've always been pretty good at understanding how and why things work. But looking at it from this level, it becomes much more intimate and I realize how little I actually know about the fundamentals.

I'm just saying that you should aim as high as you can.

Go to work for a shop and sweep the floors. If you enroll in a college or tech class, you get information from the instructor of the course and he'll teach you one way of doing things. His way.

If you go to work in a shop, you'll get information from many service techs. Pay special attention to the older guys that have been there the longest.

Sweep the floors, ask questions, dive in and help whenever the opportunity arises.

Sweeping floors= making money.
College/Tech course= spending money.

get a couple jobs...sweeping floors at a shop and at a parts store. The parts store will pay for your ASE parts test, and you will get a discount. You can always use a discount when repairing your car.

Also, you may be able to get the shop to pay for some work related classes.

Starting pay for ASE mechanics in K.C. is around 15 to 20 bucks an hour.

Take some shop management classes to learn job cost estimations and learn about overhead costs. It's that extra two years of classes that put you in the "master mechanic" bracket.

There's no better way to learn than to do it yourself

With all the technology used in cars and trucks these days, community college classes are a must. There's just too much you need to learn to be able to pick it up from the older guys. Even the older guys had to go back to school when this stuff came out in the 80s.

Check with your local automobile dealerships and see who's hiring. They most likely be wanting you to participate in some sort of apprenticeship program where you go to school a half day and work for them the other half. After getting a few years experience, you can go after a job with someone like Fed Ex or UPS working on their truck fleets and/or airport ground equipment. There'll be shift work and weekend work involved, but the money will be better and you'll have better benefits. You might luck out and find a high end dealer like Mercedes or Lexus that pays well and offers great benefits, but they are few and far between.

I ask a mechanic I am designing a shop for today what he thought. He said get a solid backgound in electronics since just about everything in new cars is controled or operated with electronics. That sounds like it may fall under the drivability category mentioned above. The "parts changer" comment is probably true but only because the labor cost of changing out for new vs. rebuilding is higher.

That assumes that they diagnose the part to change correctly. I've had experiences where they were taking an educated guess on my dime (well thats what we thought and it worked on the last one with similar problems). The guy that did my exhaust work in Phoenix was an engineer that found he could make more money doing header and exhaust systems for rods and racers!

I think you need to do both, combine the practical floor sweeping with the school. The floor sweeping will teach you which guys seems to be making the most money for what they have specialized in. The school will get you to that point quicker.

Thanks guys, I'm hearing alot of good info here...
Not as one sided as I thought it would be...
Apperently there are a couple of different schools of thought on subject...
Rob-what do you mean by "parts changer" are you talking abou the guy who actually does the labor...I was under the impression your were saying that I should look into being the specialist and tell the "parts changer" what to do"
As always thanks for the input and keep it coming guys

Oh by the way, consider changing your user name you "knowenough" to ask for advice rather than charging on blindly :D

I'ev been truning wrenches 25 years never made big money if you think you get rich sorry. But yes learn the eletroincs of it. I was smarter I left auto repair went into equipment repair make a decent buck and don't have to deal with the super tight areas like under the hood of cars.

A parts changer would be, think of it this way. You get a dent in your door, instead of repairing the dent you buy a new door.

Not a mechanic but in the auto field you NEED that piece of paper that says I CAN DO. That piece of paper is a degree, without a college education background you wont go anywhere real fast thats a fact. I agree working at a shop is good but an eduaction is better. The best thign to do would go to school and work at a shop after school hours. Hell am good friends with a Ford mechanic and every month he is going to Ford school to learn about the NEW equipment and such installed on cars today. So even the guys with jobs are STILL going to school.

Lots of guys the last thing they want is someone bugging em while working and am one of those guys. So how can ya learn something when all you do is sweep the floor or someone's tool bit^h?


Just remember the truely educated NEVER graduate...Eric

Even if you go to an Automotive Tech school and get a degree, you will never stop going to school, things change every day in the Automotive field and training is constant. The tight spaces is why I work on trucks most of the time.

First of all, how old are you? A good way to start is if you are in high school, go to a voc tech. They will give you a good head start, and usually in your senior year they place you somewhere to get some hands on experience. You can make a decent living being a mechanic, and one thing you have to remember is that cars always break and need to be repaired. But the guys are right, it is a tough way to make a living. Hard work, dirty. I do it for a hobby, it's fun, but I hate it when my everyday vehicle needs something because then it's a necessity. Hope this helps

And my advice would be that if and when you start working in the auto repair field.

STAY AWAY FROM THE BIG EXHAUST CHAIN SHOPS, and the tune/lube shops. These are good places to work at starting out, but are not a good career choice in the long run.

And I know this first hand. I have worked at these shops and they do not respect thier employees or look out for the individual needs of them. (Like benefits).

I have worked for these places several times in the past and they are all pretty much the same as far as an employer goes. But are fine when starting out.

I discovered that working at a independent shop is by far the best way to go. At least for me it is. They are way more professional.

jdrone is right, I have never made big money in this field either. As a matter of fact, I have been seriously thinking of trying out the autobody feild. Like Sevt_chevelle.

Chris R.

Master Techs at a dealership will make anywhere from 35K-100K /yr.

Sometimes it depends on area, particular dealership, tech proficiency, tool selection, or just what kinda year it is...

I am an ASE Master Auto Tech with Advanced Engine Performance cert and a Master Engine Machinist.
I build racing automatic trannies on the side.
Also do OK in the autobody field, just never got certified.

I'm 27 and I've never had a day of formal schooling in auto mechanics....
Spent over 6 years in the military doing mostly non-mechanical stuff so I was a little rusty when I first came out but mostly on the newer electronics and OBDII stuff.

Nothing wrong with going to community college classes or whatever I just learned everything through personal study.

It counts for college credit though...

I've been looking for a good school myself. I'm a junior (hs) and this is my second year of auto tech class and my second "independant" job and so far i've been learning sooo much about the work it's mind boggling to think of all the stuff I still haven't learned. I work at a Diesel shop now and there is alot of HEAVY stuff. I have been working at an upholstery shop in the past 2 summers that has been really cool too so I've been advised the middle ground is best. my current boss' say they hired a guy who went to diesel school and could ramble off torque specs and codes for anything but he'd never worked for any body to learn stuff like changing fuel filters. I just can't decide between Wyotech or UTI. I wish there was a close chassis fabrication shop so I could learn about that before I decide what I want to do. maybe even a body shop. hope this somehow helps. graemlins/clonk.gif
zac

BTW knownothing, we have almost idenical cars. mine's dark green/white http://community.webshots.com/user/younggun71