[Introduction] About to go flat-rate

[Lotek]

I think after 5 yrs he probably has how to used hand tools down especially because he has the insight to ask questions.

You would be surprised how many kids try to jump straight to power tools and wonder why they are breaking stuff. I've had this conversation with several kids at the shop... The first couple of months on flatrate can be daunting, another bit of advice is to keep your nose in your own stall, don't worry about what the other guys are doing or the hours they are turning, and if you have to ask for help, do the basics first and make sure you are stuck, and not just overlooking something.

 

[94_C/1500]

I was $10 hourly at a ford shop and my checks as a hot shot/route driver at a large parts store is better than I was getting. Much better working conditions and I don't have to pay for anything. I even get free shirts and hats.

 

[dragonballz]

http://www.angrymechanics.com/page.html

This is a good read about the auto repair industry. It's multiple pages long.

 

[GTA Matt]

http://www.angrymechanics.com/page.html

This is a good read about the auto repair industry. It's multiple pages long.

That guy sounds a little too bitter. Reading **** like that ain't healthy. This industry is what you make of it. Want to be bitter and unhappy, your wish will be granted. Want to be happy and successful, work hard and keep your chin up.

 

[redmondjp]

Its amazing how many people are negative and bitter to the auto repair industry.

If you have worked in it, then you would understand. It's not like it was 20-30 years ago.

Everything I have read in this thread so far agrees with all of what my mechanic friends tell me. I do it only as a hobby myself but try to keep aware of the industry. And when you get into your late 40s, it's darn hard on your body (hopefully you have become a service writer or manager by then).

We are in a global race to the bottom, and this is evidenced in how auto mechanics are treated and paid. I would recommend just about anything else, specifically industrial electrician or HVAC technician.

 

[Mikerodrig27]

The best tool you can use is your head. If every man is created equal, then you know you need to work harder and smarter than the guy next to you. When you punch that number in the morning you have to want to be there. You have to have the drive to push yourself to move forward. You shouldn't care about being the cool guy, or going to a party that night. You need to care about your job. Also, get rid of your cell phone when you go to work. A cell phone is just another obstacle getting in the way of you and your success. A company will reward employees with this strong mentality.

Take all of the education that your company has to offer and use them to get any kind of certificates.

When you work on a vehicle, pay attention and try to remember everything you can so when you get it next time, you can do a better/quicker job. Never just go through the motions of getting work done.

Don't over invest in tools and put yourself in debt. Look for tools online that have good reviews. If one breaks then go to the box trucks for that particular tool.

A lot of good techs are going out the door to retirement. The newer techs are underpaid and generally not moving forward very fast in their education as a result and are unmotivated. Everyone knows that guy at the shop that dicks around and skates by. This gives you the advantage to stand out from the crowd and become the guy that always gets the job done right.

Everyone has a cordless/pneumatic impact but not everyone has the drive to push themselves to become better than the rest.

 

[94_C/1500]

That guy sounds a little too bitter. Reading **** like that ain't healthy. This industry is what you make of it. Want to be bitter and unhappy, your wish will be granted. Want to be happy and successful, work hard and keep your chin up.

And that's why I'm starting my own shop on the side. The boss is a jerk and is don't make much but atleast I'm the one screwing myself over. When I was in the dealership I was $10 an hour. The oil change guys were $8 and the alignment guy was $9. There was two other hourly mechanics. One was $9 and the other I don't know. I do know my checks were bigger than one of the flat rate guys. The other two were friends with the manager. They were both getting a lot of hours, especially one. Anyways work slowed down and I was the new guy so I was laid off days before my son was born. The owner of the dealership was my neighbor when I was a kid, just a couple of years before this he hired my dad to roof his house, he seemed like a nice guy. Even tipped everyone $20, first and only tip I had got in construction. When I was laid off things were slow but they still made money off of me. But I was replaced with someone with less knowledge and was paid less. I know I'm rambling on but I guess my point is make sure the shop you are in is a good one. There probably a few dozen shops within an hour of here, and only one or two isn't crooked, atleast not like the rest. Around here my job offers are so bad I could flip hamburgers and make more money. I've been offered $40 a day and I've been offered minimum wage flat rate. I know of a few shops that pay hourly minimum wage. It's just crazy. A lot of other industries require much less tools and better pay. If you have $100 in tools you could do construction and being decently skilled for a smaller company you'll get $10-$12 an hour. But I too like being a mechanic.

 

[Lotek]

And that's why I'm starting my own shop on the side. The boss is a jerk and is don't make much but atleast I'm the one screwing myself over. When I was in the dealership I was $10 an hour. The oil change guys were $8 and the alignment guy was $9. There was two other hourly mechanics. One was $9 and the other I don't know. I do know my checks were bigger than one of the flat rate guys. The other two were friends with the manager. They were both getting a lot of hours, especially one. Anyways work slowed down and I was the new guy so I was laid off days before my son was born. The owner of the dealership was my neighbor when I was a kid, just a couple of years before this he hired my dad to roof his house, he seemed like a nice guy. Even tipped everyone $20, first and only tip I had got in construction. When I was laid off things were slow but they still made money off of me. But I was replaced with someone with less knowledge and was paid less. I know I'm rambling on but I guess my point is make sure the shop you are in is a good one. There probably a few dozen shops within an hour of here, and only one or two isn't crooked, atleast not like the rest. Around here my job offers are so bad I could flip hamburgers and make more money. I've been offered $40 a day and I've been offered minimum wage flat rate. I know of a few shops that pay hourly minimum wage. It's just crazy. A lot of other industries require much less tools and better pay. If you have $100 in tools you could do construction and being decently skilled for a smaller company you'll get $10-$12 an hour. But I too like being a mechanic.

Where do you live? I haven't heard of those kind of rates in 30 years!

 

[493mike]

I worked FR, Salary, Hourly, and Commission. Commission was my favorite (50%). With flat rate you do not get a raise when shop charges increase. That said ,I left the occupation after 7 years (after college training in auto mechanics). I entered my local Plumbing/ Pipe Fitters union apprenticeship program (at a pay cut) and now, 35 years later, I am retired with $3,700 a month pension. Quite happy with my decision.
Mike

 

[jrobb316]

First let me say that I did LIKE being an auto mechanic/technician. I liked the fact every day was different and there was endless education. Unfortunately that doesn't pay the bills. As others have said, you can get into other fields with 5% of the outlay in tool cost, literally. And that's not having cheap junk either. But if you think your going to get into it now and have a family supporting job, it just isn't so. I don't miss everyday counting the hours I have vs the hours I need for my week and being taken advantage of by the dealers. Dealers treat their mechanics like **** and then can't understand why they can't get qualified people. Actually now it's to your disadvantage to be qualified. Dealers pump the idiots making less per hour with the money jobs and stick their well paid techs with the garbage. We used to sit around and say we can't make this much money doing anything else. Then in the last few years we've all taken 20% paycuts, and more and more are realizing now there are other things that pay like this and are bailing on the auto industry. Any tech not in denial or not blowing their advisor will tell you this.

 

[jrobb316]

That guy sounds a little too bitter. Reading **** like that ain't healthy. This industry is what you make of it. Want to be bitter and unhappy, your wish will be granted. Want to be happy and successful, work hard and keep your chin up.

The guy does sound bitter but if you take that away and stick to all his facts, he is spot on. I would have agreed with you 10 years ago that it was what you made it. Not anymore, you sign up to work on cars, you're playing on their field and by their rules, and the dice are loaded.

 

[GTA Matt]

I love how in half these threads, guys say they are raking in the hours, turning crazy numbers even on a slow week. In the other half, techs are poverty stricken, can't make ends meet, even a good week is sub 40 hours. So which is it lol.

If you're expecting an easy, stress free, skate by job, this ain't it. If you apply yourself, make good decisions, and are actually talented in auto repair, there is a lot of honest money to be made. The guys claiming they are broke would be broke regardless of what their job was. If its so bad, and you think you are a good tech, leave. There are good shops hiring, very few good techs applying.

 

[94_C/1500]

Where do you live? I haven't heard of those kind of rates in 30 years!

Mason County WV

I'm sure the techs on top of the food chain at dealerships are making some good figures but you don't want to be the guy starting out around here. I'm not a ***** or anything, just not the most experienced but I know enough to get by with regular work. These privately owned shops around here I talked to are a joke unless you're a very experienced mechanic. But unless it's a dealer the pay isn't anything great around here unless you're the owner. And most of the owners are in massive debt. The $40 a day place wanted me to use my own tools and after a few weeks if I was good enough I'd be on payroll for minimum wage. That place only lasted a few years. The place that wanted to pay me minimum wage flat rate had been in business for years but had changed hands and the new owner was into cost cutting. A few months later he cut hours so much everyone quit and hired work release people. About 18 months after my job offer the place is shut down by the state. Glad I was smart enough to say no. Like I said before, I make more money at a parts store than I did being an hourly mechanic at a dealer and there I made more money than one of the flat rate guys.

 

[redmondjp]

I love how in half these threads, guys say they are raking in the hours, turning crazy numbers even on a slow week. In the other half, techs are poverty stricken, can't make ends meet, even a good week is sub 40 hours. So which is it lol.

You must not get out much. Our country is turning into the very rich, and the very poor. I live in a very rich area, where people with late-model German cars don't even flinch at a $4K repair bill. But these customers go mostly to the dealers, so independent shops are still having a hard time staying in business (I can see how many shops are closing by watching Craigslist and seeing their equipment for sale).

However, if you are in an area where people are not rich, and $30K per year income is considered doing well, it's really tough to make good money as an auto tech. My best friend works in such a town right now, as an auto mechanic (he has 25 years of experience and has worked in several towns and cities in the Northwest). You get to work on trouble-prone 15-year-old VWs and Volvos that the customers can't even afford to repair properly, and you can spend several hours just trying to troubleshoot intermittent electrical problems.

So, as is the case with many careers, location matters!

 

[Skin]

I love how in half these threads, guys say they are raking in the hours, turning crazy numbers even on a slow week. In the other half, techs are poverty stricken, can't make ends meet, even a good week is sub 40 hours. So which is it lol.

If you're expecting an easy, stress free, skate by job, this ain't it. If you apply yourself, make good decisions, and are actually talented in auto repair, there is a lot of honest money to be made. The guys claiming they are broke would be broke regardless of what their job was. If its so bad, and you think you are a good tech, leave. There are good shops hiring, very few good techs applying.

Region has everything to do with it. Busy shop in LA, Boston, NYC or outlying areas. Money can be good to great. Go down south to where incomes are already lower in general and i'd bet the very best mechanics in any given shop are making 60k/yr or less.

Average income for an automotive mechanic is just under 40k according to the compiled data available from any number of unbiased sources (re: sources that aren't blatantly demonizing the trade). Incase it isn't already apparent that's a pretty terrible number for what guys have to put into it to reach those 40-60k salary marks. To add insult to injury that doesn't even account for health, dental, vision etc.. which isn't often offered, or is but still requires the employee pay a large chunk out of an already meager paycheck.

 

[GTA Matt]

Absolutely location matters. I've lived (and worked as a flat rate tech) in areas with extremely high costs of living and in areas with crazy low costs of living. Remember I said to make good decisions? It would not be a good decision to get a job at the local used tire shop in the town I lived in where median household was $21k. Instead, drive 20 minutes in any direction where the potential to earn up to 100k exists. And yes, the average pay *****, but the average tech also *****. I would never advise someone to try to be the average tech, that's where applying yourself and being talented comes in. If you can't do those things, then yeah, you're going to have a bad time...

 

[shockwave]

Get a decent impact screwdriver and a smaller rollcart

 

[Rlfd213]

I started in 1990 making 8.00 an hour. I went flat rate in 1995 making 15.00 and left the business in 1998 making almost 20.00. The work was ok depending on what car line you worked on. I did Toyota, Nissan and jeep. Nissan sucked, nothing but junk and recall after recall. When I went to work for jeep it was great. The owners treated us like real people and cared about us, they and the service manager didn't try to **** us by reducing our book hours so they could expand their profits, unlike Nissan, and at that time the companies didn't have the we cover everything warranty like now. It also helped that the jeep dealer was in a better area where our customers had money and pretty much would say "just fix it and I'll get it later." I can't imagine how guys survive today. I'm glad I got out when I did.

 

[kiatech]

first let me say that i did like being an auto mechanic/technician. I liked the fact every day was different and there was endless education. Unfortunately that doesn't pay the bills. As others have said, you can get into other fields with 5% of the outlay in tool cost, literally. And that's not having cheap junk either. But if you think your going to get into it now and have a family supporting job, it just isn't so. I don't miss everyday counting the hours i have vs the hours i need for my week and being taken advantage of by the dealers. Dealers treat their mechanics like **** and then can't understand why they can't get qualified people. Actually now it's to your disadvantage to be qualified. Dealers pump the idiots making less per hour with the money jobs and stick their well paid techs with the garbage. We used to sit around and say we can't make this much money doing anything else. Then in the last few years we've all taken 20% paycuts, and more and more are realizing now there are other things that pay like this and are bailing on the auto industry. Any tech not in denial or not blowing their advisor will tell you this.

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