Making a living wrenching

[Hammer1963]

I've never had an issue making a living in the business. No I am by no means well off, just an average guy. I have managed to pay my house off early and send 2 kids through school.

If you invest in your trade, do quality work, keep abreast of new technology, treat customers well and have realistic goals, then it's not bad. I can't say this for those who have made bad choices and lets face it, most people do not belong in the trade. It's hard and requires a commitment that most people do not poccess.

The show M*A*S*H* brings to mind a good example. Would you prefer Hawkeye operate on you, or take your chances with Frank Burns ? Same with the Auto business. There are hacks in every profession.

Just the thoughts of someone who has spent the past 20 plus years in the trade.

 

[chris142]

We do great in the summer. But October 1st every year till April the next year it's like no cars break down. No brakes, No broken Radiators, No busted AC's etc. Dead!

Infact we do more heater cores in the summer than in the winter. I often see drivers bundled up in Ski jackets, fogged up windows etc in the winter. But they never fix em.

Last year we went from Thanksgiving to the middle of February with no customers at all! Nothin! Not 1 car came in the door! Been like this every year for 29 years in the same location.

Same with the week before any holiday... Nothin...

 

[crewchief888]

The show M*A*S*H* brings to mind a good example. Would you prefer Hawkeye operate on you, or take your chances with Frank Burns ? Same with the Auto business. There are hacks in every profession.

^^^
this kinda sums it up

 

[wornoutoldman]

rea

Really information is free? So the shop pays for your training classes. Alldata subscription.

Yep! Comes with the territory. Your employer makes more money once you have been trained. He can now charge more for your efforts. You can go to autozone and get free alldata info.

Access to factory websites. What your saying is your free to use thus information for your own financial gain at home wow.......

Nope. This not what I said. I said if a tech had been approached by a customer and agreed to doing sidework he should be fired. That said he should also be free to perform any and all the sidework he cares to do providing he is not working on vehicles that are customers of the shop he works for.

Regarding information, I subscribe to this school of thought:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_wants_to_be_free

 

[ra42mario]

Factory information is hardly free.

Alldata and Mitchell are both near $200 a month for a subscription.

The watered down version autozone has of alldata is just that, a watered down version. It will help a DIYer replace brake pads, but let me see you trace down an electrical problem or HVAC issue with autozone's info.




I run a 3 bay auto repair shop in northeast ohio. You can make a living wrenching, but it is a tough career. It is financially straining and physically straining after years. The pay will never be the greatest, but a decent mechanic in the area should be able to pull $12-$16 an hour if they are not working flat rate. Really seasoned guys can hit the lower $20/hr range at a higher end shop/dealership that is charging $100/hr for labor.

I pay flat rate at $20/hr to my mechanic. Our labor rate is $60/hr.

 

[chris142]

Factory information is hardly free.

Alldata and Mitchell are both near $200 a month for a subscription.

The watered down version autozone has of alldata is just that, a watered down version. It will help a DIYer replace brake pads, but let me see you trace down an electrical problem or HVAC issue with autozone's info.




I run a 3 bay auto repair shop in northeast ohio. You can make a living wrenching, but it is a tough career. It is financially straining and physically straining after years. The pay will never be the greatest, but a decent mechanic in the area should be able to pull $12-$16 an hour if they are not working flat rate. Really seasoned guys can hit the lower $20/hr range at a higher end shop/dealership that is charging $100/hr for labor.

I pay flat rate at $20/hr to my mechanic. Our labor rate is $60/hr.

Your cost of living must be quite low there?

 

[ra42mario]

yes cost of living is pretty low. People are not begging to move to the rust belt.

You would be suprised what a few hundred thousands gets you in terms of a house here. 5,000 square feet and tons of land with top notch design.

 

[chris142]

yes cost of living is pretty low. People are not begging to move to the rust belt.

You would be suprised what a few hundred thousands gets you in terms of a house here. 5,000 square feet and tons of land with top notch design.

Ok. Ya cause you said guys make $12-$16/hr and labor is $60 an hr. I'd starve on those wages here and my house is paid for. $12/hr is what the kid working the Taco Bell drive through makes here.

Were @ $87/hr labor and thats going up to $100 January 1st just to be able to pay the bills.

 

[smalltruck]

Do some techs go behind the employers back, daily, even heard of a few service writers doing that as well to buy cars that needed to much $$$ to fix.

There are both sides on craigslist and angies list. Wanting a deal or looking for work cheap.

 

[F-Bobby]

I haven't worked in the field as long as some of you guys. In fact I got out of it a couple years ago after an injury that prevents me from doing it full time. Now I work at one of the big parts chains in their commercial dept. So i've seen both sides of the business. I can tell ya that when I was working at the dealers/ind. shops that I would just tell my friends to come to the shop and we'd do it on the books so that way the shop was making money, which made them more lenient towards me when I needed to get parts/tie up lifts to work on my own cars/familys cars. I had no problem with that because I knew that they would get taken care of on the price and I would be doing the work anyway.
Nowadays I'm doing sidework to pay the bills since working at a parts store doesnt exactly pay the best. Right now I'm just really helping my friends out with fixing their cars, and Luckily I have a LOT of friends who don't trust most shops because of how many times they've been screwed over so they would much rather have me look at it and be honest with them about what it needs rather then taking it to a random shop.

 

[sdguy55]

If you do it for a living, you still need a second money maker to survive! Recycling, or other trade, wrenching is for me a second money maker.

If you need a second job to survive maybe your living beyond your means.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using Tapatalk 2

 

[camarotoolman]

I know a young guy who went to mech. school and then started @ an oil/gas drilling company working on the fracking pumps. He is making outragous money!

 

[KMinAF]

The other "cost" is the toll the work takes physically. It only take one wrong twist or slip to put you out of commision and money. I always suggest keeping yourself "marketable" in other skills i.e. management etc. I don't see too many 60 year old techs, ask yourself where did they go and why?

 

[ra42mario]

Ok. Ya cause you said guys make $12-$16/hr and labor is $60 an hr. I'd starve on those wages here and my house is paid for. $12/hr is what the kid working the Taco Bell drive through makes here.

Were @ $87/hr labor and thats going up to $100 January 1st just to be able to pay the bills.

Chris, you have to understand the business aspect of it. If I am paying a tech $14 an hour (which I would say is about average around here for a mid level tech), after I get done paying works compensation, insurance, taxes, vacation, sick days, and all the other misc. fees that get added into the equation, that $14/hr employee is suddenly a $20+ an hour employee. If I am paying over $20/hr for this employee, at the end of the day I am only probably making $5-8 an hour of what the billable $60 is. The other $30 goes into business operations. In my own personal business, I pay out nearly $5,000 a month in shop mortgage, electricity, gas, disposal, business insurance, security, equipment fees, and shop supplies all while STILL trying to make a profit.

 

[KMinAF]

Chris, you have to understand the business aspect of it. If I am paying a tech $14 an hour (which I would say is about average around here for a mid level tech), after I get done paying works compensation, insurance, taxes, vacation, sick days, and all the other misc. fees that get added into the equation, that $14/hr employee is suddenly a $20+ an hour employee. If I am paying over $20/hr for this employee, at the end of the day I am only probably making $5-8 an hour of what the billable $60 is. The other $30 goes into business operations. In my own personal business, I pay out nearly $5,000 a month in shop mortgage, electricity, gas, disposal, business insurance, security, equipment fees, and shop supplies all while STILL trying to make a profit.

And don't forget obama care that will be in effect soon, that is going to dramatically impact the profitability of your average shop.