• TalkBass has been independent since 1998. Add your voice.
    Create a free account to reply to discussions, view embedded media, and browse with fewer display ads.
    Join free Log in
    Want zero display ads or expanded classifieds tools? Compare plans.

How Do I Become a Mechanic?

#61
As completely stupid and clueless as my SM is even he understands the value of experianced techs that combine high productivity with a low comback rate. No nine doller tech will ever perform at my level, period. And as soon as he can, he won't be interested in working for nine dollers and hour. I say pattern failures but that doesn't mean that there's a substitute for understanding the systems involved and how do diag them correctly to even recognize those failures for what they are. Most techs, even the ones that have experiance are afraid of anything that has to do with drivability trans or body electrical not to mention the nine doller lube kids. They can't even trust the nine doller lube kids to make sure they don't double gasket the oil filter or keep the wheels from falling off after a tire rotation. My SM's very existance depends on my ability to keep the shop flowing and get the cars fixed with minimal problems. And there's no way they'd let the writer's diag cars in the drive. That's preposterous. These guys can barely relay the symptoms from the customer to me much less diag something. Thier dangerous with only a tire tread gauge. Having said all that, because dealership managment are totaly clueless and stupid I think that there's a cylical nature to the way the shop is managed. Some SM has to think he can get it done with nine doller an hour guys untill the reputation is so bad that all the business is gone. Then they hire a new SM and he fire's everybody there and hires a competent staff to turn it around. Then they get gready and expect the guys to do more for less untill they leave and they hire the nine doller guys again and......you get the idea.
These are just my ideas and observations in the twenty five plus years I've been in this industry. As far as I'm concerned were all buddies here. Bass playing mechanics.
 
#62
I have to agree with 68Goldfish on this one. I had the theory that the industry is making a cycle, but I don't know as much about the industry as you guys. Didn't want to make myself look like an idiot in front of all you mechanics...

What should I look to specialize in? I'm young and I'm ambitious, I'm willing to go for the more frustrating, complicated jobs if it means I get payed better. I really like the idea of being a diesel mechanic, probably due to the little boy inside of me. Huge, powerful diesel trucks are alot cooler than wimpy little cars with a L4 under the hood. I'm also a huge fan of diesel making a comeback. I have a great time telling my yuppie friend that my neighbors diesel Jeep gets the same gas mileages as his Ford Fusion Hybrid (though I suppose its not fair to compare diesel to gasoline). Is it worth getting into diesel? I would imagine that there are less diesel mechanics than gas mechanics, which might mean my job is in more demand, correct me if I'm wrong.

My mom doesn't like my idea of becoming a mechanic one bit. I'm sure my entire family will freak out if I decide to become a mechanic vs going to college. Anyone have to deal with this? I feel that being pressured into going to college for something I don't want to do is setting myself up for failure. I'm not a lazy kid by any means, but I have to have an interest in what I'm doing. If I'm interested in something, I go all out and do it to the best of my ability.

On a side note, what do you mechanics think about hybrid cars? I've been skeptical of them since before cars became one of my obsessions. I've always felt that it was a scam; getting 40mpg is not saving the earth, reversing global warming, and ending our dependency on oil. A Geo Metro gets the same gas mileage as hybrid cars claim to get. You can't tell me that a decade of engineering can't improve upon that. I think in a few years the hybrid trend will die out.
 
#63
greekorican said:
My mom doesn't like my idea of becoming a mechanic one bit. I'm sure my entire family will freak out if I decide to become a mechanic vs going to college. Anyone have to deal with this? I feel that being pressured into going to college for something I don't want to do is setting myself up for failure. I'm not a lazy kid by any means, but I have to have an interest in what I'm doing. If I'm interested in something, I go all out and do it to the best of my ability.
Click to expand...
Parents definitely don't want their kids to become mechanics, it seems. Both my parents (including my dad the mechanic) encouraged me to go to college. My grandpa even kicked my dad out of the house, because he refused to go to college after high school. They didn't speak for a few years after that.
 
#64
I think the dealers have no choice but to fill their stalls with 9.00 an hour parts changers. There is one hell of a mechanic shortage nationwide (rightfully so) and they need bodies to do the work, even if they are incompetent. If you ask me its the whole flat rate system. This sytem is completely flawed. I mean who benefits from it? The consumer is getting shoddy rushed work. The dealer and manufacturer are losing repeat customers because the customer perceives repeat repairs as a manufacturer defect, so once they get a bad taste in their mouthes they switch to a different brand. Does this benefit the mechanic? What do you think? We've all worked in shops where morale is low and mechanics resent one another. In 10years I must've worked in 4 different dealers and they're all the same. Pay the techs an hourly rate of say 40.00. Let them fix the cars right. The tech is happy, the customer is happy, and ultimately the dealer and manufacturer would get a loyal customer. Its pretty clear to me,but seems the corporate a@@hol@s running the show care more about flying in private jets than actually finding a solution. Sc*mbags. I'm gonna go play bass now.:spit:
 
#65
Hey, I agree. The system is flawed. But as of now, there's a game bieng played so I figure I might as well suit up. Ultimatly it would be better to pay the tech a decent hourly wage. I like the idea of getting a 40 hour guarentee and then flate rate bonus for anything over. That way a tech could spend the time on a problem child, especially if it was warrenty without taking it in the shorts at the end of the week. And then make the tech acountable for his work. As soon as I can make 80K hourly I'm cool with that. And as far as the customer getting screwed it's not so much the flat rate as it is the fact that the manufacture won't pay the tech to work on the cars. Plus they build piles of junk that can't make it off the truck without a dozen rapid response trasmittals (fix's for problems) before they can even be sold (most for .2). And once it is sold how much time do you think I'm going to spend on a car that's under warrenty that has an intermittant electrical problem that I can't verify.....and that's probably a software problem that I wouldn't be able to fix anyway (untill the smart guys come out with a flash to fix it). All while Chrysler pays exactly ZERO dollers for me to diagnose the problem. Oh, and no help from the engineers on the other end of the factory tech line. Forget about it. Chrysler pays me to replace parts not diagnose problems. Even if it is a hardware problem the warrenty time's are horrible. The guy next to me just did a longblock on a 5.7 hemi in a 07'ish 300. How much does the manufacture pay to completely remove one engine, transfer the parts and install the other, get it running and check it all out? How about 5.8 hours. That's the problem right there. If the manufacture doesn't want to pay that's where the dealership should make up the differance with the 40 hour guarentee. One last thing. Your right, there's a tech shortage especially good ones (and to the OP, yes, diesel guys are esspecially in high demand). That fact is why techs should make more money not less. Like I said, train them, pay them a good wage and make them accountable.
One thing we do agree upon (I'm sure not the only thing)is saying screw it, I'm going to go play bass!:bassist:
 
#66
Truktek2 said:
I There is one hell of a mechanic shortage nationwide (rightfully so) and they need bodies to do the work, even if they are incompetent. spit:
Click to expand...

why, because it sucks for all the reasons listed in this thread. the big thing is no time for diagnosis. huntin computer problems with no software help because the vehicle is so new there is no software available yet.
 
#68
tycobb73 said:
Hybrid cars are a bridge until they refine the hydrogen technology.
Click to expand...

I don't think hydrogen is going to replace gas either, its not practical. First of all, it would require a huge change in infrastructure. Where would people fill up until there are hydrogen stations all over the world? From what I've heard, most of the passenger space is eaten up by the hydrogen tank, though that part could be improved upon. Hydrogen also explodes, a collision could be catastrophic. Just a test tube of hydrogen makes a surprisingly large explosion.
 
#69
Hybrids are a proven technology. They recapture energy usually lost to heat and noise. Only in the last few years are they becoming cost effective. The first few hybrids were more of an experiment, the current hybrids employ more advanced, and cheaper, technology. Hybrids are here to stay.

In the near future, the emerging technology will be Diesel Hybrids.

tycobb is correct, the real future will be in hydrogen fuel cells. Yes, it will require a change in distribution infrastructure, but it will happen. The transition probably won't happen for 20 years, but that is the direction cars are headed in.

Transporting hydrogen isn't that dangerous with current technology, like puncture proof tanks. There are propane conversion kits currently available for some trucks, including tanks, that are no more dangerous than their gasoline counterparts.

Also look for a few cars to run on liquefied natural gas, since the US sits on the largest natural gas reserve in the world, but I don't see that technology catching on.
 
#70
When I was a kid I used to help my dad out working on the cars.

One day a neighbor came over to chat and see what we were doing. He'd just spent a wad of money at a dealer service department because his car wasn't running right.

He thought it was great that I helped my dad and was interested in cars (his kids weren't). His advice to me was to "learn carburetors." "They'll always need someone who's good with carburetors, you can write your own ticket," he continued.

I think he also told me once that I should study drafting because as long as we make things in this country they'll need guys who are good with pencil and paper.
 
#71
68Goldfish said:
As completely stupid and clueless as my SM is even he understands the value of experianced techs that combine high productivity with a low comback rate. No nine doller tech will ever perform at my level, period. And as soon as he can, he won't be interested in working for nine dollers and hour. I say pattern failures but that doesn't mean that there's a substitute for understanding the systems involved and how do diag them correctly to even recognize those failures for what they are. Most techs, even the ones that have experiance are afraid of anything that has to do with drivability trans or body electrical not to mention the nine doller lube kids. They can't even trust the nine doller lube kids to make sure they don't double gasket the oil filter or keep the wheels from falling off after a tire rotation. My SM's very existance depends on my ability to keep the shop flowing and get the cars fixed with minimal problems. And there's no way they'd let the writer's diag cars in the drive. That's preposterous. These guys can barely relay the symptoms from the customer to me much less diag something. Thier dangerous with only a tire tread gauge. Having said all that, because dealership managment are totaly clueless and stupid I think that there's a cylical nature to the way the shop is managed. Some SM has to think he can get it done with nine doller an hour guys untill the reputation is so bad that all the business is gone. Then they hire a new SM and he fire's everybody there and hires a competent staff to turn it around. Then they get gready and expect the guys to do more for less untill they leave and they hire the nine doller guys again and......you get the idea.
These are just my ideas and observations in the twenty five plus years I've been in this industry. As far as I'm concerned were all buddies here. Bass playing mechanics.
Click to expand...


My post was more or less written from a management perspective. You and I both know that guys like us can't be replaced with $9/hr monkeys. However, management doesn't know this. All management seems to know is numbers, specifically gross profit margins. Lets see, if we cut what we pay people we can pocket more money for the company. Most of the upper level guys I've run into in the last 26 years don't have a clue as to what actually goes on in a service department, they only know what's on the spreadsheet directly in front of them.

If someone would make it a requirement that upper brass has to spend a year or so in the trenches than maybe things would be different. Until then it is what it is.
 
#72
greekorican said:
I have to agree with 68Goldfish on this one. I had the theory that the industry is making a cycle, but I don't know as much about the industry as you guys. Didn't want to make myself look like an idiot in front of all you mechanics...

What should I look to specialize in? I'm young and I'm ambitious, I'm willing to go for the more frustrating, complicated jobs if it means I get payed better. I really like the idea of being a diesel mechanic, probably due to the little boy inside of me. Huge, powerful diesel trucks are alot cooler than wimpy little cars with a L4 under the hood. I'm also a huge fan of diesel making a comeback. I have a great time telling my yuppie friend that my neighbors diesel Jeep gets the same gas mileages as his Ford Fusion Hybrid (though I suppose its not fair to compare diesel to gasoline). Is it worth getting into diesel? I would imagine that there are less diesel mechanics than gas mechanics, which might mean my job is in more demand, correct me if I'm wrong.

My mom doesn't like my idea of becoming a mechanic one bit. I'm sure my entire family will freak out if I decide to become a mechanic vs going to college. Anyone have to deal with this? I feel that being pressured into going to college for something I don't want to do is setting myself up for failure. I'm not a lazy kid by any means, but I have to have an interest in what I'm doing. If I'm interested in something, I go all out and do it to the best of my ability.

On a side note, what do you mechanics think about hybrid cars? I've been skeptical of them since before cars became one of my obsessions. I've always felt that it was a scam; getting 40mpg is not saving the earth, reversing global warming, and ending our dependency on oil. A Geo Metro gets the same gas mileage as hybrid cars claim to get. You can't tell me that a decade of engineering can't improve upon that. I think in a few years the hybrid trend will die out.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't be looking into specializing in anything until you've tasted the business. You need to get your feet wet first and see what interests you.

My parents didn't care for the idea of me being a mechanic either. Oh well.

I'm not sold on hybrids. Cars could be made more fuel efficient if they could somehow make them lighter. The problem with many of today's cars is they're so overloaded with options that they weigh 4000 pounds. When I was a kid there weren't dvd players in every headrest, heated leather seats, dual zone climate control, cup holders galore, power this and that, and yet somehow I survived family trips to Florida and Cape Cod every summer. Seems now that no one can survive a cross town trip without all the above mentioned items.
 
#73
68Goldfish said:
Hey, I agree. The system is flawed. But as of now, there's a game bieng played so I figure I might as well suit up. Ultimatly it would be better to pay the tech a decent hourly wage. I like the idea of getting a 40 hour guarentee and then flate rate bonus for anything over. That way a tech could spend the time on a problem child, especially if it was warrenty without taking it in the shorts at the end of the week. And then make the tech acountable for his work. As soon as I can make 80K hourly I'm cool with that. And as far as the customer getting screwed it's not so much the flat rate as it is the fact that the manufacture won't pay the tech to work on the cars. Plus they build piles of junk that can't make it off the truck without a dozen rapid response trasmittals (fix's for problems) before they can even be sold (most for .2). And once it is sold how much time do you think I'm going to spend on a car that's under warrenty that has an intermittant electrical problem that I can't verify.....and that's probably a software problem that I wouldn't be able to fix anyway (untill the smart guys come out with a flash to fix it). All while Chrysler pays exactly ZERO dollers for me to diagnose the problem. Oh, and no help from the engineers on the other end of the factory tech line. Forget about it. Chrysler pays me to replace parts not diagnose problems. Even if it is a hardware problem the warrenty time's are horrible. The guy next to me just did a longblock on a 5.7 hemi in a 07'ish 300. How much does the manufacture pay to completely remove one engine, transfer the parts and install the other, get it running and check it all out? How about 5.8 hours. That's the problem right there. If the manufacture doesn't want to pay that's where the dealership should make up the differance with the 40 hour guarentee. One last thing. Your right, there's a tech shortage especially good ones (and to the OP, yes, diesel guys are esspecially in high demand). That fact is why techs should make more money not less. Like I said, train them, pay them a good wage and make them accountable.
One thing we do agree upon (I'm sure not the only thing)is saying screw it, I'm going to go play bass!:bassist:
Click to expand...

The system is seriously flawed, especially when it comes to warranty work. It's not flat rate it's flat rape. At least Ford and GM pretend to do time studies, seems that Chrysler just spins the wheel and guesses at times. The .0 for diagnosis is crap as well. Don't want to pay? Outside. May as well have the writer in the drive grab his diagnostic shotgun and fire a part at it, 'cause I sure as hell ain't gonna fix it for free. I didn't built it, I didn't buy it, and I didn't break it.

Problem with paying a guy hourly or giving a 40 hour guarantee is you'd see productivity drop off. If a guy can get the same thing whether he's busting hump or choking his chicken, where's the incentive to work hard? Plus, if it gets real slow in the shop and everyone is hourly, now the bean counters are going to gripe even more about gross margin.

So what's the answer? I don't know.
 
#75
mike phillips said:
i glad you do. because i have started to hate it. i do believe you are goin to do it no matter what anyone in this thread says. alot of very good stuff posted here, all the truth, but still you want to get into mechanicin. i reckon you give someone enough rope they will eventually hang themself.
Click to expand...

Don't think I'm not considering all the guys that say not to do it. I'm nervous about doing this, especially with all the negative things I've been told; I'll take quite a bit of heat from my entire family, and if I don't do well at it, I'm gonna look stupid in front of them. If I decide to do this, I want to be smart about it and make the most of it. I want to be successful, but I also want to find a career I'm interested in. I haven't found something that I want to study in college that gets me excited like this does. If I don't decide become a mechanic, I can always make it a hobby (a VERY expensive hobby).

Did you guys like your job, atleast in the beginning? If you ask my dad, he would say that he absolutely hates carpentry. I don't completely believe him; the man takes a huge amount of pride in his work, and he knows he's an expert at it. I think he still likes it, he's just become an angry old man. No offense to any of you guys, I just think that if you do anything for enough years, you will develop this kind of attitude. I think at one point, you guys were just as excited as I am.

I've been looking around at trade schools. Both UTI and Lincoln Tech are near chicago, both around a 40 min drive. Is there an advantage to either of the schools? I see that UTI gives all graduates a Snap On toolkit. I don't know very much about Snap On tools and their quality, but my dad has taught me the importance of good tools. I don't know where they are made, but if its not in USA, my dad will want me to throw them out. My dad is more a Craftman guy, he got me a pretty nice wrench set for christmas last year. If they are quality tools, it might be an incentive to go to UTI, I know how expensive tools can get.
 
#76
Mike N said:
Don't want to pay? Outside. May as well have the writer in the drive grab his diagnostic shotgun and fire a part at it, 'cause I sure as hell ain't gonna fix it for free. I didn't built it, I didn't buy it, and I didn't break it.
Click to expand...

Preach it brotha! I'm with ya.

I say, If you've achieved a particular level of factory training then the manufacture should pay you diag time. I can see them not wanting to pay a newbie while he learns but they'd have a lot better customer satisfaction and a higher fixed first visit if they paid the tech to diag the problem.
And that's why I liked the forty hour guarantee plus a flat rate bonus on top of that. I never needed the guarantee but I knew if I got screwed buy circumstances beyond my controll that I was covered.
Ah, I could go on forever....lol.
 
#77
greekorican said:
Don't think I'm not considering all the guys that say not to do it. I'm nervous about doing this, especially with all the negative things I've been told; I'll take quite a bit of heat from my entire family, and if I don't do well at it, I'm gonna look stupid in front of them. If I decide to do this, I want to be smart about it and make the most of it. I want to be successful, but I also want to find a career I'm interested in. I haven't found something that I want to study in college that gets me excited like this does. If I don't decide become a mechanic, I can always make it a hobby (a VERY expensive hobby).

Did you guys like your job, atleast in the beginning? If you ask my dad, he would say that he absolutely hates carpentry. I don't completely believe him; the man takes a huge amount of pride in his work, and he knows he's an expert at it. I think he still likes it, he's just become an angry old man. No offense to any of you guys, I just think that if you do anything for enough years, you will develop this kind of attitude. I think at one point, you guys were just as excited as I am.

I've been looking around at trade schools. Both UTI and Lincoln Tech are near chicago, both around a 40 min drive. Is there an advantage to either of the schools? I see that UTI gives all graduates a Snap On toolkit. I don't know very much about Snap On tools and their quality, but my dad has taught me the importance of good tools. I don't know where they are made, but if its not in USA, my dad will want me to throw them out. My dad is more a Craftman guy, he got me a pretty nice wrench set for christmas last year. If they are quality tools, it might be an incentive to go to UTI, I know how expensive tools can get.
Click to expand...

I still love my job. I just turned forty this year, been doing it since I was a teenager in junior high. My dad was and still is a mechanic. Still work with him every day. He owned his own bussiness when I was a kid so I was in the garage handing him wrenches and holding flashlights since as far back as I can remember. I'm a real lucky guy. The only thing that's changed throughout the years is that the roles reversed and I became the one answering the questions instead of asking them. LOL. Quite natural I suppose.
 
#79
greekorican said:
I'll be graduating highschool this year, and I'm curious about becoming a mechanic. Now I'm by no means a lazy kid, I go to a very good highschool (Northside Prep, you've probably heard of it if your a chicagoan), my grades are decent, and I'm not afraid of some hard work. I'm still applying to IIT and UIC for mechanical engineering. I don't really think that its what I want to get into, and I don't like the idea of four more years of school. People also say that if you are going into engineering, you should get a Master's Degree. I know I will probably be told to stay in school, but I would really like to get my act together ASAP and move out. If I go to college or if I go to a ttade school, I will be living at home. I'm not the typical teenager (OMG I HATE MY PARENTS), my home is not a happy place. And to be honest, I'm truly interested in becoming a mechanic, cars have been an obsession since I got my drivers license, and more recently, my own car (1996 Buick Riviera, its sweet).

I am getting a job at Aamco, my mom knows the a manager who says he give me a job and train me. I want to get a taste of what the business is like before I make it my career, and see if I still want to do it.

First of all I need to know what kind of training I should get, and what certifications do I need? What trade schools should I be looking for? The only one I know of is Lincoln Tech. I also have heard of going to a trade school set up by an auto manufacturer ie: Honda. How long does it take to get all of my training and certifications? I've heard two years, but I'd like to confirm this.

What kind of jobs should I be looking to get if I want big money? I know a mechanic is not the profession to choose if you want to be filthy rich, but I want to make as much as I can. I've heard that heavy diesel truck mechanics do very well, and I've also heard working for an exotic car dealership like mercedes is the way to go. Would I be better off working for a dealership, or a small local mechanic shop? What about opening up my own shop in the future?

I'll take any advice (hopefully positive advice) I can get about this. I'm seriously considering this, and I want to find out as much as I can before I make a decision about going to a trade school or studying something I'm not very interested in at college.

Thanks
Click to expand...

The real money is in body work these days.
 
#80
I love what I do, and this is always what I wanted to do. I'm 42 and have been doing this professionally since I was 16.

I just dislike the corporate bs end of it, and it only seems to be getting worse.

My advice to you (since you seem hell bent on doing this) is to look into a program at your local community college. It's a lot cheaper than UTI and the like, and you'll get real hands on training (they'll place you in a dealership on an apprentice program), and you'll be able to purchase Snap on or Mac tools at a huge discount. I personally know a few guys that have gone through the program at out CC and not only did they like it, they actually learned something and became decent techs.

Otoh the UTI and Wyo Tech crowd I've run into are not only is major debt from those schools, most of them still couldn't fix a sandwich.
 

Latest posts

Top Bottom
Back