Career In The Automotive Industry

cljorgensen · October 23, 2009

I'm currently in the Military but I would like to move on to something else I have always enjoyed working on cars and trucks with the little knowledge I do have. What I'm wondering is if there is a demand and good money in this field It's something I will do regardless just wondering If I could make a good living doing it.

tjcbenz · October 25, 2009

Well....lemme give you my 2 cents here.... I am in the auto industry in the parts side, but for a few years I was a tech...and of course I still work around them. So no I'm not some seasoned gray haired veteran, but I know enough to give you some valid points.

First, if you enjoy working on cars now, you're not going to anymore once you do it for 8-10 hours a day. You're barely gonna want to change your own oil. The plumber's always got the leaky faucet.

Second, the whole system as a technician is designed to work against you. You either have to be REALLY good at f***ing the system, or been at it a REALLY long time before you start making what most people would consider to be good steady money. Sure, you might get a nice check here and there, but consistency is the key. You're eating steak one week and rahmen noodles the next. The job is more or less 3 steps forward 2 steps back. Here is what I mean. First, warranty doesn't pay you shit. An example: When I worked at Chrysler, there was a recall on Durango clocksprings, they all had to be replaced before they left the lot. So we had dozens of these things on the lot (big dealer). So here is what was involved. Get a key, go out to the lot, find the car, pull it in. Remove airbag, remove steering wheel. Change out clockspring, reinstall wheel and airbag. Then, you have to track down a computer in the shop, hook it to the car, check and clear any codes....put car outside and do all over again. What does this pay you may ask? 0.2. You can't even go outside and find the damn thing for 0.2, much less do everything else. Of course, I started taking my tools and a computer out to the lot and started doing them out there. But still, 0.2 won't cover your time. You're lucky to break even on any warranty job, unless there is some nifty short cut, but don't worry, the manufacturer will catch on to that sooner or later....and cuts the time.

Another point: All dealers that I have worked at (4 so far) and many others that I know of, always have that one tech that is considered God (manager's pet), f***s the system hard, makes gobs of money on gravy, meanwhile you are counting pennies and no manager does anything about it because of the Godliness of this particular person. Example: one M-B dealer I worked at....they had working team leaders which were techs that also served as dispatchers. So...they chose the work that people had, including themselves. So naturally he took most of the gravy for himself (ie services) and doled out the BS warranty work to the pee-ons (wind noises, suspension noises, rattle at 53mph going downhill with a crosswind etc etc). A big service that paid 3 hours would take you 30 minutes. So...going back to my point about warranty before. I turned out to be the warranty evaporator guy. I was doing at least one every few weeks....so I got good at it. So ripping the dash apart on a Mercedes, heater box, windshield cowl, taking the box apart...so on and so forth....would pay approx 10-11 hours. This job would take about that long after you've gotten good at it. So you more or less break even on it. Sounds great right? But wait! The God tech just knocked out 4 big services (read: oil changes) by lunch time and just blew your ass out of the water. ...meanwhile you're tearing the dash out of a car for at least the rest of the day. Now how is this anywhere near fair????

Inevitably you're always losing your ass on a warranty job. You're always playing catch up. Yeah, you'll get a nice gravy job here and there, but all that does is offset the last time you got f***ed on a job.

I saw an opening in parts and jumped on it and it was the best decision I ever made. I almost doubled my pay overnight and it's consistent. It can vary a little here and there, but I always know more or less what I'm gonna take home and I don't have to worry about God tech stealing my money.

As far as demand, sure there is demand. But just as there is demand for techs, techs are expendable. You can be gone as quick as you showed up. It's a revolving door. Just don't go into this thinking it's some sort of a glorious profession. It's rather quite thankless. It's an extremely cut-throat field. Just don't be fooled by the fancy little UTI commercials.

My advice: Work on your cars and your friends' cars in your own time in your garage...it's a lot more fun...and then get a job that pays you to come to work.

Sorry for my little soapbox here, but I do speak from personal experience and from that of many that I know and have known....so I'm not talking out of my a$$. Thank you.

dlstewart01 · October 25, 2009

I attended mechanic school, gas and diesel in the 60s. Got drafted in the army came back went to college majored in industrial management. Enjoyed a very successful career in manufacturing. What I really enjoyed is the life long hobby in automotives. restoring vehicles and showing them all over the south east USA. Being a hobby it was not work and I could quit when it became work.

It also gave me the skills to do all my own automotive repair. Hell with the money I have saved over the years I should be a millionaire. (spent it on cheap thrills)

If it is what you have a knack for it can be rewarding and provide a living. I just didn't want to be tied down to being a mechanic. I had a knack for management and motivating employees.

I am retired now and do not regret my career decisions. Oh yeah, being in management has its draw backs, you get down sized sometimes. That gave me the opportunity to work in GM dealerships three times along the way. Couldn't have asked for more.

May the force be with you.

Kon Man · October 25, 2009

I'm gonna have to agree with them, after being a small time tech(no stealerships), and doing accessory installs for 5 years, I lost all desire for the passion I had for my own cars. I have found my happy place in the oil and gas fields of New Mexico. The money is steady, much more of it and if I want more I just work more. My job really is cake easy 90% of the time. I don't bang my head into my toolbox for 3 days to figure out an intermentant wiper sweep. If you want to enjoy it in your time, don't do it all the time. However, it can put food on the table andpay the bills so I wouldn't discourage it, just be 110% sure that is what you want to do before you spend a grip on tech schooling.

Zembonez · October 25, 2009

There is no perfect industry to be in.

Who says you have to be a tech to be in the auto industry? I've worked almost everywhere in the auto biz ever since I was a kid. Like any other industry, there are many many levels of business to be a part of. Strictly speaking from a need perspective, the auto industry is a great place to be. I've always made great money in it.

Everybody needs transportation of some kind... so it's an industry that isn't going away.