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yes ive been doing the same but its like you have to work 2 jobs (reg. 8-5 / side work after 8-5) just to make ends meat..you lose family time im missing out on my newborns family time just to go do a side job to make an extra 30-75 bucks almost doesnt seem worth it.
Welcome to the forums!
Alot of techs are in the same position unfortunately. More people these days are attempting to fix there own vehicles rather than taking it into a shop.
You could start your own business or try to find another job at another shop that has less technicians.
If that wont work for you, there is always jobs in retail that pay hourly.
Good luck with your decision though.
I feel for you, with bills and a family, I know it must be daunting. I think Dreamer2355 is on to something, branching out and start your own business, or finding another place to work. Although, what about this, how about posting an ad on craig’s list to teach a “maintenance” seminar. You know, something like $40 bucks and I will teach you how to change your own oil, and another course could be $40 bucks and you could “show” someone how to change spark plugs…just a thought, you get 3 or 4 folks and that would be some money for a little bit of work. I would be happy to pay money to have an hour or so of an ASE certified tech’s time.
There are plenty of folks out there, like me, that appreciate the work you guys do, and would love to have the chance to learn from you. Heck, that’s why I am grateful for this forum and ETCG’s contributions!
I actually got out of the industry after about 5 years into it, not including 4 years of tech school for it. Between the lack of pay, management taking advantage of people not knowing anything about cars, and outrageous parts mark up, I had enough. In my experience, chain shops just plain suck. As an auto mechanic, you are expected to have more and more skills, which require more tools, and yet your employer doesn’t want to pay you more. On top of that, they want you to do a 21 point inspection on every vehicle, no matter what they even came in for, but don’t want to give the flat rate guys any time for it. Which is bs. It’s sad to say that basic side work on the weekends can pay more than an entire week of work at a shop. I did learn quite a bit at a shop that you don’t learn in school, and will continue working on my own vehicles to avoid a shop at all possible, but I’m pretty sure I’m never going back to working in this industry again. I also cannot stand the idea of people getting rich off of my labor. So in the mean time, the Army will be my new employer.
If you think about it, your all around mechanic is also a: plumber, electrician, hvac, welder, IT tech and of course an auto mechanic. It’s just ridiculous that you have to have all of those skills to work on today’s cars to just get by. On top of that, most places won’t even look at you unless you have most if not all of your basic 8 ase certifications and then some (advanced engine performance, diesel etc), which really just means you are book smart. All chain shops care about is productivity and profits. You are only as good to them as the money you make them. If you become too slow for their standards you are very easily replaceable. Also sad that a shop cares more about money than they do about quality employees. Any shop that requires advertisement to bring in business is a crock. You don’t see many family owned/private shops advertising, and yet they do better work and charge less than any corporate/franchise chain shop out there. Those $20 and cheaper oil change/tire rotation specials make me laugh too. That is just my experience anyway.
I applaud Eric in his new living of working for himself. It takes so much stress and bs out of the equation by not having a manager breathing down your neck. But not everyone can do that, there is a huge liability behind it and you really have to know what you are doing. But Eric has obviously proved that time and time again. Funny part is, I have learned a few tricks from Eric’s videos that school and a shop never taught me. So ya, thumbs up to you Eric, keep doing what you are doing.
I’m surprised to hear this from techs – I mean, it’s completely opposite of what I would have thought in these bad economic times. People are keeping their cars longer (average is 10 years now?) so I would think there would be a boatload of work out there for you guys. And I know it’s not people doing more stuff on their own cars – heck, I’d say the DIYer market is probably getting smaller every day since it seems you need all sorts of specialized tools to do just about anything these days.
Is there just too much competition?
As for the $20 oil change, does anyone actually get out of there paying only $20 by the time they are done with their multi-point inspection and up-sell? They do it because it works – it gets a car off the street and into one of their empty bays.
I think I must have done 4 or 5 $20 oil changes yesterday. All of the cars I worked on were in desperate need of work, from tires to brakes to struts, you name it. Not a single person wanted to get their cars fixed. Granted, all of the people spent a little more than $20, when you add in tax. It works out, around here anyway, to $24 and some change.
Just to give an you all an idea of how little my company pays it’s techs for the work they do, I was at work for a little more than 12 hours yesterday (14 if you want to include drive time to and from) and turned a grand total of 5 hours. I must have written up 20+ hours worth of service, but no one was interested. I spent all day changing oil, doing warranty alignments (my company offers warranties on it’s alignments ranging from 6 months to 5 years, warranty alignments pay a third of what an alignment pays when the policy is first bought), or diagnosing problems with cars only to be told (by the customer) that someone else will fix their car. I’d quit my current job if I could, but at this point in my life I can barely stand to work on cars anymore. I don’t mind offering advice on forums and such, but I’m starting to despise turning a wrench.
Also, it would be nice if the customers would exhibit at least a small amount of driving talent. Or at least not complain at me for having some driving talent. If a customer can’t manage to park their car backward in a parking space that’s fine, but if they can’t manage to fit their little POS rustbucket into a single parking space, as far as I’m concerned they have no business behind the wheel. I’ll scream if one more customer tells me that I didn’t park their car right because I backed it into a parking space on the first try. That’s the only way I know how to park. I haven’t parked a car head first in 14 years, and I haven’t turned around in my seat to back into a space in 11 years.
Finally, to the customer who comes into my shop every couple of weeks to have me fix your alignment because the steering wheel is crooked, rather than complaining, loudly, to everyone in the showroom about how “we don’t know how to align cars right” here’s an idea. STOP CRASHING INTO THINGS! Maybe if you didn’t bounce your car off of curbs, you wouldn’t knock your alignment out all the time. Granted, I’ve never seen you crash into things, but I have seen evidence of a new collision every time you bring your clunker to my shop. Parts can’t talk, but they never lie.
I continue to hear stories like this all the time. Mechanics that are exiting the field because they are not able to make the money that they need to survive. All of this boils down to our attitudes. If we look at things so dimly we have been defeated before we even start. It’s been my experience that in order to get ahead you will have to do things that other people will not do. The 9-5 just is not sufficient these days. Why ? It’s because the Government and the Employer are set out to destroy you. Work you more and pay you less. I have worked in shops where there is no work coming in and the ” Licensed Mechanics ” would not ever do something outside of the job to eat bread. Just look around times are changing. It’s really every Animal for them self in terms of making money.
MOST COMPANIES DON’T CARE IF YOU LIVE OR DIE. IT’S ALL ABOUT THEIR CASH FLOW. SO WE HAVE TO TAKE THAT APPROACH WITH THE COMPANY. MAKE YOUR MONEY, SAVE IT AND KICK THE COMPANY TO THE CURVE WHEN YOU ARE READY BECAUSE THEY WILL DO IT TO YOU. NOW COMPANIES ARE SO SNEAKY THAT THEY WILL PROVOKE YOU SO YOU QUIT AND CAN’T GET WHAT IS DUE. IN ADDITION, WHEN YOU LEAVE A COMPANY TAKE THEIR CLIENTS TOO. MECHANICS USUALLY DON’T HAVE TO SIGN CONTRACTS WITH NON-COMPETE CLAUSES. I SAY DO THE JOB WELL AND CHARGE LESS IT’S A GREAT WAY TO CRUSH THE OTHER SHOPS.
Personally, if you are willing to work and use your brain there is money in any field. However, if you think that being lazy will make you rich think again. I’m seeing more and more empty garages that are running themselves into the ground and I smile because they are stuck doing things in a manner that is self-destructive. I’m convinced that the only people that will survive in the Automotive Industry are the people who are in tune with the customers.
CUSTOMER’S WANT :
1) Excellent Customer Service
2) Fair Prices
Over charging will never make you rich. It will put you out of business. The present shop model is garbage. Extremly high over that is a result of poor financial management that the customer should pick up the tap on. Totally Wrong. If the work is not coming to you. You will have to go to it. Garages need to be open like 7/11 around the clock.
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