New Techs going broke

[Jerry Jones]

Here is my question of the day. I understand that Snap On and Mac and Matco all have great tools, But why is it that all the techs I hire straight out of school feel it is so important to have the most expensive stuff just starting out???? There are lots of tool companies out there that make good stuff.
I have one young guy that I hired a few weeks ago and every week he hands over 2/3 of his check to the snap on guy to pay for a tool chest and a bunch of hand tools . Maybe I’m lost or something !!! Does having a $8000.00 tool chest make you a better tech? Does it hold your tools better than my Harbor Freight Chest? Does the $4000.00 in hand tools he owes on get the job done better then my Craftsman stuff? Once again I understand Snap on makes some nice stuff . But to me I don’t think the niceness justifies the price. I look at every new tech I hire as one of my sons and I try to help them any way I can, But when I say something about them needing to be budget conscious they say I don’t understand. I have been in this business for 15 years and I have made great money doing what I love. But I can’t justify spending that kind of money . Can some one please tell me what I am missing?

Topic

[Rene Perez]

I am a victim of this situation. I am now in debt because of school loans and tools because I thought I was going to stick around in the place I am working at currently. Now I have to invest twice as much as I did from the start because of the mistakes I made. I guess mistakes help you become a stronger person.

[Ken]

[quote=”rspz23″ post=103417]I am a victim of this situation. I am now in debt because of school loans and tools because I thought I was going to stick around in the place I am working at currently. Now I have to invest twice as much as I did from the start because of the mistakes I made. I guess mistakes help you become a stronger person.[/quote]

Why do you have to spend twice as much now?

[Rene Perez]

Reason is because I sold my tools along with my tool box since I am moving back to my home city. But because I have a Snap On Industrial credit account, I am paying monthly for those tools and the tool box I got. I will need to invest more money and re buying a set of tools and a tool box.

[Joe]

rspz I’ve seen your case many times man. Hope everything works out for you though. It’s also a good reason to have threads like this so that newer techs don’t make the same mistakes you did and put themselves in a bad spot. Just keep truckin though.

[Rene Perez]

Thank you, I hope so as well. I believe I can do great in the industry with time. After dealing with the situation, I am now wiser with how much and what tools I am going to get to help me get through the profession. The beauty of auto repair and everything you throw down to it.

[Chris]

I am officially getting into this trade at the back end of my working career, took auto shop all through high school and during those years seemed like was always elbow deep into some fix it job or another..family, friends etc. By the time graduated high school, I was already tired of being covered in oil all the time…lol, so I changed direction and went to college for what I thought was a nice ‘clean’ job in electronics the up and coming field in mid 80’s. Never worked out getting any decent job in that, but did end up apprenticing as a sheet metal worker, which I enjoyed the challenges of laying out all kinds of funky shaped pieces etc. Short version here was economics tough times in early 90’s and couldn’t complete that apprenticeship. Fast forward to now, my wife works as office manager of large cab company that has a mechanic that will be retiring in a few years and they have never been able to get any interested apprentices etc, so I threw in my name. Place is just around the corner from me and good hours…pay will improve, taking a hit now for the convenience when I get the ticket.

As I said, been fixing either my own or friends vehicles all along and have always got cheap tools to get me by and have always got the job done. Now, I am seeing the benefit of having ‘the right tool for the job’ which pays for itself in so many ways, but I will still only pick up a tool when I need it, or find I keep asking the old tech to borrow something, rather than trying to go out and get all the stuff he has in his boxes, that he has compiled over years.

[Ian]

I’ve been in the trade since the late 70’s. It never ceases to amaze me how techs can get caught up in the “tool fetish” part of this trade. I see them with racks of sockets….that they use maybe 20 percent of. All I can say is be smart….don’t buy the big fancy Snap-on toolbox. If you borrow a tool more than 2 times…go get it. Don’t buy a set of sockets…other then your basic set….after that…buy the sockets that you use…buy the tools you use. Buy good ones….I mainly buy Snap-on stuff…it lasts and when it breaks I can return it. Plus…the Snap on truck is the only one that comes around. Screwdrivers….I buy them at garage sales….I lose them so quickly that it’s not worth buying expensive ones. Just be smart about your tool purchases and don’t get caught up in the “look at me with all my tools” mindset. I’ve often had fellow techs in my shop say to me “how can you make so much money with the tools that you have”? My response has always been…..”how come you can’t make any money with all the fancy tools you have?”. Of course….tools are a part of the equation…but knowledge and street smarts is how you make money.

[Author]

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