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I think we should have an umbrella that calls everyone a mechanic. Nobody has heard of your favorite local technician. Granted that I do agree with higher pay and all that but I see the title of mechanic and it seems a little more friendly to me. Less “sanitized” or more personable if you will. This is a loose analogy but telephones have been around since around the 1880’s. (1876 was the first bi-directional communication, but you get the point.) We still call cell phones “phones.” The technology evolved from being able to call someone from across a building to across the entire globe, but cell phones, home phones, office phones are still called a phone. The car has made similar strides in terms of technology, and now your car can download updates or it has 4G WiFi; including extremely complex computer systems on board. We still call phones phones; a mechanic was always a person who worked on cars. Why should that change? I vote that the title of mechanic was always and always should be more than adequate.
Nick from Pittsburgh
Eric this is a great topic. As a former VW Automotive Technician I can appreciate the difference between a tech and a mechanic. However trying to convey that difference to the public is another challenge. Fifteen to twenty years ago I would say most of the industry was filled with mechanics due to the mechanical nature of the work being performed on the vehicles. However the work performed today is a different story. With all of the technical advances in electronics and mechanical components alike I feel today’s mechanics are to be considered Automotive Technicians. To your point both are a skilled labor for sure. But the nature of the work performed on today’s vehicles requires both skill sets. Anymore most mechanical work involves an electronic counterpart. For example to swap out a throttle body you need to tell the ECM it is there and that it belongs on the car. The same is true for replacing an intake manifold. These items need to be coded to the vehicle for proper operation. Back in the day it was pretty much plug and play with some minor mechanical tweaking. To the customer all we may ever be is a good mechanic and that is fine. The point is to be reliable and trustworthy. Most of the work I do now is for family and friends. I have learned to keep it simple for them when explaining the repairs I performed on the vehicle. I giggle because as soon as I get the deer in the headlight look I know I have gotten too technical. So I keep it simple. They just want to know their vehicle is fixed. In conclusion I would like to thank you for the work you do. I enjoy your videos and topics.
What about the guys who just fit tyres or change oil? Can you consider them to be technicians or mechanics? Where do you draw the line? Petrol pump attendants?
While I prefer the term mechanic, there has to be a line between a parts/fluid changer and someone who diagnoses issues. The way things have changed to electronics from pure mechanical and hydraulic systems requires a different skillset than that of the traditional mechanic. Look, anyone with mechanical aptitude and common sense can work on a truck like mine. In the old days, these people were simply called mechanics. Computers and electrical systems require a different skillset that not every mechanic can wrap their heads around. For example, I know a VERY good old school mechanic who can do wonders with anything mechanical, pneumatic or hydraulic. However, when it comes to computer systems and electrical stuff he won’t touch it or would rather not mess with it. There is a fine line between the two terms. However, as mentioned I prefer the term mechanic myself. As mentioned above it just seems friendlier and more down to earth.
I’ve always found it funny when they call a guy in the pit at an oil change place a “Lube-Tech”. Most of the time it’s just some guy off the street in my experience.
This has been my thoughts lately. I went to school for general automotive. We had a couple days using the tire machine, and that’s it because it wasn’t our focus. So my knowledge is leaning toward technician, but my job is in tires. And I am thinking I didn’t go to school to perform a skill that someone off the street can learn in a month or two. Those people, no matter how skilled, are not technicians. And career-wise, I include myself in that category. However, I want to be more than that and earn the title of technician.
The lady in the waiting room reading an outdated magazine and watching the clock just wants her vehicle fixed.
I personally have been wrenching professionally since 1974, mostly at Dealers (Mazda, British Leyland, Porsche + Audi, Toyota & Lexus), and a few Independents, I currently wrench at a European Repair Shop in Colorado, I have adapted over the years to keep up with technology.
I prefer the term “Professional Wrench”, then “Professional Mechanic”, the term “Technician” (Generic) has in my eyes been used too loosely throughout the world, someone else on this forum used the term “Lube Tech”, if your windshield gets replaced it’s done by a “Glass Technician”, you get your blood drawn by a “Lab Tech” and the list goes on…[quote=”randog311″ post=162214]I personally have been wrenching professionally since 1974, mostly at Dealers (Mazda, British Leyland, Porsche + Audi, Toyota & Lexus), and a few Independents, I currently wrench at a European Repair Shop in Colorado, I have adapted over the years to keep up with technology.
I prefer the term “Professional Wrench”, then “Professional Mechanic”, the term “Technician” (Generic) has in my eyes been used too loosely throughout the world, someone else on this forum used the term “Lube Tech”, if your windshield gets replaced it’s done by a “Glass Technician”, you get your blood drawn by a “Lab Tech” and the list goes on…[/quote]Good point.
In the sixties and seventies, what we called the “Lube-Tech” was something I would never want to see in text on this or any other discussion forum.
Thanks for bringing up the topic Eric!
It would take all day to write my thoughts surrounding this subject. To begin with, when I was growing up in the fifties and sixties, my Dad and my uncle had an auto repair shop, a “Garage” as it was called in the day. My Dad and my uncle were by all means “technicians” of their day. My Uncle did the auto electric side of the business. He not only rebuilt lots of starters and generators, but could run down most any electrical automotive Gremlin you could throw at him. My Dad took care of the general repair side of the business, but his specialty was making those old carbureted, battery ignition cars purr like a kitten. He rebuilt lots of carbs, did lots of Tune Ups using state of the art Sun equipment. Did lots of valve jobs and in frame overhauls. He was the guy that could figure out the problem and make an engine run right that the other guys in town had given up on.
My Dad had a fourth grade education. He was born in 1921 and grew up in the depression so an education wasn’t much of an option for him. He was one of the many in his generation who fought World War II. He was a motor machinest on a Destroyer Escort that was part of a flotilla that captured a German submarine. For the last year of the war he ran the Motor Pool for the Secretary of the Navy in Washington DC. He was not educated, but he was a very smart and thorough “mechanic.” More importantly he had lots of integrity and customers learned that they could trust him.
I learned tons from my Uncle and my Dad. I did my first solo valve job in a six cylinder Chevy at the age of 12 or 13. The only help I got was lifting that long head off the engine and setting it on the bench, then setting it back on the block again. When I was done I considered myself an adult, just hand me a beer!
The reason I went through all that is that the connotation of “Mechanic” in the US is sometimes bad, not because there are bad people doing the work, but because of the image put forth by Hollywood over the years. Have you ever seen a movie where the local auto repair guy was portrayed as anything besides an ignorant and dirty character like Goober, or Gomer or Cooter?
I lived in Germany as a young man and learned that “mechanics” there are respected and thought of as someone with value to the community, unlike the common conception in this country.
I grew up in my Dad’s shop. I learned much more from the man than how to rebuild a carburetor or grind valves. I learned about hard, thorough work and integrity. I learned electronics in the Army and earned an electronics degree after the Army and have done all sorts of things since that time including a few stints in a shop unlocking my toolbox in the morning and dragging my tired butt to the car in the evening. If I were forced to put myself in one of those categories, I guess I would have to pick technician by Erics definition, but I never want to get too far away from being a “mechanic” like my Dad.
I’m 38 and everyone I’ve worked with that are my age or younger insist on being technicians. usually these are the same guys that use the internet to ask other people how to fix the vehicle they are working on. Or they spend way too much time with the scanner. Dont get me wrong I use a scanner every day but most of the time I pull the codes, drive the car, listen to & inspect the vehicle and I’m able to solve the problem without spending all day running every mode test available. Again there are times this is required but not every car that comes in the shop! Just because you sat in a class & passed with the lowest grade possible does not mean your a master technician or even a “B” tech! I think most mechanics & true technicians would agree it doesnt matter what you’re called as long as you earned that title. Sorry for the rant I come from a family of old school mechanics and learned most what know from them while on the job. Guess I’m a little biased.
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