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This forum is started by suggestion from one of the forum members, SpawnedX. The idea behind it is to have a place where technicians can talk about their experiences and ideas concerning their careers and profession. Think of it as sort of an extension to ETCG1 were we talk about things that concern us and the automotive industry. This is for technicians only so please don’t post automotive questions here. If you are a technician welcome to this forum, if not please stay behind the yellow line. Perhaps we can start by introducing ourselves.
I’m Eric Cook aka EricTheCarGuy. I’ve worked as a professional technician since 1996 and have been an ASE master technician for the past 15 years. I worked for Acura at the dealer for about 8 years and spent the rest of my time working at aftermarket shops on both imports and domestics. I’m also an Acura certified master technician which I got as a result of my training at Acura. For a brief time I ran a Carx after I lost my job at Acura, that was interesting and challenging in many ways but I did work with some good people there and learned a lot about running an automotive business as a result of that experience. Now I have a successful auto repair show on the internet as well as a successful website and forum. To be honest my favorite job so far has been working as ETCG, it seems my entire career including my termination from Acura has led me to this place and I could not be happier with the result. I suppose that just goes to show you never know where you’re going to end up.
Welcome to the Technicians Only forum, I look forward to getting to know you and your work better.
ETCG
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hi too all
My name is Darko and I’m from SERBIA sity Subotica, Little land on Balcan/Europe.
I’m 27 years old and i own a automotive repair shop. We are specialized for Lpg (liquid petrol gas) instalation on cars. I have high school diploma for car mechanic but all my life I’m around cars and motorcycles. Also we do a mechanic, electric and electronic on every types of cars.
Sorry for my poor english and for my spelling but my first language is Serban 😉Hello Devon here,
I’m from Nova Scotia, I’m a 2nd year Automotive Service Apprentice. I have have been watching ETCG on YouTube for awhile now. So I decided to join the forum.Thanks for reading..
Hello Devon here,
I’m from Nova Scotia, I’m a 2nd year Automotive Service Apprentice. I have have been watching ETCG on YouTube for awhile now. So I decided to join the forum.Thanks for reading..
Hello my name is Tom I started in 1988 at my Father in laws Auto repair shop worked there til he died in 2007 I then went to work for AAMCO transmissions until 2011 I am now working maintience at a factory. Ive been in the car game for 23 years I have 2 ASE certs and also AAMCO certified installer .I love cars and I am glad to see a site like this one glad to be aboard.
Hello my name is Tom I started in 1988 at my Father in laws Auto repair shop worked there til he died in 2007 I then went to work for AAMCO transmissions until 2011 I am now working maintience at a factory. Ive been in the car game for 23 years I have 2 ASE certs and also AAMCO certified installer .I love cars and I am glad to see a site like this one glad to be aboard.
Hello my name is Jonathan. I started my automotive “career” as a backyard mechanic working on my first car. That was what started it all for me. My 1985 Pontiac Fiero. That car is a whole story all of its own … so I’ll just talk about myself instead.
When I was 18-19ish I started college for Automotive Service Technology at Baker College in the metro Detroit area. I got good grades and ended up being hired by the school as a work study to run the tool room. I gained some very good rep working there, and earned myself a very good friendship with the lead teacher/foreman/dean/the guy who makes decisions. He somewhat because my mentor for the year and a half I worked there, and I learned LOTS just from him, let alone my schooling. I ended up taking every automotive class available at the time and just recently graduated. About half way through my degree, I got a job at a small independent repair shop near my house as their “lube technician” but oh boy was I so much more than that. I was their alignment guy, oil change guy, tire guy, garbage guy, floor guy, helper, service writer, car porter, lite duty technician, etc etc. However, I was paid very poorly. I worked extremely hard, always had a great attitude, but was constantly dragged down by my co-workers and boss about “wasting money” on my education when “they can teach my everything I need to know”. The lead tech there went to school himself, and he told me to my face that I am wasting time, and that he regrets wasting his own time.
Fast forward until about 3 month before I leave, I invest about 4-5 thousand dollars into a snap-on tool kit for work. This was great, because now I didn’t have to borrow other people’s stuff all the time, it made me better at my job etc, etc. As great as that is though, my boss never really understood why I would buy that many tools for doing the work he had me doing. I didn’t even get uniforms until a month before I left … I was highly unappreciated and not treated very well. But my boss was ignorant to the fact that I wanted to make something better of myself than his “alignment/tire/oil change” guy. I invested in my job, even as low paying as it was. He never seemed to appreciate my efforts though, it was “never good enough” so to say.
I don’t want to completely taint my experience though. I did learn allot about working in a shop, and about working on cars period. Just plain old, working hard, fixing cars type stuff. My schooling was always there in the background, but I was never allowed to know anything. I had to always consult my boss or another technician with everything I do. Mind you, as I am going through this job, and even before then, I have ALL of my state certifications minus manual and automatic transmission. However at this point, I have been through every single automotive class my school offered. My boss still did not value my education what so ever.
So the day comes, my mentor calls me up, and tells me this dealership is looking for students from my school and he wants a good guy to put a good name in for the school. The dean of the program, and my mentor both recommended me to the service manager of my new job, and I was hired in as a flat rate technician. They offer me full benefits, 401K with 2% contribution after a year, time off after a year, and a full time position with two bays. I am making average 40-50 hours of flat rate time a week, and tripped/quad rippled what I was making at my other job.
But here’s the icing on the cake for me. When I went back to my old job to pick up my last check, my boss asked me how I was doing at the new place. Oh my gosh was the look on his face priceless when I told him I clocked 40 hours my first week on the job. My first week as a flat rate tech, I clocked 40 hours. My boss’s lube technician left him, and went to be a service technician at a Chevy dealership and is making that many hours! It still puts a smile on my face.
So, in the end scheme of things, my new boss at my new job loves me, I’m making decent money, my degree is valued, and they want to train me in everything Chevrolet and they’ll even reimburse me for my ASE tests that I pass. My state certification renewals are also taken care of.
My little old snapon tool box is now full, my Mac Maximizer tool cart is also full. The best of it all, is I work less than a mile from my house. So I have absolutely commute, and the gas to get there is ridiculous.
Call it a success story. But college educations work, but it’s a hard career to get into. You’ll be constantly “proving yourself” to everyone you work for.
Eric your videos are inspirational, and I quite enjoy watching them, however I do get impatient sometimes with your extreme use of hand tools to remove every. single. bolt while filming. I get extremely impatient, but I know why you do it that way.
Thanks Eric for what you do. It has helped me make it through my previous job, and boosted me in my new one.
Hello my name is Jonathan. I started my automotive “career” as a backyard mechanic working on my first car. That was what started it all for me. My 1985 Pontiac Fiero. That car is a whole story all of its own … so I’ll just talk about myself instead.
When I was 18-19ish I started college for Automotive Service Technology at Baker College in the metro Detroit area. I got good grades and ended up being hired by the school as a work study to run the tool room. I gained some very good rep working there, and earned myself a very good friendship with the lead teacher/foreman/dean/the guy who makes decisions. He somewhat because my mentor for the year and a half I worked there, and I learned LOTS just from him, let alone my schooling. I ended up taking every automotive class available at the time and just recently graduated. About half way through my degree, I got a job at a small independent repair shop near my house as their “lube technician” but oh boy was I so much more than that. I was their alignment guy, oil change guy, tire guy, garbage guy, floor guy, helper, service writer, car porter, lite duty technician, etc etc. However, I was paid very poorly. I worked extremely hard, always had a great attitude, but was constantly dragged down by my co-workers and boss about “wasting money” on my education when “they can teach my everything I need to know”. The lead tech there went to school himself, and he told me to my face that I am wasting time, and that he regrets wasting his own time.
Fast forward until about 3 month before I leave, I invest about 4-5 thousand dollars into a snap-on tool kit for work. This was great, because now I didn’t have to borrow other people’s stuff all the time, it made me better at my job etc, etc. As great as that is though, my boss never really understood why I would buy that many tools for doing the work he had me doing. I didn’t even get uniforms until a month before I left … I was highly unappreciated and not treated very well. But my boss was ignorant to the fact that I wanted to make something better of myself than his “alignment/tire/oil change” guy. I invested in my job, even as low paying as it was. He never seemed to appreciate my efforts though, it was “never good enough” so to say.
I don’t want to completely taint my experience though. I did learn allot about working in a shop, and about working on cars period. Just plain old, working hard, fixing cars type stuff. My schooling was always there in the background, but I was never allowed to know anything. I had to always consult my boss or another technician with everything I do. Mind you, as I am going through this job, and even before then, I have ALL of my state certifications minus manual and automatic transmission. However at this point, I have been through every single automotive class my school offered. My boss still did not value my education what so ever.
So the day comes, my mentor calls me up, and tells me this dealership is looking for students from my school and he wants a good guy to put a good name in for the school. The dean of the program, and my mentor both recommended me to the service manager of my new job, and I was hired in as a flat rate technician. They offer me full benefits, 401K with 2% contribution after a year, time off after a year, and a full time position with two bays. I am making average 40-50 hours of flat rate time a week, and tripped/quad rippled what I was making at my other job.
But here’s the icing on the cake for me. When I went back to my old job to pick up my last check, my boss asked me how I was doing at the new place. Oh my gosh was the look on his face priceless when I told him I clocked 40 hours my first week on the job. My first week as a flat rate tech, I clocked 40 hours. My boss’s lube technician left him, and went to be a service technician at a Chevy dealership and is making that many hours! It still puts a smile on my face.
So, in the end scheme of things, my new boss at my new job loves me, I’m making decent money, my degree is valued, and they want to train me in everything Chevrolet and they’ll even reimburse me for my ASE tests that I pass. My state certification renewals are also taken care of.
My little old snapon tool box is now full, my Mac Maximizer tool cart is also full. The best of it all, is I work less than a mile from my house. So I have absolutely commute, and the gas to get there is ridiculous.
Call it a success story. But college educations work, but it’s a hard career to get into. You’ll be constantly “proving yourself” to everyone you work for.
Eric your videos are inspirational, and I quite enjoy watching them, however I do get impatient sometimes with your extreme use of hand tools to remove every. single. bolt while filming. I get extremely impatient, but I know why you do it that way.
Thanks Eric for what you do. It has helped me make it through my previous job, and boosted me in my new one.
I’m obviously Andrew. Started just like Eric in 1996 :-). First was making my living installing alarms, some audio and electrical repairs for 10 years in my own small shop (just me and for a brief period another young guy whom I paid small percentage). This experience helped me a lot to become later a diagnostic tech in dealership (about a year of learning curve to get into all that, surely still learning like every day). As pay was not up to my (may be too high?) expectations I started to do more and more side work. Was about to start my own proper shop (as opposed to working at garage at home) but got job offer from Canadians. Here for a year now, still not sure if it was a right move, money at first were… well, just not impressive at all. Now it is got better but I would say job is not as interesting as it used to be. I am a lot into diagnostics and electrical side of the business but flat rate system is not in favor for it. Quick wrench turning pays better so that is what I am doing now mostly. Thinking about leaving automotive or starting own shop, or even both (some stable job for money and some small business with cars for pleasure and satisfaction)
I’m obviously Andrew. Started just like Eric in 1996 :-). First was making my living installing alarms, some audio and electrical repairs for 10 years in my own small shop (just me and for a brief period another young guy whom I paid small percentage). This experience helped me a lot to become later a diagnostic tech in dealership (about a year of learning curve to get into all that, surely still learning like every day). As pay was not up to my (may be too high?) expectations I started to do more and more side work. Was about to start my own proper shop (as opposed to working at garage at home) but got job offer from Canadians. Here for a year now, still not sure if it was a right move, money at first were… well, just not impressive at all. Now it is got better but I would say job is not as interesting as it used to be. I am a lot into diagnostics and electrical side of the business but flat rate system is not in favor for it. Quick wrench turning pays better so that is what I am doing now mostly. Thinking about leaving automotive or starting own shop, or even both (some stable job for money and some small business with cars for pleasure and satisfaction)
My name is Gary. I’m an auto body collision repair technician from Lexington, Kentucky. I work for Don Jacob’s Honda, BMW, and Volkswagen in the paint and body department. I’m ICAR certified and I graduated from Bluegrass Community and Technical College.
My name is Gary. I’m an auto body collision repair technician from Lexington, Kentucky. I work for Don Jacob’s Honda, BMW, and Volkswagen in the paint and body department. I’m ICAR certified and I graduated from Bluegrass Community and Technical College.
I guess I can post in this forum now.
Just got my first technician job out of automotive school. Interesting twist though, I’ll be working on diesel semi trucks and trailers. Although I have some commercial driving experience, I lack in wrench turning ability when it comes to big trucks. I have enjoyed my first 2 days (both of which have been 10+ hour shifts). Electrical and HVAC systems seem to be similar. The drive train is easy to understand, and there seems to be a lot of hydraulic work. Also, one thing I noticed right away is that I am welding almost everyday, something I rarely did on cars. Lastly, there is a big difference in tools. I’ve been buying big wrenches 30mm+ that cost $15 a piece. So.. in summary, if any of ya’ll want to talk about big diesel, I will gladly participate in the discussion and hopefully learn something along the way.
I guess I can post in this forum now.
Just got my first technician job out of automotive school. Interesting twist though, I’ll be working on diesel semi trucks and trailers. Although I have some commercial driving experience, I lack in wrench turning ability when it comes to big trucks. I have enjoyed my first 2 days (both of which have been 10+ hour shifts). Electrical and HVAC systems seem to be similar. The drive train is easy to understand, and there seems to be a lot of hydraulic work. Also, one thing I noticed right away is that I am welding almost everyday, something I rarely did on cars. Lastly, there is a big difference in tools. I’ve been buying big wrenches 30mm+ that cost $15 a piece. So.. in summary, if any of ya’ll want to talk about big diesel, I will gladly participate in the discussion and hopefully learn something along the way.
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