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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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My name is Vic, I’ve been working on cars since my teenage years, took atwo year course at the community college and got a degree in automotive tech and now work a KIA dealership. It has been crazy but fun.
My name is Vic, I’ve been working on cars since my teenage years, took atwo year course at the community college and got a degree in automotive tech and now work a KIA dealership. It has been crazy but fun.
12 year tech here in virginia here, busted my ass from a mix of small engine and heavy equipment, now .gov fleet gravy job on heavy equipment and trucks.
12 year tech here in virginia here, busted my ass from a mix of small engine and heavy equipment, now .gov fleet gravy job on heavy equipment and trucks.
You are just the man I needed! I plan to move back to New York, specifically back to Queens because that is where I grew up. Currently I am in California working for Nissan as a lube tech.
My question to you is, how are jobs out there in the automotive field? I have not been to New York in over 3 years and this year I plan to be back for sure.You are just the man I needed! I plan to move back to New York, specifically back to Queens because that is where I grew up. Currently I am in California working for Nissan as a lube tech.
My question to you is, how are jobs out there in the automotive field? I have not been to New York in over 3 years and this year I plan to be back for sure.Did not like school work and decided to join US Army in my senior year of high school in 1975.After taking the incoming aptitude tests,was told I had three strong points that I could choose from for my army career.
Electrician,mechanic or clerk.Well other than driving a 68 beetle, didn’t know much about working on them.No one in the family line was a mechanic,so I chose this field.After three years of active service I decided to get back into civilian life and found work close to home.An Independent shop with the Firestone sign up on the highway.Fifty fifty tire/general repairs for fifteen years.This place grew from 12 stores to over 100 in that period.I grew tired of the politics there and went to work at independent Goodyear shop.Had a good friend there who had joined on as our shop manager.He grew tired of their demands on the shops gross work totals so he left and went to Infiniti dealership.Then about a year later he called me and told me there was an opening for a B Tech.I took the position and had been there six years then moved over to Nissan.Have been there since 2006.I am old and tired,my finger joints throb with pain most often than not,but I know of nothing more to do for employment and really fulfillment.I’m lucky to flag forty hours per week but I am happy.Did not like school work and decided to join US Army in my senior year of high school in 1975.After taking the incoming aptitude tests,was told I had three strong points that I could choose from for my army career.
Electrician,mechanic or clerk.Well other than driving a 68 beetle, didn’t know much about working on them.No one in the family line was a mechanic,so I chose this field.After three years of active service I decided to get back into civilian life and found work close to home.An Independent shop with the Firestone sign up on the highway.Fifty fifty tire/general repairs for fifteen years.This place grew from 12 stores to over 100 in that period.I grew tired of the politics there and went to work at independent Goodyear shop.Had a good friend there who had joined on as our shop manager.He grew tired of their demands on the shops gross work totals so he left and went to Infiniti dealership.Then about a year later he called me and told me there was an opening for a B Tech.I took the position and had been there six years then moved over to Nissan.Have been there since 2006.I am old and tired,my finger joints throb with pain most often than not,but I know of nothing more to do for employment and really fulfillment.I’m lucky to flag forty hours per week but I am happy.I’ve been around a few weeks and helped enough DIY’ers that I’ll likely stay around, so I should probably introduce myself. I’m a Volkswagen Mk2 hobbyist mechanic who turned professional technician in 2005.
When I got my first car, it seemed obvious but intimidating that I would have to learn how to fix anything on my car if I was to be a truly responsible vehicle owner. I had always heard about people paying huge money to not have cars fixed right and I never wanted to be in that position. My first car was a 5-Speed 1989 Plymouth Sundance, and I stored my first jack and tool set in the trunk and had it with the car always (man, that was convenient). I cleaned up the engine bay, took stuff apart and put it back together, crashed the car on some black ice, fixed the front end damage with help and pulling my own parts from junkyard cars, and drove it for a bit until the front engine mount bracket started tearing off the front lower cross member because we didn’t fix it right. Sold it for parts to a Chrysler minivan owner a year after I got it. I was 19 then.
Then I bought THE Volkswagen Jetta that would be the car that I did so much work to and read so many books because of, that I would be able to go “pro” after the experience. I bought it because the motor looked so small when I opened the hood but it so wanted to be driven hard, not like my Sundance that would feel like it didn’t like to be driven hard, and the performance in general was way better. I went on a 5 year modding and driving adventure with it and learned a huge amount in the process, going thru multiple stages as I learned.
Right about the time I was getting sick of working on my car during most of my free time, I had gotten to the point of being in my mid-20s and scared because no job was working out into a career. I had no college and needed to make something work. Mechanics had always told me not to be one because I would hate working on my car if I was doing it all day for a living (boy are they right). I was really good about reading books and taking the time to learn to work on my car properly, and I figured at that point I had learned enough to be a starter mechanic.
Turns out that I had learned enough to be a pretty good mechanic and I worked my way up to A level within my first year of starting in a dealer as a lube tech, and been a shop foreman kind of dealer tech for 5-6 years now. Also turned out reading and understanding a dozen choice how-to books during that whole experience process taught me more book smarts than they are teaching at the local automotive technical college programs.
I’ve been around a few weeks and helped enough DIY’ers that I’ll likely stay around, so I should probably introduce myself. I’m a Volkswagen Mk2 hobbyist mechanic who turned professional technician in 2005.
When I got my first car, it seemed obvious but intimidating that I would have to learn how to fix anything on my car if I was to be a truly responsible vehicle owner. I had always heard about people paying huge money to not have cars fixed right and I never wanted to be in that position. My first car was a 5-Speed 1989 Plymouth Sundance, and I stored my first jack and tool set in the trunk and had it with the car always (man, that was convenient). I cleaned up the engine bay, took stuff apart and put it back together, crashed the car on some black ice, fixed the front end damage with help and pulling my own parts from junkyard cars, and drove it for a bit until the front engine mount bracket started tearing off the front lower cross member because we didn’t fix it right. Sold it for parts to a Chrysler minivan owner a year after I got it. I was 19 then.
Then I bought THE Volkswagen Jetta that would be the car that I did so much work to and read so many books because of, that I would be able to go “pro” after the experience. I bought it because the motor looked so small when I opened the hood but it so wanted to be driven hard, not like my Sundance that would feel like it didn’t like to be driven hard, and the performance in general was way better. I went on a 5 year modding and driving adventure with it and learned a huge amount in the process, going thru multiple stages as I learned.
Right about the time I was getting sick of working on my car during most of my free time, I had gotten to the point of being in my mid-20s and scared because no job was working out into a career. I had no college and needed to make something work. Mechanics had always told me not to be one because I would hate working on my car if I was doing it all day for a living (boy are they right). I was really good about reading books and taking the time to learn to work on my car properly, and I figured at that point I had learned enough to be a starter mechanic.
Turns out that I had learned enough to be a pretty good mechanic and I worked my way up to A level within my first year of starting in a dealer as a lube tech, and been a shop foreman kind of dealer tech for 5-6 years now. Also turned out reading and understanding a dozen choice how-to books during that whole experience process taught me more book smarts than they are teaching at the local automotive technical college programs.
My name is Craig. I went to a vo-tech high school and graduated with a diploma in automotive technology. During my time in highschool I had the chance to participate in my states skills USA automotive competition which I won and from there had the privelage to compete nationally which was an amazing experience. Professionally I have been employed with repair shops for the past 7 years and boy what a experience its been so far. Most of my experience consists of GM and some Nissan vehicles. I went to an independent shop a few months ago and I really enjoy being at an independent shop over a dealer. For me working on the same brand all day long gets boring. I currently have 1 ASE certification in electronics and hope to obtain more soon. Eventually I think I would like to put the wrenches down and possibly move into the heavy equipment and/or heavy duty truck industry doing something behind a desk possibly.
My name is Craig. I went to a vo-tech high school and graduated with a diploma in automotive technology. During my time in highschool I had the chance to participate in my states skills USA automotive competition which I won and from there had the privelage to compete nationally which was an amazing experience. Professionally I have been employed with repair shops for the past 7 years and boy what a experience its been so far. Most of my experience consists of GM and some Nissan vehicles. I went to an independent shop a few months ago and I really enjoy being at an independent shop over a dealer. For me working on the same brand all day long gets boring. I currently have 1 ASE certification in electronics and hope to obtain more soon. Eventually I think I would like to put the wrenches down and possibly move into the heavy equipment and/or heavy duty truck industry doing something behind a desk possibly.
Hi there. I’m Ben. I’ve been working on cars for about 9 years now. Started off helping my now-ex-girlfriend’s dad working in his shop behind his house, doing oil changes and such. Then worked at a retail auto parts store for a while, in which our building was connected to an independent shop so I would bring parts to the technicians daily and got in good with the manager. Started apprenticing there for about a year and then got a job offer at a Honda dealership right across the street; sadly mistake, I thought that I was ready for a dealership technician job and was fired only a month later.
After that, I moved to another state and after various jobs I decided I would get back into the mechanic world and got a job at another Honda dealership. That lasted about 6-7 months. Got tired of it again. After a few years, some life experiences, and some real thinking about what I really wanted to do, I got back into the game of being an automotive technician. Moved back home and finally enrolled in school for Automotive Technology, and got a job at a Toyota dealership where I have been for a little over 6 months now and going strong. This is my last semester before I graduate and am ASE certified in Electrical/Electronics.
Before, for 6-7 years, I was more of a parts changer, with a little bit of knowledge. Now, I am embracing the art of actual diagnostics and taking pride in my work. I have been in the field for almost a decade now, so there is some bitterness, but this is what I really am good at and have complete confidence in myself in.
I hope to get to know all you a little bit, and most importantly I hope I can learn something and/or teach someone something. Thanks for reading.Hi there. I’m Ben. I’ve been working on cars for about 9 years now. Started off helping my now-ex-girlfriend’s dad working in his shop behind his house, doing oil changes and such. Then worked at a retail auto parts store for a while, in which our building was connected to an independent shop so I would bring parts to the technicians daily and got in good with the manager. Started apprenticing there for about a year and then got a job offer at a Honda dealership right across the street; sadly mistake, I thought that I was ready for a dealership technician job and was fired only a month later.
After that, I moved to another state and after various jobs I decided I would get back into the mechanic world and got a job at another Honda dealership. That lasted about 6-7 months. Got tired of it again. After a few years, some life experiences, and some real thinking about what I really wanted to do, I got back into the game of being an automotive technician. Moved back home and finally enrolled in school for Automotive Technology, and got a job at a Toyota dealership where I have been for a little over 6 months now and going strong. This is my last semester before I graduate and am ASE certified in Electrical/Electronics.
Before, for 6-7 years, I was more of a parts changer, with a little bit of knowledge. Now, I am embracing the art of actual diagnostics and taking pride in my work. I have been in the field for almost a decade now, so there is some bitterness, but this is what I really am good at and have complete confidence in myself in.
I hope to get to know all you a little bit, and most importantly I hope I can learn something and/or teach someone something. Thanks for reading.New guy -Donny
Been turning wrenches for the past 15 years. Mostly commercial stores. I am an anomaly by most standards. I have little interest in cars and definitely am not a gear head. I got hired originally as a sales guy but it turns out the shop manager hired to many sales guys and since he liked my interview he offered me a job turning wrenches. Needed the work and paycheck so I took the offer and told myself that I would give it a year or two to get caught up on things and move on…. 15 years later still saying the same thing. I am good enough to make money at this and care about my customers and enjoy the occasional gratification when you know you helped someone get home from a bad day. Other then that, since the down swing of the industry with both customer attitudes and expectations coupled with employer pay…. the drive to get out is stronger every day.
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