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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.
He annoys me. He seems like a really old school mechanic and doesn’t like anything to do with computers, not that there is anything wrong with it, but if you don’t want to take the time to learn them, then you shouldn’t be touching them. His little smile that he does after talking like he is the best mechanic in the world makes me want to punch him.
I also don’t know if anyone noticed that airborne logo on the bike he drives around in the first 30 seconds of the earlier videos, makes me wonder if he was ever in the army.