Forum Replies Created
-
Replies
-
There is a factory kit for the one’s that don’t have them on most models. It’s pricey but it’s factory fit and works great. It includes a new block piece that goes on the transmission that your coolant hoses run through, and it has 4 outlets (two for fluid, two for coolant) instead of just the 2 outlets.
Miles are in indicator of wear but not a very good one. Many other vehicles use hours, such as aircraft, boats, construction equipment, industrial equipment, and a host of other things use HOURS. Still not perfect but a better indicator. Another subject for another day.
One thing miles does do is dramatically effect the financial value of the vehicle. You can use it to get the price down but otherwise consider the condition.
Condition
Age
MileageEveryone, their dad, and brother is a mechanic. I guess for some reason it’s in the man code listed by the same guys that hang the balls on their trainer hitch with stacks on their half ton pickup trucks. I fix them for a living but I don’t think it makes me more of a man. I fixed a leaky toilet a couple weeks ago, so I guess I’m a plumber now and know everything about plumbing? Of course not!
To me it’s very cringe worthy and annoying when people try throwing out suggestions when they really don’t know. Although I don’t know why he put his finger in there I don’t thing it hurt anything. I think you were more on the right path than they were. I don’t know what they think you were suppose to put air in related to the brakes besides tires. I’m not sure why your brakes don’t have the grab they used to but I’d look at the surface of the rotors. If they are very dark or have a mirror like finish then they are glazed and that CAN effect the friction characteristics of the pad to rotor contact which will require increased pedal effort to stop. Just a suggestion, not saying that is the issue.
I know a little about them. (see sig line). The newer one’s are a lot better, but they do seem to be the weakest point of the vehicle. The good news is that if they do, they go out in the warranty period. A lot of great things about a CVT. For instance you get really good highway and city MPG with them even when pushing a relatively large vehicle even if you drive fast, Heat is their enemy. Not good tow vheicles for towing or being towed. Heat is their enemy. CVT’s run hot, really hot.
Flat rate isn’t that bad. There are some advantages and if we changed, you would soon see a lot more than just the pay change.
Imagine HOURLY. Don’t be mistaken, your boss will still expect you to pull work, as he does now, except now he has an incentive to crack the whip and be on everyone’s case. Imagine you lose your butt on a job that doesn’t go right, now you have to answer for it for why your production is low. It could make it harder for newer techs as they will be getting fired for low production. Also, your boss will try to cut hours when it gets even a little slow. Not to mention things like “no overtime” rules and such. The freedom to “work all you want” will be gone. The leisure to take a break whenever you feel the need will be gone. A lot of people will get fired easier, and you can almost expect layoffs whenever the economy drops or we go into slow season. You are trading one set of stresses for another. Think about it, how often do you hear about layoffs in our industry? It’s usually pretty easy to find a job too compared to so many other industries.
Someone mentioned the investment in tools. Yeah, it sucks but once you have it, it makes you more valuable, gives you options, and prevents fly-by-nights from “taking a crack at it” for a job. Sounds nuts but more than once I’ve had managers come ask me if they could hire someone in and let him work out of my toolbox. Oh…. hell…. no…..For one thing, I don’t want someone who doesn’t buy tools to touch mine, they will get damaged or dissappear. Secondly, what does it say about someone who doesn’t have tools? By letting somoene in without tools, it opens up our jobs to more competition, and you can bet they will be gravy sponges because easy work is all they can do. It’s like, no buddy, fork it out or get on that truck and sign your life away.
[quote=”AcuraTech” post=181848]I also agree with a lot of what you’re saying, but as was stated above, most of your complaints sound like the fault of poor management of your shop. You will have the shop “princesses” that get fed and don’t get stuck with wind noises/rattles etc, but as you progress to journeyman then master tech, you will have the confidence and clout to stand up to such practices. And if you get canned, you have to ask yourself, was that the place you REALLY belonged after all? Shop politics is something you have to become very adept at unfortunately. What worked for me was to be the best tech I could, try your best to not make enemies, and prove to your boss that keeping you happy is in his and his department’s best interest. Make yourself into a good asset. Assuming this is what you want to do for a career…. Are you SURE you want to stick with this ? 😛 I’m always on the hunt for getting out somehow.
Flat rate also varies from state to state. In CA I feel like we’re really lucky. Techs with their own tools get double the state minimum wage by law guaranteed. Also, we now get that regardless of flagged hours due to the recent lawsuit a few years back. At the moment, that’s double 10.50 or $21 and hour. And because of that lawsuit, we’re not conventional flat rate, we’re hourly employees with production bonus. So I can flag 50 hours working 40, and they’d base my wage on me being 125% efficient. So my effective wage would be (x)125%. Lets say I made $25 hourly and flagged 50 hours. That’s $1250. What they do now is take the wage (my hypothetical $25) and multiply it by your efficiency (125%) which is $31.25. 31.25 multiplied by actual hours worked (40 hours) is $1250. A complicated way to pay the same wages. And if I flag less hours then clocked, I would just get that $21/hour regardless of how little I flagged.
Also, I wouldn’t take the retort “if you want a raise, flag more hours” response from any boss. I would look at him and say “Really?” with all the scorn and disdain my body language could allow. My response would be “you want me to flag more hours, bring me better work and fix the problems in the shop like some of living like tiny tims while watching the shop princesses ride the gravy train”. I’ve made my bosses eyes widen and his ears steam on a few occasions and lived tell about it. :)[/quote]
“Princesses” lol. Good term, because they turn into little biches when they don’t get their way and they have to keep their nose in the boss’s crack to keep that going. At some point, that will come to an end for them, and it won’t be on their terms. Those who lift the heaviest weight get the strongest. Those princesses aren’t getting stronger, in fact they are getting weaker, and in the end, have no value.
To increase your pay, you need to increase your value. You do that by being able to do the job that others can’t do, being able to do it better, faster. Those who lift the heaviest weight get the strongest. Good techs are hard to find. Be a good tech, keep your options open. I’ve been at one Nissan dealer for almost 4 years now. Before that I was at independents for 13 years. Except a short time in 2005 I never really made money. Even at this dealership, I was getting screwed for the most part up until recently. I took positions that nobody else would do. I took on individual jobs that nobody wanted. I take whatever is dispatched to me. Some of those jobs that beat me up real bad, I lost my butt, but in the end it made me a stronger tech. I’ll tell you though, they did me wrong more than a few times. I almost quit several times, and would have been well justified in doing so. But I stayed and made it work for me. Work the system, don’t let the system work you.
It’s funny. You would think that to become a successful technician would mean being really good at diagnostics and repair of vehicles, but that’s not even half of it. That’s only two parts of the skill set that is required to really make it.
You are beginning a journey on a long road where making good money is very far down that road. The good thing is that if you are smart and dedicated you can make a good living. Look at the Beuro of Labor and Statistics, if that doesn’t scare you away, just dedicate yourself and you will do well. You did IT, so you probably have more aptitude towards technology than the average person entering the field. Unfortunately there are a lot of morons that enter the field who think because they can work on a car they can make a good living doing so. If I were you, I’d get some experience at NTB, but try to move to a dealership and get some factory training.
Eric, good to see you have some goals to keep growing, expanding and moving forward. I have the feeling that by the end of 2018 you’ll probably have your own mainstream TV show or something big along those lines. Speaking of Eric’s that made it big, Eric Church. I remember when he used to sing at these little concerts at this car dealership I used to work at. He was just a kind of quiet country boy singing songs out of the back of his pickup truck and now he’s one of the biggest names in country.
I agree with a lot of what you are saying. However many of those issues have to do with being management, moral, and quality of technicians in which a different form of pay might not repair, but I agree, flat rate encourages a lot of it.
My beef with Flat Rate is that often you find yourself doing things that you aren’t getting paid for. Also, it is suppose to be average technician’s average time, but it’s not. I can bet you that if you took all the flat rate techs in the country and averaged their flagged hours, and then averaged the time they were working, they wouldn’t be making an hour for an hour. A lot of the time is spent on piddly crap, waiting on the vehicle to be ready, waiting on the service writer to finish up with another customer so you can explain what he needs to tell your customer. How about meetings and training they don’t pay you for? How about them wanting you to talk to a customer or something, get prices, ect. Some recalls and warranty work times are a joke.
The good thing is once you get good and fast, you can make more money. Most businesses will let you work all you want. You don’t have a boss cracking a whip over your head trying to make you work faster. Overall though, there are more con’s than pro’s.
In this field, you learn by trial and error. In the beginning you are doing a lot of errors, to learn how to do things. It’s taking you longer. You are going under more stress. To top it off, you get paid less. It’s not really worth it. No wonder so many people leave the field. Once you get down to really being a technician, the first two years are hell. The worse thing about trying to be successful in this field is that the ability to work on cars is only apart of the skill set you have to master in order to really make a living.
If you bought it from a dealer, even an independent dealer, Federal Law states that the vehicle has to pass federal emissions standards for 30 days after sale. If if was private sale, then that isn’t covered.
Doing it yourself is always a gamble, even if you know what you are doing, or even a professional. That’s because if something goes wrong, you have to eat it. If you pay someone else to do it, if something goes wrong, they eat it. What you have to figure out is your betting odds, then put in your time and efforts and overall investments. Plus, once you go in, if you mess up, good luck finding someone to get you out of that mess. You are looking at a more complex job, which if you do something wrong, could cost you a whole lot. The odds aren’t in your favor. As far as Tires Plus, I can’t vouch for them but as being apart of a large chain if they goof they will cover it.
You said yourself you don’t have the skills to do this, and that’s not bad. I’m not an electrician or plumber either, so I would hire a professional to do those things just based on what I know from my profession. I don’t understand why being a “mechanic” is apart of the whole man-card rule. That’s outdated. Working on a car doesn’t make you manly.
You need training: http://www.hunter.com/training
Hello Yak. You’re definitely a veteran of this business. What do you think of the business now as when you started? Going on 29 years at the same dealership, wow. We have a receptionist that has been in our store for almost that long. This is a business where the wheels on the tool boxes never stop rolling. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I have been at the same dealership (nissan) for the past 3.5 years, and there are only two techs that have been there longer. Everyone else is newer. A lot of the guys have been there a couple years total, but what seems to happen is they “find a better offer” and off they go. A couple months later, they want to come back.