OT-I need a well qualified mechanic!

[M-61]

Firestone, Goodyear, etc) that get the bulk of the auto repairs around here. And that's for the line tech, not the tire and lube techs who make……

“the bulk of the auto repairs around here”
Really? So folks under warranty go to a private repair shop? Not a chance.
There are many problems with new cars that I doubt any private repair shop has the diagnostic equipment to correctly troubleshoot. The dollar investment is insane and monthly update subscription makes it financially unsound.

 

[M-61]

Dealer techs seem to be very much dissatisfied with their pay.

And who has done the study to reach this conclusion?

 

[M-61]

It has also become an elitist issue. People with degrees look down on those that don’t. Very sad and there are going to be offspring of them that have diplomas and no job market.

Your correct.
Next time these degree holders should have to dump their own household garbage. They ‘look down’ on their garbage man? Great.

 

[M-61]

husband has been getting estimates. 550 to 750 bucks. Then she texted, mechanics get paid 130 to 220 dollars an hour!

I told her no, that's what you're being charged. The mechanics around here get paid about 24 bucks an hour.

Another misleading statement probably.
The shops ‘hourly rate’ may indeed be $130 per hour. Not the mechanics hourly pay, which as I stated in another answer is usually flat rate pay.
Mercedes Benz of Manhattan is close to $220 per hour. That’s what the shop charges NOT the mechanics pay.
I’ll guess and say wherever you’re from the cost etc is no where near what it costs to operate in Manhattan.

 

[M-61]

Anytime there was a good paying warranty job the time would get cut.

No clue what time period you’re referring to, but that was true. That changed years ago in NewYork where the law states the time listed in the dealership manual must be what the mechanic is paid. ( I’m talking ‘time’ here not dollars. eg: for anyone that cares, book says 3 hours, well the mechanic must get 3 hours of his pay)
Now I could go into ‘sweet jobs’ like brakes and rotors’ compared to being given an ‘intermittent electrical’ problem…frightening difference.

 

[M-61]

Her husband has been getting estimates. 550 to 750 bucks

Another misleading statement probably. On some cars that price is a gift.

 

[Medic505]

we had dads that let us watch and help

I survived "holding the flashlight" for my Dad. Learned many things along the way including a vocabulary many 1st graders hadn't been exposed to.

 

[hogpatrol]

When I taught CC, First session, I would ask how many had used power tools or gasoline engine equipment. One 19 year old told me his mom wouldn't let him use the lawn mower because it was too dangerous. I don't see one teen in my neighborhood mowing their yard.

 

[Bob3700]

Taught Aviation Maintenance at a CC for 20 years. Some of the best students were women. Although most didn’t have a background working with tools, they read the manuals, followed instructions , and paid attention to details. Males seem to believe they have a special gene that says they don’t have to read the manual cause they know how it goes together! Doesn’t work that way.
A few of the men/boys had a mom or dad that acquainted them with hand tools and repaired bikes, motorcycles, 4 wheelers, or cars around the house. These were the students that you could actually turn loose and know they would do the task correctly.
Others would not read the repair/ overhaul manual and see the print that specified the bolt torque in inch/pounds instead of foot/ pounds. After the first bolt snapped in two, they didn’t stop to ask why, they just kept snapping bolts. Not the people you want working on “UR” airplane!

 

[rwj]

I’m a believer in bringing both shop and home economic classes back into high school curriculums. There one can learn how to use basic tools and feed oneself… something that seemingly many can no longer do for themselves!

I’ll also dare to say that military service of at least two years should be mandatory for all citizens.

 

[Pawnee Bill]

Once told my grandson, "Don't forget the trades for a career". He said not many guys want to do that kind of work anymore. Maybe he was right.

He was right. My grandson just turned 18 and graduated from HS. He doesn't have a clue what he wants to do. He wants a an inside air conditioned workspace and a job with low hours and high pay. It is scary.

 

[NorCalMikie]

I'm a electrician in the Kansas City area. We can't find people with any work ethic, but we get a lot of kids that think they deserve $38.00 an hour with no experience.

Sadly. most with "papers' think they should start out at $50.00 an hour.
I don't do "Prema Donnas"!!
The guys that taught me we're working in the ship yards when I was born.
And no extension cords long enough to hook up to a diagnostic tool to find out what's wrong when you're 30 miles out in the sticks so you better know what makes it tick in the first place!!
Never been afraid or too good to clean toilets or scrub floors. Whatever it takes to get a job done.

 

[FNSafari]

The diesel shop I retired from has been trying to hire help for years. No one with any qualifications even applies, even for $50/hr. Every shop within 200 miles is having the same problem.

Lots of youjgin's got used to FREE covid checks, worked on the side for under the table $, accumulated a stash then boogied and traveled until it was all gone. The work ethic is still there in many but NOT in the majority imo. Not at least in the 5 day/40 hour flavor that most business are built around. If you are a service biz you must have people to service customers.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

No clue what time period you’re referring to, but that was true. That changed years ago in NewYork where the law states the time listed in the dealership manual must be what the mechanic is paid. ( I’m talking ‘time’ here not dollars. eg: for anyone that cares, book says 3 hours, well the mechanic must get 3 hours of his pay)
Now I could go into ‘sweet jobs’ like brakes and rotors’ compared to being given an ‘intermittent electrical’ problem…frightening difference.

We got book time, but the issue was GM kept cutting the book time. 3400 lower intake gaskets started out over 6rs and were just over 4 last time I did one. It happened for any job worth doing it seemed.

 

[M-61]

We got book time, but the issue was GM kept cutting the book time. 3400 lower intake gaskets started out over 6rs and were just over 4 last time I did one. It happened for any job worth doing it seemed.

Yes. A never ending problem. Part of my job was representing the Tri- State Mercedes Benz dealerships versus MB. It went from ridiculous times to ridiculous nomenclature. Any excuse to void a warranty claim. I could go on for pages but unless you ( not YOU)were/ are in the business it is futile.
I wish you the best.

 

[Steve Donlon]

I see why getting my heater replaced in my 2005 Chevy truck costs over $1000 labor at the dealer. He had to take the dash off and loosen the steering wheel column or something there to get to it. I saw the guy do the job and felt sorry for the guy and gave him an exrta $100. I don't know what he was paid but it was not enough. It took him all day with parts all over the place. Now days auto techs don't get paid enough for what they have to do with the way autos are made. Not like the old days when it was just a few bolts to take a heater off

 

[hpshooter]

Guys like me, when we were little we had dads that let us watch and help. We mowed grass and did chores. We had bicycles, minibikes, then dirt bikes and cars. Some or most of which we paid for with our own money. We knew how to use tools and understood basic mechanics and electricity. We had shop class.

Those things don't happen today.

Spot on!

 

[timeout]

I see why getting my heater replaced in my 2005 Chevy truck costs over $1000 labor at the dealer. He had to take the dash off and loosen the steering wheel column or something there to get to it. I saw the guy do the job and felt sorry for the guy and gave him an exrta $100. I don't know what he was paid but it was not enough. It took him all day with parts all over the place. Now days auto techs don't get paid enough for what they have to do with the way autos are made. Not like the old days when it was just a few bolts to take a heater off

I've got news for you, some heater cores and blower motors have been been a b!tch to change for 50 years. My memory fails me what year Chevrolet passenger cars it was but somewhere in the 60"s you either removed the fender well or cut a neat little door in it to change the heater core. Been a long, long time since the engineers gave a hoot about the mechanic.

 

[ebb]

I have a great mechanic that I've used for years. He was one of my carpentry students and wants to do work on the garage he works from. He goes to a school that Snap On runs somewhere in the Midwest (Kansas, Nebraska, ?). Maybe a request to the Snap On school and see if they have a list of attendees that live close enough to be interested???

 

[Steve Donlon]

I've got news for you, some heater cores and blower motors have been been a b!tch to change for 50 years. My memory fails me what year Chevrolet passenger cars it was but somewhere in the 60"s you either removed the fender well or cut a neat little door in it to change the heater core. Been a long, long time since the engineers gave a hoot about the mechanic.

I didn't know it's been that long ago, 1954 Chevy truck, was a lot easier.