kuntry Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 At the Pete dealership, a low week for me is 50-60 hours. Although more than once Ive flagged over 100 hours. There were a few weeks last year when my 2 week paycheck was for close to 250 hours. Shop rate right now is 92/hr, and Im at 17.50.... so yeah its decent money. A few years ago, when I was still working on cars, I was making 22.50 an hour, but barely making my 40. There is no comparison in the money. As far as opening your own shop, the only advise I have for you is to work at some other shops first. For more than one reason. First, you gain hands on experience. Schooling is fine, but there is alot that books cant teach you. I went to 2 years of auto mechanics, and thought I knew it all. Come to find out, even though the book says 2+2=4..... sometimes it equals 5. Also, if you pay attention, youll learn how to run a shop and more important, how NOT to run a shop. Ive worked for enough a$$holes, that I know if I ever did decide to open a shop, how to talk to customers and how to treat me employees. There has been more than once, my old boss had customers steaming mad, yelling and cursing, and Ive calmed them down and by the end, they thanked me and appologized to me (not the boss) about their behavior. Ive always wanted my own shop, and who knows, maybe someday I will. But the experiences Ive learned from others has been invalueable. I know if I hadnt been thru half the hell Ive been thru, I wouldnt have a clue how to do it and would have failed miserably. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 You can marry more in 5 minutes than you can make in a lifetime. She doesn't have to be pretty, better if she isn't. Her Daddy will be so gratefull that someone would marry her that your working days will be over. Best bet is a only child, not really pretty, with a very rich Daddy. Screw working as a mechanic for a living, marry the only child of a rich man and knock her up as fast as you can, then you have grandchildren for the rich Daddy. That is the best advice anyone has ever giving me, I'm gonna start the application process tommorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 SAVAGE... good luck getting your 400 pound bride into your Z Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 with all that money her dad is gonna be throwing at me, I'll use it to lower the car with some HEAVY duty springs, like you'd find on a drift car, that thing isn't gonna bottom out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Mike Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 SAVAGE... "...bottom out". Yeah, that's another problem. How's she gonna get her bottom out of the car? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
savageskaterkid Posted January 25, 2007 Author Share Posted January 25, 2007 i'll have to consider that problem Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 I have been a tech for the last 4+ years. I first worked on Dodges and I am now working on Nisssan's. What I can tell you is that if you want to come home happy every night DONT GO FLAT RATE! I have been flate rate for atlest 3.5 years of the 4+ years and I can tell you it's extremely stress full worrying about if your going to make your 8 hours for the day. When you go home with only 6 hours but you were at work for 8 hours it really sucks because now you have to makeup that 2 hours some other day in the same pay period. Wow, that is surprising advice. I made a LOT more money flat rate than I did hourly, but I guess that was because they gave me a much higher rate at flat rate than they did hourly and the shop was always busy. Some of the guys that I worked with made $25/hr flat rate. If they went hourly I doubt they would have gotten $15/hr. I quit wrenching because I got pissed off at spending 1/2 my paycheck on tools. I finally stopped buying any more tools and was working out of my boss's box 1/2 the time. He wanted me to get my own stuff, I knew I wasn't going to do this for the rest of my life so I told him no, and that was the end of that. Not to mention he was 50 years old and falling apart. He had back problems, fluid in his knees, all kinds of crap. No health insurance was a biggee too. I just looked at him and all of the other middle aged guys I had worked with over the years and decided that I wasn't going to go down that path... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe d. Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 these guys are right. let the mechanics put the tools to work and you put the michanics to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Crispy Chicken Posted January 25, 2007 Share Posted January 25, 2007 I think flat rate is great for the people want to work. There are tecs at my work that make 40,000 a year and ones that have made 150,000. Most of them are around 60,000- 80,000. Days where I have a lot of work I can clock up tp 40 hours in a day... While other people are crying clocking 4-6 hours a day, coincidentally they don't really want to work and bitch about everything.. Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randy 77zt Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 crispy chicken-what kind of cars are you working on?i know fords dont pay.or are you working it with the pen? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Crispy Chicken Posted January 26, 2007 Share Posted January 26, 2007 Vista BMW, in coconut creek FL.. There are a lot of huge dealerships here in south Florida. Good money to be made for tecs who want it. There is bullshit to deal with like anywhere else. The guys that learn the system and apply themselves. Focus on there work and are goal oriented do well. That is a small percent. There are 55 tecs where I work. I'd say most of them are around 50,000-70,000 a year. A few 100,000 +.. I agree that some places are harder than others to make money. You have to find what and where works for you.. In theory when paid by performance the earning potential is unlimited. But one can only do so much.. Here is a good example aside from mechanics. There are new sells guys coming and going all the time. Most of the ones that leave say its hard to make any money in the business. You have to be doing if for so many years before you can make anything. There is one guy that has been selling cars there for 3 years. His first year he was #1 for that year. Almost every single month selling 30-40 cars. He doubles what guys do that have been there for 20 years. Why? He is by the far the most aggressive motivated positive person selling there. At the same time people come try it for a few months suck cry and end up quiting or getting fired. In the wild only the strongest animals survive. In our world it is the same. When working performance based and commission only jobs. There is no such thing as luck. The harder you work the luckier you get and the more opportunities and doors you open for your self. How can one tec make 40,000 a year one 80,000 and another 100,000 +? When they ultimately have the same opportunity? One thing is for sure the one making 40,000 will say everything is unfair take 2 hour lunch breaks mope around and talk about how much they hate their life. While the other guy doesn't stop moving clocking hours from the time he comes and leaves. Constantly looking for more work. Getting is done quicker and making 3x then the guy next to him.. Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
280Bob Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 I just graduated from a 4 year program at Pittsburg State with a bachelors of science in technology, my major was automotive technology. That being said I don't have the experience in the field that most everyone else has but I do have to agree with what most are saying. If you are set on working as a tech or in some mechanical function you should look into the different training schools that are now being offered by companies such as Catepillar. Pitt State even has a co-op with Cat where the students will join the Think Big program from Cat and then if they want to earn a 4 year degree they transfer to Pitt and finish up the next 2 years there. Something like this pretty much guarantees you a job on graduation and many of these students will go on to be technical support and or trainers for Catepillar rather than techs. However, I do believe that the only way to make good money and truly enjoy what you do is to start your own business. I've been looking into this recently myself. If I do decide to try opening a business it most likely won't be in the auto industry though. Working in this industry has just worn me out with how crooked and underhanded it can be at times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.