Hey guys,
Well the good news usually with some kind of bad news, but I can't say that I have much bad news... just bad timing. Finishing up Wyotech in the next four weeks (SMOG tech) and have a LONG 5 months until BMW STEP starts in Arizona. So in the meantime I have to get a dealership job to cover the costs of whatnot and pay back student loans until November.

Im wondering (at the dealership) what you do mostly during the workday. Diag? Oil changes? Warantee work? Im really looking for what a normal average day will bring in. Thanks for the help guys!

Rich

 

Ive never worked for honda but i worked for BMW.... usually you cant go straight into the mechanics section straight out of school... they make you work up first then they send you to their own school to teach you everything about their cars... then after that your wages are basically dictated by whos incharge of you...

like to start i was making 17$an hour plus i got paid by book hours and there was a percentage of the jobs cost that i would get....

the sweet part is getting paid by book hours.... cause lets say youve done a trany swap 50 times so you can do it in like 30 mins... well in the book depending on the car it might say 4 hours so you would get paid for 4 hours eventhough you can do it in 30 mins...

now the only bad thing is the master mechanics... the bad boys with seniority... they assign the cars and jobs to the mechanics..... so this is where things can go good or bad.... if good youll get jobs that have a lot of book hours but dont take long to do in reality... youll get hooked up... but if it goes bad.. there are jobs that take longer than the book says..... or just the jobs that kinda suck to do....

But if youve never worked at a dealership before... more than likely theyll have you start somewhere really low... like parking cars or minor office work..

 

Yeah, if you are even lucky enough, you might be allowed to do oil changes.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Skunk.Werks &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah, if you are even lucky enough, you might be allowed to do oil changes.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep pretty much , depends on how the dealership is.

 

I do oil changes at a Honda dealership....hooray for me?

 

You can make more and do more working at pepboys.

 

Maybe if the flat-rate time wasn't just .3hr. At least you get access to parts discounts, use of the shop at times, and all of the brake parts cleaner you'll ever need.

It really depends on the service advisors. They can either screw you really bad or help you a lot. If you keep them happy with good, fast work, then they'll send you more stuff that's increasingly more profitable.

I started off doing oil changes/tire rotations, 7.5k/10k XP/20k XP/30k XP services as an express tech. When I got ceritifed as a PDI tech by passing all of the online tests, they allowed me to PDI new cars and do dealer-trade inspections.

Other than that, you usually need to pass a drug screen and have a good driving record.

 

wyotech, sounds wild.... anyways I hope you actually paid attention and learned alot. I've seen alot of ppl come out from UTI and dont know jack. But there are some ppl who actually take the class serious and make something out of it.

If the instructors at wyotech told you that you would be mak 60-80 grand a year I would laugh at them. Its a lie. Average beginner mechanic makes only 20-30 a year depending how much he gets paid hourly. They wont put you on flagging or book right of the bat. They need to trust in you, and that can sometimes take a while.

Its better to do a job slow and right than to do it fast and sloppy. Dont mind the advisors bugging you about when the car will be done. Do it at a pace you are comfortable with.

Im pretty sure BMW has a recommend torque value for their drawn plugs. ALWAYS USE A TORQUE WRENCH. Some ppl dont and they probably will learn their lesson.

Im done ranting now. Goodluck and have fun

 

I changed oil for the first 1.5 years I worked at the dealer...then mostly a and b services (glorified oil changes) then after I went flat rate, I got more of the "interesting jobs"

but the most of the time, it was oil changes, 15k, 30k, 60k, and 90k services...every now and then some diag, or a headgasket gig, and then new car PDI's and dealer installed options

coming out of wyotech you might be alot better off then some of us think you will be...I wished I had gone to wyotech instead of the school I went to...all of my friends that went to wyotech got great jobs right out of school and didn't just change oil all day either

and to what rip94delsol said, take your time...don't try to beat the book time, don't even look it up...rushing to get things done to keep your times up with the "flat rate guys" will only lead to mistakes and come backs...the service writer will be up your *** to get things done...but comebacks are pretty unacceptable, especially at a dealer, so it's better to take a little longer and make sure the job is done right, rather than rushing it to shut the service writer up

 

Hey guys, thanks for all the imput so far... the stress is going down. Ive spent my time in SMOG and now going to BMW is making me a little anxious about having to do diag's all day everyday. I can diag most anything, but Im not as confident as the older techs (Im sure they will be). Anywhos, Wyotech was a great place to start and I am ready to tackle to automotive world!

Rich

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SJcivic &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Hey guys, thanks for all the imput so far... the stress is going down. Ive spent my time in SMOG and now going to BMW is making me a little anxious about having to do diag's all day everyday. I can diag most anything, but Im not as confident as the older techs (Im sure they will be). Anywhos, Wyotech was a great place to start and I am ready to tackle to automotive world!

Rich</TD></TR></TABLE>

wyotech was a joke for me, maybe it was because my teachers or area (middle of nowhere pa) but it was not worth my time, about the only thing i learned at that school that i had no known was all of the electrical stuff, i had to teach my instructors what variable valve timing was, as well as alot of information about turbochargers

 

most of the tech the that graduate from NEADC in Nashville that works here at the Honda dealer i work for just do oil change only, beside cleaning the shop...a good of advice if you do get in a Honda dealer and get your DPTS# do as many online test as you can and as fast as you can that will help with some of the credit and get to see if you can go to Honda school. but the biggest thing is know how to use the ETM...anybody can change t-belt and do 30k service...but to fix electrical problems is a whole new ball games for the new guys....
my 2 cents

 

congrats SJcivic! i hope you took wyotech seriously. i graduated UTI feb 06. the hole year and a half i was going to school in arizona i worked al showcase honda downtown on camleback and 15th. great place to work!! im guessing your heading to uti to take the step program, im guessing. i have a friend in washington right now that went trew uti and step. and is making $16 hourly up ther. i currantly work at a honda dealership in salt lake city. making that flat. i made about 35k last year. only being flatrate half the year. if you have a good head on your sholders you will do well. i just baught my first house, im married and i have a kick *** son thats 10 months old. and i just turned 21 in april. regarding working in phoenix. they dont recommend you working wial going threw step first off. but if you have to. i dont know if you will be turning at a honda dealership. oil changes is wut i would guess you would be doing, but then again thers a thousand places to work donw ther. but good luck and have fun. shcool is tough. but its worth it.
peace out!

 

I've been working at a honda dealership for about 5 years now. i started when i was 17.

I was a runner, aka i wash cars, and swept the shop. I did that for about two years, eventually moving up to express. used to have 6 waiters, and 3 cars on the racks at a time, working my *** off, getting yelled at from service advisors, and getting pissed on by the dealership ($8.00 and hour, from open to close, then acutally waiting for everyone to leave the entire dealership so i could lock up). All the while with a smile on my face telling everyone yes, sure no problem, hoping eventually this will pay off and ill get where i want to be. well, after another year of that, i had enough and, i figured, wow this is retarded, im going nowhere. You can either A: go to school and further your education in hope of getting a better position (which i will explain how that wont happen anytime soon in the next couple paragraphs.) or B: Work like a slave doing bullshit for 5-8 years, until some other tech either dies, or quits. (its really hard to get fired from a dealership, and no one ever seems to want to quit) well i figured id go with route A.

Somehow i talked our service manager into letting me go to a Honda PACT school. 2 year program with an associates degree and honda PACT certification. THEY NEVER HELP WITH FINANCES. No tools, no gas money, no rental car, no paid time at school, (like they give regular techs when they send them to school with a rental car, gas money, and paid 8 hrs a day for being there). The whole entire time i was in school, I get up at 6 to go to school , drive 170 miles round trip everyday and when i would get back, id only get to do oil changes, wash cars, pick up customers, or some other bullshit type work. PACT school is a little different from nomal school. you go to school for 2 1/2 months, then work full time at the dealer for 2 1/2 months. Well, guess what happened when i came back to work full time. $8.50/hr worth of bullshit air filter replacements, car moving, car washes, and strictly minor services. What a valuable asset ive become with all my new knowlage.

COOL. im in the same position, just a lot more tired, and a LOT more broke. Well, the last term of the program, i got an offer to move to a different dealership. So, i said F it, im out. Quit the place i was working, which is 4 minutes from my house, and now work 35 miles away at a different dealership. Now i make $11 bucks an hour, woo hoo. EVERY single job the experienced techs give me, is warrenty, or some **** job they refuse to do. IE pulling dead rats from a blower unit. Chasing rattles, water leaks, seatbelt buckles etc etc. and they LAUGH at you when they give you the jobs. they know its ****, but hey, you're the hourly **** on guy. They know its shitty. thats why you do it. And I thought wow, maybe they would have treat me differently, challange me, give me better stuff to do than oil changes. but, no. they treat you like you are thier personal lacky boy to do all the shitty work for them, so then they can flag it... because you're hourly.....

Well, ive been working for the new dealership for a couple of months now, and talked with the manager and the other techs i work with, and made my point pretty clear that Im not going to sit around and get pissed on like the other dealership. I didnt quit my job that was so laxed and close to come work 35 miles away to do the same thing. Im in my last term of school. 100% self study on Honda modules, and 18 paper modules left at the actual training center. (which ive been to, and never got paid for either) I have more Honda certified training than all but 1 tech at our shop. So.. now im finally getting to flag my own hours (which pisses everyone else off, leaving you with no where to turn to when looking for help, but oh well) and im in the transitionary period from hourly to flat rate.

My advice: ******* quit the car industry and do something else. its nothing but a bunch of shop politics, working with people who pretend to be your friend, then go behind your back and gossip. Service advisors acting like your father and threatening you if you dont get a job done fast enough, or cheap enough. Bosses promising and promising never even intending on delivering. its just not worth it. I wish i would have done something else. taking your hobby and making it a job, takes all the fun out of it. litterlally. I used to stay up till 3 in the morning just working on my own car, or friends cars to get them to go .1 second faster, or function slightly better. well, when you get underneath the dash of some old ladies 87 accord with dog hair and fecies all over it, looking for a heater control problem... you'll wonder what the expletive you deserved to be in this position.

hope that helps

 

i totally agree. making you hobby your job SUCKS, i use to work at a car dealer. never again.

Simple good read

 

Im starting at a nissan dealership next month, he said im gonna be working with a master tech for a while until I get my certification from the school Im going to. I dont know how much I am going to get paid yet though. Does anyone here work for a nissan dealer, and could tell me what to expect to start off???

 

I realized that in my first year at Honda while I was in college. Which is why working at the dealership is my second job. I currently only work at the dealership about every other weekend and sometimes when they need me on weekdays when I can shift my hours around at my other job.

Our dealership has everybody in the service dept as flat-rate except for the single lot porter we had. When you're flat-rate, it makes your life so much easier because it gives you freedom to only have to be responsible for your job description. When you're asked to move cars, shuttle, or help somebody out, it's all at the mercy of your goodwill. A salary income is nice because it provides steady income, but being flat-rate takes some of the bitch work out..

I know somebody at an Acura dealership that has two to three salaried, lower level techs that get a lot of the bread and butter maintenance work (e.g. timing belts, brake jobs, etc.). The senior techs that have been there a lot longer at flat-rate get really pissed because those types of services make up a good portion of their income. Instead of being able to do those jobs, the senior techs get stuck with a bunch of diagnostics, warranty work, transmission replacements, and other non-maintenance, non-standard work.

The other thing that bothers me is the car wash. We don't get to flag anything for running the car your just serviced through the car wash. The car wash takes two to three minutes to cycle. If there are two or three people in front of you, that's 6 to 9 minutes where you're sitting in a car while another two waiters are piling up in your queue. It's a ******* conspiracy. When you're doing all Express work, 6 to 9 minutes is an eternity.

 

i could'nt agree more, i have been working at the honda dealership here for about a year now and don't really see any sign of a raise or moving up.
I change oil/battery's/tires/air filters and occasionally help out with a pdi or something like that.
It is like being back in High School, FILLED with backstabbing drama.
In all honesty the only thing keeping me there right now is the schedule (monday-friday 7:30-4:30).
Our service manager is new and has everyone under review for a raise (my ***). What dealerships want to do is charge more/pay less. They raised the hourly drive rate (94$) and employees are still making the same........
if you can, find something else.

 

It all depends how lucky you get, and how skilled you are when you get there. I got lucky because my master tech liked me so I got to do alot of different work. But first you always start out with oil changes. You get lucky and show that you can do whatever they give you (not mess up to much), you will eventually start doing everything else. After a year at the dealership I was doind engine work, replace transmissions, diagnostic work, booking over 40hr/week. You can't go in there with know it all attitude, can't be cocky, and just bust your *** and do what they tell you to do.
And yea most likely you will be disapointed for first couple years, or unless you land in the right dealership. My last dealer got me to the point where I had no will to work on cars anymore. It's alot of BS you have to deal with, everybody above you is mostlikely a ******** that doesn't know ****, all he has is a high school diploma and thinks that he knows everything when infact he is a complete moran. Right now I'm laid off and colecting unemployment and I just need some time to relax from all the bs I had to go thru. If you want to work at this field you have to learn how to deal with ********* and just concentrate on your work.

 

I had been working at Honda and Acura dealerships for over 8 years (3 w/honda and 5 w/Acura). But the last 4 years I've been working for Lexus. I was offered that job being promised more money and greater benefits. I was already situated with Honda and Acura as a master tech and was already NSX certified. I had a loyal personal client base. Something a lot of dealer machanics don't have. I couldn't stand the management accepting the manufacturer tightening the belt loop on them and affecting me. Dealership management were absolutely ignorant on how to run the place. In my 3rd year with Acura I made the most I would've made there. After that the place started to go down hill. It was a combination of Honda/Acura building shittier cars and poorly managed dealerships. The cars go more complicated and warranty was increasing but the pay was being cut more and more.

When the Lexus dealer I now work for approached me and offered what they had for me I couldn't say no. The had agreed to pay me for my average hours flagged on my holidays and training. They cover my lunch, diner and breakfast when I 'm at training with some spare cash on hand for some sight seeing since I'm out of town. They gave me demos for me to drive for the weekend. They gave me suite tickets to local games with all food and alcoholic drinks payed for no charge for me. They covered for my ASE renewals (all 9 of them, Yes I'm L1 and ASE master) and didn't even flinch. I gave them in return so much dedication last year that they awarded me the Tech of the year and covered my LASIK surgery w/Custom Interlase. This month they awarded me tech of the month and will be taking me out for lunch and dinner 3 times.

I couldn't be happier LEAVING HONDA / ACURA. Not to mention, my dealer and Lexus plan on splitting the lease payment of my new IS350 (on special order) something Honda/Acura will never do even though I've worked twice as long with them than anywhere else.

When I worked with Honda/Acura I always mentioned to everyone I met how the cars were superior to the competition. I could've counted at least 100 people who I've taken to purchase a new Honda/Acura and I practically did all the sales work and didn't get anything in return. Yet As the cars get more and more complex warranty gets more and more expensive.

Today, Honda as a manufacturer appears to me as an arrogant manufacturer. They have good technology but they are NOT the best. Being the best leaves you no room for improvement. This is where you drown on your arrogance. This is the path the domestic manufacturers crossed 2 decades ago.

Being a tech at Honda/Acura left me with a feeling of this being a dead end but I believe I have a future with Toyota/Lexus. Don't get me wrong I'm not bashing of their cars like I am the way politics take place with Honda/Acura. My DA has 335,000 miles on it and sees 9k redline everyday I drive 33 miles to work. IMO, The only quality car Honda now has is the S2K. Everything else is now built everywhere else. Atleast my IS will be built in Japan.

One thing I found out is that Honda Motor co. Japan and American Honda have poor relationships. This is one of the reasons why there was that Honda/Isuzu Rodeo/Passport Trooper/SLX reach around. It ws joint effort to save Isuzu from going bankrupt which they were destined for anyways.

Today, I have enough experience that you can place me infront of any production vehicle and I can repair/diagnose/maintain it. I don't care if its a Fiat or a Ferrari I can fix it. I'm not going over my head here. I'm here to point out to you that any machine on 4 wheels in this planet was designed and built my humans and the proper human can fix it.

To the guys who started this thread.

I'm glad you are striving for a better future rather than working delivering pizzas or whatever else job that you may have come across and turned down. I hope you live to fulfill your dreams like I did mine. But you need to realize that the road ahead is long and sometimes can be dark and bumpy.

Maintain professionalizm at all times. I don't know how many times I had customers spit **** to my face regarding their cars and point blame at me when I didn't even touch their car yet I still fix others fuckups without any pay when it happens. I'm glad that my dealerships management compensated me in another ways but the past two dealers never did.

Remember to always think outside the box. Just beacuse 10 other techs said this is how you do it. You need to find a logic and reasoning before you execute your decision.

Most importantly, everyone ***** up every once in a while. You can fix a fuckup. You can't fix a fucked up mouth! Your mouth will get you into more trouble than any action you could've done on your own so once again before you execute, Think.

-Joe

 

i went to UTI and just finished the fact program and only have 2 classes left. i work at pepboys but its actually good. lot of gravy work(tires, alignments, brakes, shocks, front end work). i make 17 and hour flat rate and get paid time and a half on sundays which is where i make most of my time. the service writers and managers are cool as **** there. just made 14 hrs today which would be the equivalent of 21 hours on a normal day. seems to be working out for me. i'm looking to go work for ford since i already have 11 of the 18 credentials ford has and i am also 609 certified. seems like it just depends on where you're working.

 

carchitech's response actually made feel much better about this field. My past dealer was just driving me crazy and just about drove me nuts. It's not like I was not loyal to them or anything, just stuff that they were doing I didn't think was right. Cut costs legally and illegaly (stuff that I don't want to discuss because they would prolly get shut down), had service writters come and just play with your nerves. I was literally being called a fucken idiot a few times, when I did nothing wrong. They put me down so much I actually lost a will to work.

Hopefully I can find another place that will treat me with some respect...

 

I still get my customers who call me every once in a while with problems with their Hondas/Acuras. I refer them to the closest dealership and give them pointers on what to say and most importantly being honest about their concerns. Then thats when I hear from them about how their cars got messed up.

Just 9 months ago I went to inspect a car at my old Honda dealership. No one recognized me since I left there over 9 years ago except my old shop foreman who I still talk to every once in a while. The car was a '02 honda accord 4 cylinder LX with an a/c problem. The car didn't have any issues aside from the a/c system system taking too long to cool. Turned out that it was low in refrigerant from a leaky high pressure switch. But the guy who was working on it had poked around the evaporator temp switch and sent power from there directly to the ecu. It burned out the a/c signal circuit of the ECM. I quized the tech on what was done but he didn't mention what had happened. Little did he know that knew how that circuit works and how I've seen others do what he did. He then started asking how I would know a thing about Hondas when I was wearing a Lexus shirt. He then mentioned how they were simply just way over priced Toyotas. He quickly shut up when I mentioned someone's name and that I was playing golf with him this past weekend. That person happened to be my old Honda/Acura training instructor. I then pulled out my old Honda Gold tech ring , Acura Precision team platinum ring and my Elite of Lexus ring. The look of embrassment was priceless. Fortunately this car had less than 80k miles on it and it was less than 8 years old. All 49 state cars are federally mandated to have their convertors and engine ECU covered for 80k miles or 8 years which ever comes first. Fortunately for this guy he was able to have his customers ecu replaced w/o having it come out of his paycheck. The reason why I was called out to inspect it was because the ecu replacement was estimated to my friend. He had no clue what was going on and neither him or the dealer had any idea that the ecu was covered by emissions warranty and it was seperate from the bumper-2-bumper warranty. I even went to one of their computers and pulled all that info for them to keep for future reference. Of course this doesn't cover the fact that the ecu was burned from the wrong hands working on it but in this case it wasn't going to be an expense my friend was to cover. My old shop foreman knew as I got there why I was there and he wanted nothing to do with me. We did have a small word about the episode after it was over and then went off to have a few drinks at the local pub. Of course that tech didn't hover around very long.

That guy had learned the hard way not to judge by the cover. He was also at least 10 years older than me and thought I was nothing more than a stereo installer. To be honest I look and act just like the average Joe and I don't mention much about myself unless I have to. This time I didn't have much of a choice and I wasn't going to let my friend pay for what wasn't his fault or the cars fault. They installed a new ecu the next day and my friend had the pressure switch replaced that only ran him about $180 parts and labor. Big change from the $1100 originally quoted.

I've got a whole lot more of these stories but I don't think I want this thread headed the wrong way. This guy was being completely improfessional by slamming the cars I now service. He didn't appoligize about his wrong doings either which quite frankly didn't seem to surprise me. He didn't even bother to inspect what the car's problem originally was. I doubt that he even grasped the concept of air conditioning in automobiles much less the science of electricity.

Unfortunately most guys in this field of work are of this nature. I beg everyone of you not to form a mold of such upon yourself. When you're out of work at your work place. Grab a note pad and go about how you can either make your job easier or improve your working conditions. Remember that you can't do everything yourself.

Also if you have an idea that is probably going to get shot down from management see if they are willing to try it out for a week. What do they have to loose?