Please don't move this thread
I'm just trying to get some more insight.
I'm trying to figure out what I wanna do in life
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=206578

Are car mechanics well payed???

 

master ASE technicians with 7+ years of experience are paid over 100k a year.

do YOU have what it takes to be a master ASE?

 

What's a master ASE tech.???

 

They are if they work for themselves.

I think all shops screw the mechanics over. They pay mechanics about $15/hour and charge $50/hour to the customer.

 

A friend that owns a very good independant repair shop specializing in Hondas told me that 2 of his best techs make over 60k.

 

a friends dad was a Roll Royce mechanic and he was very well payed.

 

mechanics make good money.. especailly for those who are fast and efficient.. if an average mechanic can do a tune up in 1 hour, and a fast mechanic can do it in 20 min.. he'll clock it as 1 hour and get paid for the hour. more work = more money.

 

salary.com
The highest level mechanic makes an average of $38,000.





[Modified by jond, 4:14 PM 6/12/2002]

 

There again, what is your definition of well paid? A person making 20 an hour in San Francisco is poor, where a guy making 20 an hour in Terre Haute Indiana is rich!!! Depends on where you are...

But to kinda answer the question, it's as hard as you work. If you're fast and good, you'll make good money. If you just get the job done, then you'll only do ok...

 

Generally speaking, no. Shops usually pay mechanics based on one of three methods: 1. Team based, 2. Hourly based and 3. Hourly billed. Hourly based sucks and very few shops do this anymore for anyone over "oil changer/tire rotator) status, basically if you are there 8 hours you get paid for 8 hours. Team based sucks if you're good, but is good if you suck or are slow. Basically everyone's time that is on your team is tallied up at the end of the payweek (billed time, not actual), if your team had a pain in the *** repair that week that billed at 10 hours but took 20, then you each might only get 30-40 hours for 60 hours of actual time worked. Individual billed time is the best if you are fast/good, if you do 80 hours of work (in the book) but it takes you 40, then you get paid for 80.. remember that if the work comes back you lose time/money fixing it correctly.

Base pay for anything less than a high level tech is not very good and the money you'll be spending on tools means a good bit of debt with the snap on, mac, etc trucks to pay off for awhile.

I'm not saying it's a bad job, it's great if that's what you're into and don't have dreams of being super rich.. also every mechanic I know hates to work on their own cars because they are just sick of it.. that would simply not work for me..

 

My buddy is a Porsche mechanic in SD. He loves it. Gets to beat on some pretty mean cars everyday. Doesn`t make great money, but he`s only been out of school and wrenching for 3 years. He`s happy.

Ryan

 

depends on locality. really. the acura dealership near by where i live pays out 100k to its 2 top techs,

one with about 5 years experience, and one with 14 years.


[Modified by 00-0187, 4:33 PM 6/12/2002]

 

The mechanics at our shop make decent money. If you are starting out anywhere between $12 and $14 an hour is good. The "journeyman" as we call them who are certified in a number of areas get paid more obviously because of their knowledge. To get certified you have to go through certain schooling and pass tests.

I would think that if you have good background training and are fast then you can make a decent living. We have something called flat rate gain. If the job (according to the book) is supposed to take 3 hours and the mechanic finishes it in an hour and a half, then the mechanic is paid for that extra 1.5 hours on top of what he is already paid per hour to work on the truck. It can add up in one weeks work where you can make easily an extra $250-500 a week!

 

And this has what to do with what I said.. reread (or read it for the first time) my post and you'll see that I never said high level techs don't make good money.

 

Not to lead this kid astray, realize that the two people this guy is talking about are in the top 1% of the level 3 mechanics.

The average for a high level mechanic with years of experience is $38,000
The average for a level 1 mechanic is $25,000.

Chose another profesion unless you like being poor.

 

Life isn't JUST about money. I'd rather make 25k than 50k if I hated life doing the 50K job.

 

the REAL techs at the honda dealer i work for make a mininum of $35k with the top tech who has worked for us for 7 years makes around $90k plus a ridicous amount of side work (at least $20k+), speed is the key in flat rate....and it really does matter where you are located.....

 

amen. hense why im considering a career change.

nick, who would rather be a mechanic rather than deal with the dumbfucks he works with on a daily basis.


[Modified by Johnny Tran, 5:24 PM 6/12/2002]

 

How would you go about finding the top dog at your dealer?
I would much rather have the 7 year vet changing my oil vs the new kid who thinks a ITR takes 5 quarts.

 

A buddy of mine who is a tech for a local Acura dealer makes damn good money. Granted he works his butt off, but the money is there. He also makes alot of money on "side jobs." On the downside though he seems to always be working 24-7. My buddies and others are always bugging him to fix or do something to their car.

 

How hard is it?

 

Now think for a second.. do you really believe that the best tech at a dealership is going to do a very very low profit BS job like that? And what makes you think he's going to be super careful with it? I bet you think the top guy uses a tq wrench too?

 

No they dont

 

haha, never said they did, hense the to jond's head.

 

There are techs at the MB dealership where i work that work 90 hr pay periods (2 weeks) and make 180 hrs checks because they are fast.
They make good money...beleive me