theebluecrx

Firefighter?I decided to make a career in auto parts since its a more steady check.Unless you get a salary mechanic job your check could be huge or shitty every week.I'm salary plus commision and doing well.

krustindumm

I am currently in school and I'm a tech at a nissan dealership. I do most of the time consuming driveability ---- because i'm hourly. I'd rather go proffesional firefighter (currently volunteer) because that starts at $50k+benifits and you get like 175 days off per year.

con

I was off probably a 1/2 of that, maybe less ( I pray for death) :P

45psi

"death is light as a feather. responsability is as heavy as a mountain." - Kamekaze motto

RustedFade

Should have gone to UNO, their tuition is like half as much as Wyotech and a few of the people I have talked to that have transfered said its better.

Tom-Guy

Mechanical skills take hands on experience to build. An experienced mech to offer guidance along the way speeds things up a lot, but you have to be immersed in wrenching, with a few minutes given to theory. Hours of school a day immersed in theory with a couple of pansy shop sessions where you spend more time polishing the floor or listening to the instructor tell you about something someone else is doing doesn't cut it.

As far as wiring/EFI troubleshooting, auto tech classes are a joke. Take basic analog electronics, and basic digital electronics. It starts making sense real quick. Fords, Honduhs, and Nissans of the 90's are very simple creatures to work with. Recent Honduhs have another layer of complexity to them, but most of the sensors and wiring is based on the architecture laid down in the OBD0/1 era so it's easy to make the leap.

rudebwoy

I was a certified mechanic for 8 years in the Army, but as you all know the military only have have heavy duty diesel engines, and automatic transmissions. so when working on cars its a different story, I have a lot of experiences from working on my own cars and rebuilding engines, but the electronics of newer cars are a pita. so I am thinking of taking some cources to get some civilian type degree, but I think it would be more benificial to just get ASE certified in the areas that I have good experience with, ie. brakes,transmissions, engines, suspension, stereos. etc. what do you all think?

96turboracer

I've been working in automotive dealerships for the last 4 years now. But I'm not a tech. I've been a Service Writer, Dispatcher, and Warranty Administrator, I'm basically the all around guy who can do all that. But i'd never be a tech for two reasons:
1: You bust your ***, and if you're a newb, you still get jacked with all the crap warranty jobs which don't pay jack. So even though you're working hard and have bills to pay and in actuality you work 65+hrs a week, you're getting paid around 33hrs. That's why flat-rate isn't so great sometimes. Especially if you're new.

2: I hate working on other people's cars, drives me nuts- if I did that job I'd never work on my own cars, 95% of techs you talk to feel the same way, and I'm not about to ruin something I like to do as a hobby. Plus right now I get paid a decent wage and I just have to work with a computer, I don't have dirt falling in my face or oil permanently stained into my palms. My hands are already scarred enough working on my own cars, if I were a tech I probably wouldn't have any fingers left. :P

Edit: I also forgot about the fact that I get my learning for free. Every time the techs learn something new, I learn it right along with them, and I don't have to get my hands dirty

88crxSi

BINGO!

1. Look at a mechanics car. MOST will run like turd.

2. Look at a body mechanics car, MOST look like turd.

see a pattern?

BRIOHATCH

well i know basicly nothing about fixing an engine right now.....my main plan in life was to go to wyotech for the 72 college credits they give me and be a cop.....u start off at 35000 around my area witch isnt bad but isnt great or anything for a newb.......im tired of not knowing how things work and what not to mess with....tired of getting ripped off when i have to have my car fixed.....wyotech also sends me out with definatly two certifications in something i dont know what it is....and one in welding if im with the right instructor......so three certifications and knowing basicly everything ive been wanting to know is worth the 23,000......i am also not paying nearly any of that money for real....my parents have money but not rich or anything so im getting a bunch of money from the feds or whatever....so ill probably owe like 5 grand when im done.....and then ill know mostly everything i want to know ill be certified in some stuff and i will have the credits to be a cop......