PAID MECHANICS
 

hey im going to wyotech pretty soon here...like ten days or so...and i was wondering if any of you guys are actually mechanics for a living...and if you are do you make a decent living or is it not worth going to school.....keep in mind i would have to go to school cause i know basicly nothing about fixing cars...but i want to .........$ per hour would also be nice to know...

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

If your a great tech, you should make decent money. Bigger cities, more money. The pay is great if your quick and good at what you do since techs usually get paid on a flat rate(4 hour job and you get done in 3 hours you get paid the 4 hours) and not hourly. Starting wages around my area of wisconsin is at about 12-15 bucks an hour.

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

i just got a job at a honda dealership as an apprentice tech for $10/hr with a raise in 60 days. and i'm currently in school which helped me out a lot getting this job.

good luck.

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

ok well if im gonna spend 23,000 on school i want to make money so thats not such a huge loss...u know what i mean
like im trying to make like 20 bucks an hour or something....

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

all in do time. when you're an actual tech and not an apprentice, you'll be makin dough

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

I wouldnt pay for automotive school unless its a free ride. I learned everything I could myself without schooling. I'd try to get on a 1 year inhouse program at a dealership if anything. Those schools like wyotech/uti can be just a huge waste of money.

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

apprenticeship for teh win

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

I learned everything myself and I have mad trouble shootin skillz yo. Those schools are a joke most people who go I can do circles around. Real Life is where its at. Buy a couple beaters start fixin/sellin them and you'll learn fast. Good luck but if your thinkin your gonna come out with jeff Frank skillz thats a no.

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

I work like a beat ------ flat rate made 71,000 last year

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i totaly adgree with him, i've worked with Wyotech ppl and talked to them...honestly they sucked...so i aid screw it and busting my ass at ---- jobs working my way up and working for my own state inspc lieces and every thing with out school...its harder not like i am proud working at wal mart for 7bucks ahour trying to get my stuff and find a better job..but in the end i will know better...besides nothing like talking to 30year old guys who know their ----

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I took the pre appreticship at my local community college and it counted for my first year done.Dont bother with high dollar schools they are a waste of time.

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

And it is...

I know 5 people that went to wyotech and where in the top 50 of their class. and they come back and DID NOT GET PLACED LIKE WYOTECH SAYS... its a crock of ----.. all of them say itw as a waste of money..

I was signed up and paid and as of 2 weeks ago i decided not to go to wyotech. its a huge waste of money. 2 of my friends have also pulled out.. its just a load of ----. good luck with it tho.

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

uti = untrained idiots

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Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

flat rate -----!

i had 235 days off last year though :y

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

Thats what my schedule was like in 2005 also but the rest was breathing in metal shavings

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

my uncle is a mechanic back in oregon, works at a tranny shop makein over $20 an hour

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

I heard about the tranny shops in san fran that pay like 50 an hour

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

im sure some can if they have the work comein in to justify paying that, the shop he works at is a kinda small family busniess though, but still $20 an hour isnt that bad, i dont know exactly how much he makes, just know its over $20hr

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

I hear they make your wear a wierd outfit for that fifty an hour though

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

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.

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

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.

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

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

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

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

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

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.

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

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.

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

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?

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

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 ass, 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 8)

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

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?

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

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......

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

I bailed out in my apprenticship because i realized the money wasnt that great and that exact reason.It sure is nice having tons of tools at home too.

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ill tell u what if i was a mechanic and my car broke down or wasnt running right i would fix it.....look at most mechanics...drunks.....so they dont have any money...its not because they are too lazy......i bet if they didnt spend all thier money on dumb ---- they would be able to work on thier own stuff.....i know like 3 mechanics that dont drink and one has his own buisness and makes a ton of money and drives a lexus that never has any problems.....one drives an old nova thats rebuilt....and i have actually two brothers around my area that have thier own buisness and have 4 volkswagon uhhh currado or something like that...all 4 are 450whp and over....so i say if you dont spend you money on dumb ---- and if your a mechanic becuase you wanted to be not because you just fell apon it....then youll still like it when you go home at the end of the day......the only thing i think ill get tired of is other poeple always wanting thier cars fixed for free....my family/gf's family.....i think thats the only thing that will suck...i probably will probably atleast make them take me to outback steakhouse afterwards or something....haha...i love there jackeroo chops

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

it's not really that they're lazy, it's just that think of it this way: you just ate a gigantic plate of spaghetti, and you're way too full, what's the last thing you want to see? A plate of spaghetti, that's how it is if you're a tech. you just get sick of looking at them. There are of course the exceptions.

Me, maybe I'd do it if I were working in a custom shop that makes things faster or cooler. But I could never work in a shop where I just fix things that are broken back to their boring stock state.

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

Um 72 credits for that. Why dont you just go to community college and become a cop




Anywho my thought stands real life owns. Learn on your daily driver you will become a trouble shooter fast and learn how to work fast. Overall most good mechanics are above average on the iq chart imo.



The redneck guys are well just that but modern mechanics who can actually get things running and back on the road are hardly bums.

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

ya but that has the death factor in there

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

YES! ;D

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hah jackeroo chops own....---- steak...but yea real life situations dont get you certifications and they dont give you a reputation of being a good mechanic...and if i go to school im guarenteed to make more money starting off than i would if i just worked on my car all the time....that and if i were to do it that way i would have to sit around for like 3-6 years just to learn what im gonna learn in 9 1/2 months at wyotech.......

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

You'd think that were the case woudn't you? :-\

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

if you want to go to school for a mechanic go to a local tech school i know alot of ppl that went to uti and stuff and also alot of ppl that went to the local tech school like me you save so much money and learn just as much....

Re: PAID MECHANICS
 

i'm going to this community college out here, supposedly one of the top 5 automotive programs, non-university. the only thing thats expensive about is ------- out-of-state, but by next semester i'll qualify for in-state so its much much cheaper.


and bloomin onions own all of you.