OT - How well do mechanics do?

[overkill]

I mean, do they make any kind of money? Is it worth it to be a mechanic? How much does a certified porsche mechanic make?

[emilysgranny]

Thats a loaded question; It depends in what kind of shop and the area of the country he works in.The repair he does to the car is yet another factor.But when you find one that is good ,you better book your job well in advance and be prepared to pay.Porsche dealers sent their mechanics to school in Germany years ago ,but I don't know if they do it any more.

But the one good thing is there are the various boards around where other owners pitch in to try to help you out. A tremendous wealth of skill and knowledge at you finger tips.

[todwic]

A good mechanik can make bank, while a slow one will starve.

A lot of shops charge work on a fixed scale (a certain job takes X mount of time to do, and you should charge X amount + parts)
so the mechanic gets paid $80 to change an alternator whether it takes im an hour or 10 hours. If he changes 4 alternators in an hour, he gets $320. Write Bosch on the side of that alternator and he gets $210 to change the alternator...

[951carter]

My mechanic has approx. 20 Porsches. 1 of them is a 54' speedster, 2 are dedicated race cars. He just bought a brand new $30,000 tractor to cut the grass at his Farmhouse, which sits on 100 acres w/pond........which is paid for. I haven't asked about $.......but, it's hard to hide it.

[overkill]

So, would you say it's worth it? I know It all depends on me but still I don't want to go to college to learn somthing that is going to be a waist of time. So far, I love working on cars. I love being under the car working in tight places. I like the feeling of accomplishment. I like to work with my hands. Then again I kinda of like working here at the hospital. I work really good under pressure. I could be a nurse making like 30 - 50 an hour. But, then being nurse kinda sucks seeing that your license is always on line. All it takes is some crazy friggin patient to say they want you fired. Plus, all the political **** they have to deal with. Then you have the computer field where I could possibly see myself as a programmer or a designer of websites and stuff like that. I already design websites for fun. But, then I heard that programmers where having trouble getting jobs. I guess you have to be creative. I think I will probably end up in school for programming and then I am going to push off into networking. Then once I have experience in that, i'll take up busines and try and start somthing on my own. Hows that sound? All I am looking for is a good pay and security. But, then again I want to learn about cars I DON'T KNOW!!! Well, I am not doing anyof this until my car is done. After my car is done I should be able to tell whether I REALLY interested in cars or not. I mean atleast to the point that I want to make a career out of it. THIS SUCKS!!!!

[ChrisBennet]

I know 5 car mechanics/shop owners and they all seem to work really long hours during the week and Saturday morning on top of that. None of them are wealthy. They all seem to be happy though.
-Chris

[951carter]

PCNA sends their guys to UTI now. If you talked to your local dealer, they will usually pay for it as long as you agree to work for them for X amount of years. Take it from me.........Self-Employment is the only way to fly......IT'S THE AMERICAN WAY!!
My mechanic/friend works M-F 9-5 and I have never seen him work a saturday in 7-8 years - not even on his own cars(unless at the track)!! He has been doing this for 20 years
After 10+ years of self-employment myself, I could never work for someone else. If i want to take off a day and work on my cars, I do. In fact, i'm going to do just that tomorrow.

[overkill]

Being self - employed seems to be the way to go. I think I am going to stay with computers then take auto after for fun.

[Scott R]

First off, it sucks! I know first hand as this is how I put myself through college. I am an ASE certified mechanic. I worked at a dealer for three years, specifically a Cadillac dealer, and then for Pontiac for a year. Here is the main problem, and my knowledge only applies to big dealer work, not mom and pop shops.

Every job pays a certain amount by the book. So let’s say for example that you replace a water pump on a 92 F body Firebird. The book says that the job pays .60 or 6/10 tenths of an hour. Now I can tell you that even the BEST guys in the shop can't get that car racked, and then get the pump in and out in .60. So let’s say in actuality it takes you 1 and 1/2 hours. You have now lost the time between .60 and the additional time that it took you to do the job right.

So with that being said you can work 12 hours at the shop and really only "flag" (get paid for) 8. This is why you read in one of the above posts that mechanics seem to be working long hours and on Saturdays.

Now this leads into another issue, most shops have a dispatcher, or a service writer that is responsible for dolling out the work to the techs. Let’s say that this guy really likes one of the wrenches in the back and gives him all of the "gravy" work. Well then that guy gets to make all of the easy money while your tracking down inop dome lights that only pays .20 an hour to diagnose. So seniority plays a HUGE role in this.


Don't get me wrong I made enough money to pay for college and a modest apartment in downtown Denver. But I was just barely making ends meet. I never saw anyone getting rich from it though. Except maybe the service writers. Also you need to enjoy being greasy, cold and sick most of the winter, as they keep opening that damn garage door with its like 20 deg out.

[SoCal Driver]

Scott,

I worked for a couple of VW dealers in Colorado Springs in the early 70's and they were as cut throat as your experiances.

Also worked for a couple of dealers here in SoCal and didn't have any of the "favorite son" problems.

[kenny]

IT probably depends somewhat on whether or not you own the place. The Honda guy I use sometimes (when I ain't got the time or inclination,) used to manage the service dept. for one of the big Honda dealers in town. He probably did alright. But when he opened up his own shop -- and took a lot of buisness with him, plus the dealer isn't skimming off the top -- I think he is doing pretty well. He has move from a decent sized shop to a much bigger shop and you have to stand in line to get your car into his place. He now has several employees (and I can only assume it's his turn to act as slavemaster).

I think it is like most things, if you do an excellent job and don't go around screwin' folks, you'll have as much buisness as you can handle. If you have an exotic car place, where the customer tolerated higher labor rates for you expertice then you would do significantly better. The reason must Porsche mechanics are so expensive is often he works on your car himself -- and Gunter ain't cheap.

The more global problem is that this is hard demanding physical work. If something happenes to you -- what are you going to fall back on? If you train your brain, then short of getting hit in the head real hard, you can always get work even if there is some physical imparement. Earn your way through school mechanic-ing, and after you graduate, if you have found you really can't get enough of it -- go for it -- you'll always have your degree to fall back on. Just make sure you are working on very expensive cars so you can charge extra!

[AFJuvat]

I do some work on the side for a local garage - Deals on the parts are great, plus access to all the special tools, lifts etc.

The shop is one of the more reasonable ones in the area, only charge $65/hour.

There is currently a 2 week wait to get your car worked on, and the owner has 4 911's - to include 2 of the 85 factory slantnoses (44 were built)

I think he does pretty well

AFJuvat

[951carter]

If you love doing it, you will do well.
If you hate it and are just trying to make a living, you will do just that.

[overkill]

I don't know, I think I'll stick with computers and play mechanic as a hobby.

[todwic]

If you hate it and are just trying to make a living, you will do just that.
If you love doing it, you will do well.

Ne'er were truer words spoken! Well spaked, carter.

[944jeff]

Overkill,

Stick with the computers if you are good at it. I'm like working with my hands too and never thought I'd find myself sitting behind a desk. I did all kinds of work before I ended up where I am, working for the largest IT research company around. The industry is still just getting started with huge demand for skilled workers and the opportunities endless if you strive to better yourself. Healthcare is also a growing field. My father was a Buick dealer mechanic for 20 years at the same location. He had to deal with the younger guys kissing butt and getting the gravy work and one day management pissed him off enough he just packed his tools, never looked back and has been basically poorly retired since. On the other hand, I have a friend who is single and 40 and has been running an "exotic car" body shop for 10 years and does pretty well. I watched him fix a newer BMW front end collision and make $14K in two weeks. But sometimes he is changing light bulbs to make a buck. He tells me he wants to get out of the business and only work on his own toys. As others mentioned here, you get older and if something happens to you are out of commission. I don't like sitting behind my desk but I am banking the good money I make and will go the entreprenurial route someday. Decisions like yours are hard to make in life and can change for future forever. Figurure out what you want out of life and what it takes to get you there. Goals and determination will make you successful in any line of work.

[overkill]

Now those are words of wisdom. Bravo 944jeff, I really needed that. I am going to stick with computers. I am very good with them.