Pros/Cons Of Working For a Dealership

NYSpeed Automotive NYSpeed Off Topic
1

This dealership that I frequent is hiring…
So the story goes, I walk into the parts dept. and talk to the guy I always talk to and he asks if I want a job there. I tell him, “well, I’ve considered it a few times but, I hear the horro stories of getting the shit jobs or how when its dead u dont get paid…as well.” He tells me that its not ~that~ bad. BUT, even though he knows all the stuff I’ve done on my car, I dont have any “on paper” experience. So, he’d have to start me as a C Tech AKA the “lube bish.” I tell him nah, I tell him what I got at my last job and tells me he can start me at $10hr. THEN, when I “prove” myself I can move up fo sho.
So, what Im gettin at…for all u guys that are A,B, or C techs is it worth it? What do u like about ur jobs, what do u hate? I KNOW that even when I get to a B tech Im gonna get the shit jobs because the guys that have been there are gonna keep tight and screw the new guy.

Thanks guys!

2

b techs dont have it so bad. at my dealer last summer, c techs didnt exactly do shit work, just kind less thoughtfull stuff. they usually hire a kid or something to do lube jobs, but everyone does them…at least where i worked.

a techs tend to do the harder jobs, finding electrical faults, pita complaints ( car makes slight rattle when its 23 degrees out, over slight bumps on left hand turns… intermitent faults.)engine work, but our a tech did have our service writer by the balls, so he would, and was able to deny jobs.

b techs do alot of hard work but not as hard as the a tech, emissions faults, evap leaks, brakes, also diagnosis

c techs, do a lot of jobs that dont involve alot of thinking, brakes, tune ups, warranty, suspension, tires

but that was just one shop, everyone did everything, just some did certain jobs more than others. i did a lot of inspections, brakes, alignments,and oil last summer…its not so bad, but i was paid hourly.i also got to help out the guys who have been there on harder jobs. i helped out a tech put a cluth in a new c6 :slight_smile: .

3

My buddy works as a parts guy for a major dealership here. He works his balls off, he only made like 30 grand last year.

He works every saturday, and alot of 10 hour days.

Its thankless work for the most part.

4

I was a service writer for 2 years. We would work 3 days on, 3 days off for a month then rotate. You would work Mon, Tue, Weds, then switch to Thirs, Fri, Sat. It would be great every other month because you would get a full week off. The other month it would suck because you would work 6 days in a row.

Oh yea did I mention the days were 7:30am to 9pm.
Totally sucked working the thurs, fri, sat when you usually go out drinking those days.

And it didn’t help that the service manager was a tool that didn’t know shit about cars but was friends with the owner in college and got his job that way. That hint should give him away pretty easily.

5

Here we go.

I went to School for GM as a Tech. I have all of my ASE certifications plus my advanced level certifications. I think I know what I am doing. My superiors always respected my knowledge and credentials but when it came to pay it didn’t really mean shit.

Plain and simple. If you can fix a car and fix it fast you will make $$$ Don’t expect to make more than $20 an hour around Buffalo EVER. Even after you have been in it for 10 years.

If you went down south they would start you at 16-18 an hour. My friend Darren is making 32 an hour as an A tech in a dealer in Atlanta. Great for him but sucks to be here. That’s why he moved.

Working on cars tears you up fo sho. I don’t know any other job where the following things are applied.

  1. You are expected to learn and be an expert in all cars at all times.
  2. Your job is 100% physical
  3. For those who perform Diagnostics and are good at it, your job is 100% mental and 100% physical…this was me.
  4. You have to pay for your own tools in order to work, expect no less than a $30,000 dollar investment to be able to cover most shit that comes your way and efficiently…efficiency is the key to making money.
  5. Cars change every year and sometimes half a year. The human body hasn’t changed in oh I don’t know 10,000 years. Food for thought

Cars are a hobby. Go to school make the big bucks, play with cars and enjoy life. Work on them for a living and it takes the fun out of it sometimes. Unless you are a diehard.

It’s nice to be able to afford to build a nice car and not just work on them…take it from me.:nite: :meh:

6

[quote=“Carnut,post:5,topic:25515"”]

Here we go.

I went to School for GM as a Tech. I have all of my ASE certifications plus my advanced level certifications. I think I know what I am doing. My superiors always respected my knowledge and credentials but when it came to pay it didn’t really mean shit.

Plain and simple. If you can fix a car and fix it fast you will make $$$ Don’t expect to make more than $20 an hour around Buffalo EVER. Even after you have been in it for 10 years.

If you went down south they would start you at 16-18 an hour. My friend Darren is making 32 an hour as an A tech in a dealer in Atlanta. Great for him but sucks to be here. That’s why he moved.

Working on cars tears you up fo sho. I don’t know any other job where the following things are applied.

  1. You are expected to learn and be an expert in all cars at all times.
  2. Your job is 100% physical
  3. For those who perform Diagnostics and are good at it, your job is 100% mental and 100% physical…this was me.
  4. You have to pay for your own tools in order to work, expect no less than a $30,000 dollar investment to be able to cover most shit that comes your way and efficiently…efficiency is the key to making money.
  5. Cars change every year and sometimes half a year. The human body hasn’t changed in oh I don’t know 10,000 years. Food for thought

Cars are a hobby. Go to school make the big bucks, play with cars and enjoy life. Work on them for a living and it takes the fun out of it sometimes. Unless you are a diehard.

It’s nice to be able to afford to build a nice car and not just work on them…take it from me.:nite: :meh:

[/quote]

very, very well put. after my second year of school, and one summer of working, im beginning to think that working on oem cars is not what i wanna do :confused:

7

Carnut, you’ve said pretty much what I’ve seen/heard about working on cars for a living for years. I’ve always been warned about everything listed esp. the back problems, and shit pay. I think if anything, I’d rather work on performance cars.
I was a “robomatic technician” (repaired, maintained) big robotic machines. I love working on cars but, through all the cars I’ve worked on, on the side…its the people that I’ve done STOCK replacement/service on that complain and “self diagnose” that get to me. I guess I’ll be sticking with my previous plan and go back to school for CNC programming. It’ll be nice to have an assoc. in elec. tech. and one in industrial tech. :slight_smile:

8

good luck :slight_smile:

9

LOL. Over the last 6 years or so, I’ve met hundreds of people that work in every car-related field, from service, bodywork, sales, parts, etc. Whenever I’ve told anyone who is a mechanic that I want a car-related career, the first thing out of their mouths is always “don’t be a mechanic”. I think they are trying to tell me something. Not that it matters, as my car fixing skills have never improved much in all the years of owning tons of old cars on a budget. :smiley: I suck at fixing anything, period. I’d rather strip 'em and sell the parts, I’ve found my niche in the automotive world.

10

[quote=“camarojoe,post:4,topic:25515"”]

I was a service writer for 2 years. We would work 3 days on, 3 days off for a month then rotate. You would work Mon, Tue, Weds, then switch to Thirs, Fri, Sat. It would be great every other month because you would get a full week off. The other month it would suck because you would work 6 days in a row.

Oh yea did I mention the days were 7:30am to 9pm.
Totally sucked working the thurs, fri, sat when you usually go out drinking those days.

And it didn’t help that the service manager was a tool that didn’t know shit about cars but was friends with the owner in college and got his job that way. That hint should give him away pretty easily.

[/quote]

100% TRUE…I had the same schedule when i used to work at Northtown TWS

11

+1 to sak and carnut

i found it out the hard way.

not many people are made out to be a mechanic. It sucks, its tough, and not fun. Like carnut said take it as a hobby, not a career.

12

haha thats what they told me when i started last summer…you wanna be a mechanic? wtf is wrong with you?

13

I’ve been working at a Toyota dealer for a year now and the job isn’t bad and the pay is great for a 1st year tech. At our shop theres either A techs or lube techs. It doesn’t matter what comes through at my shop, if you get that ticket you’re expected to know how to fix it or you’re out the door. I have all 8 of the regular ASE’s but like carnut said people respect your knowledge but pay is still shit for the most part. I’m leaving this field in 2 weeks for a job in commercial realestate. Being a tech isn’t horrible but look forward to bad knees, bad back, and mental stress from some cars that will just kick your ass.

14

You need to become a flat rate artist…

15

[quote=“Boomin99GT,post:13,topic:25515"”]

I’ve been working at a Toyota dealer for a year now and the job isn’t bad and the pay is great for a 1st year tech. At our shop theres either A techs or lube techs. It doesn’t matter what comes through at my shop, if you get that ticket you’re expected to know how to fix it or you’re out the door. I have all 8 of the regular ASE’s but like carnut said people respect your knowledge but pay is still shit for the most part. I’m leaving this field in 2 weeks for a job in commercial realestate. Being a tech isn’t horrible but look forward to bad knees, bad back, and mental stress from some cars that will just kick your ass.

[/quote]

Who are you going to be working with? I’m with RealtyUSA and I know some guys the work for Hunt’s commerical divison.

16

i would stay away, i worked selling cars for 2.5 years, sucked major, made some nice money but was hell otherwise

17

[quote=“Boomin99GT,post:13,topic:25515"”]

I’ve been working at a Toyota dealer for a year now and the job isn’t bad and the pay is great for a 1st year tech. At our shop theres either A techs or lube techs. It doesn’t matter what comes through at my shop, if you get that ticket you’re expected to know how to fix it or you’re out the door. I have all 8 of the regular ASE’s but like carnut said people respect your knowledge but pay is still shit for the most part. I’m leaving this field in 2 weeks for a job in commercial realestate. Being a tech isn’t horrible but look forward to bad knees, bad back, and mental stress from some cars that will just kick your ass.

[/quote]

That’s the thing the pay is ok when you are young but when you get to the age of about 23-26 when your friends who went to school and got an good education are starting a job that makes more than you after 5 years and you will never have the potential to make that much it just doesn’t make sense. Work smart, not hard.

I wish I would have learned this years ago. Everyone said it. I was too dumb to listen. I like working on cars. I hate dealing with all the other bullshit that comes along with my job. It’s all I know, and all I know well. So with that said. Go to school and get a good job.

Don

18

[quote=“Carnut,post:17,topic:25515"”]

I wish I would have learned this years ago. Everyone said it. I was too dumb to listen. I like working on cars. I hate dealing with all the other bullshit that comes along with my job. It’s all I know, and all I know well. So with that said. Go to school and get a good job.

Don

[/quote]

Its a good idea, but my $100,000 education didnt pay the bills either. In the corporate world, your intelligence is inversely proportional to your salary. If I was an average meathead that loved conference calls, mission statements and kissing ass, Id be in the money.
young + smart + efficient = Peter Gibbons life

19

Pick another path I worked with a lot of techs…People were making good money but they were busting their ass…and you def hit a wall with how much you can make.

Its a good hobby don’t make it a living.

20

My uncle has been a master tech for 30+ years. He used to work for a porsche dealer in Columbus, Ohio. He was beating the book every day, and basically cheating himself.

He was working on not only porsche, but other high end exotic/luxo cars, and was basically making the owner rich, and making himself tired.

He has a house on about 2 acres of land in a rural town outside columbus.

He built a free standing steel building, and now runs his own shop, and took alot of his customers with him (thats what 35 years experience does).

Any given day that I go there, I will see luxo cars lined up in front of his garage ready for service.

Timing belts, clutches, everything. He gets the full rate for himself, not someone else.

There is very low overhead, but he did say that he had 45,000 worth of tools. I totally believe him, everything he owns is snapon or mac.

His wife, my aunt, is an accountant. She does all his books for him.

He couldn’t be happier, get up in the morning, and walk into your backyard to start work when you want to do it, and stop when you want to stop.

Drink a couple beers at lunch, and nobody says anything to you.

Thats really the ideal mechanic’s life.