Flat Rate pay needs to stop for new techs! #automotive #technician #mechanic #automotivetechnician

[jeffwhite]

Even old tech me with some money. I got back into wrenching. Still have my old suite of snap-on and I just about had a heart attack at snap-on tool prices today.

Harbor Freight it is!😂

[davidweimer]

Haha, I have an Associate Degree in Automotive Technology, 12 years experience, and $50k in tools, and I don't even work in the field anymore. I hear your pain brother!

[FCRX]

I'm 28, 40k worth of tools, 10yrs in the field and an associates degree in automotive tech and I hate it I enjoyed it working on my own cars and when I first started off it felt good being the person that "saves the day" and the satisfaction from a hard day's work doesn't put food in my or my cat's stomach, doesn't pay my taxes and doesn't put gas in my car the auto industry as a whole just fucks you and pays you like a cheap whore best line that sums up the auto industry "boss makes a thousand I make a buck that's why I cut the cats from the company truck"

[desertsoldier]

The Fair Labor Act needs a 21st century update.

[davepalmer]

Same experience. I have easily over 100k in tools and did it for 12 years. Much better opportunities for way more money. Mechanics get treated like trash. Burns scratches and scars up and down the arms and never go a day with clean fingernails. Hvac license, electrical, plumber. And get paid half of what they make. Having to pay 200 a week health insurance, and have a bad reputation from customers always thinking everyone is trying to rip them off. We should all quit, and no one fix their cars.

[derbestrafen]

I've been a flat-rate tech for 29 years. Went to college first, got a worthless degree, then went into the Army and got out looking for a new career path. Thought I would give turning a wrench for a living a try, and started out flat rate on day one. I struggled for the first couple of years, learning as I went. I have only $15, 000 in tools and never bought anything from a Truck Tool Pirate. I make just under $200, 000 annually and have been with the same company for 23 years. Flate rate isn't for the faint of heart, you have to hustle but it can for sure pay off if you get good service managers that know how to get the workflow going quick and smoothly.

[schrodingerscat]

I’m still rocking the same toolbox I purchased in 1999 from the mechanic that was leaving where I started. I paid $900 for the toolbox and a bunch of tools. I certainly have added to that collection, but I only purchased what I needed. Instead of blowing 100K on tools, I purchased a nice piece of property, put up a 1500 square-foot garage, purchased a lift, a craigslist mig welder and some other inexpensive basic tools. After Covid when we had a shut down at work, I decided turning wrenches for other people is foolish and went to work for myself. I work hard in the spring summer and fall, and take it easy in the winter, in fact I’m lounging on the couch right now after throwing some more word in the stove. Going to the Philippines for a month while I have some time and then back to work in the spring. If you do it right, you can enjoy life a little bit.

[RichThiele]

I've got an estimated $50, 000 (probably double that to replace them all today) sitting in my home garage since retiring at 59 last March. How many other professions are there that require that large of investment? Add in average tech pay, the daily stress, the phyical (and mental) damage done to the body. A tech has to be an electrician, electronics/computer system expert, machinist, a engine and drivetrain expert, diagnostics whiz, etc. Also the way vehicles are designed an engineered to be almost impossible to repair and it's no wonder there's a tech shortage. It's made even worse by dealerships and indy shops that pay flat-rape with ridiculously low labor times, ESPECIALLY new car warranty. In ten years, who's going to maintain and repair vehicles???? I was lucky to work at a great shop, with an awesome boss and the paid
hourly with OT after 40 hrs, and they stress QUALITY over quantity. For me it was the vehicles that made me decide to retire. When you have to take the front doors off on a 2017 Ford Fusion to change the heater core, it's time to be done with it. BTW, retirement is awesome!

[chrisscott]

And dealership charges 130+per hour but in reality their techs make at most probably 25 per hr and has to furnish all the tools.

[Carelock]

I work at a Fleet Shop. I made $80k last year and am on pace to beat that this year. Great benefits as well. They pay for my uniforms and boots. Company buys most specialty tools. We even get a small allowance on the Snappy truck. I’ve never done flat rate and couldn’t imagine doing so with the horror stories I hear. Good luck to you, hope I gave you something to consider…

[harold]

You need to ask the age old question. Do you work to buy tools or buy tools to work! I can’t talk as I am the worlds worse😂

[MostGenericUser]

Flat rate needs a really well ran shop with great customers and cars to actually benefit the technician and not just the shop getting free labor. Problem is most shops aren't well ran and a lot of factors outside the technicians control will affect their hours. As you said if your not very experienced flat rate will almost always see you losing a little bit of time on jobs each week. Only way to do it is to start at a good hourly place where you can get a lot of experience doing every kind of job imaginable and then go specialize on a certain car at a dealer for flat rate. Learning while having to worry about rushing everything you do and everyone around you is rushing and doesn't have time to help is a horrible way to learn.

[fredted]

30 yrs turning wrenches for the dealerships, then Covid came and I seen a way out. I now work as a Patient Care Tech along side my wife at the local hospital. 80k a yr job. Still work on our own stuff though, only trust myself to do the work. Good thing is I have an endless supply of surgical gloves to do it with 😂

[Hbear]

Do you know how the generation before you and me became mechanics? They Apprenticed on farms repairing and learning how to break down farm equipment - tractors, trucks, jeeps, crawlers, cherry-pickers… whatever was on the farm needed fixing that day that the mechanic needed help with, they learned how to do on the job with manuals and a professional by their side. Tools were provided by the job and the learner started slowly acquiring tools along the way.

At some point they ended up working on cars and trucks for the farm. Because everything on the farm is part of the farm equipment! If the team did not know exactly how to fix it, you read a book that broke down the engine with diagrams. This made chasing fixes into an adventure of learning how to be a mechanic.

Today is definitely different. I have respect for mechanics and technicians because you have to learn a lot and know a lot - especially if you are not at a one make dealership. Those are good and valuable skills; even if you choose to no longer utilize them.

[robertfrate]

Hi, this gentleman speaks facts, it’s not worth it anymore to be a technician, nobody will pay you what your worth and you pay thousands of dollars in tools plus technical training at a tech school if you go to a tech school!

[jonathanmoore]

Damn right i’m 70k into tools and still barely making $

[alkalionpower]

I know someone who’s still paying off their snap on tools and don’t work as a mechanic anymore.

[smeerdsn]

Honestly man, I started low at a family owned shop with decades of experience around me. I've tried flat rate, yeah it's good money but the stress it carries, to me at least, isn't worth it. Hourly has never done me wrong in the last 12 years of doing this. Got quite a bit of money in my tools and they've more than paid for themselves. Different strokes for different folks, I know.

[jarodplouffe]

that’s why i’m going to school for diesel! most jobs are hourly & overtime isn’t always required. 40 a week that’s all i got for ya. the only thing that money cannot buy is time and that’s why your time will always be more valuable than your paycheck.

[mikegormley]

I work at a Subaru dealer there is at least 3 maybe 4 flat rate techs making more to double what their manager is making