thanks Eric if I pass the remaining 4 in November I will be master certified we should go for a drive sometime - i'll give you a ride in my Z06
If you intend to work in a county that has emissions testing, get your L1 as soon as you can. L1 will get you hired faster than any other certification. Being good with a 5 gas analyzer is worth it's weight in gold. good luck
YEAH! You beat me to it! L1 was a BIYATCH!! Especially since we have no emissions testing down here in the Southern Republic of Loozeeana. My first time I was like, 5 gas-huh-wha-analyzer?!?I'm ASE Master and am 5 of 9 for GM World Class Master Certified. It's good to see some young blood coming into the bizness! Congrats! and Good Luck! Dave
I was looking over the bill from having our van repaired at the dealer last week. I realized that the labor rate that they charge is now higher than the median rate my company charges for experienced IT professionals. Good work on the exams, and good choice for a career change. Good luck.
thanks for all the support and advice everyone i also have heard that the L1 test is TOUGH!!! i'm at Lincoln Tech doing the automotive program, have gone through about 6 or 7 classes so far then i bought this pack of 11 ASE book study guides for $150 to help me prepare, apparently they worked
LOL! Those ASE study guides are the ONLY reason I was able to pass Automatic Transmission/Transaxle! Smart move! Dave
Thats because IT guys don't have to buy hoists, scan tools (many different ones) tools, have a big shop, employ a bunch of techs and have to pay them, have a showroom with cars in it, have cars on the lot to sell, pay heat hydro, telephone, technical training classes. Have to have parts in stock, oil in big bulk bins, pay for oil disposal, pay for tire disposal battery disposal..etc. The list goes on and on. If you want to drive a car, you gotta pay to fix it. Thinks about the mechanic who has had to spend big dollars of HIS OWN money for tools, think of the wear and tear on his body, this of all the solvents etc that he breaths in a day..and you wonder why you gotta pay to fix your car? A mechanic does NOT get paid what you see on the door rate. He may be paid 23 bucks an hour. The money we make to bust up our bodies is pitiful when compaired to a guy whom sits in a air conditioned office and punches keys.
Amen Brother.....preach the gospel. That is the reason I have an interview tomorrow morning at the local community college to become an automotive tech instructor. The pay is less, but the body can't take too many more years of abuse.
That hurts big time..hope you get better soon! Fortunatly I have been blessed with a strong back, but she still achs from time to time.
heheheh... I can hear it now at SPCC... "Professor Duke? I just rounded the head off of this bolt, now what do I do?"
wow, thanks for the replies guys all of you that are techs/mechanics, tell me a little bit about yourself, like where you work and how you got there! thanks funny you say that, that's pretty much exactly the case for just about EVERY instructor here at licoln tech
Independant Ferrari tech here. Just sorta fell into it. Was out looking to buy an older Ferrari on my day off one day, walked into a high end used car dealership, got to talking with the owner, I told him I was a mechanic..he offered me a job..haven't looked back since. I also service Lambos, Porshe, Benz, BMW ans now I'm also a certifed Ducati tech aswell. I started out working on domestic cars, used to be a really big Corvette fan (still am). Then I got sick and tired of working on rusty junk and minivans. I was about to leave the trade until my current position came up. I have become just as comfortable under the hood of a GM as a Ferrari because of the vast amount of cars I have worked on in the past. i have done engine rebuilds in the C5 vette and an engine out in a C4 Vette, then I did a disc brake converstion on a 58 Vette, and did an overhaul on an E-type..all in the same winter. I have now 3 TRs at the shop and today I jst finished tearing down the engine on a Ducati S4R for warrenty repairs. I just deliverd a 360 for service work last week, and did a full PPi on a 355 spider. This weekend I have to make a house call for a customer with a 360..no directional signals. All this leads up to one thing..Learn as much as you can. Get your hands dirty..be a pest to those you work with..find out everything you can and soak it all in. MOST IMPRTANTLY!! if you don't know how to do somthing ASK!! don't fake it!! Don't ever try to cover a mistake. And do the job right the first time. There will be screw ups along the way..everybody does it. But do the best you can, and be honest with yourself and your abilites. Have a good score in class is great, but it does not teach you how to use your head in a hands on situation. That only comes from experiance. I have seen guys who come in and tell me they passed auto with 90% grades..tell them to remove a starter on a front drive GM and they are lost. Working on cars is not easy or fun somtimes. You must be willing stick it out and not get discouraged. If this is what you really want to do..I welcome you to a dying trade. If you become good at what you do, you will get paid very well for it. But you have to show that you are worth it, and build a name for yourself. Be honest and truthful..these two words are what will gain you respect from customers.
Professor Duke? That has kind of a strange sound. Sorta like "jumbo shrimp" I will probably tell them the same thing I was told. "You dumbass, now your screwed" LOL!!!
Well, it's pretty boring stuff. Loved cars in high school. Big time into drag racing. Had an 11 second streetable 70 Camaro. Went to college on an academic scholarship in architecture. Flunked out because I preferred drinking and sleeping late. Wound up at a community college with no ambition except I liked cars. First job out of college, Jaguar, Triumph. MG, Datsun dealership. Lordy, those cars were garbage in the late seventies. Moved to Toyota on June 5, 1979. Been there ever since. Master Diagnostic Technician, ASE Master since 1980. Toyota Master Skills Contest Finalist 1989. Group Leader and I have trained every Toyota Technician in Lubbock. Tired of fixing cars.....desperately want out. I can see that. Auto repair at the dealership level is a young man's game. Our flat-rate has been going down for several years now. I used to easily run 140-160 hours every two weeks. Now 80 hours in two weeks is a good pay period. There is less and less maintenance every year. Toyota now has 100K plugs, antifreeze, and trans fluid. Brakes now last 60-70K, and T-belts are being phased out. Hybrid cars will be 50% of Toyota's production by 2010. Hybrids are not my idea of fun. I am the only Prius/Highlander certified tech in my store, and I despise the damn things. I had rather take an ass-whipping. If your instructors at Lincoln felt half as bad as I do, they made the right choice. I am quietly hopeful this interview tomorrow is my ticket out. Good luck on your new career. As tbakowsky said, there is good money to be made in auto repair. There is always a demand for good techs. Good techs are as rare as ice water in hell. Stay current, go to all the schools they will send you to, and do the job right the first time.
