All good points, but where you gonna go? You just described 99.9% of shops out there. This industry is so dysfunctional. Even if you can survive the shop abuse long enough to go independent, then it just transfers over to the general public trying to nickel and dime you to death.
Your right! I have seen changes in dealerships that are absolutely criminal. And there is no labor dept that would ever do anything to help you! Its like a disease, every place has it and nobody cares. Everyone uses the Old saying that you can make more money at McDonalds, but nobody leaves. Once you're a tech for a few years it's almost impossible to switch to a mundane job unless your life depends on it.,so we just go on suffering.!
@@bigmac-k5t I’ve felt the same way for yrs. I’ve done it all from dealerships, to family owned, to going independent. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, and I’m tired of suffering . I shut my shop down this summer, to lower my blood pressure, and get some projects done around the house. Idk what I’ll do next. I’m thinking about just finding something part time, hell the home depot near me pays $17 - $20 an hr and using my shop to flip a few cars, trucks, boats, etc to make up the difference. It shouldn’t be this way, but it is and I don’t think it’ll change until the last one of us shuts our box for good. Good luck out there!
@@Adam-kk7nw Chick fil a pay 20! But when your used to being a tech it's hard to transition. Seen a lot try a then come back or more like sucked back in!
@@Adam-kk7nw T mobile near me is paying $20 + an hr to sell cell phone contracts. I see shops and other trades looking for help still offering $16 - $25. At this point I just laugh.
My experience has been that everyone claims to have great ethics until it's time to do the right thing. The second it costs the shop money, the service managers and owners seem to have endless excuses for why this situation is different; but don't worry, they always say they will do the right thing next time.
Saw that a few times at the dealer, also saw an EV written up for its "First free oil change" that came with every used cars. Lube kid was very confused on that one.
All good points. How did our profession manage to sink so low ? The same greed affects our parts suppliers (overseas sources) The same mindset that causes consumers to seek out cheapest repair options and “coupon” specials on brakes, tires, oil changes etc. Those are usually bait and switch tactics at their best. No business expects that customer to really leave with just spending that little on repairs The whole middle and lower class live by these standards. I’m for capitalism but only if I make my money honestly. I owned a shop 36 great years. Wish my body could have held up. I’m now 70. Just helped two former long time customers find replacement cars. RUclips has helped a lot to keep up with our industry. Your channel attracted my attention from the name FRM. Dealer I worked for 14 years went from hourly to FR back in early 70’s. Decision was driven by greed at corporate level. It was pushed on a great employer who eventually became a money miser. Never looked back when I opened own shop in 1986. Paid all my folks hourly plus hefty bonus at Christmas. Very few regrets on that policy. Made lots of mistakes over 50 year career but hourly pay was not one of them. Thanks for reading. I am the Retired Old Mechanic 🙃
Capitalism is great when there are robust worker protections, unions, ect. to keep the playing field as fair as possible and keep greed at bay. Unfortunately these things have been in steady decline for decades. Much respect for you going out and doing your own thing in the face of these large corporations, I hope to do the same someday soon. Tired of busting my butt for people who barely work and don't respect our skills while getting almost all the profits
@@theawesomeguy9999That was biggest motivation. Working tail off and someone else reaping benefits. Found areas where the owner was billing sales and parts expenses to service department convinced me it was time to move. I wish you the best if you can make the move. My advice : Stay small. Pick your customers and type of jobs. Don’t have customer charge accounts. Don’t try to be a jack of all brands. Work on the ones you’re best equipped and suited. Otherwise you’ll have tools with one use and stored. Don’t be afraid to say no. Customers can drive you to brink of insanity and stress. Again I say pick your customers. Del
It took 17yrs to get out of the automotive business entirely. The last 2 of those years doing nothing but ADAS calibrations/programming/diagnostics certainly helped. The stars aligned and I had the right connections and some hobby projects that got my foot in the door doing entry level software development and data analytics. It took 14mo to go from a “capability hire” at a ~$20k pay cut to making more than I ever did as a tech. Good mechanics with strong diagnostic skills are good at solving problems - automotive is by far one of the lowest paying industries for the skills/knowledge needed at the top level. I sometimes miss the “simplicity” of automotive work, but the flexible hours, PTO, and long-term considerably higher pay ceiling are well worth it.
Glad I made the switch to industrial maintenance/millwright. Lots more hours but lots more pay too! The first reason you gave is why I left my last shop reconditioning used vehicles. Ethics right out the window and playing the calculated risk game with the customers.
When it comes to dealerships once they stop consistently having washer fluid, brake cleaner, and gloves in stock. It’s time to go, just went thru this went about 2 weeks without brake clean. Starting a new job this Wednesday
On flat rate yeah but when you’re hourly it’s not as big a deal. A lot of time I diag cars and then someone else fixes it to keep the work flow moving.
Tomorrow I'm having to do mandatory sales training for 2 hrs. I'm a tech . This is a huge red flag for me. Along with heavily suggested early pm recommendations. E.g diff at 25 or 30k ect. Would you say it's time to start looking?
I had 3 employers who did not pay into my social security. Two of them are already deceased so nothing I can do about it. These businesses no longer exist.
Flat rate needs to be abolished without a guarantee. They gotta pass a nationwide law for this like they did in California back in 2013. I would jump ship if my shop tried switching us to flat rate
@@MrChickenspit if you can’t afford to pay your staff when they are at work you can’t run a business. Why should they suffer if there is no work at times?
What’s the signs for an owner its time to move on to another venture? Adapting to the generational emotional environment of employees expectations becomes tiring. Having plenty of work for everyone becomes a struggle of who gets the gravy.
Yeah this is the other side of Mike's commentary that most will leave out. Had a foreman leave who was making 100K per year. Told him that I couldn't afford to pay him more. I wasn't taking a salary so that I could pay him and the other techs a little more than they could get elsewhere. Still wasn't enough. In the end, his departure was a good thing. Have a foreman now who likes to work on cars. As long as he is paid for what he does, he is happy. That said, I'm growing weary of the crap. The problem is that I can't get out right now without taking a loss, so I must remain in the fight. Another day in paradise as an owner who doesn't take a salary, works for free and still receives too much ingratitude from those who surround him. Good times!
Im headed back to a factory job an out of the industry. Work three days aweek an nake more money. Can one make a living turning an burning yea but i would rather work for me than be tokd to commit fraud as a state inspection worker
Signs it's time to leave... and quickly discover it's all the same crap everywhere just a different toilet location. Looking for greener grass is how you discover it does not exist, only dirt hole over here and manure mountain over there. If you're at an always busy profitable garage with benevolent owners and supportive management, consider yourself among a very lucky one percent in my opinion.
That is the nature of our business. At least the car models change pretty regular. Doctors perform “procedures”. They are repetitious. Nothing has changed on the human body in a long time. The main difference is they make big bucks $$$$$$
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
All good points, but where you gonna go? You just described 99.9% of shops out there. This industry is so dysfunctional. Even if you can survive the shop abuse long enough to go independent, then it just transfers over to the general public trying to nickel and dime you to death.
Your right! I have seen changes in dealerships that are absolutely criminal. And there is no labor dept that would ever do anything to help you! Its like a disease, every place has it and nobody cares. Everyone uses the Old saying that you can make more money at McDonalds, but nobody leaves. Once you're a tech for a few years it's almost impossible to switch to a mundane job unless your life depends on it.,so we just go on suffering.!
Panda express is paying 18.75 per hour
@@bigmac-k5t I’ve felt the same way for yrs. I’ve done it all from dealerships, to family owned, to going independent. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, and I’m tired of suffering . I shut my shop down this summer, to lower my blood pressure, and get some projects done around the house. Idk what I’ll do next. I’m thinking about just finding something part time, hell the home depot near me pays $17 - $20 an hr and using my shop to flip a few cars, trucks, boats, etc to make up the difference. It shouldn’t be this way, but it is and I don’t think it’ll change until the last one of us shuts our box for good. Good luck out there!
@@Adam-kk7nw Chick fil a pay 20! But when your used to being a tech it's hard to transition. Seen a lot try a then come back or more like sucked back in!
@@Adam-kk7nw T mobile near me is paying $20 + an hr to sell cell phone contracts. I see shops and other trades looking for help still offering $16 - $25. At this point I just laugh.
My experience has been that everyone claims to have great ethics until it's time to do the right thing. The second it costs the shop money, the service managers and owners seem to have endless excuses for why this situation is different; but don't worry, they always say they will do the right thing next time.
When one tech is fed well and the others get the scraps time to move on especially if you know your worth
Miro!!! 1840, this is about you!
I need to.leave mine, however when i keave this one im going to do something else. Maybe even work at lowes or something
My favorite is the wallet flush……seen many invoices of power steering flushes on cars with electric racks
This is how guys end up signing over their personal cars to people who don't play.
Its called a reverse electron flush, get on board!
Saw that a few times at the dealer, also saw an EV written up for its "First free oil change" that came with every used cars. Lube kid was very confused on that one.
If you don’t know what your vehicle has then that’s on you
@@victorjay9586 no, it's on the professional you're paying to service it to be honest about what you're paying for.
All good points. How did our profession manage to sink so low ?
The same greed affects our parts suppliers (overseas sources)
The same mindset that causes consumers to seek out cheapest repair options and “coupon” specials on brakes, tires, oil changes etc.
Those are usually bait and switch tactics at their best.
No business expects that customer to really leave with just spending that little on repairs
The whole middle and lower class live by these standards.
I’m for capitalism but only if I make my money honestly. I owned a shop 36 great years. Wish my body could have held up. I’m now 70. Just helped two former long time customers find replacement cars.
RUclips has helped a lot to keep up with our industry. Your channel attracted my attention from the name FRM.
Dealer I worked for 14 years went from hourly to FR back in early 70’s. Decision was driven by greed at corporate level.
It was pushed on a great employer who eventually became a money miser.
Never looked back when I opened own shop in 1986. Paid all my folks hourly plus hefty bonus at Christmas. Very few regrets on that policy.
Made lots of mistakes over 50 year career but hourly pay was not one of them.
Thanks for reading. I am the Retired Old Mechanic 🙃
Amen!!!! Greed is the problem. The love of money is the root of evil. Capitalism is great just not Crony capitalism.
How much money is enough?
Capitalism is great when there are robust worker protections, unions, ect. to keep the playing field as fair as possible and keep greed at bay. Unfortunately these things have been in steady decline for decades. Much respect for you going out and doing your own thing in the face of these large corporations, I hope to do the same someday soon. Tired of busting my butt for people who barely work and don't respect our skills while getting almost all the profits
@@theawesomeguy9999That was biggest motivation. Working tail off and someone else reaping benefits.
Found areas where the owner was billing sales and parts expenses to service department convinced me it was time to move.
I wish you the best if you can make the move.
My advice : Stay small. Pick your customers and type of jobs. Don’t have customer charge accounts. Don’t try to be a jack of all brands. Work on the ones you’re best equipped and suited.
Otherwise you’ll have tools with one use and stored.
Don’t be afraid to say no. Customers can drive you to brink of insanity and stress. Again I say pick your customers.
Del
3:00 this one def hits home for me
Hey Scotty, should I leave my shop if my boss makes me work on Daisy Duke shorts?
Great points and things too watch out for. If I can add one, your not getting any kind of annual pay raise when your peers are.
Wise words as always Mike.
It took 17yrs to get out of the automotive business entirely. The last 2 of those years doing nothing but ADAS calibrations/programming/diagnostics certainly helped. The stars aligned and I had the right connections and some hobby projects that got my foot in the door doing entry level software development and data analytics.
It took 14mo to go from a “capability hire” at a ~$20k pay cut to making more than I ever did as a tech.
Good mechanics with strong diagnostic skills are good at solving problems - automotive is by far one of the lowest paying industries for the skills/knowledge needed at the top level.
I sometimes miss the “simplicity” of automotive work, but the flexible hours, PTO, and long-term considerably higher pay ceiling are well worth it.
Glad I made the switch to industrial maintenance/millwright. Lots more hours but lots more pay too! The first reason you gave is why I left my last shop reconditioning used vehicles. Ethics right out the window and playing the calculated risk game with the customers.
Needed this right now man, thank you
When it comes to dealerships once they stop consistently having washer fluid, brake cleaner, and gloves in stock. It’s time to go, just went thru this went about 2 weeks without brake clean. Starting a new job this Wednesday
Yeah me not getting paid on certain weeks because the jobs were alignment sublets for other shops and they didn't pay their bill was B.S.
What shops offer hourly with commission? I’m strictly flat rate at a dealership
When the cops show up?
When your work is given out to other techs
Ooh be a fight
I left for that BS
On flat rate yeah but when you’re hourly it’s not as big a deal. A lot of time I diag cars and then someone else fixes it to keep the work flow moving.
And it’s usually the same guy that’s given all the gravy.
Tomorrow I'm having to do mandatory sales training for 2 hrs. I'm a tech . This is a huge red flag for me. Along with heavily suggested early pm recommendations. E.g diff at 25 or 30k ect. Would you say it's time to start looking?
Ram/Jeep dealer?
When your lead tech convinces the GM to hire a handful of his buddies into the shop. 👀
Greed is the problem. The love of money is the root of all evil.
I had 3 employers who did not pay into my social security. Two of them are already deceased so nothing I can do about it. These businesses no longer exist.
Flat rate needs to be abolished without a guarantee. They gotta pass a nationwide law for this like they did in California back in 2013. I would jump ship if my shop tried switching us to flat rate
tell that to independent shops owner nationwide lol
@@MrChickenspit if you can’t afford to pay your staff when they are at work you can’t run a business. Why should they suffer if there is no work at times?
@@dongf5628 I mean its not like they're forced to work for those owners. They can leave to find a another place to work.
@@MrChickenspit and that’s why there is a shortage. Because of your mindset
What’s the signs for an owner its time to move on to another venture?
Adapting to the generational emotional environment of employees expectations becomes tiring. Having plenty of work for everyone becomes a struggle of who gets the gravy.
Yeah this is the other side of Mike's commentary that most will leave out. Had a foreman leave who was making 100K per year. Told him that I couldn't afford to pay him more. I wasn't taking a salary so that I could pay him and the other techs a little more than they could get elsewhere. Still wasn't enough. In the end, his departure was a good thing. Have a foreman now who likes to work on cars. As long as he is paid for what he does, he is happy. That said, I'm growing weary of the crap. The problem is that I can't get out right now without taking a loss, so I must remain in the fight. Another day in paradise as an owner who doesn't take a salary, works for free and still receives too much ingratitude from those who surround him. Good times!
Im headed back to a factory job an out of the industry. Work three days aweek an nake more money. Can one make a living turning an burning yea but i would rather work for me than be tokd to commit fraud as a state inspection worker
how much ddid you make before and now?
Signs it's time to leave... and quickly discover it's all the same crap everywhere just a different toilet location. Looking for greener grass is how you discover it does not exist, only dirt hole over here and manure mountain over there. If you're at an always busy profitable garage with benevolent owners and supportive management, consider yourself among a very lucky one percent in my opinion.
Im glad im out of the industry
Lmaooo ya the industry drove me away too, another young tech bites the dust
They were ripping people off
How about you're sick and tired of doing the same repetitious work orders?
That is the nature of our business. At least the car models change pretty regular.
Doctors perform “procedures”. They are repetitious. Nothing has changed on the human body in a long time.
The main difference is they make big bucks $$$$$$
Doctors don’t get raped on the Snap on Truck either.