Voices from the Bay

“I think of it as a boat. There’s a captain/manager. A navigator/writer. And the crew that row the boat — technicians. The captain has no idea how hard the crew works to get where he needs to go. But rewards the navigator for getting there. The navigator thinks he works just as hard as a crew and gets paid as much or sometimes more than the crew. And the crew who had to bring their own oars to the ship feel like they’re on the lowest part of the totem pole.”

“I’ve been a tech for 30+ years now. I think the main problem is the pay structure/plans, the benefits, and the treatment of techs has not changed while the vehicles have evolved so much that the job has become so much more difficult and honestly, in my experience, management just doesn’t care. They don’t care if you lose your ass on a warranty job, or waiting weeks for parts. As far as the young guys, I totally agree. They want to throw them flat rate way too fast. It takes years to learn how to do things correctly and then it takes quite a bit of time more to learn how to do it correctly and quickly. The young techs panic, screw stuff up, and right away management thinks they are not cutting it. Quite honestly, the industry is a total shit show and sadly it’s going to get worse before it gets better. The thing I love from writers and management is that you are just expected to have to work for free at times, and if you voice objection to it, you have a bad attitude or you’re not a team player. Management has no one to blame but themselves for the direction this industry is headed.”

“I work at an independent and what I’ve seen is, they’re trying to have us senior techs do the general service work and so we’ve been sorting through the BS to get to our actual work. I think in some cases the techs get sick of sorting through it and drag their feet. I see many coming in late and leaving early. I try to be consistent every day and it usually pays off but I do get exhausted with too many free inspections, general service work, being paid 1 hour for diag on 5 different things, manager attitude and neglect in the shop. I think management is well aware in many cases but they’re being spoon fed goodies to screw people over. Many managers were techs prior to managing. Just my take.”

“Management focuses too much on a budget they’re going to go over anyway. Haven’t been able to get gloves or propane for the torch in a month because the district manager wanted us to buy chairs for the lobby instead. My shop is now down to me, an A tech, and a Master tech. Can’t find anyone who wants to be a lube tech because the pay is so terrible. They will still have to buy tools since the shop box is full of junk nobody wants to claim. This industry is the only one that customers are comfortable being assholes and management caves to them every time.”

“I ran a Dealership for CJDR as a Service Manager. I am a tech over 20yrs. I got FIRED for working shop flow and PROTECTING the TECH.”

“Incompetent or just plain dishonest management is the problem 90% of the time in this industry.”

“Management.”

“Management and favoritism.”

“It’s management and CSI.”

“We get screwed on everything we do, and we are supposed to be perfect on everything we do. Management usually screws things up on every job.”

“I left the dealership 5 years ago. I partially agree with your statement concerning management. Experienced techs do leave because of poor manager.”

“I am a dealership technician. I’ve been doing this for over 20 years. The automotive industry started to fall apart after Covid. Everything has been a money grab since everything is so expensive so the prices of everything have gone up and people can’t afford it. The amount of unsold work I see every day never used to be like this. Winter months being slow is normal, but it’s never been like this. I haven’t seen an 80 hour paycheck since the end of last year. Management has nothing but excuses and they don’t do anything to help the technicians. When I first started, flat rate was great but it’s become 10 times harder to turn hours.”

“Not enough appreciation, being blamed for everything and getting ripped off on warranty work. I was a tech for 24 years and a manager for 5 years and then I retired. I feel for people that are trying to get into the trade and guys were telling me 30 years ago get out when I first started wrenching.”

“It was never the pay for me. It was the inconsistency of hours, the inter office politics, and the fact that I would literally sit here and get all the head scratching diagnostic or heavy line work, while watching less tenured technicians walking away, sopping up all the gravy. An opportunity came to go to fleet and I did, became a fleet manager, then I moved from that into automotive education. I maintain all my ASEs including my L1, but I don’t have to deal with that level of BS anymore.”

“I have tried time and time again to tell management this very thing. We have had ASEP students graduate and boom they’re put on flat rate. In my 30+ years in the shop, I only know 2 students still doing this. Everyone else left. Unrealistic goals.”

“Most technicians have not been counseled on a training plan that not only helps them progress, but this training plan also becomes a career enhancement guide to increased production and more pay. Additionally, many techs have no idea how the career ladder works in your dealership. They can’t tell you what happens at 3 years, 5 years, or 10 years down the road. They have no idea what to expect.”

“Almost 30 years as a tech. We as senior techs, we get beat the most. Respect your lead techs. Don’t make us chase hours.”

“The pay is terrible when you have to deal with the electrical nightmare cars. Right now I have a 24 Jeep WL with CAN C issues. I’ve been on it for days now and only have 5 hours diag. Seems like a lot but not when you have part of the dash apart, connectors exposed due to testing, and while using the Pico and monitoring all the changes. It’s just so hard to get to the wiring and inspect for opens and chafes. Honestly it is crazy. Then as a flat rate you’re trying to work as fast as possible on other jobs to make up that time. It is a struggle at times.”

“It’s flat rate and the entire system. I was done doing warranty work for half price. Same job same procedure but if it’s under warranty, the tech eats the cost. MIND BLOWING RIGHT! Go ask a plumber about warranty work and recalls.”

“Predatory practices and exploitation of techs is what every manufacturer does with warranty pay. No reason my pay should be reduced for the ONLY reason of who is paying the bill. My time and labor is still the same. Crazy guys accept it, I certainly wouldn’t.”

“Mostly it is the warranty time that kills techs. Why should techs take a hit for a manufacturer that he has no share of any profits? Make that make sense.”

“Warranty times!!! Dealers raising shop rates by 30 dollars an hour and techs getting nothing.”

“A lot of what I see in our shop is warranty times — that drives a lot of people out because they just keep lowering the time.”

“Today a wheel alignment with steering and ADAS reset paid 1.0 labor. Mounting and balancing a tire and wheel with transfer of the TPMS sensor from the old wheel and tire paid .25 hours. Old school labor times applied to modern tech. Not encouraging.”

“Labor rate increases. Our flat rate doesn’t. Add to that, all the free stuff they want you to do now. Basically you HAVE TO do this, but we don’t have to pay you for it.”

“Maybe not updating flag times in decades.”

“Flat rate, warranty time, don’t mix. The more you know, the less you make. I wouldn’t wish that job on no one. Last good money I made was in 08. Besides that, benefits suck.”

“Flat rate is garbage. Work 10 hours get paid for 4. Too much BS hoops we have to jump through.”

“The majority don’t want anything to do with flat rate pay, especially at a dealership where newer vehicles are so trash that the only thing they’re working on is warranty work that pays nothing. The rising cost of tools combined with the flat rate has just got the majority of technicians turned away.”

“I’ve been a flat rate tech for over 30 years. This past week was riddled with 5 and 6 hour days. Standing around for more than half a day. I’ve kinda made up my mind that this is my last year. It’s a complete shit show this industry.”

“I am just done doing the same job for different pay depending on who is flipping the bill. Doesn’t matter anymore. I now own my own shop. Problem solved.”

“It’s 10 times harder to turn hours now with how complicated vehicles have become. And customer pay labor changing. There’s no labor op to do a complete drive cycle on a diesel to clear the DEF count down. Sometimes it takes an hour.”

“I left to do ADAS calibration. Slightly less pay and I’m paid hourly. Flat rate was a joke, the shop had to run perfectly for flat rate to work. I did very well but I’m 49 and body was taking a beating. And shops act like it’s the end of the world if you have to call off. Expect you to work through injuries. No time for family. Everything is about getting the next car finished.”

“It’s the pay. Period. It was never enough. And the work is hard. The tools are expensive.”

“Pay, pay, support, pay.”

“Poor pay.”

“ANY other trade pays better and requires less investment in tools and education. This industry needs a big pay raise to lift it out of the issues it is having. The cost to repair cars is still very cheap. A plumber shows up with a 300 dollar drain snake he can use for 10 years and hands you a 650 dollar bill for 45 minutes of work and nobody bats an eye. Tech wants 400 bucks to replace 4 tires and do a brake job and oil change (labor only) and everyone thinks he’s ripping you off after spending 2 hours doing the work.”

“It’s all about the labor to pay us. The labor to pay us is too low, so that’s why we start to leave.”

“Cost of tools combined with not a lot of money in it. The only ones getting into it are the ones who enjoy the work.”

“Look at the median wage for automotive technician. It’s honestly not that much. $50k is about the average in the industry. Flat rate is absolutely an issue. Nobody wants to invest in tools just to make $50k.”

“No matter what it all comes to money — flat or commission, the work does not match the amount of work we have to put in.”

“Come on look at the cars they’re building and the pay scale they’re working on. Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure this out.”

“I was in the business in the early 2000s and worked for fifteen years. Never made any real money. The dealer was charging 125 an hour or so at the time and paid me 14.50 a flat rate hour. It was an absolute joke. I made them a mint. Paid for all my own tools. Will never again be taken advantage of.”

“The pay is terrible in comparison to the tool bill just to do the job. There is far too much ‘free’ in the automotive repair industry. Management does not care about the quality of the techs work, so long as it gets done. Corporate shops don’t care about the techs at all, just the bottom dollar. As the prices are raised with no increase in pay, morale absolutely crumbles. It’s not that techs don’t want to work — we can make more money out of our garage with the equipment and tools we have to buy to make 1/6th or less of what we are billed at in a shop.”

“Master techs in my shop were making 100k 25 years ago. If your master tech can’t earn at least 175k on 40 clocked in hours he’s being underpaid.”

“To be honest with you, I would never recommend this trade to anybody.”

“I retired 4 years ago after working 4 different dealerships 30+ years. It was the best job until around 2008. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone these days.”

“I owned two shops, now retired after 41 years in the industry. Unfortunately, I could not recommend young folks to enter the auto tech career field. First, flat rate IMO is antiquated. This field is the only career that doesn’t get paid by the hour. A tech has to pay out of pocket for $30k plus in tools, no other career has to do this. As a tech ages, his flat rate hours decrease, therefore his wages decrease. Whereas in other careers their wages continue to increase. A tech’s job is dirty hard work, heavy truck wheel/tire assemblies, transmissions, engines and etc. Physically demanding and deteriorating on body parts. I enjoyed my career but I couldn’t recommend anyone getting into our career field knowing what I know.”

“Master tech of 10 years here: Best thing I ever did was leave. Master electrician now. 3x the money. Respect. Overtime.”

“30 years got out. Real jobs pay by the hour. I do R&D for a company, still use my knowledge, they buy the tools and pay me well with benefits. Best thing I ever did.”

“I went hourly fleet maintenance, way better.”

“We do not have a lack of techs. We have a tech in every stall and when one leaves they replace him with someone else.”

“It’s a shit show.”

“Most technicians are very overworked.”

“It’s the new vehicles for me. I’ve been at the same dealership for 23 years and I remember when it was fun coming to work for less than I’m making now. Fixing over engineered vehicles that fail shortly after purchase is a joke. I preferred fixing problems from use, not poor assembly/product. Clogging shop time doing stuff that shouldn’t have ever failed is taxing.”

“Not worth doing anymore especially with the junk the automakers are pumping out.”

“I like working on cars but I don’t like working on this new shit engineers do. A lot of dumb shit, too much electrical work.”

“Car being more complex, lack of training, pay. Most of all we always been the field that is less appreciated and customers don’t like to pay and believe it’s an easy process.”

“Not just management. Tech schools too. I was told I would make xx,xxx when graduating in 2001. Took years to sniff at that, took years beyond to get somewhat comfortable in the job.”

“Hybrid flat rate system is the way to go. Base salary pay plus hours turned. I also believe benefits need to be better for technicians. We deal with hazardous chemicals and it’s physically demanding on our bodies. Yeah you can make money on flat rate but overall most technicians do not make good money for the hours they put in.”

“Cuzz u can cut hair at 50 and cut.”

“It depends on customer flow. Starts with the lead coach.”

“Management can affect your money and add more stress with poor practices. A good manager, competent advisor, and a few decent senior technicians make a shop run smooth.”

“I’m a 24 year old tech, been wrenching for 4 years now and I make pretty good money. However it is because my service manager — he was a master tech and knows what it is to be in a garage. He does everything in his power to help his techs. Straight time on warranty jobs, always looking for ways to get paid most with warranty, understanding when something breaks. I know not everyone has this luxury though.”

“If you have a good service manager, he will make sure that you’re making money.”

“I always did good on flat rate too, stress levels varied. Management can affect your money and add more stress with poor practices. A good manager, competent advisor, and a few decent senior technicians make a shop run smooth.”

“I’ve made a good living on the flat rate system. You have to be experienced. I never work more than 40 hours a week. If the shop doesn’t have the business you need to move on.”

“I agree. I believe the people that are complaining about pay or flat rate is for two reasons. Either you’re not a good of a tech as you think you are or the shop isn’t turning enough hours to keep you busy. I’ve never had an issue as a flat rate technician when I was turning wrenches.”

“Open your own shop and charge $120/hr. That’s what my mechanic friend did.”

“Come to Oklahoma I need a GM world class or master level tech. Top pay, A/C shop, great schedule, great advisors.”

“I encouraged my son to do it. He now has his CDL, emissions license, state inspection license and is a certified welder. He works on heavy equipment all before he was 21. There is nothing wrong with working in the auto repair business. It’s been VERY good to me.”