Car dealers and repair shops have been struggling with a shortage of service technicians for years – and the problem has intensified and spread to other jobs during the Covid-19 pandemic. Research from firms such as JD Power and Ducker Carlisle say low pay, a lack of a clear career path, workplace stress, and declining interest in the trades have all made recruiting talent difficult. It is also hard to retain workers – turnover is as high as 50 percent for some jobs. Dealers are taking action. For example, one Ford and Lincoln dealer in California recruits and has created his own in-house training program. Large dealer groups such as AutoNation, Lithia, and Penske may have resources smaller dealerships and independent shops do not. Ducker Carlisle researchers say independent dealers may need more help from manufacturers to compete.
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Why The U.S. Has A Shortage Of Auto Mechanics
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Lol, maybe the state and local government should put these type of courses and programs back in school or fund after school programs that focus on this. You cant really tell the future but this is comical to me.
Go independent, money is better
As much as you guys can complain,,here in Africa we have alot of trained auto technicians,,our problem is job,, I have graduated as an autotech yet am jobless
Warranty times at dealerships are a joke. But they still get paid double the minimum wage if you bring your own tools. I work as a Diesel mechanic on a fleet for a egg production company. 25/$hr starting I'm expecting a $3-$5 raise to be at $30 an hour with benefits not fully paid. It's not good but it's not bad and I know I can move up . Most independent shops pay trash and offer no benefits . Dealerships have to many mechanics and see you as a number . I would aim for county or fleet shops and make sure you know your worth
That industry sucks steer clear overworked underpaid undertrained even if you go to school abusive environment dangerous and hazardous steer clear there are many who try most will fail and success is hardly sustainable try to find some parts now i think it is harder to do. so you stick to one brand to work for they lower the ceiling on you and make odd schedules with pressure as your main motivation and everyone will steal your tools. Don’t get me started on how great customers are in that industry reflect on yourself and the junk you drive before you jump down your mechanics throat next time.
The important thing to realize here is that the auto industry is better at manufacturing and sales than they are at service what part of that industry makes sense to you making upfront money or not being paid to diagnose problems
The first problem is that fewer boys are growing up with fathers showing them how to turn a wrench. Even if a kid were taught the skills in one of the shrinking number of vocational schools, who would buy him the ever expanding set of tools he needs? The other problem is that cars are constantly getting more difficult to work on, requiring a better breed of technician.
Treat your technicians better….
Because we get paid nothing. That’s how simple it is, on top of buying and paying for your own tools. Which aren’t cheap at all (thank god for payments). If you work in a dealership you leave for training and sometimes that means paying for your own meals/transportation. Pay techs more that’s how you solve the issue.
It’s a pain in the but to be a mechanic these days. They say you make good money. But dealers pay what the hours are by a book and warranty pay sucks. I’ve been out of the business for years and I wish non of my kids to ever be a mechanic. I did teach them to fix there own vehicles , but never work as a mechanic. Sorry that’s my 2 cents on this
The pay is bad. Minimum wage, maximum labor
Shortage ? There’s a mechanic shop every 5 minutes where I live 😏
Working on a fusion. Must be a POS like mine
As a auto technician and who works with many master tech veterans of over 25 years….here is what I have noticed
The reducing of labor hours to do repairs, no charge for diagnosis, lack of training, work environment, flawed flat rate system taking advantage of technicians are all huge problems in this industry.
I cant count how many master technicians I have heard say that dealership automotive technicians are being cheated out of pay by auto manufacturer warranty labor times that are shrinking.
I don't know of anyone who would want to work for less amount next year than what they did this year and that's what's happening with these labor times for these auto technicians it's not right. These automotive technicians deserve to be compensated for their time and experience and knowledge
Does anybody know of anybody that goes to the doctor and says Hey I don't wanna pay you to do this heart surgery can you do it for free or for a 3rd of the cost? But it happens all the time in auto repair shops customers wanting free labor or labor cuts
Im a better mechanic than a lot of ase certified techs. Ive worked on vehicles all my life. Im a gearhead. But Im not ase certified and Ive never worked for a shop so I dont have years of " verifiable " service. So if I want a job in a shop IF I could find one willing to hire me, they would probably offer me minimum wage and no thanks I'll pass. Its like any other business in the world. These shops are willing to hire people unless they have every certification on the planet and 20 years of experience. Then they want to pay peanuts. Its an absolute joke.
“If you like working with your hands. You like working with computer”. Bahahahah
They make being a service advisor sound soooo simple… yet its the total opposite. It is a VERY challenging job that really should have more compensation for since they are a huge part of cust sat with the manufacturer/car/dealership as well as help bring in 1/2 or more of the dealerships revenue. Not to mention critical time management skills, keeping up with new automotive systems and features as well as how they function, and the next to impossible task of dealing with some upset customers because their veh needs repair , even worse if they have to pay for the repairs due to whatever reasons…. For successful dealerships.. It is a high-pace and high stress job. Very few are able to handle the stress and workloads. I have personally seen numerous military people quit this job… i have even had 1 guy not come back from his lunch break on his first day. Also, people do not like it when they are not able to drive whenever they please. Its like you are taking their freedom away forcefully. Dont believe me? Go ahead and try being one at a successful dealership. From my 20+ years experience, my guess is that 85-90% will quit/get terminated.
The Flat Rate system keeps getting lower and lower by the dealers/manufacturers that one can not make a living at it. They have to buy their tools, etc. I go to the office, I do not buy the office equipment or computers etc, needed to do the job. They have made it a minimum wage job, like truck driving. You have all the risk and expenses and they get all the money.
I worked as a tech for Firestone. They treated you like a disposible diaper. They crapped all over you then threw you away.
Because we are tired of the bs, low wages, commission incentives. I worked at many different shops, they would always have what you call a head wrentch, in my experience with them, they were incompetent mechanics. One example, an older car comes in backfiring like crazy. That kind of backfiring is caused by two things. 1. Bad carburetor 2. Bad timing chain. First thing I do before opening hood, is to see how many miles are on the engine. The car had 109,000 miles. I popped the hood, put breaker bar on the crankshaft, turn the crank, and noticed a lot of slop in the timing chain. I guessed that was the problem to begin with. So as I am writing up an estimate. The head wretch comes over and ask me what I am doing. I told him, he just laughed at me, and told me to just order a rebuilt carb kit and to tune it. I refused, he took the ticket from me, and put me on another job. The head wrentch replaced the carb, tuned it, started the car, one backfire, the engine quit and would not start. He starts hooking up the computer, and running test. Then he scratches his head. Has no clue, does not even know how to troubleshoot correctly. He finally starts yelling at me. I told him, it was a broken timing chain. Him and I argue for 15 minutes, he tries to blame the whole situation on me infront of the boss. Typical, alot of them have no clue how to troubleshoot. In summary I replaced the chain, retuned the carb, because he did it wrong. The customer was happy. After awhile I just got out of the business.
while all my friends are purchasing 25,000$ cars 200-500$ shoes and 1.2k-3k shoes I'm saving my Bitcoin wallet in a grown company and reading books like rich dad poor dad and I even took a coding class
I had a BMW and had to wait for a week for appointments, the shop was always full. Changed it for a Nissan, don't have to wait, I have not seen the shop full. Looks like Nissan don't need all the repairs BMWs need.
This video is such bs. You cannot claim you offer competitive pay and benefits and not find workers, by definition you do not offer competitive pay.
The industry has been lowering pay every which way they can for decades whilst making cars more technologically complex and compact, changing fastener styles, and adding complexity to repair processes that do not in any way add benefit to the end user who is buying their product. They have created this problem themselves by financially crushing the skilled labor that single handedly keeps the entire industry afloat.
$150 hour charge for straight time on diag
Tech with years of training doing all of the work $15 hour
Tech spent thousands on tools with own pay
To fix your vehicle
No shortage of Techs. They moved on to make money elsewhere like I did 5 years ago
Pay more. There you go. Found your answer.
Former mechanic here with 7 years of experience. I can tell you exactly why.
1. Mechanics are severely underpaid due to a broken flat rate system/commission.
2. Most Warranty jobs, also known as free jobs in a mechanical world, are making mechanics to lose money, because the actually time it takes to 1. diagnose a car and 2. fix a car the Proper and Safe way, does not match the time that warranty gives to mechanics to 1. diagnose the car and 2. fix a car.
3. To become a professional mechanic who actually knows how to diagnose all types of problem, takes A Lot of years, a lot of education that never ends, because cars always evolve and it takes a lot of out of pocket money to buy tools, take ASE's, etc… just so you can keep your job.
4. When good, experienced, certified and well trained mechanics are getting paid just as much as a regular McDonald worker, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever, none, to get a highly physical demanding job, where injuries are inevitable and where you constantly have to buy tools and get continues education to be certified to work on brand new technological vehicles, just so you can get exactly the same pay and in many cases even less, as a lot of jobs where education and experience is not even needed in the first place.