Yep....$tealer$hip don't care about their "behind the scene" workforce, mechanics & techs, they just care about the optics inside the showrooms, sales & finance managers, oh.......and also the hotties in skirts all dolled up for the after hour parties 🎉
The manufacturers all pay the dealer 100% for warrantee parts but onlt 50% of their posted rate for warrantee work. Result: dealers posted rates are double what they need to keep their doors open. Meanwhile, a guy has to have $20-50K in personal tools to do the work that pays like a job where someone shows up and the employer provides all the tools.
Im a 35 year car mechanic. The problems exist in how car mechanics are paid and treated. Over the last twenty years, mechanics have seen there pay and pay structure change considerably and not in a positive way. Seasoned technicians have watched their pay and opportunities evaporate as dealerships choose to give easy money jobs to lower paid and lower skilled workers. Seasoned technicians do not get paid well for the difficult car problems they inherit as a result of there better experience. Good car mechanics have to be one of the most under appreciated jobs out there.
The first thing you do is leave the dealers (better known as "stealers"). Good mechanics need to build cooperatives to spread out the fixed costs like venue among several mechanics so the business model will work. And stop trying to make a killing on every job! $1,000 is the new $100. What average person can afford that?
My son worked at a motorcycle shop, started at sixteen. He’s 21 now and is a great mechanic. Problem is they wont pay him a living wage. He left to become an electrician.
Which is crazy because motorcycles are way easier to work on than cars, just far less complexity and way less parts and shop labor is much higher for bikes. Good motorcycle techs should be making very good money these days.
@@MrMcbear Part of the problem is that motorcycle are those that can afford and usually are hobbyists, meaning it is a luxury for most. And for the purest, they fix their own motorcycle.
@@rosc2022 6 figures, premium health care, every weekend off, no overtime, paid holidays, use of a car and pizza day on Friday. That's a living wage, but just barely.
I’m a truck mechanic. Trades get all the respect in the world but being a mechanic doesn’t garner the same respect. We’re treated like replaceable cogs in a machine. If we stop working, trucks stop moving, and none of you get anything you need or want. During covid everybody was suddenly a hero, except us….why there’s a shortage of mechanics isn’t some big complex secret. We’re not respected. Our job is looked down on by everybody. We don’t get paid enough. Our benefits costs are insane. Why choose this job? There’s none of us making six figures like Mike Rowe will have you believe. If guys are making that money I promise you they’re working 80-90 hour weeks.
UPS mechanics are a little over $80g a yr with great benefits. And that's based on a 40hr wk. It's surprising how many mechanics UPS poaches from car and truck dealerships and from the military. All the UPS mechanics I had to deal with in my almost 28yrs of driving everything from pkg car to my assigned triple tractor were #1! And during the holidays you understand how much respect they get from the gifts brought to them by almost every driver in the building.
Can I tell you something, as a non mechanic? Your industry did this to itself. Now, I'm not clean either. I am a home remodelor. You work on cars, I work on houses. I am NOT an automobile mechanic. My aptitude for building and working with tools doesn't translate with automobiles. All that aside, you work in an industry that is ripe with hacks and sleaze balls, and so do I. You may very well be credible and work with integrity......as do I, but our peers have destroyed the value of what our industries should be.
I dont know any techs making 6 figures, not one but i do know many that have left, either set up their own shops or gone to the independents, the biggest thing to take away is people are not leaving the trade they are leaving warranty.and anyone that works in this industry will understand that.
@@markbrowning4334 your industry needs licensure and annual training requirements. You don't see hacks in the structural engineering realm last more than a few months. The state boards and courts police them up pretty quick. NJ just rolled out a bonding requirement for all contractors, which will go pretty far in policing out hacks. But even then, you'll get consumers who just don't care and will actually seek out the unlicensed and unbonded hacks, thinking they'll be cheaper. I'm not sure what the answer is to hacks and sleaze balls, but I know licensure works in my world (structural engineering).
Dealers and Service Managers have no integrity... cars are now all Computer and wires and they don't pay mechanics by the hour, it's by the job or task which has a certain time assigned to it, and if they go over it means they are paid less per/hour.
@, yes, they just about have to be working on their own. Our independent mechanic recently retired, and it’s been hard to find one even close to as good as he was.
I quit wrenching simply because cost of tools vs lack of pay. Sad when shop is charging over $100 an hour and the person actually doing the work is making 20.
@@demetriuscooksey7147 In America pretty much all shops don't provide tools. My shop does provide quite a bit (heavy diesel) and as a lube tech you can get by with those but after awhile you will buy your own just to have your own and not deal with shops crappy or broken tools. No one ever respects what they don't pay for.
This disparity exists among many, many industries. It is not unique to the auto industry, or any skilled trade. The laws of supply and demand will help drive up salaries if mechanics are in short supply as they are predicting.
Shops here are $185-$250/hr, and top A rate pay is $21.50 and they're still going broke and shutting down. They can't seem to sell enough $80k or $120k pickups I guess. The cost of shop insurance is insane, I know their insurance agent, who makes more off them then I'll make in five years. They pay tens of thousands of dollars a month in insurances, licenses, and utilities. The electric bill alone is over $25k even in the winter, those massive shop lights, and the 300 street lights in the parking lot don't run cheap either. An accountant friend showed me what they spend to be there, plus the floor plan interest on the cars on the lot, and they need to sell 100 vehicles every month just to break even. The shop doesn't come close to making a dent in all that. They make the most of the body shop and off used cars. But lately people are broke and having been buying. Add in the fact that the younger generation doesn't seem to care about driving, and is fine with paying Uber to get around, the business in general is in trouble. Add in the fact now that many dealer require a college degree because of the high tech nature of most cars requiring both computer and communication skills and the fact they don't want to work in a sweaty hot shop to make no more in the end after tools then they'd make flipping burgers or pouring coffee, the odds of luring new people to the trade are slim. Many no degree type jobs are paying less and less lately, truck driving jobs, mechanics, and other service type jobs are all paying less ad they seem to want a high turnover to they don't need to offer any pay increases. If your over 50, all of these jobs are likely out of reach these days, both due to the physical requirements and the fact they prefer young and dumb kids who don't know any better or someone who is grateful just to get what they're getting because they know they can't work anywhere else. Even 15 years ago shops were starting to hire a lot of guys who had no driver's license because of DUI or ex cons who worked cheap or were hire through a work program where they got them for half price since the state paid half their wages to get people to hire them. With plans like that in effect, a guy who don't fall into that category doesn't stand a chance.
As a retired automotive service manager I can say that the stigma of being a mechanic is the smallest deterrent of the career field. The field is pushing away mechanics with low pay in the vast majority of companies, ever rising tool costs due to manufacturers “innovation” that require unique and specific tools, unrealistic “book” times on some major jobs, not to mention warranty times and rates that are even worse.
Thats the most honest thing I have ever heard from a service manager… and you are 100% correct…. The industry made this bed and could easily fix it with pay and benefits but decides to just cry and gets guys like Mike Rowe to perpetuate the lie on why people wont take up the this profession or amazing techs jumped ship….. its definitely not because of its stigma of a dirty job.
Yes. Warranty labor times are ridiculously low. Plus dealerships expect mechanics and service writers to rip off customers to make a paycheck. It benefits them. .
The book times, that’s the problem. There’s a reason they are called stealerships. The engineering has also gone backwards. They make things hard to repair or too expensive to repair on purpose.
I’m an engineer and shade tree mechanic but the professional mechanics can do a job 10x faster than me. They get billed out at 20% of what they are charged out for. Hats off to all the mechanics - you guys are great!! Keep on wrenching to you all!!
Big problem is the pay. I got out of Auto Repair in 1996. I was making $15/ hour. Shop Labor rates were $45-50/ hour. Today Shop rates are $175- 250/ hr and they are paying $25-30/ hour. Tools are 3-4 times priced what they were in the 90s.
another main cause of this is the time limits they give you for jobs. theyre not realistic for 90% of repairs and then the mechanic gets shafted on money cuz they only get paid for the hours that job is worth. and they go over that time tough. you dont get paid for it. and on top of that it cuts down on the time you have to do the other 3 or 4 cars for that day. and the time limits get lowered every year.
@@Conquest_HD Beynod that is when you do a 5-hour book rate job in 3 hours, because you are good, you get paid for 3 and the shop bills the customer at the book rated 5.
@@illbeyourmonster3591 yeah i know i was just saying..that is a major problem with the industry at least at the dealership level maybe not private shops
My son went to school to become a mechanic. The dealerships did not pay a wage worth going through the training nor enough to live on. He's now a sherrif.
This is a huge issue for folks actually wanting to get into the trades. The talking heads say you can make plenty of money, but the reality is the employers often don't pay enough, and the work is arduous and hard on your body in the long term.
Ive been a mechanic now for 15 years. Started in a dealership and now work for UPS as a truck mechanic. I will say that working at a dealership as a mechanic SUCKS!! the pay sucks, dealing with ignorant customers suck, the flat rate sucks. All of it. I stuggled working at a dealership. If i can give any advice to someone wanting to be a mechanic, I would say to stay away from dealerships and get into heavy duty. Its better money and better work.
My vehicle had to be towed to a dealership due to a computer problem. They charged $200 for a diagnostic test and then $200 and hours for the repair, plus parts. We know the mechanic isn't getting paid enough.
Maybe that is the "other shoe" that will drop in 2025. Pay raises is one of the first areas employers go to in order to cut costs... or at least appear to "cut costs." Sometimes that's a ruse too.
I own a small mechanical and body shop and was shocked when a recent applicant told me what the dealer had been paying him. I know big dealers have a lot of overhead but when they are paying their technicians less than 20 percent of the hourly shop rate there is a bad problem. I pay 40 percent of shop rate for starting mechanics and my top body tech is making 55 percent.
Young mechanics need jobs and dealers need mechanics to do the Quick Lane work like oil changes and break jobs and things like that which are fast turnovers
@@joinjen3854 Trump will cause 25% of you to be unemployed during his term. This is a FACT of history. A republican president always means an economic disaster !
I have a friend that chose plumbing over college and he is more successful than many that chose than the other route. He obtained enough experience to go out on his own, started a business that he took commercial and is making 7 figures a year. I believe in education but it’s not the end all, if I could do things over I would have skimped my BS in mech engineering and MBA to become a builder. I enjoy building more than trying help corporations find ways to reduce energy spend or meet sustainability goals.
Nobody wants to be an auto mechanic because of the pay. I was a mechanic starting in the mid '70s. Flat rate pay was 50/50. I believe the flat rate hour was $25 an hour back then, so the company got 12.50 and the mechanic got 12.50. Now the dealers are charging $150 an hour, but the mechanic only gets about 35. The dealerships are making money hand over fist, and most are owned by one person or company owning dozens of dealerships.
Who cares what dealerships are making? If you want to make that kind of money, start a dealership and learn to run a business. That's the biggest problem with the world today. Too many people worrying about what everyone else makes. Just shut up, do the work and make enough money for yourself to live the life you want. End of story. I've never made one red cent worrying about what anyone else was making.
Hit the nail on the head, was a Mechanic back pre-covid. Dealer charged $225/hr to the customer for labor. I worked my way up and was making around $18/hr ($15/hr + a partial commission). Once they started giving me jobs that were more advanced and weren't raising my pay I was outta there. I really cared about getting the job done properly too, its a big responsibility to be working on a machine people operate at 70mph on the freeway with kids in the back and other drivers on the road. We just weren't paid accordingly.
@@amann910 How much of the overhead did you pay for that company? If you could break it down for me into insurance costs, electricity bills, building rent/payments, non-producing employee payroll, etc. that would be awesome.
@@dgoddard You're missing the point of the original comment, the dealer only used to take 50% of the flat rate charge to the customer. In my case, they were taking 92%. I mentioned that when they started giving me more advanced jobs(that required more skill, which happens to be worth more money) without increasing my pay, that i then left the company. It's the basic concept of trade that we need to keep in mind here. Bottom line, most people trade their time for money. If people are not getting as much money for there time(especially with the more complex systems in cars lately that require extra or higher skill levels), then thats a problem. Now what would really be awesome, is if everyone in the country had the desire, knowledge and capitol to just "start their own business". That's just not reality, and never has been. And in the case that everyone owned their own business, who would be left to be employed at these businesses?
In 7th & 8Th grade we had Drafting & Wood Shop. In high school we had Auto shop, Electric Shop, Machine Shop, Wood Shop & Architectural/Industrial Drafting (choice of two, every year). Plus we had Shop Math (pertaining to professional skills/work related math/calculations) & Home Economics. I went into the military (USAF) and learned a skill that I enjoyed, made a very good living at and its served me well. Took some college classes, but, the things I learned in those high school classes & my AF training is what I used most, expanded on & what carried me through life.
My high school had a class called "Practical Arts" for all freshmen. Each quarter focused on something different (auto mechanics, woodworking, business/personal finance, and home economics). After that, if kids had interest in, say, auto mechanics, they would take beginning auto mechanics as sophomores, and then advanced auto mechanics as upper classmen. That was more than forty years ago. I hope they are still doing this.
I was born in 1965. In middle school school we had the same programs. We had drafting, woodworking shop, metal shop. Not only do those programs create careers for individuals in the future. They also give individuals a set of problem solving skills.
....and you made the right choices to maintain those institutions - which provided you that quality of life - to pass them down to your kids..... right?
I just retired after 47 years. I was a truck and trailer fleet mechanic but pretty much the same problems there. I made it to age 74 and just couldn't physically continue any more. One of the reasons I kept going was because the shop was short handed constantly and I felt like I was screwing over my co-workers if I left. I was part time for the past few years but I finally had end it as the risk of serious injury became a very real thing. The shop is still looking. All the trades are looking for people . Automotive, truck fleets, HVAC, electricians...pick any of them. The longest I was ever laid off was a couple of months during the covid shutdown.
My son took a job as a mechanic and the company expected him to do a job in 2 hours that would take 4-5 hours. He would get pd by the job not by the hour. He could choose to make an hourly wage of $15 an hour but that is not a decent wage to support a family. Companies are not willing to pay their workers a descent wage. He could not live on $15 and hour. It’s not 6 figures here in Indiana. That’s a lie. If this was true people would be flocking to be mechanics and there would not be shortage. Be journalists and go to shops and ask Mechanics what they make…..how long have they been mechanics and how many hours do they work in a week. Then you will have a true picture of what it takes to be a car mechanic.
@jennytobias6551 That's standard procedure for auto mechanics, faster you are the more you make. I don't think it's a great system, but a lot of mechanics do like it. He should have known that before he became a mechanic.
All of the experienced mechanics I know always beat the flat rate it's the only way to make the big bucks . Oh and they do a competent job because if they don't they usually get to do it again at their expense .
i went to tech school to be a mechanic. i was in the industry for years and i can see why people are less interested in it nowadays. the pay that the actual techs get is insultingly low until you basically become a master. especially when you usually have to pay for your own tools in almost every shop, and auto manufactures make things needlessly difficult and complicated, usually just to save themselves a few bucks during manufacturing but dont mind screwing the mechanics in the process. not to mention everything is made of cheap plastic now that tends to break when you take it apart and wont last long term. it can still be worth it in the end but it isn't as lucrative as it once was. shops just need to pay better and manufacturers need to be more repair conscious when designing them. but they wont because they would rather you replace a vehicle than repair it.
As a young man who could have gone down that path , SHOW ME THE MONEY and the workers will come. Give them training and a good job instead of whining no one wants to work. I chose Tech (software) because that's where the money is , duh
I've been a auto technician for 49 years the number one reason nobody wants to repair vehicles is pay, most dealers and independents don't pay as much as plumbers electricians hvac they just don't. Most don't realize a technician owns his tools and tool boxes not the employer tools are not cheap to replace my tools today with everything I have purchased In the last 49 years I estimate it would cost roughly 450 thousand dollars that's on the low end probably closer to over a half a million that's no joke. So now you see why guys aren't getting into the business. And folks if you think our job is changing oil and putting on brakes and shocks that's not what we do have any of you tried to diagnosis a electrical concern on the vehicles today give it a try the vehicles are very sophisticated and technical today you half to be trained and know what your doing period so its easy to see why there is such a huge shortage of techs today.
@@lisaharvey4373 I have a 2013 ford fusion that has been in the garage for a month now. Some electrical gremlin disabling the awd and a bunch of other things. I tried diagnosing it for a week. I finally sent it to the garage and even with their computers hooked up, it's being a nightmare. Yes people don't realize how awful new vehicles can be to diagnose with all the electronics on vehicles these days... that's why I daily drive my simple and trusty 95 chevy truck...
College degreed here saying car Technician jobs are more than hands on, it's mental too. Some young people don't want to learn nor work that hard. Some want everything handed to them. Good mechanic priceless as he saves time AND money.
If you are smart enough to repair todays computer systems and networks you can work in a clean, climate controlled office doing IT work for FAR more pay That is why we are lossing techs I do not blame them.
My son makes more than anyone he graduated with...he is a Union electrician...2016 high school grad....he had a 5 year apprenticeship in which he got paid and free school....he made 118k last year(in Missouri)...he could make more if he did overtime...he does sometimes but not often....so proud of him
Good for him! I started a business with a friend of mine 5 years ago and the first thing my dad did was drag me through court for 2 and half years over made-up BS because he wanted to control everything.
@@realangrythrottle I did not help him...but a guy we knew from church did help some ...I would have helped him but I don't have any contacts in the field he went into..
We're talking mechanics (gears, pulleys, belts , chains, suspension, etc. ) and now adding complex and potentially very dangerous electrical matters into the equation. This requires more training and often far more expensive equipment which the average mechanic / technician can ill afford. Keep in mind too that the tech is changing, so what you buy today may be obsolete next month. Consider how OBD readers have changed since 1996. The days when you could do a lot of work in your driveway or in a home garage are pretty much over. Mechanics / techs are pretty much forced to work for a company that can provide the increasingly expensive equipment needed to do the work: lifts, compressors, scanners etc. Mechanics don't get the respect they deserve.
Having been in the industry for decades I can tell you the problem is not perceptions. It's cars. Government has pushed auto makers into creating mechanical, but more importantly, electronic, nightmares. The manufacturers have gleefully embraced that force as an excuse to raise prices and push private shops nearly out of the market. Yet dealerships are not provided with the data to properly fix things, either. Cars are simply not fun any more, and the job is far too much of a headache. People's attitudes towards mechanics are almost irrelevant...but youth attitude towards physical labor also compounds the problem...
They are very complicated; that is why they developed the little OBDS II system that plugs into the system and in seconds it will tell you exactly what is wrong ! The system may be complicated but the job isn't!
@@TheMakersMarkTSFyou don’t know ANYTHING about electronics. Yes the trouble codes could lead you to the problem or send you down a rabbit hole. It takes experience to diagnose a vehicle.
@TheMakersMarkTSF That isn't completely true. Have you looked under some of these hoods? It's not as easy as you make it sound 🤷🏻♂️ And computers make mistakes, as well.
I was a mechanic for many years. Back in the 70's I worked in a dealership the pay was 50% of labor charge flat rate was 24.00 hour a mechanic would make 12.00. It was worth the effort then. Now Dealerships charge very high labor rates and their techs get paid peanuts for their work.
That is why so many mechanics have become self-employed now. Why make $25 an hour, when you are being billed out at $150+ when you can work for yourself at $125 an hour and keep all of it?
Mike Rowe is a man of integrity- thank you for having him on your show. I love his message and commitment to helping train people for trades that we need in the USA.
Do you guys read the comments at all. It looks like mechanics are not respected and not making a decent living wage no matter how good they are. It looks like it’s a dealership problem. Independent shops are almost always rated much higher than dealerships.. Warranty work is always paid less at dealerships.
I’ve been in the auto industry from mechanic to service advisor and manager and all I can say is that very few people make six figures a year doing mechanic work, or any other job in an automotive repair business. Most make 50-60k. The reason is the overhead of a shop grows significantly year after year and shop owners can’t(some cases won’t) pay for qualified help. Working in the auto industry has been fun but it has NEVER enabled me to thrive. Taking the leap of faith and building a business has enabled my life to open up in ways I never thought possible! Love Mike Rowe but I wouldn’t tell my worst enemy to enter anything to do with the automotive industry period!
The increase in the educational bureaucracy and deterioration of the quality of teachers, due to the influence of the teacher's unions, has played a major roll in the downfall of the education system.
Too low of pay for the highly technical work needed to repair todays cars, even the dealers can’t fix some of their cars. For what you have to know and do it’s not worth the pay unless you run your own shop, I was a mechanic for 40+ years and I seen the changes coming, the very expensive equipment needed to repair todays cars and the “dealer only” software required for some vehicle’s to be able to run scans. We desperately need the right to repair so we can get the dealers software.
We are definitely an elitist country. My best friend told his son he put away 200 k for his college But if he he absolutely loves working on cars, so my friend invested it for him for “ retirement “ and he is going to become a car mechanic and will likely end up at a high end car dealership By the time he retires he will be worth millions just because his father invested the money that would have been wasted on a wasted college degree
Unfortunately, with the way things are going a million dollars won't be anything special by then - it'll probably be the typical home price in the lower cost of living cities and towns.
@@killer2600 It already is in the higher to medium sized places, or places a reasonable commute in their. We'll all be millionaires soon, buying our daily loaf of bread with a wheelbarrow full of cash, or it's modern equivalent.
Reading the comments from mechanics or family of mechanics, it's not hard to see the source of the problem. If being a mechanic was really a 6-figure job, there wouldn't be a shortage.
Yeah, ummmm last I checked it's still extremely hard to get a home. Jobs are indeed critically important, but nothing is more sad and soul crushing than to say that you're useful with a wrench and have done a great good for customers and the community, but you don't have a place to call home at the end of the day.
I have heard mechanics complain about the DESIGN of these high-tech vehicles. They cannot be repaired. Some transmissions cannot be rebuilt...you have to buy a new one. Engine failures in personal cars and in heavy duty trucks fail more often. Replacing a simple starter motor on some engines is an all day affair. The "designers" bury the starter deep in side the engine or hide them somewhere, besides hanging them near the rear of the engine near the transmission; like it used to be.
I've been in the automotive and heavy truck business for over 25yrs and no one wants to pay the money for your skill and the tools you have to buy to stay relevant for all the new cars and truck it just sad i love fixing cars and trucks but the money is not there
Retired engineer, 3 university degrees. If I had a chance to do things differently I would have been a technician. My last ten years of working, techs were making more than some engineers! Also, I could have studied A LOT of technology for far less money and had far fewer loans to pay off. If anyone asks me, my suggestion is to start with a good 1 or 2 year tech program in a field with good current job prospects. There's plenty of time for more education, if you decide that's what you want.
@@sandracrandall4561 my engineers are mostly structural. I've done a good job maintaining these relationships so you can somewhat speed things up by having long relationships with the same firms... Plus, sugar gets you much more than salt with inspectors... With anything in life, really... 😁
@@sandracrandall4561 Sounds like someone who will never promote past his current level ... Engineers are very important. Working with them speeds things up. Working against them slows things down. Simple as that.
@@leslieholm9542 What the heck does that mean? Or do you just run around to random posts and troll them to make yourself feel like you actually have value?
I’m an auto mechanic. The big reason nobody wants to do this work is it doesn’t pay well. They can easily go learn to be a plumber and make $100k a year instead. If they want mechanic, pay us well.
I spent 20+ years as a professional auto mechanic. It is apretty thankless job. Wages not on par with the knowledge and skill required, as well as the investment in tools (especially the software). The toll it takes on your body is not worth the "benefits". Another problem I had was that the technicians who "upsold" the most (services not really needed) usually made the most money. Shop owners tended to reward less ethical technicians and the conscientious ones usually suffered as far as pay. Don't even get me going about working on commission, where the techs assume part of the risk for businesses that aren't rum optimally.
I WAS AN ASE MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN FOR NEARLY 30 YEARS. THE FLAT RATE SYSTEM OF PAY IS ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS! THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN SURVIVE UNLESS YOU'RE CHEATING SCUMBAG AND I REFUSED TO CHEAT MY CUSTOMERS. THE INDUSTRY STANDARDS OF PAY IS WHY THIS INDUSTRY IS QUICK TO DIE BECAUSE THERE IS WAY TOO MUCH DIFFICULTY FOR EVERY REPAIR AND WAY TOO LITTLE PAY. REALIZE THIS AS CUSTOMERS YOU WON'T SEE IT BUT IN THE BACK END IT IS FIXED TIMES FOR CERTAIN REPAIRS AND THE TIMES ARE HORRIFICALLY UNDERCOUNTED
@@Ikke-t4l there's a guy down the street from us in our neighborhood. He's an ASE mechanic at a new car dealership. But after work and on weekends he is always working on cars. He's fixed mine several times. Well worth it!
@ Thats my point mate , my dad told me learn to use your hands and you always have a job . I,m 59 now and good times bad times but in bad times There is more work after 9to5 😉😉
You have no idea how happy it makes me hearing people not afraid to say, Merry Christmas. Also, love Mike Rowe. He made people see that this country runs on people who aren't afraid to get out there and work.
I just retired from the automotive repair industry ,ending with owning my own shop. The new intelligence that it takes and the cost of tools that are required do not equal the pay of a modern mechanic. Unfortunately shops and dealerships still cheat customers in order to make up some of the difference. There would have to be a massive raise to equal the total honest cost and intelligence required to work on modern day carrs.....It is a very difficult mental and physical job. Customer can NOT afford honest car service!
Nail meet hammer Pay must be equal to skill+danger+dirt If not no one smart enough to do the work will I charge $150/hr for diag The clock starts when i leave my house to go to your shop. I work for dealers and independants and have more work than I could ever finish
Stigma? That’s bull. People stopped being mechanics because they’re treated horribly by employers and paid even worse. Being a good, real mechanic takes experience and knowledge, it’s a skilled position and it’s NOT just a parts hanger, and nobody wants to pay for that. Auto manufacturers are doing everything they can to make the profession obsolete, and not in a good way.
Any time someone tells you there is a worker shortage what they are really telling you is that the pay sucks. If the pay was enticing then there would be no shortage of people applying for the job.
Car manufacturers need to build vehicles that can be worked on reasonably. They are poorly engineered and difficult for even experienced mechanics to repair. No one wants to be in an industry that doesn't care about the end user or the guy or gal who has to fix it! It should get easier not harder as technology gets more advanced!
Cars should be built just like they were in the 60,s. That was the pinnacle of the American car. those cars tuned and running correctly are just as clean as these computers on wheels they have today. I guess the ones of today are cleaner because they won't run.
@ I don’t want an electric car and I know many people who simply aren’t interested. I also can’t stand all the electronics and gadgets in the car, I like a good old simple stick shift. Power steering and auto windows and locks are great. That is the end of what I would want with the exception to the aux cable hook up you can do with your phone to listen to podcasts
A 4 year college degree is not for most people, actually! Automotive Technicians is an honorable career path, as is Aircraft Technicians. THANK YOU Mike Rowe!
@@maxwellcrazycat9204 The better paying jobs require doing things many do not have on their bingo card for having "the good life." Working at night regularly, constant deadlines/pressure, dealing with huge corporation bureaucracy, union restrictions, years of "paying your dues" in low-paying jobs, etc. There's also a ton of personal responsibility/liability involved too.
I know a guy that worked at a car dealer before he graduated high school in the 80s, and the last time I talked to him he was going to get a different job because the cars have become too technical, and he said he's tired of going to school all the time to learn new tech to repair the new cars
In my town, Chevy (CHEVY!) dealers charges $210/hr for service, and sell OEM parts for double what you can find them for online. Meanwhile, they pay their apprentice techs $18.50/hr to start (they have to provide their own tools). If I was in that industry ... and had the chance to do something else where I'm not exposed to toxic chemicals and vapors - with a possibility of having something heavy (like a car) drop on my head - then "graduate" to a flat rate level II tech, having to race for time to get jobs done (often cutting corners)? I would fight not to make that a long-term career choice. There is money in the industry if you go independent - but then you have to rent or own a shop, and when you grow, have to pay YOUR employees and (something many don't consider) pay for liability insurance which can be over $20K per year for a small operation. A buddy of mine didn't opt for liability insurance, and wound up being sued for $500K after one of his part time employees had a seizure while operating a forklift, fell off the forklift - then had a heart attack in the ambulance and passed away. The guy wasn't supposed to be operating the lift, and did it while my buddy wasn't at the shop. The industry is full of unforeseen pitfalls that weren't problems 30 years ago.
Every single mechanic i know is planning to either retire or move to a different field. Cars build today have no consideration for repairability, & pay sucks. If you consider cost of tools required for modern cars.. mc donalds is better option.
I'm one of them...... Graduated high school in the late 90s and went right to Lincoln tech for auto mechanics. Worked in the field for about 5 years and then ran far and fast because even back then the industry was garbage. It's gotten monumentally worse.
Thanks for sharing your story. My father spent the better part of 50 years working as a mechanic at various dealers and was never really given the respect or compensation he deserved for what skills and knowledge were needed for the job. I honestly think the title should be upgrade from service technician to service engineer.
@@redchihuahua417 I called myself a field engineer. A lot of the problems we encountered provided feedback to the factory engineers. We helped with solutions, But didn't get paid for that.
As a daughter and wife of mechanics we’ve seen this coming too. I think a large part is that people don’t want to work or get dirty. It’s not just the auto industry either it’s deal, heavy equipment, ag, and marine mechanics too.
I enjoyed the work and helping customers BUT with the same skill set (actually less skill) you can get a job as a computer network enginneer That is what I did no more 95degree days under a dash for $25/hr i now work in the a/c for 120k/year
As a former mechanic it was a horrible job no pay nasty dirty had to change clothes before I could even get in my car at the end of the day, hot in summer cold in winter, emotionally and mentally draining I got out and got my cdl I drive a dump truck now make over twice what I made turning wrenches and I don’t have to do near the work I did
The flat rate system, the way dealership mechanics are treated by employers, and the complex difficulty of the way cars are manufactured and have to be repaired are in my opinion why there is less and less interest in automotive repair. Ive been wrenching for a living 18 years.
That's exactly right. Flat rate systems promote cutting corners instead of quality repairs & yes dealerships do not pay well at all especially when you compare them to heavy equipment or diesel.
The last dealership that I worked at. Chevrolet. The owner expected everyone to be a salesman. Sell work. Sell parts. Only cared about generating billable labor hours. An extremely toxic work environment. Very stressful. I quit after 6 1/2 years there. 32 Years total in 3 different dealerships. Got a great job away from auto repair but could still use the skills that I had developed. Way better pay and benefits and and a far lower stress level. should have done it sooner.
Pay is stuck in the 1980's due to immense greed from both independent garages and Stealerships. The only way to make a decent living in this field is working for yourself.
Mike R is wrong. Im a mobile tool dealer for 29 years. The mechanics pay has not kept pace with the cost of living, everything else is a moot point. Everyone wants to be a UPS DRIVER, why? Because they have union protection, benefits, a great wage and a pension! Compare that to a PRIME DRIVER which gives maybe a weak benefit package and low pay
I have been in a mechanic my whole life, 45 years and its served me extremely well and made me a good living. Its gotten me promoted to manager and director roles etc. Unfortunately today there are not many left. Todays kids have no interest in anything except video games and social media etc. I am still able to work on my own vehicles, Range Rover and C63S AMG. And yes that saves me a ton. I am headed into retirement soon and thankful to God for my life and my abilities that have served me and my family well. Please learn this trade, its worth every dime!!!!
No interest besides video games and social media? I was only uninterested in getting underpaid and having to buy tens of thousands of dollars in tools. Why would we chose to work in a field that underpays and under appreciates it’s employees when I can go work somewhere else while making more money and not going home with a sore back and cut up hands.
You're right the kids and the Millennials nowadays are as lazy as dirt, but, with that being said I've been doing mechanic work for 50 plus years, I will not work on anything from 1998 and newer, all this new vehicle crap on the market ain't worth buying are working on.
I have been a mechanic almost all my life started at my father's shop. Worked for the dealership , opened my own repair shop. Mechanics is a dying breed the young generation wants more pay and less work also when they find out how much money they have to spend for tools they usually bailout. Mechanic spends the most money on equipment and has the lowest pay scale in the labor force
@mellopez5866 hell that's been like that for years, the people that actually keep this world moving always get the short end of the stick. But yet a lawyer goes to college and complains about the cost of the education, but yet a mechanic that is in the field for 40 years is still getting an education, and a lawyer most of the time won't even buy his own place to do his work out of, he rents so he doesn't have to pay property tax, and then when you go in he'll tell you that he'll have to get back to you after your consultation because he has to go out and get his books and learn about the situation before he does anything, and charge the hell out of you. But yet when a lawyer or doctor brings a vehicle to you he'll be the first one to complain about the price. The pay scale in this country has never been Fair.
There's no loyalty in a dealership or shop in America, and the pay can really suckass. High Schools took Auto Mechanics out of schools, and most auto mechanics training schools have closed because people have lost interest
Cars got far too complicated. What used to be a simple transmission rebuild today is a nightmare. Today's cars have a mile or more wire in them. Even the computerized hand held testers cannot trace a real problem. Too often the tester says this, but the real problem is something else that sends a signal to what it reports is bad. Today's car techs need a PHD in microelectronics. Even the dealerships too often cannot fix many cars because the cars are that complicated.
It's probably not as easy to get people interested in mechanics because modern cars are designed so you can't work on them from home. So young people don't become interested in automotives.
My youngest cousin, just turned 21, is going to school to be a mechanic and has work experience at AutoZone, because he loves to work on cars, trucks and motorbikes. And he lives 2 miles from a mechanic's garage, where my dad and I took our cars to. Good luck, Andy.
Same for contractors and automotive techs/ mechanics. Highschool pushed away this notion that these types of industries were not worth investing in. Looking down on them. We need our trades.
Not to mention 80k in tool purchases, constant training and, testing , continuously changing technology along with employers that insist on keeping all the profit . For most, the juice isn't worth the squeeze. I retired from an excellent paying mechanic job, literally top 1% pay and benefits, but I wasn't qualified until I had 25 years experience . There is no incentive for young guys to become good techs .
That's incorrect. There's plenty of incentive to learn how to work on your own vehicle. See where I'm going with this. By the way I work on my own vehicle for the last I don't know since I've been driving for 25 years. I think I've taken my car to a mechanic once or twice and fixed it the other 300 f****** times myself
Most people don’t wanna take the risk of being independent mechanics and not having people pay them after repairs or even after asking, have the deposit down. Another issue is that when you work for another mechanic shop not a dealership they pay you a little bit less than what you would think. Here in Texas there’s some places that play mechanics anywhere from 9 dollars to $15 an hour. To be honest, it’s not that they’re bad mechanics. It’s that that’s what jobs just pay. Unless you have all your tools that cost thousands of dollars and I have 10+ more years experience and all know components of motors, transmissions, etc. then you have a high probability of making that $20-$30, but I highly doubt it without some kind of certification.
The Problem is not stigma, its pay. Select few shops pay 6 figures.. The rest pay the same wage they did in 2005. I was making 50k in 2007, I left the field as a Master Mechanic making 60K in 2022. Greedy shop owners Charge customers 150-250 an hour labor and still only pay $30 a flat hour for 20+ year Vet Master Mechanics. Shop owners and Desk people can not turn wrenches. The Mechanic IS the enitre business.. So why is the Desk guy sitting in a leather chair in the AC making double the mechanic? Why is the shop owner charging $200+ Per hour labor, when The only reason the Job gets done is the mechanic..
I had no clue that there was a shortage until I took my car to a local Ford dealer for maintenance. It took several weeks to get the work done. I was getting frustrated and asked why it was taking so long. The dealer is one of the larger ones in my area. The service rep said they only had 4 or 5 mechanics. They had one transmission specialist. The wait list to even be seen at the dealer was weeks.
Trans guys are a unique breed, if they are really good, the manufacturer will offer them a job at the tech center, seen it happen more than once. By the way, Ford tranny's have all always will suck.
Mike Rowe is anti working class and always has been. He’s an actor who is acting blue collar. Rowe has said of unions “so we are forced to choose between the workers standard of living, and the competitive strength of the employer. How will the shareholders be affected by striking workers?” Rowe says “only some workers should have unions”. He says that because, as an actor he is a member of a union and says “I sympathize with their cause”. So Rowe believes blue collar workers should not have unions because it negatively affects their employer, while also saying people in his field (actors), should have unions.
The pay is bad bad bad ! The benefits are bad bad bad. You have to buy your tools, tools, tools ! Flat rate pay! I’m in the electronics field( Biomed) never ever paid for my own tools, benefits are good, pay is great.
8 years as a technician then switched to sales. Low pay for the vast amount of knowledge you require for diagnostics and proper repairs with safety always being a top concern. Employers continuously let go of top tier talent for new apprentices to save the dollar. Now we are seeing the consequences. It's a shame.
The median annual wage for automotive service technicians and mechanics in the United States was $47,770. The lowest 10% of earners made less than $30,600, while the highest 10% made more than $77,630. There is no shortage of workers there is a shortage of pay.
I'm a mechanic of 31 years and the biggest problem with vehicles is the engineers that developed this junk. They need to go back to the basics and get rid of the high-tech stuff and then maybe the prices of this junk could come down. Mechanics can spend hours diagnosing the problem but most just slap a new part on and hope for the best.
I was a mechanic for decades, I started at LaJolla Chevrolet in 1972, My pay was 50% of the labor charged on the repair order, The labor rate was $29/hr. In 5yrs the % was 40/60 in favor of the dealership, the next 5yrs it was an hourly wage of about $15/hr, It wasn`t worth being a mechanic anymore. It`s still that way.
afaik Mike Rowe never did any manual labor for a living. He was a professional opera singer and is now a white collar millionaire. Blue collar work was always below him, so why should anybody else ruin their health and waste their life making money for somebody else for a pittance?
6 figure salary is bs. 80% of people in the trades are earning 40k-60k a year. $20-30 an hour. And that is barely enough to live on, paycheck to paycheck, hand to mouth
If you take the judging people do towards mechanics, add in stinky work conditions, top it all off with the cost of those tools its just not worth it. I was married to a mechanic for over 25 years. He continued his training to keep up with the changes in cars. The tool investment was unreal. A toolbox over six feet high crammed full of expensive tools. The investing didnt end. The pay just didnt keep up with it. He finally switched over to construction equipment and did a bit better.
it all comes down to $$$. it's not about a craft. it's about the paycheck. if you can't make ends meet at the end of the month, because you can't have a full time job, pay by hour, no benefits, etc.. Mike Rowe keeps talking about the same things, but he glosses over the paycheck and work.
I'm a mechanic, I work at a successful local shop with five bays. I'm not fond of my boss (who has trouble retaining his staff), I'm not paid well (especially considering I spend almost $100 a week in tools that I use for work), it's breaking my body, and I'm uninterested in going to work every day. Coming from someone who grew up loving cars and always wanted to work with cars, it is not a trade I'd recommend to anyone.
If they want to lure young men into the automotive industry, average wages need to go up because yes some technicians make six figures but a lot make like 60 which in many parts of the country isn’t going to support a family, buy a house etc.
6 figures as a mechanic 😂 let’s be real not working for someone, the average is 40-60k. 6 figures if you own your own business. I was in a ford dealership picking up parts, the service department was near empty for technicians the pay and treatment is substandard.
Lots of people in the comments section discovering that capitalism sucks for the working class. On a side note, Mike Rowe only cosplays as working class.
Was a mechanic for 15 years. Will NEVER go back to that field again. I make twice as much now in IT and don't have to buy $30,000 worth of tools to do it. Pay is the issue BOTTOM LINE.
I worked in a dealership. And nearly all of the techs there did make a living. But dear god all of them looked worn out mentally and physically. Like they had worked in a sweat shop their entire lives. I worked as a tech for 2 yrs. And decided I didn't want to live like that. And watching the dealerships charging the customers 170+ an hour for the techs time. But the techs were getting 30-50 an hour depending on their tech levels. The dealerships are already making money charging the customers for the repairs and parts. But piggy backing off the techs to boost profits is just pure greed.
As i raised my two sons on our farm i told them often work with your hands and you will be able to name your price now at 23 and 25. The youngest works on drilling rigs and the older one is a diesel tech both do 6 figures a year and the smarter part is both are single lol
Its not flat rate itself that's bad. Its the impossible labor times that make flat rate bad. If you could actually beat the clock flat rate is fine. Unfortunately it's usually stacked against you which is what creates the issue.
What the biggest problem is a dealership charging $150 or more an hour and only paying the people that actually do the work $20 to $30 an hour
Chevy dealer near me [NY] LOL is $240 an HR
Yep....$tealer$hip don't care about their "behind the scene" workforce, mechanics & techs, they just care about the optics inside the showrooms, sales & finance managers, oh.......and also the hotties in skirts all dolled up for the after hour parties 🎉
What percentage of mechanics work for dealerships?
The manufacturers all pay the dealer 100% for warrantee parts but onlt 50% of their posted rate for warrantee work.
Result: dealers posted rates are double what they need to keep their doors open.
Meanwhile, a guy has to have $20-50K in personal tools to do the work that pays like a job where someone shows up and the employer provides all the tools.
That's called corporate greed. News flash....It's only going to get worse. But don't believe me, just wait and see.
Im a 35 year car mechanic. The problems exist in how car mechanics are paid and treated. Over the last twenty years, mechanics have seen there pay and pay structure change considerably and not in a positive way. Seasoned technicians have watched their pay and opportunities evaporate as dealerships choose to give easy money jobs to lower paid and lower skilled workers. Seasoned technicians do not get paid well for the difficult car problems they inherit as a result of there better experience. Good car mechanics have to be one of the most under appreciated jobs out there.
You must be wrong; the Bunny said 6 figure salaries and Mike agreed and said all day long..........
@@StudioDaVeed haha, oh yeah they must be right then.
@@jeffreystiner97
Their fanboys believe!
The first thing you do is leave the dealers (better known as "stealers"). Good mechanics need to build cooperatives to spread out the fixed costs like venue among several mechanics so the business model will work. And stop trying to make a killing on every job! $1,000 is the new $100. What average person can afford that?
@@rbuswell
Nope Nope; Bunny and Mike agreed you need to put in no money.
Clue: They actually don't have one.
My son worked at a motorcycle shop, started at sixteen. He’s 21 now and is a great mechanic. Problem is they wont pay him a living wage. He left to become an electrician.
Which is crazy because motorcycles are way easier to work on than cars, just far less complexity and way less parts and shop labor is much higher for bikes. Good motorcycle techs should be making very good money these days.
@@MrMcbear
Part of the problem is that motorcycle are those that can afford and usually are hobbyists, meaning it is a luxury for most. And for the purest, they fix their own motorcycle.
If he’s good at diagnosing talk to him about HVAC ! Crazy $ !! Tell him good luck
What exactly is a living wage? Those words are thrown around so often, and yet they seem to lack any real meaning.
@@rosc2022 6 figures, premium health care, every weekend off, no overtime, paid holidays, use of a car and pizza day on Friday. That's a living wage, but just barely.
If being a car mechanic was really a six-figure job for a normal work week, there would be no shortages.
I’m a truck mechanic. Trades get all the respect in the world but being a mechanic doesn’t garner the same respect. We’re treated like replaceable cogs in a machine. If we stop working, trucks stop moving, and none of you get anything you need or want. During covid everybody was suddenly a hero, except us….why there’s a shortage of mechanics isn’t some big complex secret. We’re not respected. Our job is looked down on by everybody. We don’t get paid enough. Our benefits costs are insane. Why choose this job? There’s none of us making six figures like Mike Rowe will have you believe. If guys are making that money I promise you they’re working 80-90 hour weeks.
UPS mechanics are a little over $80g a yr with great benefits. And that's based on a 40hr wk. It's surprising how many mechanics UPS poaches from car and truck dealerships and from the military. All the UPS mechanics I had to deal with in my almost 28yrs of driving everything from pkg car to my assigned triple tractor were #1! And during the holidays you understand how much respect they get from the gifts brought to them by almost every driver in the building.
Can I tell you something, as a non mechanic?
Your industry did this to itself.
Now, I'm not clean either. I am a home remodelor. You work on cars, I work on houses. I am NOT an automobile mechanic. My aptitude for building and working with tools doesn't translate with automobiles.
All that aside, you work in an industry that is ripe with hacks and sleaze balls, and so do I.
You may very well be credible and work with integrity......as do I, but our peers have destroyed the value of what our industries should be.
I dont know any techs making 6 figures, not one but i do know many that have left, either set up their own shops or gone to the independents, the biggest thing to take away is people are not leaving the trade they are leaving warranty.and anyone that works in this industry will understand that.
@@markbrowning4334 your industry needs licensure and annual training requirements. You don't see hacks in the structural engineering realm last more than a few months. The state boards and courts police them up pretty quick. NJ just rolled out a bonding requirement for all contractors, which will go pretty far in policing out hacks. But even then, you'll get consumers who just don't care and will actually seek out the unlicensed and unbonded hacks, thinking they'll be cheaper. I'm not sure what the answer is to hacks and sleaze balls, but I know licensure works in my world (structural engineering).
Cars being the least repairable they've ever been does not help
Car mechanics with integrity are worth their weight in gold. They will never lack for business!
Yeah, but try to find an honest place to work! Then try to find customers that can or are willing to pay for honest work....
Dealers and Service Managers have no integrity... cars are now all Computer and wires and they don't pay mechanics by the hour, it's by the job or task which has a certain time assigned to it, and if they go over it means they are paid less per/hour.
He is lying
electric cars coming out now and next ten years wont need humans to repair and he knows it
@, yes, they just about have to be working on their own. Our independent mechanic recently retired, and it’s been hard to find one even close to as good as he was.
Unfortunately if you work for someone the hourly rate is a TINY portion of the shops hourly rate. Then you need 50k in tools !
I quit wrenching simply because cost of tools vs lack of pay. Sad when shop is charging over $100 an hour and the person actually doing the work is making 20.
@@demetriuscooksey7147 In America pretty much all shops don't provide tools. My shop does provide quite a bit (heavy diesel) and as a lube tech you can get by with those but after awhile you will buy your own just to have your own and not deal with shops crappy or broken tools. No one ever respects what they don't pay for.
I'm NOT a mechanic but I keep reading that over and over again.
This disparity exists among many, many industries. It is not unique to the auto industry, or any skilled trade. The laws of supply and demand will help drive up salaries if mechanics are in short supply as they are predicting.
Shops here are $185-$250/hr, and top A rate pay is $21.50 and they're still going broke and shutting down.
They can't seem to sell enough $80k or $120k pickups I guess.
The cost of shop insurance is insane, I know their insurance agent, who makes more off them then I'll make in five years. They pay tens of thousands of dollars a month in insurances, licenses, and utilities. The electric bill alone is over $25k even in the winter, those massive shop lights, and the 300 street lights in the parking lot don't run cheap either. An accountant friend showed me what they spend to be there, plus the floor plan interest on the cars on the lot, and they need to sell 100 vehicles every month just to break even. The shop doesn't come close to making a dent in all that. They make the most of the body shop and off used cars. But lately people are broke and having been buying. Add in the fact that the younger generation doesn't seem to care about driving, and is fine with paying Uber to get around, the business in general is in trouble.
Add in the fact now that many dealer require a college degree because of the high tech nature of most cars requiring both computer and communication skills and the fact they don't want to work in a sweaty hot shop to make no more in the end after tools then they'd make flipping burgers or pouring coffee, the odds of luring new people to the trade are slim.
Many no degree type jobs are paying less and less lately, truck driving jobs, mechanics, and other service type jobs are all paying less ad they seem to want a high turnover to they don't need to offer any pay increases.
If your over 50, all of these jobs are likely out of reach these days, both due to the physical requirements and the fact they prefer young and dumb kids who don't know any better or someone who is grateful just to get what they're getting because they know they can't work anywhere else. Even 15 years ago shops were starting to hire a lot of guys who had no driver's license because of DUI or ex cons who worked cheap or were hire through a work program where they got them for half price since the state paid half their wages to get people to hire them. With plans like that in effect, a guy who don't fall into that category doesn't stand a chance.
Yup, scumbags
As a retired automotive service manager I can say that the stigma of being a mechanic is the smallest deterrent of the career field. The field is pushing away mechanics with low pay in the vast majority of companies, ever rising tool costs due to manufacturers “innovation” that require unique and specific tools, unrealistic “book” times on some major jobs, not to mention warranty times and rates that are even worse.
Thats the most honest thing I have ever heard from a service manager… and you are 100% correct…. The industry made this bed and could easily fix it with pay and benefits but decides to just cry and gets guys like Mike Rowe to perpetuate the lie on why people wont take up the this profession or amazing techs jumped ship….. its definitely not because of its stigma of a dirty job.
Yes. Warranty labor times are ridiculously low. Plus dealerships expect mechanics and service writers to rip off customers to make a paycheck. It benefits them.
.
100% @donknetzger4266
The service managers and writers at the 2 dealers I worked for were pirates! I didn`t know people like you existed, I appreciate that.
The book times, that’s the problem. There’s a reason they are called stealerships. The engineering has also gone backwards. They make things hard to repair or too expensive to repair on purpose.
I’m an engineer and shade tree mechanic but the professional mechanics can do a job 10x faster than me. They get billed out at 20% of what they are charged out for. Hats off to all the mechanics - you guys are great!! Keep on wrenching to you all!!
Big problem is the pay. I got out of Auto Repair in 1996. I was making $15/ hour. Shop Labor rates were $45-50/ hour. Today Shop rates are $175- 250/ hr and they are paying $25-30/ hour. Tools are 3-4 times priced what they were in the 90s.
Cutting trade classes from high schools has caused this problem. TY department of education
No. Thank you Republicans who voted to remove those classes.
another main cause of this is the time limits they give you for jobs. theyre not realistic for 90% of repairs and then the mechanic gets shafted on money cuz they only get paid for the hours that job is worth. and they go over that time tough. you dont get paid for it. and on top of that it cuts down on the time you have to do the other 3 or 4 cars for that day. and the time limits get lowered every year.
@@Conquest_HD Beynod that is when you do a 5-hour book rate job in 3 hours, because you are good, you get paid for 3 and the shop bills the customer at the book rated 5.
Yes republicans have defunded education for decades driving education to pay to play model.
@@illbeyourmonster3591 yeah i know i was just saying..that is a major problem with the industry at least at the dealership level maybe not private shops
My son went to school to become a mechanic. The dealerships did not pay a wage worth going through the training nor enough to live on. He's now a sherrif.
Ill bet the sherriff dept didnt make him buy his own gun and vest either.
This is a huge issue for folks actually wanting to get into the trades. The talking heads say you can make plenty of money, but the reality is the employers often don't pay enough, and the work is arduous and hard on your body in the long term.
Work for yourself. You'll be turning work away everyday.
Trumpism’s deference to Billionaire’s will only make things worse for the Middle Class as the 1% Refuse to Pay Living Wages & Taxes.
That’s because he got a job at a dealership lmao. They don’t care about their employees.
Ive been a mechanic now for 15 years. Started in a dealership and now work for UPS as a truck mechanic. I will say that working at a dealership as a mechanic SUCKS!! the pay sucks, dealing with ignorant customers suck, the flat rate sucks. All of it. I stuggled working at a dealership. If i can give any advice to someone wanting to be a mechanic, I would say to stay away from dealerships and get into heavy duty. Its better money and better work.
My vehicle had to be towed to a dealership due to a computer problem. They charged $200 for a diagnostic test and then $200 and hours for the repair, plus parts. We know the mechanic isn't getting paid enough.
Ups is a dictatorship from what I’ve heard
Agreed
Yes... that's why I got out of the buisness
Maybe mechanics should refuse to work for dealerships. Teach them a lesson.
There is no labor shortage, only a pay shortage.
Underrated Comment
Maybe that is the "other shoe" that will drop in 2025. Pay raises is one of the first areas employers go to in order to cut costs... or at least appear to "cut costs." Sometimes that's a ruse too.
I own a small mechanical and body shop and was shocked when a recent applicant told me what the dealer had been paying him. I know big dealers have a lot of overhead but when they are paying their technicians less than 20 percent of the hourly shop rate there is a bad problem. I pay 40 percent of shop rate for starting mechanics and my top body tech is making 55 percent.
Young mechanics need jobs and dealers need mechanics to do the Quick Lane work like oil changes and break jobs and things like that which are fast turnovers
Right, Mike. I am a retired educator who agrees that university is not for everyone. Working is honorable. God's blessings. ❤
Higher education does NOT always mean university. Colleges teach trades also.
What did you educate people in?
@@joinjen3854 Trump will cause 25% of you to be unemployed during his term. This is a FACT of history. A republican president always means an economic disaster !
Yet you folks mock people working at fast food places and other low wage jobs.😂
I have a friend that chose plumbing over college and he is more successful than many that chose than the other route. He obtained enough experience to go out on his own, started a business that he took commercial and is making 7 figures a year. I believe in education but it’s not the end all, if I could do things over I would have skimped my BS in mech engineering and MBA to become a builder. I enjoy building more than trying help corporations find ways to reduce energy spend or meet sustainability goals.
Nobody wants to be an auto mechanic because of the pay. I was a mechanic starting in the mid '70s. Flat rate pay was 50/50. I believe the flat rate hour was $25 an hour back then, so the company got 12.50 and the mechanic got 12.50. Now the dealers are charging $150 an hour, but the mechanic only gets about 35. The dealerships are making money hand over fist, and most are owned by one person or company owning dozens of dealerships.
Who cares what dealerships are making? If you want to make that kind of money, start a dealership and learn to run a business.
That's the biggest problem with the world today. Too many people worrying about what everyone else makes. Just shut up, do the work and make enough money for yourself to live the life you want. End of story.
I've never made one red cent worrying about what anyone else was making.
I’m scared to work on these cars. Clips break so easy. And replacement parts are always on back order!!
Hit the nail on the head, was a Mechanic back pre-covid. Dealer charged $225/hr to the customer for labor. I worked my way up and was making around $18/hr ($15/hr + a partial commission). Once they started giving me jobs that were more advanced and weren't raising my pay I was outta there. I really cared about getting the job done properly too, its a big responsibility to be working on a machine people operate at 70mph on the freeway with kids in the back and other drivers on the road. We just weren't paid accordingly.
@@amann910 How much of the overhead did you pay for that company? If you could break it down for me into insurance costs, electricity bills, building rent/payments, non-producing employee payroll, etc. that would be awesome.
@@dgoddard You're missing the point of the original comment, the dealer only used to take 50% of the flat rate charge to the customer. In my case, they were taking 92%. I mentioned that when they started giving me more advanced jobs(that required more skill, which happens to be worth more money) without increasing my pay, that i then left the company. It's the basic concept of trade that we need to keep in mind here. Bottom line, most people trade their time for money. If people are not getting as much money for there time(especially with the more complex systems in cars lately that require extra or higher skill levels), then thats a problem.
Now what would really be awesome, is if everyone in the country had the desire, knowledge and capitol to just "start their own business". That's just not reality, and never has been. And in the case that everyone owned their own business, who would be left to be employed at these businesses?
In 7th & 8Th grade we had Drafting & Wood Shop. In high school we had Auto shop, Electric Shop, Machine Shop, Wood Shop & Architectural/Industrial Drafting (choice of two, every year). Plus we had Shop Math (pertaining to professional skills/work related math/calculations) & Home Economics. I went into the military (USAF) and learned a skill that I enjoyed, made a very good living at and its served me well. Took some college classes, but, the things I learned in those high school classes & my AF training is what I used most, expanded on & what carried me through life.
My high school had a class called "Practical Arts" for all freshmen. Each quarter focused on something different (auto mechanics, woodworking, business/personal finance, and home economics). After that, if kids had interest in, say, auto mechanics, they would take beginning auto mechanics as sophomores, and then advanced auto mechanics as upper classmen. That was more than forty years ago. I hope they are still doing this.
My high school taught gender fluidity and cultural diversity.
I was born in 1965. In middle school school we had the same programs. We had drafting, woodworking shop, metal shop. Not only do those programs create careers for individuals in the future. They also give individuals a set of problem solving skills.
@@MAGA-z1h Yes, I went to school in the !960's &'70's, too. Most of my classes had 25 to 31 kids in the class.
....and you made the right choices to maintain those institutions - which provided you that quality of life - to pass them down to your kids..... right?
I just retired after 47 years. I was a truck and trailer fleet mechanic but pretty much the same problems there. I made it to age 74 and just couldn't physically continue any more. One of the reasons I kept going was because the shop was short handed constantly and I felt like I was screwing over my co-workers if I left. I was part time for the past few years but I finally had end it as the risk of serious injury became a very real thing. The shop is still looking. All the trades are looking for people . Automotive, truck fleets, HVAC, electricians...pick any of them. The longest I was ever laid off was a couple of months during the covid shutdown.
My son took a job as a mechanic and the company expected him to do a job in 2 hours that would take 4-5 hours. He would get pd by the job not by the hour. He could choose to make an hourly wage of $15 an hour but that is not a decent wage to support a family. Companies are not willing to pay their workers a descent wage. He could not live on $15 and hour. It’s not 6 figures here in Indiana. That’s a lie. If this was true people would be flocking to be mechanics and there would not be shortage.
Be journalists and go to shops and ask Mechanics what they make…..how long have they been mechanics and how many hours do they work in a week. Then you will have a true picture of what it takes to be a car mechanic.
@jennytobias6551 That's standard procedure for auto mechanics, faster you are the more you make. I don't think it's a great system, but a lot of mechanics do like it. He should have known that before he became a mechanic.
And rushing through jobs to beat flat rate is where mistakes are made. It is a self eating snake!
You have to work self employed, buy your own tools, set up a shop.
All of the experienced mechanics I know always beat the flat rate it's the only way to make the big bucks . Oh and they do a competent job because if they don't they usually get to do it again at their expense .
ITS NOT 6 FIGURES IN ANY STATE
I was an auto mechanic for 45 years. I left the industry and started working on forklifts cold turkey total immersion. Best career I’ve I ever made.
that actually does sound fun :) Or you mean fixing them? hahaha, I was thinking driving them.
I was a diesel tech turned forklift tech. If I ever go back I’ll be a forklift tech again.
i went to tech school to be a mechanic. i was in the industry for years and i can see why people are less interested in it nowadays. the pay that the actual techs get is insultingly low until you basically become a master. especially when you usually have to pay for your own tools in almost every shop, and auto manufactures make things needlessly difficult and complicated, usually just to save themselves a few bucks during manufacturing but dont mind screwing the mechanics in the process. not to mention everything is made of cheap plastic now that tends to break when you take it apart and wont last long term. it can still be worth it in the end but it isn't as lucrative as it once was. shops just need to pay better and manufacturers need to be more repair conscious when designing them. but they wont because they would rather you replace a vehicle than repair it.
low? you don't know low...try being an auto body mechanic in massachusetts...
As a young man who could have gone down that path , SHOW ME THE MONEY and the workers will come. Give them training and a good job instead of whining no one wants to work.
I chose Tech (software) because that's where the money is , duh
having a good mechanic is right up there with having a good doctor.
I've been a auto technician for 49 years the number one reason nobody wants to repair vehicles is pay, most dealers and independents don't pay as much as plumbers electricians hvac they just don't. Most don't realize a technician owns his tools and tool boxes not the employer tools are not cheap to replace my tools today with everything I have purchased In the last 49 years I estimate it would cost roughly 450 thousand dollars that's on the low end probably closer to over a half a million that's no joke. So now you see why guys aren't getting into the business. And folks if you think our job is changing oil and putting on brakes and shocks that's not what we do have any of you tried to diagnosis a electrical concern on the vehicles today give it a try the vehicles are very sophisticated and technical today you half to be trained and know what your doing period so its easy to see why there is such a huge shortage of techs today.
@@lisaharvey4373 I have a 2013 ford fusion that has been in the garage for a month now. Some electrical gremlin disabling the awd and a bunch of other things. I tried diagnosing it for a week. I finally sent it to the garage and even with their computers hooked up, it's being a nightmare. Yes people don't realize how awful new vehicles can be to diagnose with all the electronics on vehicles these days... that's why I daily drive my simple and trusty 95 chevy truck...
Many people are misinformed that the cars computer tells the mechanic what's wrong. And they just change a bad part. Nope. Not that easy. Far from it.
College degreed here saying car Technician jobs are more than hands on, it's mental too. Some young people don't want to learn nor work that hard. Some want everything handed to them. Good mechanic priceless as he saves time AND money.
If you are smart enough to repair todays computer systems and networks you can work in a clean, climate controlled office doing IT work for FAR more pay That is why we are lossing techs I do not blame them.
My son makes more than anyone he graduated with...he is a Union electrician...2016 high school grad....he had a 5 year apprenticeship in which he got paid and free school....he made 118k last year(in Missouri)...he could make more if he did overtime...he does sometimes but not often....so proud of him
You should be!👍
Good for him! I started a business with a friend of mine 5 years ago and the first thing my dad did was drag me through court for 2 and half years over made-up BS because he wanted to control everything.
Sorry to hear that
Did he get the job on his own or did you help him get the job.
@@realangrythrottle I did not help him...but a guy we knew from church did help some ...I would have helped him but I don't have any contacts in the field he went into..
It takes far more education and experience to become a mechanic than it used to. And many are correct the dealership's don't want to treat them right.
We're talking mechanics (gears, pulleys, belts , chains, suspension, etc. ) and now adding complex and potentially very dangerous electrical matters into the equation. This requires more training and often far more expensive equipment which the average mechanic / technician can ill afford. Keep in mind too that the tech is changing, so what you buy today may be obsolete next month. Consider how OBD readers have changed since 1996. The days when you could do a lot of work in your driveway or in a home garage are pretty much over. Mechanics / techs are pretty much forced to work for a company that can provide the increasingly expensive equipment needed to do the work: lifts, compressors, scanners etc. Mechanics don't get the respect they deserve.
Having been in the industry for decades I can tell you the problem is not perceptions. It's cars. Government has pushed auto makers into creating mechanical, but more importantly, electronic, nightmares. The manufacturers have gleefully embraced that force as an excuse to raise prices and push private shops nearly out of the market. Yet dealerships are not provided with the data to properly fix things, either. Cars are simply not fun any more, and the job is far too much of a headache. People's attitudes towards mechanics are almost irrelevant...but youth attitude towards physical labor also compounds the problem...
Maybe you should move to Cuba. Cars are still fun there.
@@normdeplume3265 Maybe you should stop making an utter fool of yourself?
I was lucky to hear Mike Rowe speak at the SkillsUSA conference in Kansas City years ago. This man is a Sage for our time!
too bad he's lying here.. :(
People don’t understand how complicated the systems on cars and trucks are .
We deplorable garbage
That’s what they call us
They are very complicated; that is why they developed the little OBDS II system that plugs into the system and in seconds it will tell you exactly what is wrong !
The system may be complicated but the job isn't!
@@TheMakersMarkTSFyou don’t know ANYTHING about electronics. Yes the trouble codes could lead you to the problem or send you down a rabbit hole. It takes experience to diagnose a vehicle.
@TheMakersMarkTSF That isn't completely true. Have you looked under some of these hoods? It's not as easy as you make it sound 🤷🏻♂️
And computers make mistakes, as well.
the obd does not tell the problem@@TheMakersMarkTSF
I was a mechanic for many years. Back in the 70's I worked in a dealership the pay was 50% of labor charge flat rate was 24.00 hour a mechanic would make 12.00. It was worth the effort then. Now Dealerships charge very high labor rates and their techs get paid peanuts for their work.
I had the same experience, they started raising the labor rates without increasing our wage
That is why so many mechanics have become self-employed now. Why make $25 an hour, when you are being billed out at $150+ when you can work for yourself at $125 an hour and keep all of it?
Mike Rowe is a man of integrity- thank you for having him on your show. I love his message and commitment to helping train people for trades that we need in the USA.
Car sales are in the toilet so their cash cow to keep the lights on = repairs which is not sustainable = the end of dealerships is knocking.
$12 an hour in 1979, is $52 an hour now
Do you guys read the comments at all. It looks like mechanics are not respected and not making a decent living wage no matter how good they are. It looks like it’s a dealership problem. Independent shops are almost always rated much higher than dealerships.. Warranty work is always paid less at dealerships.
I’ve been in the auto industry from mechanic to service advisor and manager and all I can say is that very few people make six figures a year doing mechanic work, or any other job in an automotive repair business. Most make 50-60k. The reason is the overhead of a shop grows significantly year after year and shop owners can’t(some cases won’t) pay for qualified help.
Working in the auto industry has been fun but it has NEVER enabled me to thrive.
Taking the leap of faith and building a business has enabled my life to open up in ways I never thought possible!
Love Mike Rowe but I wouldn’t tell my worst enemy to enter anything to do with the automotive industry period!
The increase in the educational bureaucracy and deterioration of the quality of teachers, due to the influence of the teacher's unions, has played a major roll in the downfall of the education system.
I’m a veteran educator and I agree with you 100%.
"Roll".... Don't you mean "role"? LOL
Too low of pay for the highly technical work needed to repair todays cars, even the dealers can’t fix some of their cars. For what you have to know and do it’s not worth the pay unless you run your own shop, I was a mechanic for 40+ years and I seen the changes coming, the very expensive equipment needed to repair todays cars and the “dealer only” software required for some vehicle’s to be able to run scans. We desperately need the right to repair so we can get the dealers software.
We are definitely an elitist country. My best friend told his son he put away 200 k for his college
But if he he absolutely loves working on cars, so my friend invested it for him for “ retirement “ and he is going to become a car mechanic and will likely end up at a high end car dealership
By the time he retires he will be worth millions just because his father invested the money that would have been wasted on a wasted college degree
@@Wilma__DikfitWelders and skilled trades can easily make 6 figures, more money than you need does not equal hippiness and worthless degrees abound.
If you vote elites into government, you'll end up with an elitist country.
Unfortunately, with the way things are going a million dollars won't be anything special by then - it'll probably be the typical home price in the lower cost of living cities and towns.
@@killer2600 It already is in the higher to medium sized places, or places a reasonable commute in their. We'll all be millionaires soon, buying our daily loaf of bread with a wheelbarrow full of cash, or it's modern equivalent.
@@killer2600it will be worth 3-5 million without lifting a finger or adding to it. Money well spent imho.
Reading the comments from mechanics or family of mechanics, it's not hard to see the source of the problem. If being a mechanic was really a 6-figure job, there wouldn't be a shortage.
Yeah, ummmm last I checked it's still extremely hard to get a home. Jobs are indeed critically important, but nothing is more sad and soul crushing than to say that you're useful with a wrench and have done a great good for customers and the community, but you don't have a place to call home at the end of the day.
I have heard mechanics complain about the DESIGN of these high-tech vehicles. They cannot be repaired. Some transmissions cannot be rebuilt...you have to buy a new one. Engine failures in personal cars and in heavy duty trucks fail more often. Replacing a simple starter motor on some engines is an all day affair. The "designers" bury the starter deep in side the engine or hide them somewhere, besides hanging them near the rear of the engine near the transmission; like it used to be.
I've been in the automotive and heavy truck business for over 25yrs and no one wants to pay the money for your skill and the tools you have to buy to stay relevant for all the new cars and truck it just sad i love fixing cars and trucks but the money is not there
Retired engineer, 3 university degrees. If I had a chance to do things differently I would have been a technician. My last ten years of working, techs were making more than some engineers! Also, I could have studied A LOT of technology for far less money and had far fewer loans to pay off. If anyone asks me, my suggestion is to start with a good 1 or 2 year tech program in a field with good current job prospects. There's plenty of time for more education, if you decide that's what you want.
Amen brother...
@@TDSDoctoryou have three University degrees and you're still dumb enough to support Trump? You didn't learn nothing
Like my husband always says....get the engineer out of the way & get the work done.
@@sandracrandall4561 my engineers are mostly structural. I've done a good job maintaining these relationships so you can somewhat speed things up by having long relationships with the same firms... Plus, sugar gets you much more than salt with inspectors... With anything in life, really... 😁
@@sandracrandall4561 Sounds like someone who will never promote past his current level ... Engineers are very important. Working with them speeds things up. Working against them slows things down. Simple as that.
We were in trouble the day they stopped teaching shop classes in our school system
yup. and they did that 40 years ago.
They never taught photography classes in my school or college, and I had a productive and profitable 30-year career as a pro photographer. ...Got it?
Digital photography has changed photography.
Wow. You are the definition of an out of Touch, non-woke Republican.
@@leslieholm9542 What the heck does that mean? Or do you just run around to random posts and troll them to make yourself feel like you actually have value?
I’m an auto mechanic. The big reason nobody wants to do this work is it doesn’t pay well. They can easily go learn to be a plumber and make $100k a year instead. If they want mechanic, pay us well.
I spent 20+ years as a professional auto mechanic. It is apretty thankless job. Wages not on par with the knowledge and skill required, as well as the investment in tools (especially the software). The toll it takes on your body is not worth the "benefits". Another problem I had was that the technicians who "upsold" the most (services not really needed) usually made the most money. Shop owners tended to reward less ethical technicians and the conscientious ones usually suffered as far as pay. Don't even get me going about working on commission, where the techs assume part of the risk for businesses that aren't rum optimally.
I WAS AN ASE MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN FOR NEARLY 30 YEARS. THE FLAT RATE SYSTEM OF PAY IS ABSOLUTELY ATROCIOUS! THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN SURVIVE UNLESS YOU'RE CHEATING SCUMBAG AND I REFUSED TO CHEAT MY CUSTOMERS. THE INDUSTRY STANDARDS OF PAY IS WHY THIS INDUSTRY IS QUICK TO DIE BECAUSE THERE IS WAY TOO MUCH DIFFICULTY FOR EVERY REPAIR AND WAY TOO LITTLE PAY. REALIZE THIS AS CUSTOMERS YOU WON'T SEE IT BUT IN THE BACK END IT IS FIXED TIMES FOR CERTAIN REPAIRS AND THE TIMES ARE HORRIFICALLY UNDERCOUNTED
True but you have the skills to make Some money after work .
Thats the benefit of having skills . 💪💪
@@Ikke-t4l there's a guy down the street from us in our neighborhood. He's an ASE mechanic at a new car dealership. But after work and on weekends he is always working on cars. He's fixed mine several times. Well worth it!
@ Thats my point mate , my dad told me learn to use your hands and you always have a job .
I,m 59 now and good times bad times but in bad times There is more work after 9to5 😉😉
You have no idea how happy it makes me hearing people not afraid to say, Merry Christmas. Also, love Mike Rowe. He made people see that this country runs on people who aren't afraid to get out there and work.
I just retired from the automotive repair industry ,ending with owning my own shop. The new intelligence that it takes and the cost of tools that are required do not equal the pay of a modern mechanic. Unfortunately shops and dealerships still cheat customers in order to make up some of the difference. There would have to be a massive raise to equal the total honest cost and intelligence required to work on modern day carrs.....It is a very difficult mental and physical job. Customer can NOT afford honest car service!
Nail meet hammer Pay must be equal to skill+danger+dirt If not no one smart enough to do the work will
I charge $150/hr for diag The clock starts when i leave my house to go to your shop. I work for dealers and independants and have more work than I could ever finish
Stigma? That’s bull. People stopped being mechanics because they’re treated horribly by employers and paid even worse. Being a good, real mechanic takes experience and knowledge, it’s a skilled position and it’s NOT just a parts hanger, and nobody wants to pay for that. Auto manufacturers are doing everything they can to make the profession obsolete, and not in a good way.
Any time someone tells you there is a worker shortage what they are really telling you is that the pay sucks. If the pay was enticing then there would be no shortage of people applying for the job.
Car manufacturers need to build vehicles that can be worked on reasonably. They are poorly engineered and difficult for even experienced mechanics to repair. No one wants to be in an industry that doesn't care about the end user or the guy or gal who has to fix it! It should get easier not harder as technology gets more advanced!
Cars should be built just like they were in the 60,s. That was the pinnacle of the American car. those cars tuned and running correctly are just as clean as these computers on wheels they have today. I guess the ones of today are cleaner because they won't run.
You nailed it!
Well said!
Electric cars have way less parts and require way less maintenance....
@ I don’t want an electric car and I know many people who simply aren’t interested. I also can’t stand all the electronics and gadgets in the car, I like a good old simple stick shift. Power steering and auto windows and locks are great. That is the end of what I would want with the exception to the aux cable hook up you can do with your phone to listen to podcasts
A 4 year college degree is not for most people, actually! Automotive Technicians is an honorable career path, as is Aircraft Technicians. THANK YOU Mike Rowe!
I've heard that aircraft mechanics don't get paid very well either. Unless you work on avionics.
@@maxwellcrazycat9204 The better paying jobs require doing things many do not have on their bingo card for having "the good life." Working at night regularly, constant deadlines/pressure, dealing with huge corporation bureaucracy, union restrictions, years of "paying your dues" in low-paying jobs, etc. There's also a ton of personal responsibility/liability involved too.
I know a guy that worked at a car dealer before he graduated high school in the 80s, and the last time I talked to him he was going to get a different job because the cars have become too technical, and he said he's tired of going to school all the time to learn new tech to repair the new cars
In my town, Chevy (CHEVY!) dealers charges $210/hr for service, and sell OEM parts for double what you can find them for online. Meanwhile, they pay their apprentice techs $18.50/hr to start (they have to provide their own tools). If I was in that industry ... and had the chance to do something else where I'm not exposed to toxic chemicals and vapors - with a possibility of having something heavy (like a car) drop on my head - then "graduate" to a flat rate level II tech, having to race for time to get jobs done (often cutting corners)? I would fight not to make that a long-term career choice. There is money in the industry if you go independent - but then you have to rent or own a shop, and when you grow, have to pay YOUR employees and (something many don't consider) pay for liability insurance which can be over $20K per year for a small operation. A buddy of mine didn't opt for liability insurance, and wound up being sued for $500K after one of his part time employees had a seizure while operating a forklift, fell off the forklift - then had a heart attack in the ambulance and passed away. The guy wasn't supposed to be operating the lift, and did it while my buddy wasn't at the shop. The industry is full of unforeseen pitfalls that weren't problems 30 years ago.
Every single mechanic i know is planning to either retire or move to a different field.
Cars build today have no consideration for repairability, & pay sucks. If you consider cost of tools required for modern cars.. mc donalds is better option.
Made a living from a Community college. Machinist for 30 years.
I'm one of them...... Graduated high school in the late 90s and went right to Lincoln tech for auto mechanics. Worked in the field for about 5 years and then ran far and fast because even back then the industry was garbage. It's gotten monumentally worse.
Thanks for sharing your story. My father spent the better part of 50 years working as a mechanic at various dealers and was never really given the respect or compensation he deserved for what skills and knowledge were needed for the job. I honestly think the title should be upgrade from service technician to service engineer.
@@redchihuahua417 I called myself a field engineer. A lot of the problems we encountered provided feedback to the factory engineers. We helped with solutions, But didn't get paid for that.
As a daughter and wife of mechanics we’ve seen this coming too. I think a large part is that people don’t want to work or get dirty. It’s not just the auto industry either it’s deal, heavy equipment, ag, and marine mechanics too.
Lol. No, it's because the pay is awful.
I enjoyed the work and helping customers BUT with the same skill set (actually less skill) you can get a job as a computer network enginneer That is what I did no more 95degree days under a dash for $25/hr i now work in the a/c for 120k/year
I'm a builder and a mechanic we're looked down on...but we are the men keeping this country rolling..
Imagine that....
I found the PROBLEM! Stop Looking! Federal Minimum Wage is still $7.25 from 2009...
Mike Rowe always delivers an insightful analysis, smart guy.
He is a grifter not unlike the Pawn Stars guy.. You will believe anyone.
@promethiac2641, except you
@@promethiac2641
You sound smaarrt .
@@promethiac2641someone said you're trying to clean your higher education as being watching reruns of Honey boo boo!
@@promethiac2641just because you think you got your higher education by watching reruns of Honey boo boo!
As a former mechanic it was a horrible job no pay nasty dirty had to change clothes before I could even get in my car at the end of the day, hot in summer cold in winter, emotionally and mentally draining I got out and got my cdl I drive a dump truck now make over twice what I made turning wrenches and I don’t have to do near the work I did
The flat rate system, the way dealership mechanics are treated by employers, and the complex difficulty of the way cars are manufactured and have to be repaired are in my opinion why there is less and less interest in automotive repair. Ive been wrenching for a living 18 years.
That's exactly right. Flat rate systems promote cutting corners instead of quality repairs & yes dealerships do not pay well at all especially when you compare them to heavy equipment or diesel.
The last dealership that I worked at. Chevrolet. The owner expected everyone to be a salesman. Sell work. Sell parts. Only cared about generating billable labor hours. An extremely toxic work environment. Very stressful. I quit after 6 1/2 years there. 32 Years total in 3 different dealerships. Got a great job away from auto repair but could still use the skills that I had developed. Way better pay and benefits and and a far lower stress level. should have done it sooner.
Pay is stuck in the 1980's due to immense greed from both independent garages and Stealerships.
The only way to make a decent living in this field is working for yourself.
Mike R is wrong. Im a mobile tool dealer for 29 years. The mechanics pay has not kept pace with the cost of living, everything else is a moot point. Everyone wants to be a UPS DRIVER, why? Because they have union protection, benefits, a great wage and a pension! Compare that to a PRIME DRIVER which gives maybe a weak benefit package and low pay
I have been in a mechanic my whole life, 45 years and its served me extremely well and made me a good living. Its gotten me promoted to manager and director roles etc. Unfortunately today there are not many left. Todays kids have no interest in anything except video games and social media etc. I am still able to work on my own vehicles, Range Rover and C63S AMG. And yes that saves me a ton. I am headed into retirement soon and thankful to God for my life and my abilities that have served me and my family well. Please learn this trade, its worth every dime!!!!
No interest besides video games and social media? I was only uninterested in getting underpaid and having to buy tens of thousands of dollars in tools. Why would we chose to work in a field that underpays and under appreciates it’s employees when I can go work somewhere else while making more money and not going home with a sore back and cut up hands.
@@zacharyenockson4404enjoy the student loan payments for the next 30 Years
You're right the kids and the Millennials nowadays are as lazy as dirt, but, with that being said I've been doing mechanic work for 50 plus years, I will not work on anything from 1998 and newer, all this new vehicle crap on the market ain't worth buying are working on.
I have been a mechanic almost all my life started at my father's shop. Worked for the dealership , opened my own repair shop. Mechanics is a dying breed the young generation wants more pay and less work also when they find out how much money they have to spend for tools they usually bailout. Mechanic spends the most money on equipment and has the lowest pay scale in the labor force
@mellopez5866 hell that's been like that for years, the people that actually keep this world moving always get the short end of the stick.
But yet a lawyer goes to college and complains about the cost of the education, but yet a mechanic that is in the field for 40 years is still getting an education, and a lawyer most of the time won't even buy his own place to do his work out of, he rents so he doesn't have to pay property tax, and then when you go in he'll tell you that he'll have to get back to you after your consultation because he has to go out and get his books and learn about the situation before he does anything, and charge the hell out of you.
But yet when a lawyer or doctor brings a vehicle to you he'll be the first one to complain about the price.
The pay scale in this country has never been Fair.
There's no loyalty in a dealership or shop in America, and the pay can really suckass. High Schools took Auto Mechanics out of schools, and most auto mechanics training schools have closed because people have lost interest
Why not? Pay crappy! Not a livable salary! Benefits crappy! Unless you’re the shop owner. Not even close to a 6 figure salary!
So what is your alternative? Live with your momma?
@kerrycarter330 Times changed Kerry. Nobody wants to be an $8/hr bootlicker like you, Kerry. This isn't the 1950s anymore.
Cars got far too complicated. What used to be a simple transmission rebuild today is a nightmare. Today's cars have a mile or more wire in them. Even the computerized hand held testers cannot trace a real problem. Too often the tester says this, but the real problem is something else that sends a signal to what it reports is bad. Today's car techs need a PHD in microelectronics. Even the dealerships too often cannot fix many cars because the cars are that complicated.
It's probably not as easy to get people interested in mechanics because modern cars are designed so you can't work on them from home. So young people don't become interested in automotives.
My youngest cousin, just turned 21, is going to school to be a mechanic and has work experience at AutoZone, because he loves to work on cars, trucks and motorbikes. And he lives 2 miles from a mechanic's garage, where my dad and I took our cars to. Good luck, Andy.
So, what?
@@petesaria-hf1xh You need to grow up and learn compassion.
Work experience at AutoZone? LOL! that's a real knee slapper! 😅
Same for contractors and automotive techs/ mechanics. Highschool pushed away this notion that these types of industries were not worth investing in. Looking down on them. We need our trades.
Not to mention 80k in tool purchases, constant training and, testing , continuously changing technology along with employers that insist on keeping all the profit .
For most, the juice isn't worth the squeeze.
I retired from an excellent paying mechanic job, literally top 1% pay and benefits, but I wasn't qualified until I had 25 years experience .
There is no incentive for young guys to become good techs .
That's incorrect. There's plenty of incentive to learn how to work on your own vehicle. See where I'm going with this. By the way I work on my own vehicle for the last I don't know since I've been driving for 25 years. I think I've taken my car to a mechanic once or twice and fixed it the other 300 f****** times myself
I worked at a shop till 97. We got half the labor. Approx. 26hr. Now they want over 100hr and mechanics get nothing. What happened?
Most people don’t wanna take the risk of being independent mechanics and not having people pay them after repairs or even after asking, have the deposit down. Another issue is that when you work for another mechanic shop not a dealership they pay you a little bit less than what you would think. Here in Texas there’s some places that play mechanics anywhere from 9 dollars to $15 an hour. To be honest, it’s not that they’re bad mechanics. It’s that that’s what jobs just pay. Unless you have all your tools that cost thousands of dollars and I have 10+ more years experience and all know components of motors, transmissions, etc. then you have a high probability of making that $20-$30, but I highly doubt it without some kind of certification.
The Problem is not stigma, its pay.
Select few shops pay 6 figures.. The rest pay the same wage they did in 2005. I was making 50k in 2007, I left the field as a Master Mechanic making 60K in 2022.
Greedy shop owners Charge customers 150-250 an hour labor and still only pay $30 a flat hour for 20+ year Vet Master Mechanics.
Shop owners and Desk people can not turn wrenches. The Mechanic IS the enitre business.. So why is the Desk guy sitting in a leather chair in the AC making double the mechanic? Why is the shop owner charging $200+ Per hour labor, when The only reason the Job gets done is the mechanic..
I had no clue that there was a shortage until I took my car to a local Ford dealer for maintenance. It took several weeks to get the work done. I was getting frustrated and asked why it was taking so long. The dealer is one of the larger ones in my area. The service rep said they only had 4 or 5 mechanics. They had one transmission specialist. The wait list to even be seen at the dealer was weeks.
Trans guys are a unique breed, if they are really good, the manufacturer will offer them a job at the tech center, seen it happen more than once. By the way, Ford tranny's have all always will suck.
if you pay them, they will come.
Mike Rowe is anti working class and always has been. He’s an actor who is acting blue collar. Rowe has said of unions “so we are forced to choose between the workers standard of living, and the competitive strength of the employer. How will the shareholders be affected by striking workers?” Rowe says “only some workers should have unions”. He says that because, as an actor he is a member of a union and says “I sympathize with their cause”. So Rowe believes blue collar workers should not have unions because it negatively affects their employer, while also saying people in his field (actors), should have unions.
The pay is bad bad bad ! The benefits are bad bad bad. You have to buy your tools, tools, tools ! Flat rate pay! I’m in the electronics field( Biomed) never ever paid for my own tools, benefits are good, pay is great.
8 years as a technician then switched to sales. Low pay for the vast amount of knowledge you require for diagnostics and proper repairs with safety always being a top concern. Employers continuously let go of top tier talent for new apprentices to save the dollar. Now we are seeing the consequences. It's a shame.
The median annual wage for automotive service technicians and mechanics in the United States was $47,770. The lowest 10% of earners made less than $30,600, while the highest 10% made more than $77,630. There is no shortage of workers there is a shortage of pay.
I'm a mechanic of 31 years and the biggest problem with vehicles is the engineers that developed this junk. They need to go back to the basics and get rid of the high-tech stuff and then maybe the prices of this junk could come down. Mechanics can spend hours diagnosing the problem but most just slap a new part on and hope for the best.
It's for sure that the "pace of technology" in cars ( and other things) exceeds the "pace of learning" for the population.
That is not sustainable.
We can blame the EPA for much of that. Over regulation.
I was a mechanic for decades, I started at LaJolla Chevrolet in 1972, My pay was 50% of the labor charged on the repair order, The labor rate was $29/hr. In 5yrs the % was 40/60 in favor of the dealership, the next 5yrs it was an hourly wage of about $15/hr, It wasn`t worth being a mechanic anymore. It`s still that way.
afaik Mike Rowe never did any manual labor for a living. He was a professional opera singer and is now a white collar millionaire. Blue collar work was always below him, so why should anybody else ruin their health and waste their life making money for somebody else for a pittance?
Pay more, problem solved!!!!!
Mike Rowe can help reform US education
6 figure salary is bs. 80% of people in the trades are earning 40k-60k a year. $20-30 an hour. And that is barely enough to live on, paycheck to paycheck, hand to mouth
If you take the judging people do towards mechanics, add in stinky work conditions, top it all off with the cost of those tools its just not worth it. I was married to a mechanic for over 25 years. He continued his training to keep up with the changes in cars. The tool investment was unreal. A toolbox over six feet high crammed full of expensive tools. The investing didnt end. The pay just didnt keep up with it. He finally switched over to construction equipment and did a bit better.
Being a fleet mechanic where you're paid by the hour plus overtime is much better. Ditch that flat rate pay.
it all comes down to $$$. it's not about a craft. it's about the paycheck. if you can't make ends meet at the end of the month, because you can't have a full time job, pay by hour, no benefits, etc.. Mike Rowe keeps talking about the same things, but he glosses over the paycheck and work.
I'm a mechanic, I work at a successful local shop with five bays. I'm not fond of my boss (who has trouble retaining his staff), I'm not paid well (especially considering I spend almost $100 a week in tools that I use for work), it's breaking my body, and I'm uninterested in going to work every day. Coming from someone who grew up loving cars and always wanted to work with cars, it is not a trade I'd recommend to anyone.
the costs for tools comes out of your pocket ? What is this , a barber shop type structure ?
If they want to lure young men into the automotive industry, average wages need to go up because yes some technicians make six figures but a lot make like 60 which in many parts of the country isn’t going to support a family, buy a house etc.
6 figures as a mechanic 😂 let’s be real not working for someone, the average is 40-60k. 6 figures if you own your own business. I was in a ford dealership picking up parts, the service department was near empty for technicians the pay and treatment is substandard.
Lots of people in the comments section discovering that capitalism sucks for the working class. On a side note, Mike Rowe only cosplays as working class.
Was a mechanic for 15 years. Will NEVER go back to that field again. I make twice as much now in IT and don't have to buy $30,000 worth of tools to do it. Pay is the issue BOTTOM LINE.
I worked in a dealership. And nearly all of the techs there did make a living. But dear god all of them looked worn out mentally and physically. Like they had worked in a sweat shop their entire lives. I worked as a tech for 2 yrs. And decided I didn't want to live like that. And watching the dealerships charging the customers 170+ an hour for the techs time. But the techs were getting 30-50 an hour depending on their tech levels. The dealerships are already making money charging the customers for the repairs and parts. But piggy backing off the techs to boost profits is just pure greed.
Mechanics pay is all messed up.
Once the owner and a plethora of "managers" take their cut. There isn't much left for the mechanics and service writers.
As i raised my two sons on our farm i told them often work with your hands and you will be able to name your price now at 23 and 25. The youngest works on drilling rigs and the older one is a diesel tech both do 6 figures a year and the smarter part is both are single lol
Treat mechanics like crap for decades, charge customers $100 plus hours per billable hour and pay the mechanic $20. That’s what happened.
EV adoption will mitigate this in one respect, that they need less maintenance and they're simpler and more reliable. And no transmission!
Former mechanic here. Watch UA-cam vids on this subject, that’ll explain everything! 90% of it is flat rate pay. Something needs to change!
Yet my local Dodge dealership is charging $185/Hour for labor.
Its not flat rate itself that's bad. Its the impossible labor times that make flat rate bad. If you could actually beat the clock flat rate is fine. Unfortunately it's usually stacked against you which is what creates the issue.