Thread: ? about finding good help

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Not sure what the votec schools are like in my area, but I got my Camaro from a 2nd year votec student that was in auto tech and had a friend in auto body. If you could have seen what they had done to that car My 15 yr old son knows more in both areas then they did as second yr votec students.

Charles

Originally posted by BigTruckDriver
Good thing their are not many younger guys,I always feel more confident leaving my Hot rod with the older guys.Damn kids

this here is also part of the prob for the younger techs, I was 21 when I started my shop.. and if you check my pics you'll see that i've done some respectible work, and I always had people coming in and asking if they could speak to the owner to get a estimate,, and when I said i was the owner a few of them said no seriously can i talk to the owner..lol.. but even after that many left their vehicle with me... thankfully otherwise i still wouldn't be in business..... So I do agree that their are young capable techs out there it's just that their hard to find...

I agree with you guys, I am 19 and have loved cars for as long as i can remember. With the two jobs ive had, ive worked circles around the kids my age or older sometimes. They just dont care anymore.
For me, Ive tried to find the best way to get into cars for the last few years and am still trying to decide how i want to do it. I have just had to kind of teach myself the preventive maintance stuff but thats about it. Im jelous of those kids that have the dad to teach them all or the kids that have all the money to go to all these schools and then are just there for the check. Im very passionate about cars and get so fustrated that i cant do more than i know and have the willingnes to learn and then all the shops shut you down because you havent ever been in the buisness.

I know its kinda off the subject but it just seems like for everyone its becoming a no win situation, of course unless your rich.

david

Desire has got a lot to do with it.there are a lot of different ways to get hands on experience, know anybody with a stock car or a drag racer, they very seldom turn down free help,and you will learn how a car is repaired in a hurry. Got a neighbor yanking his engine,he probably would like a hand too. There is always the military, and they do pay you while you learn. All of the shots at me when I was in came from a bottle.

You know I have been in the business for 30 years and it has made me a very comfortable living , but I have seen a drastic change in the past 8 years due to Ins.Co.s & The shops too , Bob said it rather well , and alot of the problems started with the managers of the shops , writing inferior estimates when we were in slow times , and cutting the times down just to under cut the next shop, just to get the job , and now it has become a Ins. standard NOT to pay for all the ( so called little operations ) like feather sand , prime & block , and cut and buff , mask off car , ect.

The shop I am in now sucks because of the boss & 2 of the worthless kids he hired , they have such blind jealousy towards me its unreal , they worry about me so much they can not do their jobs worth a tinkers damn ! , and the boss surrounds himself with incompetence ( like those 2 jokers ) he shows his Hypocrisy everyday !!

I have trained some really good kids , and are doing well , and they have made me proud !
Usually if you surround yourself with GOOD help & you are excellent in your job , word gets around and those that are good will search you out .
Ask your jobber whos good and whos bad , these guys usually know how good workers are , buy asking the painters what type work body guys do !

Spray

Hey Uncle Bob:
You made several really good points regarding the state of affairs in today's automotive service industry.
Over the almost 40 years I've been involved with the auto industry, I've been on both sides of the fence. Most of the old school mechanics (techs) have either died off or retired. Used to be that a mechanic would actually try to repair something, then the parts changers came along. This was born out of necessity to "turn" a greater profit (dollars generated per tech per stall). Now comes along the high tech electronic age where a computer will diagnose the problem & identify the component to replace. Result: More money per tech per stall! With the average labor rates hovering around $100 per flat rate hour & replacement part cost mark-ups that can easily double dealer costs...what will be the next revelation in the automotive repair industry? Look for replaceable powertrain units coming from the manufacturers. A trans sets a slip code...undo a few bolts & slip in a new motor/trans/drive axle assembly. No more repairing, just replace the sub-assembly. Will we need highly trained techs if this happens? NO! Now don't laugh, it's already starting to happen

Things are going more and more to drive by wire. I'm glad to be retiring very soon,which is why I'm gathering parts for a 29 pickup. I used to enjoy working on stuff, but now there's little I can do. It's not that I don't want to try, but it seems that only the dealers can get the tech information necessary,and very few of them want to spend any money on sending techs for training until forced to by the manufacturers. If you want to get into this field today,you had best go to school, get trained on diagnostics,and maybe then you can get your foot in the door. Yeah,theres still work out there, but it's getting very limitted.