It is a tough time. No one wants to spend money, car sales are down and that hurts more than anything. Although I work on commission from customer pay, the biggest part of my regular paychecks is the hours our shop turns. Internal hours make up at least 50% of those hours and they are down significantly. If cars arn't being sold, then they arn't being traded in and internal work drops.

The economy will come back though. When? I don't know. Probably at least another year or so before it gets better.

 

I am lucky I get paid on all the labor I write including warranty and internal.

 

Right. So do I. I get paid a certain amount for every hour that is turned in the shop. Even if I don't write it. However when we arnt doing UCI's then the hours internally go down significantly, therefore I don't get paid for them if they're not there.

 

I only get paid for what I write, but the % is decent. Some places pay off parts sales too.

 

I got out of the AF after 8 years and went to work at a used car dealership's garage until I found an IT job.

I liked the job.

I did have some complaints though.

it was always hotter then fuck in that garage
the pay was shit. But it was really to be expected to go to work in a field I was unfamiliar with.

 

I have thought about getting out of the industry and move into something else. The pay is nice and all, but we are planning on moving to Maryland to be closer to our families. This gives me a good chance to switch. Who knows.

 

+1 Definitely agree it is a lot easier to work at a dealership when it specializes in the make you like. I get a wealth of info from techs, plus 40-50% off OEM parts, etc. Couldn't imagine working for one I didn't like.

 

Yeah, I'll be finishing up my bachelors degree in May and will be looking to use my degree to make more money somewhere in the car business after another year or so.

 

i HATE working on one line of vehicle. that is by far the most boring thing ever. granted, you get really damn good on the same thing, but doing pattern failures and brakes is not my cup o tea, IMO.

i absolutely LOVE doing driveability, and all make repairs. keeps me on my toes, and keeps our training up to date by constantly learning. nothing like the feeling you get when you fix a car that has been to several other shops and not been fixed. especially when it gets towed in from the dealership. i get a raging hard on when i fix them

how long have they been on the team system? i will guarantee that it came about after they had some form of consultant come in and tell them that it would make them more money lol.

with the right people and management, teams work GREAT. however, it really does instill hatred toward other techs sometimes if there is a slacking one. generally the problem will be solved on the tech level, but alot of times it makes its way to upper management, then its a real clusterfuck when they get involved.



indies are getting SLAMMED with work, there are so many people that are upside down in their cars from the 0 down/8yr financing crap that was put out a few years back that they cannot afford to trade cars, and are fixing the ones they have.

i have been analyzing our numbers for this year, and its about a 30% increase in large ticket invoices, ie engines, trannies, and other higher dollar repairs. also, more people are fixing trivial items, ie power windows, locks, interior noises, etc.

so far that i can tell, dealers are hurting more than some of the quality indies, but it will come up in the next few months, watch.


i would bitch too if i had to deal with the retarded ways most larger dealerships are managed and if i had to deal with flat rape on a daily basis.


you do not need to go to school to be ASE certified, just job experience. time in military does count.

 

I would say about 3 1/2 years now after they had a big bitch amongst each other with the Service Manager and then they became a team. This was something the techs wanted being all 3 are hustlers and very good. So far no complaints and they get along great and no problems.