Is the mechanic industry still a good one to go into? Or is it pretty much dying and will be dead in the future?

Is the mechanic industry still a good one to go into? Or is it pretty much dying and will be dead in the future?

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Get into diesel

I would only go for it if you haven't known what to do with your life since you were young and you're now 25 or something working minimum wage or if there's hardly mechanic shops where you live

as long as theres cars, theres work to be done

Turning wrenches doesn't pay nearly as well as it used to. It's a good skill to have, but it's a shitty job.

Personally, I'd suggest getting into HVAC instead.

Far less question in how necessary it will be in the future or how much it can change.

short answer: yes, if you do it right.

pros:
-you will be able to make money on the side
-you will be able to save a LOT of money by maintaining/repairing your own car(s) yourself where you work
-you will learn a lot of interesting shit depending on what branch you go into/how far you go: from metalwork to electronics to fabric and ofc mechanical stuff
- the branch will not die for another 100 years because no matter how automated anything becomes, when there's a crash/malfunction the computer doesn't know what the fuck happened and goes stupid mode
-restoring old cars is a glorious experience if that's your thing
- current cars are shit right now but the new shit coming soon is interesting as fuck to mess with because of the high voltage part of cars. Audi even developed an electric compressor without any lag its fucking noice.
- sense of accomplishment on every car you finish and not constant stressful deskjob
-you can get paid pretty penny if you keep learning shit like doing a mastery or going further becoming a vehicle technician (don't know the english terms , just translated from german)
- you WILL make connections to get anything related to cars cheaper, be it friends or colleagues

cons:
- rust
- health risk on the job
- it can be a dirty job quite often (though that's not really a problem for most men)
-FUCKING RUSTED PHILLIPS HEAD SCREWS SCREW YOU.
-get mad at poorly maintained nice cars
-if you go normal run of the mill mechanic without futher education into the job you will get paid low and depending on where you work there might be a lot of overtime
-current /modern cars are a really tight and anoying mess of cables and parts that will make you go "wtf were those engineers thinking, fuck them."
-other stuff i can't think of because i love learning this job

forgot to mention that in a decade or so, maybe more, people wont even be able to change their new car's brake disks anymore because of electric handbrakes. you need a expensive as fuck OBD system just to loosen the handbrake when the car is off. There are still workarounds but I'm sure any easy to do maintenance will get cucked by the 2500€ obd system paywall soon so opening a "do it youself" garage might be a nice idea, renting those tools to hobbyists/people who do their own maintenance will be more and more nessessary in the near future

where would I go to learn all that stuff like metalworking and mechanics and stuff? regular community college or a trade school?

are you in the US ? they don't have the same system than in germany, basically i get paid 450€ per month but i'm learning the job for 3.5 years in the firm. during those years i go to expensive as fuck intensive courses like soldering courses, electronics , metal working which are all paid by my employer. basically he is investing in me. in the US you'll have to do research on your own since i have no idea about that stuff

idk i found this ? maybe you'll find something in your area ? matchcollege.com/aos/skilled-trades-repair-services

>wtf were those engineers thinking, fuck them
German mechanic hates German engineers. I find this highly amusing.

Community college, OP. Can usually get discounts and sometimes scholarships too.

As a German mechanic, I have to ask your opinion on plastic - do you like plastic - OR DO YOU FUCKING LOVE PLASTIC EVERYWHERE ALL THE FUCKING TIME

I guess the situation is similar in most develoed countries, but at least here there is a shortage of qualified mechanics, if you continue learning and learn how to do a lot of different stuff you could potentially make a lot of money.
If you learn diesel you will never be out of work, electric cars ain't replacing trucks any time soon, plus working on call can make you a lot of money, little people get into the mechanic industry now days, people can't even change their fucking oil which means a lot of $$$ for u senpai.

>little people
Can be an advantage in this line of work.

My sense of it is most mechanics plug in their scantool, guess which part has gone bad, and man the parts cannon and start changing out parts. And if you are able to do anything more than that you're better than 90% of them out there.

Kinda true I am always surprised by how little most mechanics know and are able to function at their job. But of those some are very good at a specialized area of the car. The ones coming out of Jr college don't know anything at all and expect a computer to do the work.

Become an ASE certified technician they are in VERY high demand and you can easily make at least $100,000 in most places.

how

Why couldn't you just turn the car on and chock the front wheels/have it on 4 jackstands?

The chinks will knock that shit off properly at some point.

You need a minimum of two years mechanic experience and you have to take a series of tests every couple years to achieve your certification but it shows employers that you have what it takes to be a master technician

>you can easily make at least $100,000 in most places

kek, where do you people come up with this shit

well my opinion on plastic or more along the lines of ANOTHER FUCKING CLIP THAT BROKE JUST SO VWGROUP CAN GET MORE SHEKELS FUCK PLASTIC WHY IS PLASTIC FUCKING USED EVERYWHERE FOR EVERYTHING EXCEPT CHASSIS SOON WE'LL HAVE PLASTIC ENGINES REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

because your brand new and super comfy self leveling suspension will blow up because you didn't turn it into service mode with the 2500 yuro/dollar obd tablet from chinaman

I understand BMW is experimenting with metal cylinder sleeves in a reinforced plastic engine block...

ASE certified mechanic here make $42k a year where can I move to make 100k?

Being a mechanic is becoming more and more like being a hacker

Mechanics will always been need, but youll always be paid shit.

See

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA
No.

Damn I guess it depends on where you live but here in Montana and surrounding states you can make $100,000 granted that's probably after you have 30+ years experience that I probably didn't factor in

Funny I know a guy with 30+ years and certs moved to Idaho and makes $10 an hour now apparently they pay low wages there.

If you can. Get into heavy diesel.

Marine heavy equipment or heavy farm. Diesel mechanic working on trucks is better than private cars but still shitty in my opinion.

If your aim is to own your own shop then any category will be similar work for an owner but the money is bigger in the heavier stuff. I won't say outright better because your own equipment starts to cost more so when you have to shell out for tools and auxiliaries you really feel it, but in the end if you work the business right it pays off much much larger. The client is almost always the same in terms of asshole to understanding ratio.

are there any special tools you need to own to work on industrial diesels?

Ya around 100k in big ass wrenches. you can pay for college or pay the snap-on man.

>Plug in reader
>4 codes
>Clear codes
>Start it up
>First codes comes up after two mins
>Passenger oxygen sensor reading rich
>Investigate vacuum leak
>Intake manifold sucking air through gasket
>Replace
>No more codes

>1337 h4x

Become an aircraft mechanic, not an auto mechanic

examples?

> (OP)
>Mechanics will always been need, but youll always be paid shit.

This isn't true at all. Depends entirely on your location. In my area technicians start at 35-40k a year. Once you're more established and have more experience you can make 60-80k. Senior master mechanics can make 100-120k. I personally am going to get into diesel because diesel techs are in high demand. But you can make a really good living being a mechanic. Even if you don't want to turn wrenches you can be a parts guy or a service writer and still make a good living(40-60k)

Minimum wage in Idaho is still in the $6 range, so factor that in. Still with 30+ years 10 seems low

Where is 40-60k a good living 15 years in parts and service writer ASE certified most I've ever made was 45k in California. Cannot afford a house and I drive a shitty car. If I move to a cheaper state my wage will go down substantially.

>mfw I'm 21 and I've been working minimum wage for 3 years now and it sucks donkey balls
>there's anons that bitch about how shitty they get paid even though they make twice as much as me
You faggots cry to much

How hard is it to hang out your own shingle and be an independent shop? I've heard horror stories about dealerships.

Ya he went from owning a shop to working as a smog tech. I think people from California are really surprised when they move to other states and wages are so low.

Yeah. I've noticed that with a lot of community colleges - get our degree and get a set of Snap-On tools. Is it a good deal or not?

>cylinder sleeves
Do you even liner, niger?

Be 1997 working at Ford dealer at parts counter service writer was clearing 80k plus along with mechanics. I was making $7.50 plus overtime. Remember min wage was like $5 back then. Be now wages have actually gone down by half and no more overtime.

no, go to a shop make eye contact shake hand ask for job. Learn on the job while getting paid.

>
>Ya around 100k in big ass wrenches. you can pay for college or pay the snap-on man.

Hd shops usually have the specialty tools needed.. all you need is a toolbox like every other mechanics.
Some service centers even provide all tools needed and you just have to sign in to unlock the box, so nothing goes missing.

You guys are delusional with your $100k wages the majority of jobs in the automotive mechanic industry are sub 50k at best unless you own a shop or work for BMW. Starting out you will get min wage but you will need 10 years of experience for that. There is huge competition for jobs driving wages down. Don't fall for the paid for college scams like wyotech and diesel mechanics working at a truck stop make min wage.

If you have experience in management and customer service and hire a solid group of guys to work with. You can make a good living. Running a shop isn't easy though and theres a shit ton that goes into it. Being in tech school for a year now I've gotten plenty of wisdom passed down from my instructors. Working at a dealer isn't a bad gig at all. They give you benefits, vacation, and sick days. But the flipside is you get payed at a flat rate, not hourly. So that could either go very well or very horribly for you. I know chrysler has their mopar cap local training that is essentially a bunch of courses in various categories and once you take all the levels you can come in at a higher payroll if you chose to work at a chrysler dealer. I've completed level 0 so far. If I remember correctly level 4 is the highest.

Thats a pre employment program, and you only get a discount on the tools.
They go through the basics, and i believe you get your 1st year cert
My buddy just took one, cost 6k Cad

Again depends entirely on your location. Is costs an arm and a leg to own a house and even rent there. I live in Kansas and it's cheap as fuck to live here. So for me if say 35-40k starting out will be good enough for my 20 year old self.

But you don't make that starting out you make min wage or whatever the job market conditions allow. The Toyota dealer here starts at min wage and this is California so that will not even rent you a bunkbed. If your starting out in Kansas at what I make after 15 years experience and the guys in our shop make $1000 a week independent shop. They all have 10 or more years experience. think I better move to Kansas.

Technicians don't exist any more. Manufacturers figured out that it's cheaper to throw parts at a problem than actually pay techs. There is typically only one or two techs worth their salt at a shop any more.

This is true Subaru dealer I worked at had one real mechanic and a bunch of Mexicans doing all the oil changes and tire rotations. They were the only ones who wanted to work min wage.

I mean I worked part time at an independent shop for a couple months and they payed my ass minimum wage. Then again I am still in school so that makes sense. But I can't imagine a certified individual getting minimum wage right off the bat.

Oh ya and the mechanic spent most of his time fixing the shit the Mexicans broke all day stripped out oil drain plugs and broken sensors and lost tools. But hey they are just here to work and they take all the jobs no one else wants to do.

if you've been making minimum wage for 3 years straight thats your own fault faggot

Our shop pays the guys with experience $1000 a week and he hired a guy freash out of college with an associate degree with a state smog certificate for $750. He has to do the same work as everyone else and do all the smog checks with all the responsibility on his state license.

The knowledge required for being a mechanic is fucking easy as shit, so long as you're the type of person who's always interested in learning about new shit and picking it up. It's the hard labor and the stress on your body that sucks.

Yep a guy at the Ford dealer I worked at had a transmission fall on him. Never worked again sits at home on disability. But it's better then the retirement he never would have gotten.

>tech school for a year
>advising people on how hard it is to open a workshop
Do you people read your own posts

Has no one here even bothered to look at the help wanted ads or do u just believe what the for profit college professor tells you. I just spent 5 min looking all the jobs for mechanics were min experience $10-15 per hour. The diesel mechanic positions also want a cdl. keep in mind houses cost 400k and up here and rent is 3k a month.

That seems fair. People have to have a chance to prove themselves

Just sharing my experience, little as it may be. It doesn't take rocket science to understand business at a basic level.

If you think you're in the position to be dishing out advice I can imagine just how much you're learning in school.

>Toll on your body
>References an accident

It is not common for a transmission to fall on someone you know.

I mean I know an electrical engineer who had his hand crushed by a generator because the crane operator was a retard but to imply that as something normal for an EE is ridiculous

Kids in trade school, college and university are all like that.

This isn't in a condescending manner. Just trying to be friendly.

True most of the mechanics out in the shop have severe back pain and are on medication. They are always cut up hands and arms. constantly getting metal or dirt in their eyes some are getting cancer after a lifetime of smoking and drinking. But hey after 10 years of experience they are up to $20 an hour so there's that to look forward too.

Dumb? Or convinced that they're not? Or both?

Im probably too old to start (34), but I feel like if you specialize in some variety of classic car/bike/engine they'll always be work in the collector market.

Like, let's say you make yourself an expert in 90s Land Rovers or whatever: you'll always have a market willing to pay a premium since your run of the mill general mechanic won't know all the ins and outs.

As a VW mechanic for 8 years I agree. Fuck those retarded nazi engineers.

A lot of new car dealerships now have to service makes that they don't sell because there's not much to repair on a modern car, Even the shitty brands.

Go into heavy duty mechanic work.

there will always be a need for mechanics as long as there are mass produced cars and a population that can't or wont work on their own car
downsides can be long days, constantly dirty and snobby yuppies will think lesser of you because you have grease under you fingernails because you work for a living
but on the bright side you'll have a real job and there will be times you'll be able to step back and look at a job you finished and know that you made a ded car live again

i work with an old german guy. i think he has OCD. he does everything the hard way, he wont listen to you if you show him an easier way. he gets mad if things arent in order. he works very slow.

>make at least $100,000
yeah sure if you've been there for 10 years and are the head technician for a major dealership

You don't need accidents like that to fuck you up. Years or decades of lifting heavy parts, bending over, standing in awkward positions, etc. will all take their toll on your body, especially your knees and back.

I've noticed these days mechanics wear rubber gloves all the time. When did that start?

Come to Oregon. House prices and rent are very reasonable and mechanics here charge hella high dollar for labor.

That's just German mentality

Let's play OCD, German - or BOTH

>Clear codes is one of your first steps

I can see you are very new

If you are smart, good with your hands, learn fast, are good at networking/interviewing, and advocate for yourself it can be a great career, it sure is for me. Most techs are missing at least two of those attributes and end up working at shitty shops forever complaining about everything. I used to feel differently about the field but it was just because I expected everything to come to me just because I am very good/fast. You really need to position yourself in the right place to get into a good shop, because nobody leaves those shops.

It's not going anywhere. Even if 99% of the cars on the road are self-driving, they will still need hands to keep them serviced at the depot.

That being said, you will burn, slash and bruise yourself working on cars as a career.

Um no. Get into electric motors. Like it or not that is exactly where the market is going. Going into diesel is great if your in the fucking 1970s.

>pros:
>you will be able to save up to a thousand a year on maintaining/repairing
>cons:
>you will be making less money after 10 years on the job than a recent BWL grad with two internships
really got me thinking there

Cars are getting more and more high tech.

I think it will be harder for independent mechanics to be sustainable in the future.

When you say 100 years, that isn't a good thing.

Will the internal combustion engine be replaced after 100 years?

Who knows?

Yeah, it is easier to revolutionize the automobile industry than the aircraft industry.

Like, right now the biggest question in passenger aircraft is should we get rid of the windows and move the cockpit somewhere else?

Because greater speeds can be achieved without windows, you know.

Some super fast aircraft developed by the military don't have windows at all.

But again, aircraft development moves slow as fuck before it can be used in the mainstream.

Tell me when Tesla turns an actual profit.

The market ain't going to something like Tesla that requires federal subsidies just to exist.

Also, with America recently shutting down its last rare earth mineral/metal mining company due to China hoarding the entire rare earth mineral industry and increasing tensions in Asia, there may be a time when nobody has the time to waste money on solar panels and electric car batteries.

since touching used oil all the time will lead to cancer eventually

Spend a lot of time in Oregon I have noticed housing has gone crazy. Ashland 500k Medford grants pass 300k Eugene 300k Portland 500k. Anything along I5 pricy well except for Roseburg. Then you have Bend 500k. So that leaves the coast that varies but trending past 300k. We're you thinking Klamath falls? Houses there are 40k.

Terrible pay, less options geographically, much less secure of a job overall. I've worked with many aircraft mechanics turn auto mechanics, never had anyone I've worked with leave to become an aircraft mechanic.

>my worldview is based on Veeky Forums memes
Tesla actually turns around 17% profit on every car sold. Naturally like any company in growth phase it's reinvesting into R&D, fabs and SolarCity instead of paying out dividends. But keep on memeing by all means, my man.

Tesla wouldn't exist without the government money and tax breaks they received. But then again neither would General motors.

>Implying Telsa will be the only one with electric motors in the future
>Implying only cars will use electric motors in the future
>Proving you don't know what profit is
>Proving your knowledge of federal subsidies is lacking.

Federal subsidies are the shit. It means Telsa in breaking ground for electric vehicles and doing in with fucking enough qualifying reason that the federal government and their tight fisted hands are actually giving them money to operate. In other words federal subsidies are NOT a bad thing.
You sir...are a goober

>Tesla wouldn't exist without the government money and tax breaks
So? There are subsidies and company exists. What's your point at all? You sound like a mad ICEcuck.

work on aircraft. The reciprocating combustion engine is not going away for general aviation. After to get your feet wet with piston aircraft then you move on to turbo props and jets. Thats where the really money is.