Auto Mechanic

How did you get into the field and what sort of person do you think is best suited for it?

Asked by Bakesy over 9 years ago

I've always loved cars and have studied all their history and specifications, but never was interested in working on them until later in life. After looking at a few options, including working entry-level jobs at oil change shops or car dealerships, I settled on enrolling in automotive technician school. 

Over 18 months they taught me virtually everything a new technician would need to know their first day on the job. Much of the school work was hands-on instruction and a huge emphasis was placed on electrical diagnosis. The training was worth every penny and I would highly recommend going this route. I was able to get a job with an independent repair shop in Lubbock, TX within 2 weeks of graduating.

However, my lack of on-the-job training really held me back at first. Despite doing very well with all the school work, I was painfully slow at the repair shop.

This job requires a few years of work experience to truly be effective. If I were to start over, I would have worked part-time in a repair shop while taking my coursework.

The best person for this job will be very detail oriented, a fast learner, flexible, and fast with their hands. Over time you must increase your pace at work while keeping mistakes and "comebacks" to virtually zero. Customers occasionally will come and want to speak with you so you must be pleasant and be able to explain things clearly. You must be honest and driven internally to achieve new goals you set for yourself.

Do you go home every day smelling like motor oil and does the missus have a problem with that?

Asked by SC30 about 9 years ago

I do come home smelling like motor oil nearly every day. I also typically have a little bit of coolant, gasoline, transmission fluid, or power steering fluid on me at some point as well. I typically shower at night, either right before dinner or right after.

My wife notes how dirty I get and sometimes the smell, but she realizes it's just a byproduct of earning my living. My work shirts and pants are constantly in the laundry and my hands never get totally clean but she seems to put up with it ;-)

What percentage of auto mechanics would you consider 100% honest?

Asked by Scoli over 9 years ago

I would consider 95% of mechanics to be 100% honest. The vast majority never cut corners, always do every job as well as they can, realize the responsibility they have to keep a vehicle safe, and are really stand up guys.

Around 4% of mechanics like to take shortcuts, mainly to get work out faster. They'll always swap parts instead of repairing components on the parts. These guys won't use a torque wrench when putting things back together. "Close" is good enough for the 4% but sometimes the customer will bring the car back if they notice a less than perfect repair.

1%, or less probably, are scumbags. They will charge for repairs they didn't do. Some will use scare tactics to upsell unneeded repairs. They're lazy and won't check their work or take the finished vehicle on a test drive. These are the guys you read about on forums. There really aren't that many horrible mechanics. It's just that what they do is so egregious, you tend to see and hear a lot about them.

You're pretty young, so do you worry that electric cars are going to put you out of business within the next decade? Will repair personnel of the future be more electrician than mechanic?

Asked by Sb1988 about 9 years ago

I don't worry about being put out of business at all. The powertrain of a car or truck, be it gas, diesel, electric, hybrid, anything, is still only one system within that vehicle. There will always be suspension, brakes, transmission, climate control, lighting, etc. work to do on vehicles. And electric drive, despite its simplicity, will fail occasionally as well and will need convenient repair solutions. I'm also constantly learning about new systems from all the manufacturers so as they evolve I like to think I will evolve as a mechanic too.

Repair personnel are already electricians by necessity. So much inside a modern car is controlled by wire, through a network, that oftentimes a first step in diagnosis is accessing wiring diagrams for the system.

Check out this series by motoYam82 as he works on a 1995 Dogde Ram truck. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFWQDQ68FPA

The symptom is caused by a slightly lower-than-normal voltage along a single wire coming from the truck's computer. Without having the mindset of an electrician, this technician could not repair a 20 year old truck. And cars have only gotten exponentially more complex over the years as well.

As auto technology changes, good repair technicians will always be in high demand.

I know you say that most mechanics are honest, but *among the not-so-ethical*, what's the most common that happens?

Asked by Ari about 9 years ago

Mainly, they just get lazy.

Instead of doing a thorough diagnosis that may save a customer money and fix only what failed, they will replace an entire assembly and hope that one of the pieces of the assembly will cure the problem. A common derogatory term for lazy technicians is that they "shoot the parts cannon" at a problem.

Here's a common back-and-forth between customer and lazy mechanic:

Customer- "My car is squeaking."

Mechanic- "Well, it could be a belt. Let's change it. That will be $100."

Customer 2 days later- "My car is still squeaking. Your belt replacement didn't work. Can I get my money back?"

Mechanic- "No ma'am. No refunds, sorry. It could be the shocks. Let's change them. That will be $600."

This goes on until the mechanic solves the issue by pure luck or the customer gets so fed up that she leaves for a better mechanic.

More nefarious mechanics will perform what I've heard called a "Scratch and Go." During a multi-point inspection the mechanic won't actually look for potential problems and will only fill out the inspection form as if the car was in perfect shape. Again, laziness attacks. Also, these inspections may not pay the mechanic as much as the next job waiting for him so he'll breeze through and start his next, more profitable job.

Older mechanics tell stories about not-so-ethical mechanics who worked along Route 66, the historic highway connecting Chicago and Los Angeles. During a gas fill up, a mechanic usually came out to check a traveler's engine oil, coolant, and other fluids. Sometimes they would plant a torn belt or would pour used motor oil on the engine to try to convince the owner that the car had serious problems. Car owners would sometimes agree to repair work at the shop and would spend hundreds of dollars on unneeded repairs. The same travelers returning home from a vacation and stopping at the same service station would occasionally be told the same lies again, leading to distrust, and eventually the closing of many repair shops along the route.

Again, these examples represent only a small minority of mechanics.

In your unbiased opinion, do dealerships charge more because they're actually better and more trustworthy, or just because they can, and they know neurotic buyers will always pay more like suckers?

Asked by Olyyad almost 9 years ago