mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

i have been thinking this for a while,and to be honest the feeling aint going away!na this is the only job i have done!been a mechanic for 11 odd years now,and the change in the trade in that short space of time has been amazing really!i work for a vauxhall dealer 10 years experience on them,i am a Gold tech(whichs means nothing really!)MOT tester etc,i harder take no time off ill!in fact only have had 2 weeks off in the last 7 years (i was in hospital )Now the problem is the trade has moved on alot in the last few years alot more electrical,warranty work etc hardly any service work(how often to u see a rear wheel cylinder,CV boot etc fail on a vauxhall these days!)so bonus is not really a no go anymore!which means shit money !The problem is the more u know the less u earn!so all people how just say they dont know how to do it get the service work and earn the money!I have been getting very wound up at work recently as i am finding it hard to hit 40 hours in a week( i used to hit anywhere from 50-60 a week!)we have had alot of problems at work lots of managment changes,4 workshop controllers etc and too be honest its crap!Crap work,same people getting the "good" work!which means i end up taking home £294 a week!!!which i think is shit for me with my experience working living in london!Problem is i am in a comfort zone i have only ever worked at this place close to home etc!but i really want to get out of this shit dead end trade!So what have fellow motor trade people gone into?have u regretted it?gone back into etc???

cheers

dougie

B19 JUB

wow fella its like your in my head,i have almost same situation at work lol.ive been in trade 14ish years now and been through the various dealers,renault,peugeot,shitroen and now presently at ford.my title at work is diagnostic technician but that really means diagnostic,warranty,shit job electrician.i do love the electrical work but with development of cars it is so stressful to find a simple item not working.ie i had a 57 plate galaxy the other day with wipers not working,turns out it was the alarm siren causing them to not work i mean wtf.just because its on the same 'network' but has nothing to do with them.

to go through this trade as u say u need to know so much yet money is totally shite.i know people who sit behind desks all day with minimal knowledge earning tons more than me.

id love to have my own garage as me n a mate have vaguely discussed it but its that 'comfort' zone.

sorry if that was waffle but im sure you will come up with the right solution whatever it may be

Dannyf1380

Hello Mate,
I'm a workshop controller for VW and in my opinion its the controller's job to ensure that each tech is over 100% effecient.
I've been in the trade 10 years, started off as a apprentice, then qualified as a tech but smashed my leg up so had to come off the floor.
There I lots of things I do to ensure each tech is hitting his hours.
For example, I make sure I know exactly what each tech is doing by regularly walking round the workshop. If someone is losing time on a retail diagnosis job I clock them off the job and gain further authority from the customer to carry on. If they are losing time on a warranty job, I cover their time spent on the job with a bogus repair such as reworking a suspension bush etc (shouldn't really say that )
I'm at work now and looking at this weeks sold hours 10 out of 13 techs have made bonus and the tow of the three that didn't are service bashers that get cream!

What vauxhall do you work at mate? staples corner?

Turbo Zetec

iTrader: (1)

i've gone into engine work/engineering... don't regret it one bit

James

i've been in the traid for five years now and am currently doing training at daventry [ford] i've done my nvq, apprentiship and am an mot tester. i'm on about £40 less than you but regularly make bonus on top of that. like you i end up doing alot of warrenty/diagnostics & electrical work as tbh i love it & usually with the ford stuff it's not hard to make bonus as it's usally the same stuff that goes wrong all the time so after a while you can do it with your eyes shut.

However, the training courses at daventry are crap as it's a 5.5 hour drive each way for me and it's just so tiring. I'd love to pack it in but i'm sure like yourselves, i'm good at what i do, spent thousands on tools and have no idea what else i'd like to do!

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

na mate not there,would rather not say tbh!as we all know how small the motor trade is etc

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

at least i aint alone them

djcossie

hi mate
i work my ass of to get 36 hour in, i feel a bit better that i pick up the same money
as some one in london

djcossie

them galaxy's are shit mate
wait to u get one that puts the lights, wipers,warning, every 10 mins
and it works out to be the bonnet latch

Gazzonator

iTrader: (9)

I know how you feel mate.

I left The Ford dealer i was working at cos they just kept giving me the shit work! Asking me to produce over 40 hours with work like electrical problems, water leaks, rattles and other shit like that when the other techs were there licking up all the cream like services etc!

I think to be honest its like that generally across all the main dealers.

It was better up to a point at the Seat dealer i used to work at but it still used to go on. I was reporting tech there so got the majority of the diagnostic work and stuff which i didnt mind tbh but its when they hassle you for hours when they know youve got a shitty job on like fixing 1 broken wire that took you a day to find and then youve gotta take the dash out to fix the fucker!!

I know what you mean about the comfort zone but sometimes you just gotta take the risk and go for it.

I left Seat to work for the AA (I know everyone in the dealers hate us!! LOL!) and to be honest it seems to be ok. Ive only been doing it a couple of months but should be good once i'm settled! The moneys good too with plenty of bonuses and overtime to be had!

Worth a look I think!!

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

was lookin at the AA are foreman was going to join them,done the all the tests etc got in!had his van and and everything,but changed his mind at the last moment!i think he regrets it!not sure tbh about that tho,had enough of the trade etc

Gazzonator

iTrader: (9)

Its quite a bit different to working in a garage. If youve got a big job on at work thats gonna take you few days you tend to sort of dread going in, well, i did anyway! With the AA, when you finish work just go home and forget about it! You aint gotta deal with that car again (hopefully!).

The actual working at the side of the road is different to what you would do in the work shop too. just the way you have to do the job, the way you think etc is completely different

Its just the freedom you get being out on the road, meeting all sorts of people etc makes it quite good. Not saying there isnt any downsides though! Like when youre out the cold, pissing rain trying to find out why the bastard thing wont start! But every job has downsides!

Why not just go down to the next recruitment day in basingstoke, do the tests, interview etc and just have a chat with them. Nothing to lose i say!

I'll find out when the next one is if you want mate? Just let me know!

B19 JUB

how crap are the clusters on the damn things lol.oh dont forget bouncing windows lol

coco16i

I was in the exact same situation not so long ago, have worked for quite a few small independant garages and then went to work for Ford around 97, was with them for 8 years and struggled to make decent bonus as i was a master technician and was getting all the shitty warranty jobs and problem jobs that the other guys couldn't fix !!! We used to get what was called a customer care bonus which could be up to a max 15% of your wage every 3 months, never once managed to get the full 15% bonus even though i was one of the most productive technicians on the workshop floor ( was when i was a senior technician and getting decent jobs like services,cambelts,clutches etc etc ) They always found some excuse not to give full bonus even though my work and timekeeping etc was spot on. Eventually got fed up as felt i had gone as far as i could go with them and the jobs i was getting were nightmare problem ones, left Ford and been working in a small independant garage again now and am on more or less the same money i was on at Ford (10.50 and hour) but no have no targets to reach and do all sorts of repairs on every thing from tractors to 7.5 tonne trucks.

I thought about getting out of the trade but its all i have ever done and wasn't sure which direction to take, been working on cars etc since i left school at 16 and im 36 now !


Maybe a change to a smaller place will make a difference as all the smaller garages i have worked for seemed to be far more gratefull for the work you do where as i was just a name and number at Ford and never got thanks for any of the jobs i managed to correctly diagnose and repair !!!!

Dannyf1380

True however IMO your pen is one of your most powerful tools these days.
At dash rattle that takes 1/2 an hour to sort can be written up as dash out etc and claim you 3 hours labour.
A nice one I have at the moment is brake light bulbs blown on golfs - whack a new bulb in from your toolbox and claim a 3hr wiring repair under warranty.

Ginge !

why not see about moving out the spanners then mate, i deal with alot of garages through work and i earn a reasonable amount and i dont get that dirty,,,, though i still have to deal with some dirt

tbh the whole trade is having a bad time of it,,,,,, the only places im dealing with that are earning are the fast fit places,,,,, the money some trye and brake places are pulling is unreal,,,, and the work is sooo easy to be done too,,,,,, ive got customers spending 8k a month on parts,,,, think about that with there bit on top,,,,, they are REALLY doing well

theres other places that aint doing so well though,,,,, has to be said though the motor trade IS a very small place,,,,,,, but thats a good thing if people know about you !

Ginge !

mate get caught doing that then its game over,,,, you think your managers gonna cop the flack for that,,,, you will be back washing cars and offering shitty floor mats with the albainians !!!

Martin-Hadland

iTrader: (2)

Why not bin the job and go self employed? I did that when I was 19 and have never regretted it once.

Micky The Finn

i got offered something last march (07) off one of my customers,his son was hiring a rally car off me and the lived in yorkshire in the transport industry,told me about a job stripping pubs/hotels etc out in the local area to me,so i asked my lads,ive three work for me,what they thought,they all said find out more,so i made enquiries,turned out it wasnt pubs but houses,so i agreed to give it a go,insurance,health and saftey enviroment licences etc was a bit of a nitemare to sort,but got there and in one month last august we had over 60 jobs on seperate properties netting me a years wages in 31 days!!!
nothing to do with the motor trade and its been a great last 15 months,we have won a few more contracts and just in the process of sorting a real big one out with a huge company,once we are on their approved contractors list the country is our oyster,takes me about an hours admin each day and a days invoicing and vat every month,but is brilliant and makes me realize how shit the motor trade is.

but i still love the cars,so will not give that up for a good while yet,we have broken 6 cars last week and reprepped two rally cars,ive listed a couple of cheap cars on ebay this week,ive only sold one complette car in the last 5 years!!and they have had no genuine interest,and went to my mates dealership today and he tells me the car trade is fooked,he is thinking of selling up to a big chain and retiring,he is 35 years old!!!
no,if you ask me the motor trade is nothing like it was 15 years ago,but as lots of you know,ive fingers in lots of pies,i am still employed full time on the railway as well,in my 17th year there now,great pension and great lads i work with,i will have to leave one day but i am putting it off as long as i can,only 36 so dont want to lose the uk's best pension to early!!
the world changes so much over the years,its hard to keep up,but if i had the choice of moving out of a dealership and going it alone i would,if your not happy,move on,your only here once,its not a dress rehersal,lifes to short to stay somewhere your not happy.

sorry if i bored anyone!!

blacky.

it is pants isn't it is like you can be to good at your job. I'm currently working for ford on the transits & i get the shitty engine & gearbox rebuilds (don't get me wrong i like doing the shitty stuff you never no what the next day will bring) I'm on one of the best wages in the workshop (i have no ford training yet lol)
but i get dragged in the office all the time asking why i haven't made 70% efficient & dont ever make bonus.i work hard all week & get shit. one of the lads has had no training at all & spends his days fitting number plates to new transits & the odd oil & filter change.he regularly makes 60+hours a week making him almost £500 a month more than me how dose that work


iv been thinking the same thing for the last couple of years

purple_fiesta

Yep I want to get out of the trade, ive done my apprenticeship at a vauxhall dealer and ive been at the garage 7 years, im a silver tech and get most the diagnostic jobs and normally hit 100% efficient, but im on the least money out of them all. Just becouse Ive done my apprenticeship there they keep making up shit to not pay me full wack, you get people joining from back street garages with no qaulifications and they go straight to 9 pound an hour and they do all the services and pdi's yet I do the shit am more qaulified and get 8 quid! gold techs get 9.75. I hate it and want to do something else

The Youth.

iTrader: (1)

jeez tim I thought you worked fulltime with your rally prep/breaking business, so let me get this right you have a full time job doing something on the railways you then have to look after the lads at TFR and you have a demolishon business aswell

busy times!!!

steve

Micky The Finn

almost,not quiet demolishion,but we have done a couple of them last year,more property management/evictions/repossesions etc.not the nicests of businesses to be in,we deal with alot of problem cases,drugs,infestation,etc,very much like the life of grime programme on TV some days,murders,suicides etc, you do not want to see an upstairs flat that the tennant has hung himself in and been there for 3 weeks leaking all his body fluids out over 4 rooms like self leveling cement,only a bit smellier!!!

yep,ive seen it all in the last 15 months,murders,suicides,horders who didnt even throw their old tampax away!!!!!!!i kid you not,we cleared a house and the bedroom was full of tampax's in bags!!!over 4 tonnes of rubbish out of a 3 bedroom semi!!

but if your prepared to do a job no bodyu lse will then you name your price and reap the rewards!!


full time for me on the railway can mean one day a week though,its not like a normal job,paid for wht you know,not what you do.

JK99

Move to Aberdeen!

Average wage for a mech up here is about £12-13 an hour with bonus on top. Merc, BMW, Audi etc are all paying a bit more.

BMW are offering £17 an hour to do MOT's at night and apparently it's ridiculously easy.

Cost of living up here is a lot less than London too, altho Property went nuts for a while.

Best advice is to do what makes you happy and clearly what you're doing just now doesn't.

xr_craig

iTrader: (2)

I was in a similar position to you, working at a small place, close to home. Just a steady job really, but my boss started to take the piss recently so i'm leaving. Got a contract for 6 months at BMW, then i'm going self employed and going from there. Sometimes you've just got to go for it mate.

dangerousbrian

i know how u feel...im a windscreen fitter, been doin it for 10 year and over that time wages have gone up about £30!! its shite..our wages are based on experience but because of my experience i get all the "posh" cars that need more care etc..this has a effect on my bonus as lads who been doin for 1 year etc can get through a lot more easier jobs..i feel for u on that wage in london tho...ive been seriously thinkin bout a college course soin summat in building trade..need to get out the motor trade but its the only thing i know...

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Im 29 now and ive been in the trade since i left school. I used to work on fiat and alfa for about 6years. I didnt mine working there cause i had a really good laugh with the lads. There was this 1 lad who knew his stuff on fiat and alfa and all he wanted was the creamy jobs and me and another lad got all the shit jobs like engines electrical jobs stripping interiors out to find water leaks. I went to work for toyota and same again it was a nice place to work but i got most of the shit again like oil leaks wiring jobs engines gearboxes i used to work about 20 mile from where i lived and i got sick of traveling every day. The service manager was a cock too he didnt have a clue about cars. I work in the same town i live now. I work on suzuki and not been big headed but there is only me and a old bloke who know what they are doing. There is a young lad on the same money as me and he does all the cream. I could go on and on about how shit the lads i work with are. One lad put a rear wiper motor on an Audi A.4 and he put the rear wiper arm on and cudnt understand why the wiper arm was coming off the window and going onto the boot lid. He asked me if i could have a look at it for him and i said put the wiper arm on the other side. He had put it on the wrong way round.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

Ive tried alsorts to try and get out of the trade. Im only on 8quid an hour and i think why should i get all the shit when the creamy boys make all the money.

DazC

iTrader: (1)

I gave up the spanners about 7 years ago. I still work in the motortrade but more on spacialist jobs. I still get dirty occasionally and I work for the same company as I did when I was working on the spanners.

IMO, the cream jobs are the big jobs that you have to get involved with and use your brain. If had to service cars day in day out, I'd go insane. I hate servicing cars with a passion. Just a shame that at a dealers, you need to do them to make bonus.

Find a job where you don't need to make bonus. Most independants don't operate a bonus scheme.

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

cheers for the replies at least aint the only one!!maybe we should all go on strike lol!!!was thinking about going and working for BT

Travis

Dealerships don't seem to pay the best money as they should do. I work for Nationwide Autocentres and my basic salary is 22k, which I know isn't amazing, but the bonus is good and an average week is £100-150 extra and a good week around £250. For a technician I don't think this is too bad.

biscuittin

i think i must be lucky , i've been in the motortrade for around 15 years
i still love it
i have never worked at a mian dealer though !!
so i have never have a traget as such to meat
i wake up in the morning and look forward to work , i work at an indipendent garage in a village , we get all sorts through the door , you never know what is next , it's great
the only problem is the public dont know what is involved and wonder why you have not fixed the car when they dropped it off 5 mins ago ( i just ignore them )and it has been to a few other places and they cant fix it
i admit there are alot more electrical probelms now , but it's great to use youre brain
sorry to waffle on ,
i feel good also knowing i take home same as you and i'm up in blackpool
i think you need to get out and try a independent garage

Stu @ M Developments

iTrader: (12)

I love it but it will never be a trade to make millions in. Times have changed too much. The fact is though, spannering has always been looked down upon and it annoys me as fixing a modern car is FAR more involved than plumbing/bricking/carpentry yet those trades command great money and require relatively little skill and investment where as being a modern vehicle technition requires a LOT of in depth knowledge not to mention regular updating of skills and very expensive tools.


This guy is also damn good for the record too. Does all my work when i cant be arsed/dont have time.

blacky.

i still love working on cars & spend most weekends under cossy's its just when you have to go to work & knowing that the your getting charged out @ £80+ an hour & after all the managers & managers of managers have got there good wage for siiting there thinking of ways to piss the workshop saff off we get not a great deal as we are just the spanner monkeys

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

i agree with you blacky we get 8 quid and the company charge the customers 80 quid we must be mugs

mechanic28

iTrader: (5)

£100 a hour where i work

STUCOS

iTrader: (8)

Been it the trade,22 yrs now,since i left school,now in a comercial mail dealer (scania)as said above they expect you to do every thing,machanic,s.sparky work,bit body work and now they even want us to do fridge and tail lift repairs.what for 35k a year,yes we know we are better payed than you car boys,but we have to work shifts,do 24 hr on call,and dodge traffic at 2 am in the morning when your called out to a wagon we a brake problem,if i could find a job that payed the same i would get out,but im also in the comfy zone

cheeRS stu

AAman

I've been in the trade since I was 16, I'm now 29, I went through a stage a couple of years back of hating the job and looking for a way out.. I signed up to a plumbing course, learned to plaster, looked into the whole building trade thing (the father in law is a builder, seemed an easy way in!) turned out it was the job I was fed up with, not the trade, I left my pretty well paid job to join the AA, another well paid job... after 12 months I realised that maybe the AA wasn't for me the money is o.k. but the hours and working arrangments didn't suit me and my family... so... i left that job too and had 6 months off.... then I decided I would have a go on my own... now I work for myself, I've got little workshop not far from home, business is still slow at the moment but hell, I've only been running 3 months! I enjoy going to work now, I've got a couple of projects on he go and I'm getting a couple of paying jobs a week, it's just paying its rent, but I work the hours I want to, I've only got myself to argue with and once the rent and bills are paid the rest of the takings are mine...

all in all despite a blip for a couple of months I love being a mechanic....

My advice is... if you can, go it alone.. working for yourself is the best feeling, maybe not the best idea financially short term, but long term, i'm sure it will be worth it ( I hope so anyway!)
Sorry for waffling!!!
just realised my user name is a bit out of date now! should be no longer aa man!

Porkie

iTrader: (1)

you must be stupid typing that on here....

Turbocabbie

Agreed, no wonder the trade has such a bad name and reputation in general