WHOA...now see if this was politically correct it would have been: "Nibble your having intercourse tounge"!!!!!
amen we have been up graded ////// so now i can say iam a tech ///// and it is a lot nicer sounding sounds like iam some one special
haha. i didn't mean literally 'cuz i had to sit through a thousand meetings about "building value" to the customer. oh man, i don't miss that.
Instead of getting a raise in pay they got a title. Just like the little lady in the office is an Administrative Assistant, but she is paid like a secretary.
I don't give a shit about the title but it the only trade were you never stop learning taking courses being certified working with a computer terminal next to the tool box and you're always buying new tools to keep up and do the job properly and tools are not a deduction on income tax, and now with the down turn they (dealerships) are taking advantage of it to cut salaries and benefits. we don't get the respect we deserve!
Yeah I do remember that. I am still happy to be called a mechanic. I taught the subjects at trade school for a few years . Engines electrical and fuels especially. Didnt think they needed a new name . That stuff was always with us during my career. EFI was first on the Desotas in 1958. Not like it is super new or whatever. Actually modern Mechnaics or techs if you must seem to lack a bit in diagnostic skills I think. When I taught the subjects I had to constantly keep them from guessing and teach them how to diagnois. Using those two big words IF and Then. There is a misconception that everything is computer fixed. No. you still have springs ball joints pistons cams rings seals clutches bands brakes wheel bearings exhaust lights horns etc. All these must be fixed by hand and yes you will get dirty doing it. Actually as far as computers go basically the carb has been expanded to its respective circuits electronically. Same guys who couldnt do carbs cant do EFi and ign computer stuff either. Wont is a better word. I see often a car that runs poorly on initial start up and some idiot says it needs a O2 sensor. Not likely son , i used to say since it is not yet included in the loop when first started and that O2 is on holidays at that point. They used to get angry when I made them sit down and write out all the sensors that were feeding info and find me the one that is most lileky the most varied on initial start up. They just want to throw parts at it usually starting with the computer. Anyway I better quit while my blood pressure is stil normal. don
tools are not a deduction on income tax, I think this year you can Jeff if I understood the new rules correctly. Yes that was a rip off and we should sue the goverment for discrimination because it is and was pure and simple. Absolutley no excuse for that part of what was done to us. Don
I started hearing mechanics called Techs in the '70s. That was about the time that GM sterted offering there school for automotive technitions and giving them a little certificate. It pretty basically ment they could do a tune up and change the oil.
I have 300 of those little certificates all it means that you get assigned more work but the dealer gets more money from GM in my case.The less you know the better-off you are when working for a dealer everybody gets the same rate of pay depending on classification 1st, 2nd,3rd, class or apprentice 1-2-3-4yrs
I agree, as it should be. Definition from Webster's: Mechanic-"a worker skilled in using tools or repairing machines" Technician-"one skilled in the tehnique of some art, craft, or science"
In the year of the Yuppies,,bout the time gas station attendants became "Fuel Dispenser Technicians "
HOLY CRAP!!!! I need a new job! I am a state licensed mortician / crematory manager. Every time I sign my name to ANY paperwork at my job, it could cost my company 1 million plus in just liability with today's economy. (seriously) I have to sing my name approximately 7 times per deceased person I deal with, and we are VERY high volume. Any job where everything I do is liability based you would think should make more than $13 per hour... You would think with that a job where every decision I make could end up in court they would WANT to pay more to make sure I don't screw up!!! California SUX for our payscale... Im gonna cry now.... -GothY-
Mechanis made money. Techs get the shaft. At least that's my experience. The more technical knowledge I gain the more I do more free diagnosing. They don't pay us for our time anymore. Flat rate I really unfare nowadays. shops cut their own throat to stay competitive and we end up eaing it
An eye opener will be if you pull up a power window wiring diagram on an 07 cadillac DTS. It shows literally the wires that go in the door, so power window and lock only. That wiring diagram shows more circuits, and digital information lines than you would believe. It is more complicated and spaghetti like than the wiring diagram for my entire car!! ( I have a 54 ford with 4 switches for bags) I have spent more time in the GM training center in Burbank learning how to troubleshoot electrical than I have learning how to rebuild transmissions. (I was the shop foreman at a transmission shop) The data bus lines (digital) make so many things possible, yet complicate them at the same time. Just wait till they go fiber optic in the cars, or stop producing 12volt cars and they up it to 24 or 48volt to handle the additional electronics and electrical loads required in new cars.
I have plenty of ASEs, I turned wrenches for 14 years. I had to wear work shirts that said technician. I prefer mechanic. Pay me and treat me well, and you can call me Shirley! It started with the 'cleaning up' of the image and the complexity of the cars. I think it's attempt at being more formal, but until people clean up their cars before they bring them in like they do for Doctors and Dentists, who still have a tech clean your teeth even more before the Dentist goes in, the perspective is still incompetence and overcharging. I don't miss that part of the job.
Us "uneducated grease monkey's" are still out there and repairing cars daily. I'm 26, I have been working on cars professionally for almost 7 years now and I've never been to school for it. We are still out there. Just a rare breed..... the other thing is alot of the younger techs that grew up in the computer era have more natural aptitude with computers and electronics because of there childhood, I started using computers when I was in third grade. at least that is why I think I am good with electrical diagnosis. so true....seven people I know went to UTI after highschool, while I stayed home and went to work. None of them are working on cars now. Because they couldn't get a good paying job without any real world experience. Meanwhile I had worked my way up over that time. I have zero loan debt, a bunch of tools, and a higher paying job. you tell me who the better mechanic is. Just because you can complete a course, doesn't mean you can perform a job.
If you ask around, new cars have always been considered complicated and hard to work on. My 70-something neighbor (retired industrial mechanic) quit working on cars in the 50s when you "couldn't get to nothing and all those damn hoses and wires appeared". It's all in your frame of reference. His was model As.
Well, we no longer have: Secretaries Mail Men Garbage Men Janitors Principles Receptionists Typist Nurses Ambulance Drivers I am sure there about a couple thousand more "name changes".
I was a "Quote" transmission R&R tech for 23 years. I started back in 1984 and things change just in installing transmissions. I would love it when a new tech would come to me and tell me that " I dont have any codes in the car but the car still has a tranny problem" then I would say " Did you ever think it could be mechanical rather than a sensor or a bad wire? " Some techs are computer smart but street wise stupid. Hey it was just yesterday I couldn't even spell mechanic nows I are one!!!!!!!!!!
I was a Tech for more than 15 years. ASE certified Master Tech. I went to tech school and had a degree. I worked in independent shops and eventually in a Cadillac dealership. My experience was that the better tech you were, the less money you made. The profit was in unnecessary service work. The dealership made nothing on warranty. I would make good money on repair work if it wasn't warranty. Flat rate pay makes no sense. The same job pays half as much because your doing it 2 months earlier? To fight to bring up profits the dealership would make their own service schedule, with things like: tranny flush, brake flush, oil flush, and the customer was given the impression this was recommended by G.M. . Well all these jobs could be done by a lube tech. You could really turn some hours doing this kind of work. Even at 10$ an hour, if you turn a hundred hours a week it's good money. Meanwhile the skilled tech is struggling to pull 50 hours due to warranty flat rate and complex driveability problems. So if making money is the driving force, G.M. wants to pay as little as possible for warranty, the dealership wants to do as many crankcase flushes as possible, and that leaves the uneducated customer paying more and the skilled technician making less. Why buy tools? Why go to school? Why buy G.M.
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