I’m thinking about becoming a mechanic but I don’t know anyone that is a mechanic that I can ask about what the job is like. Is being a mechanic enjoyable? Is it decent paying? Is it stressful? Please help a brother out. Thank you.
It is extremely stressful, especially starting out because you have so much to learn and people are just chucking their problems at you left and right.
Is it enjoyable? Well, it hasn't always been for me. It really wasn't until I got established enough to have my own shop and dealership that I started to be able to have some fun and enjoy my job to the fullest. Working for others means doing things their way, and that didn't always sit well with me.
You can make decent pay IF you stick with it, but you have to accept that your early years will pay less than you want. Basically, you're trading pay for knowledge and experience. Once you have that, you can command more money as you'll start to master your craft.
Being a mechanic is not exactly the most glorious job. I spent decades working long hours and working in some pretty nasty environments. But now, I'm still working long hours (sometimes longer to be honest) but I have my own office, my shop is clean, and I can conduct business the way I like to.
You can be very successful. But I would advise anyone considering the career of a few things:
1. Pay growth is a grind
2. You're not gonna like the first couple of years
3. Long hours, sometimes in extreme heat/cold
4. Dangerous chemicals and hazardous conditions: you CAN be killed on the job. It is not common, but it unfortunately does happen.
5. You have to LOVE the job. And I don't mean love cars...that is great. But you have to love the inner workings and problem solving, getting your hands dirty.
6. Stress of dead lines is constant
Overall, if it is something you want to do, I say go for it. Mechanics will always be needed. Just know that most of your work will go unappreciated as customers don't care and just think you are out to get them and management only cares if a customer complains...there are no "at'a boy's" in this job.
@mod_man Is this true that your hands suppose to be rough from fixing things? My dad's engineer boss shaked someone's hand during in a interview. The boss said, "Why is that guy's hand so soft and smooth?
@legendaryslayer, that reminds me of a time many years ago when I was working for a large computer company. I also have worked on my own vehicles as an amateur since I was a teenager. To make a long story short, I met a guy who asked me what I did for a living and when I shook his hand, he asked "What do you do, change the oil in those computers?"
@chucktobias I assume that the guy was trying to be sarcastic.
@mod_man I really appreciate hearing about this from you. You have no idea how much I appreciate automobile mechanics. If I may, I would love to give you a big, heartfelt "Atta-boy"!! by proxy on behalf of everyone from whom you should have gotten one. Many mechanics have helped me and probably saved me from breakdowns, accidents, and maybe even disability and death! Mechanics are so important and so under-appreciated. Driving is one of the most dangerous things we do, so mechanics are officers of the public safety.
@legendaryslayer and @chucktobias, I'm enjoying this discussion. I would have loved to have hung out with mechanics while they were fixing things, but I never got the chance.
@etre2244 I am glad you are enjoying the off-topic discussion and I'm starting to like you based on your personalities. There is a reason why mechanics are unappreciated mainly because of their stereotypes. Mod_Man, R4nier, Scotty and BruceRee are the ones I would trust and spend time with them because they're willing to put so much time and energy into fixing vehicle problems. They're the ones who deserve better lives.
@etre2244 Well I'm glad you are enjoying the convo and thanks very much for the kind words! 🙂 Not going to lie....it was a nice Monday morning pick me up to see these comments just before driving into the office. You all gave me a good start to the week, and I thank you both very much for that. Oh and about the rough hands....that is true. I think my wife has had me try just about every lotion known to man at this point, so mine are not as bad as they were.
@legendaryslayer, the guy's comment was probably due to my hands being a bit rough with some grit and grease still under my fingernails from the weekend's wrenching! (We're talking over 30 years ago so details are hazy, but the incident stuck in my mind for whatever reason.)
@chucktobias Thanks for mentioning the story. That's something I like to hear lol.
Couple of times, Scotty mentioned that if you want to become a mechanic, try to be an expert in electronics. The reason for that is all the cars are becoming very complex and almost everything is controlled by computers. So, if you know how to work with the electronics, you can make decent money.
If you are young and can choose a different profession - do so.
Is being a mechanic enjoyable? Is it decent paying? Is it stressful?
- I wouldn't say so, In most cases it's just not.
- Not really - If you're just starting out then it's an outright NO.
- VERY, schedules are tight, and there's little to no room for mistakes - they tend to cost you A LOT.
It's pretty much the 3 worst elements of any possible job: costumer service (talking and communicating with them) + hard labor (the job is very physical) + lots of moments that you have to sit there and think (understanding cryptic problems / diagrams / notes / ...)
Although this might be different in the states, So far - none of the good mechanics I know chose to be mechanics - it just kinda happened.
The best ones I know are a pair who emigrated and although they had mechanical engineering degrees they struggled and ended up working as mechanics and over 20 years built a business out of it, a guy whose father was a mechanics so he just took over the family business, and another dude who served as an aircraft tech and found that this business can be extremely profitable if you find your small niche like high-tech German cars (pretty much things that require high-level qualification that's impossible to learn in conventional ways)
And although they all earn well from their occupation, a guy who has no prior experience and is just there to pull wrenches and drain/fill oil probably won't make much, will get all of the boring, tedious and dirty work and won't have much opportunity to make a successful career out of that.
So yeah, just don't - especially with disposable junky modern cars, specialized equipment, and EVs with little to no mechanical components? yikes!...
Some info on 2022 rates
https://www.reddit.com/r/Justrolledintotheshop/comments/rz7sk3/what_are_techs_making/
If you thinking about becoming a mechanic... get diesel mechanic degree. they get paid by the hour not just job pay like auto mechanic.
looks like they need people too
Not a mechanic either but I used to work with a guy who had been. He said, for him, there was a big difference between working on your own cars and working on customers' dirty, neglected cars and being under the pressure of time constraints. Made sense to me.
I'm not a mechanic, but I think if you love what you do and you're good at it, you don't work a day.
I’m not a mechanic, but I’ve taken my cars to a bunch of Indy mechanics. Some have a brick and mortar spot. Some work out of their home garage like Scotty. They all seem to enjoy what they do, and make a pretty good living out of it.
One of my BMW mechanics seems so passionate and nerdy, took my on a tour of his cars and his shop, with all the little side projects he was working on when he wasn’t fixing other peoples cars.
Granted, most of these guys put in time at a dealer or other shop to learn the ropes. So I only got to see them after they were relatively successful, not when they were struggling.
