Being a Mechanic.. (job)

[OK_Computer]

How well are mechanics payed? Is it possible to become a good one when you start out with almost 0 knowledge? Thing is.. I've always dreamed of having a pretty much perfect mkII golf, everything flawless, and awesomely fast, but I don't wanna pay labor. I've always been very interested in cars, but all I have is grade 10 Mechanics (I got 99% in it, lol).. The main barrier is pay, I have already been accepted at university, so I have access to well paying opportunities, but I was just curious as to what training I could get, what expected pay could be, or if classes exist to just learn to work on your own car, etc, I'm not sure how hard it could be

Thanks!

[Gonthro]

takes ya 4 years to get your mechanics license, 9 months on site trainign and 3 months school per year, when you're done you should expect like $26/hr... but i will warn you know it is shitty work, if you have somethign else to strive for then go for a desk job... you can always learn about cars as a hobby like most other people here.

[OK_Computer]

so if I wanted to learn to work on cars as a hobby, which is probably ideal, where would I take classes, and what is available?

[Skylinelover]

^^ Take it through highschool.. You ill learn your basics there and then out you can go train for what he said (4 years) and then you can get a job..

[Chim]

I agree with Gonthro. I used to want to become a mechanic, then I met a few that told me NEVER to become one. I also work at crappy tire now and the mechanics there get bs'ed around so badly.

There is a certain appeal to working on your own car, but working on someone else's rusted up piece of crap is not very fun

[OK_Computer]

SkylineLover, as previously mentioned, I have already been accepted to university, so I'm already done highschool

[Gonthro]

ok, the best way to leanr is throught trial and error, and research... go to PYP and just rip shit apart to see how it works...


if you;re gonna attempt to do soemthing on your car, google it, someone has probably done it and made a tutorial for it... then just do it.

[finboy]

Originally posted by Gonthro
ok, the best way to leanr is throught trial and error, and research... go to PYP and just rip shit apart to see how it works...


if you;re gonna attempt to do soemthing on your car, google it, someone has probably done it and made a tutorial for it... then just do it.

go to a self serve auto wrecker with tools and start taking apart stuff there, learn how things are put togeather.

if you have a spare couple hundred bucks available, buy a motor from the wrecker and take it home and rip it apart to see how it works.

[WGR4Pussies]

what a waste of money.

A mechanic is a trades person, If you own your own buisness(just like in any other trade) it works out pretty good. A normal mechanic working for someone has the potential to make some money. The highest payed mechanics are diesel mechanics(heavy duty mechanics) you apprentice(15-20 bucks an hour) for a couple years(4?) then take some small course, and then they start you out at 30 bucks an hour+benifits, which is about 60 0000 a year, you have a potential to make some more money with more experience and so on. Like I said, being a mechanic is hard work, your hands will become beat to shit, you have to work around carcinigens all day, and there are certain MSD's that mechanics tend to get like carpal tunnel syndrome.

All said and done, you can start apprenticing when your 16, make 15 bucks an hour till your 20, do the small course that they pay for for, then start making 30 bucks an hour, 30 bucks an hour sounds good to me.

But if you wana know where the money is it....its in comercial diving/ underwater welding, its my dream job.

[davidI]

Originally posted by WGR4Pussies

But if you wana know where the money is it....its in comercial diving/ underwater welding, its my dream job.

I know of some rig welders and drillers that make $30-$50 / hr. Doesn't sound great until you realize that with overtime that can add up to $120 000 / year. Plus, in a way, you work so much that you can really enjoy your money. I've got some friends who are just ruffnecks and they'll come into town, drop $800 on drinks and go home with 3 chicks. They hump for a week, then go back and make more money. Pretty sweet set up for a labour position.

[BigMass]

I'll be as vague as possible, but I know a mechanic that works on cars (high end cars) out of his home garage on the side. Bottom line is the man is loaded (huge house, nice cars, etc.). It wouldnt surprise me if he brings in $500-$1000 per day free and clear. So i guess that some mechanics make $26/ hour. The smart ones can make much more

[BigMass]

Originally posted by davidI


I know of some rig welders and drillers that make $30-$50 / hr. Doesn't sound great until you realize that with overtime that can add up to $120 000 / year. Plus, in a way, you work so much that you can really enjoy your money. I've got some friends who are just ruffnecks and they'll come into town, drop $800 on drinks and go home with 3 chicks. They hump for a week, then go back and make more money. Pretty sweet set up for a labour position.

I also know some pipeline welders that make $150,000 to $200,000 per year, are millionares and will retire before they hit the age of 45. Unfortunately i would NOT want their job even for that money. That kind of work can take many years off your life in terms of stress, health hazzards and other factors.

[blinkme_210]

The thing about being a mechanic is that if you're looking at strictly working for someone, you're not gonna make that much money, mind you that ~$25-$30 + benefits is not that bad off. To make the really big bucks with the skills you have as a mechanic, you need to have the ambitions to be more than just a mechanic. That's where entrepreneurship comes in. If you're just gonna work at your job loathing how you don't make enough for what you do, you'll always be just that, a mechanic.

To be more than what you are, you need to take some risk. Opening up a shop takes a lot of money, so you may have to take out a $500,000 loan from the bank, pending that you are confident that your shop will do well.

In a city like Calgary, the chances that a shop will succeed is much more likely than up here in Deadmonton. But to make sure that your shop does well and stand out from all the other thousands of shops, you could open up a shop that not only fixes regular cars, but also install performance parts or even tune them as a part of their overall shop image.

The point I'm basically trying to make is that there are 2 types of mechanics, ones who can utilize what they know so that they can succeed financially, and the second kind who want to succeed financially just being a regular mechanic.

Also one more thing, how did the people of Tunerworks, Speedtech, Autodreams, etc come to be? I don't know anything about them besides that they're a performance shop, but I doubt that they just learned how to tune cars as a hobby on the side then decided one day to open up a shop. If anybody from those shops, or any other shops read this thread, it would be great to hear your opinions, and stories

[WGR4Pussies]

Originally posted by davidI


I know of some rig welders and drillers that make $30-$50 / hr. Doesn't sound great until you realize that with overtime that can add up to $120 000 / year. Plus, in a way, you work so much that you can really enjoy your money. I've got some friends who are just ruffnecks and they'll come into town, drop $800 on drinks and go home with 3 chicks. They hump for a week, then go back and make more money. Pretty sweet set up for a labour position.

yeah, they rock, a level 3 saturation diver makes a minum of 150 000(us dollars) and can make upwards of 400 000, which is more then doctors get payed.

[WGR4Pussies]

Originally posted by blinkme_210


To be more than what you are, you need to take some risk. Opening up a shop takes a lot of money, so you may have to take out a $500,000 loan from the bank, pending that you are confident that your shop will do well.

lol, i don't think the bank is gona give you 500 000 tho just to start a small buisness, lol, you either know something i don't or thats a way inflated loan.

[kaput]

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[///M3]

Ya pipe line welders do make lots of money, and its only because no1 wants to do it. So they gotta pay tons. Just like garbage men make a good living cuz no1 wants to do it. On the top of it you surrounded by men for half the year in the middle of nowhere, prolly in the mountains where its cold too.
Only have job that you enjoy cuz your gonna be doing it more then anything else. A mechinc is not a bad job, only maybe in a small garage working for some1. A service technician at a dealer ship is much better but you only learn about 1 make. But its not a dirty job. And i was told there is going to be wage increases due to 15% of mechanics retiring in the next couple years.

[OK_Computer]

are there classes where I could learn enough to pretty much never have to take my car in? Or restore an older car to perfect condition?

[Ven]

Originally posted by kaput
Besides, who are you going to impress when you go out and say I'm a welder vs. I'm a doctor. You may make as much money but your an uneducated labourer by comparison.

You should see a doctor, carrying all that ignorance has got to be murder on the back.

[OK_Computer]

umm.. plz view topic, I'm not even remotely interested in underwater welding