[77 TRASHCAN]

Originally Posted by i82much

I slapped fender moldings on Astro and Safari vans at the GM plant in Baltimore one summer. If anyone has a technical question with regards to Astro/Safari fender moldings, please feel free to PM me. Passenger side only. No idea what the heck was going on with the other guy standing six feet away from me.

Glad to hear no fake news from you, concerning the driver side molding person!!!

Get your mud grips installed yet?

[67GTONUT]

Buick / Nissan / Jeep / Eagle - Sales
Nissan - Service Advisor
Pontiac - Service Advisor
Firestone - Counter person
STS Tire - Manager
Saturn - Sales - Finance Manager - Sales Manager
Chevrolet - Sales Manager
Audi - Service Advisor
Buick / GMC - Service Advisor
Independent Repair Shop - Manager
Penske Truck Repair - Manager

Whew..... 31 years and counting....

[getmygoat]

When I was in high school & junior college, I worked part time for toyswedo as a shop boy restoring and fixing pontiacs.

[Mr Anonymous]

I spent 3 1/2 years in dealerships training the parts and service personnel on a certain dealer management computer system from the mid to late 90s. Probably in 100 dealerships (foreign and domestic) during that time - I'm here to tell ya, there were as many ways to manage a dealership wrong, as there were dealerships for the most part. Oddly enough, one of the best and most successful service managers (revenue AND tech respect) was one that had never been in a dealership until he was hired as service manager. He knew how to treat customers, and he knew how to treat his mechanics. Truly a rare breed. He was paid well, his mechanics were paid well, and the service department reputation helped sell cars. How'd it end? Owner was old, and when he finally died, the son took over. Did everything wrong, everyone quit and the place closed within 2 years.

One of the parts managers I trained actually paid attention to what I showed him that the system was capable of. He left the dealership within a year, and became a very successful consultant. I got Christmas cards from him every year until he died.

From my experience ONLY, the import shops were generally cleaner, uncluttered, and better lit. Just my observation, and there were some exceptions obviously.

[Sirrotica]

1969 I started out at a Datsun/Jeep dealer part time turning wrenches, evolved into full time.

1970 I worked at Pontiac dealership until GM strike, mostly on the grease rack.

1973 Worked at a plastics shop in maintenance as the sole person taking care of the forklifts, if I had extra time I worked in the shop on the injection molding machines.

1975 I worked at an independant garage/bodyshop as the sole mechanic.

1975 I worked for a few months at an Independent Muffler shop as a exhaust installer.

1976 I worked at chevy dealership, flat rate.

1977 I worked at a Pennzoil service station for another proprietor, and ended up buying the business from him. That is the service station in the background in my signature pictures. During that time I also raced oval track stock cars. The site of my service station was going to be turned into a convenience store/self serve station. I couldn't buy it, and didn't own the property.

1982 I went to work at a large independent used car lot as the sole mechanic.

1982 I went to work at a Buick dealership, flat rate mechanic.

1985 I started my own garage, and worked for myself.

1987 I worked in a Honda dealership as the sole used car mechanic.

1988 I changed careers, and started working at an aerial lift/forklift industry as a road service technician/mechanic. I serviced aerial lift work platforms and rough terrain reach boom forklifts, most times in the field on site at customer locations

1996 I worked for Crown lift trucks doing field service of their lift truck line at customer locations.

1998 I worked for Telsta/Mobil Tool International aerial lift servicing their units that were mounted on truck chassis. I did field service at customer locations on line/bucket truck units. Included utility companies as well as cable companies.

1999 I worked for United Rentals servicing mostly aerial lift equipment as well as some construction equipment at the dealer as well as field service and breakdowns at customer sites.

2000 I worked at a a shingle plant servicing their lift trucks as well as the manufacturing line.

2001 I worked at a steel supply company in maintenance, mostly servicing their forklifts.

2001 I worked for a independent aerial lift work platform company servicing aerial lifts and forklifts.

2002 I worked for Sunbelt Rentals servicing aerial lifts, as well as construction equipment.

2004 I decided again to switch professions and trained as a truck driver and obtained my class A CDL. I continued driving truck until 2012 where I retired due to some work related injuries.

From 1982 until 2004 I continued to repair most anything with an engine as side work, and extra income in addition to working my full time regular job. That included construction equipment, trucks, cars, boats, etc. Almost every dealership mechanic I have known over the years has done side jobs to earn extra money, it is almost a necessity as flat rate work is notorious for unpredictable paychecks, due to it's structure.

I was still keeping my hand into helping some local dirt track racers by building Pontiac engines, and carburetors for them. I helped out on a friend of mines late model stock car as well over the years, and sometimes lent a hand in the pits to a friend that races sprint cars.

A varied career, lots of years as a dealership mechanic, among other things.

FWIW, working flat rate in a dealership is a tough job, as you only earn if you're proficient at putting out as much work as possible in the shortest time possible, with no comebacks. It makes you very efficient at shortcuts that save time, but don't affect quality of work. Doing a job over for free, will kill your paycheck in a heartbeat.

Being fed a steady diet of warranty work by a service manager or service advisor will also kill your paycheck as labor on warranty work is usually roughly 66% of what customer pay labor is. A pissed off service manager can starve you!!! You need a good relationship with anyone that is dispatching the work in a dealership service department. Probably why I was always happiest working for myself over the years, or working hourly jobs.

As Mike has said, most people that train as mechanics don't stick with it, low pay, hard physical labor, measly benefits, and it takes a huge toll on your body, and health over the years. These are the reasons people in the field switch careers, or start their own businesses.

Working at a dealership usually has lousy benefits, hardly any vacation pay when I was doing it. You also have to supply all your own tools, which is a huge expense. My father (also a mechanic most of his adult life, that warned me to choose another profession) had always told me that some day a mechanic would be a respected profession that paid well. It seems that time has not come yet, not sure it ever will.....

[i82much]

Originally Posted by 77 TRASHCAN

Glad to hear no fake news from you, concerning the driver side molding person!!!

Get your mud grips installed yet?

no. sadly, i found the salt/rust comments persuasive!

[Lemans64]

Toyota Tech for 15 years, then went to GM for 9 then back to Toyota for the last 15 years, same Dealership, LOL. Different people.
Some People think all cars are the same so should be easy to move from one Brand to the other, NOT. But we made it work.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by Cardo

31 years with Ford Motor Co... first 7 as line repair at the end or the trim department, last 23 as a finished vehicle repair technician, last 15 of the 23 specializing in electrical repair primarily powertrain, CAN networking, and a lot of the other electrical crap that someone else didn't want to take the time to figure out.

You had a very difficult job as an end of line electrical technician. One of the most technically challenging jobs in vehicle repair. With over 2 miles of wire in a late model car or truck, and that ONE pinched wire, pulled back connector, or intermittent terminal connection, or loose ground could be ANYWHERE!! Hats off to you.

[GTO TEX]

Been in the industry since I got out of high school

1979-1990 ASE certified master diesel tech/shop manager
1990-1995 Detroit Diesel distributor service manager/branch manager
1995-2001 Ford dealership group service director
2001-current Freightliner dealer sales manager

[Tom Vaught]

The Head Mechanic, (the WW-II) Mechanic Instructor I have posted about in the past who worked at my Uncles Dealership, had a son who went into the automotive field after he graduated from Michigan State. He eventually was one of the few National Sales Managers for Ford. I spoke with him a few times but for the most part he was on the Service Side and I was on the Engineering side of the business. My actual time working for my uncle was fairly short, (two years full time then occasionally helping him with end of year inventory of his parts department and working on my 3 GTOs 64/65/66 over the years. I kept the 1964 GTO as many know.

No where near the experience as many who have posted here, but I did use that two years of hardware experience to land jobs at two Speed Shops on the west side of the state and a Engine Machining job in the Detroit area. Then I went to work for Holley carb and later Ford Engineering for 39 years. Emission & F.E. initially, then Truck Engineering, then Core Engineering (Aerodynamics and Parasitic Loss), then Advanced Engineering, and the longest time in Ford Research. I was always labeled as the "Hardware Guy" a "Senior Engineer" Position. There were maybe 200 Senior Engineers of the 40,000+ engineers world wide. So the dealership experience was valuable early on and thru-out my work history. No Plant experience, but did work with the CARB Engineers in California and the EPA Engineers in Michigan when I did the Emissions job.

So I know a little bit about a bunch of stuff (automotive related) but never more that basic mechanic skills. No Mechanic Certifications like a friend who worked in Parts and Service for GM as a Factory Rep who visited the dealerships.

Tom V.

Keep the thread going.

[SRR]

Started out after HS in 75' as a licensed boiler tech. Repairing and cleaning home oil fired heating systems. I hated that job. My Dad's best friend got me a job at Balch Pontiac in East Windsor Conn. working in the used car dept. I loved that job, started out washing and detailing cars, then light repair. I eventually worked my way up to the service dept. and working on Datsuns. The old timers there taught me a lot. I even worked at the parts counter for a while but didn't like it very much and went back to wrenching on cars. I left there in 79 to work in a Zayres (Remember those?) Ironically made more money because it was hourly plus commission on parts. Joined the Navy for 24 years and now work at a Parts store going on 15 years.

[chuckies76ta]

Wow, Lots of knowledge here. I got out of high school and went straight into Electrician field. Never looked back. I did in Grade 10 work at a GM dealership in a Student program for a 4 month period. The mechanic took me under a snow/slush car one day, and told me to say there till he came back. Check things out he said. That was it for me..lol Never went back after that. Having said that I absolutely love mechanic work and working on our cars.

Charles

[vertigto]

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

1969 I started out at a Datsun/Jeep dealer part time turning wrenches, evolved into full time.

1970 I worked at Pontiac dealership until GM strike, mostly on the grease rack.

1973 Worked at a plastics shop in maintenance as the sole person taking care of the forklifts, if I had extra time I worked in the shop on the injection molding machines.

1975 I worked at an independant garage/bodyshop as the sole mechanic.

1975 I worked for a few months at an Independent Muffler shop as a exhaust installer.

1976 I worked at chevy dealership, flat rate.

1977 I worked at a Pennzoil service station for another proprietor, and ended up buying the business from him. That is the service station in the background in my signature pictures. During that time I also raced oval track stock cars. The site of my service station was going to be turned into a convenience store/self serve station. I couldn't buy it, and didn't own the property.

1982 I went to work at a large independent used car lot as the sole mechanic.

1982 I went to work at a Buick dealership, flat rate mechanic.

1985 I started my own garage, and worked for myself.

1987 I worked in a Honda dealership as the sole used car mechanic.

1988 I changed careers, and started working at an aerial lift/forklift industry as a road service technician/mechanic. I serviced aerial lift work platforms and rough terrain reach boom forklifts, most times in the field on site at customer locations

1996 I worked for Crown lift trucks doing field service of their lift truck line at customer locations.

1998 I worked for Telsta/Mobil Tool International aerial lift servicing their units that were mounted on truck chassis. I did field service at customer locations on line/bucket truck units. Included utility companies as well as cable companies.

1999 I worked for United Rentals servicing mostly aerial lift equipment as well as some construction equipment at the dealer as well as field service and breakdowns at customer sites.

2000 I worked at a a shingle plant servicing their lift trucks as well as the manufacturing line.

2001 I worked at a steel supply company in maintenance, mostly servicing their forklifts.

2001 I worked for a independent aerial lift work platform company servicing aerial lifts and forklifts.

2002 I worked for Sunbelt Rentals servicing aerial lifts, as well as construction equipment.

2004 I decided again to switch professions and trained as a truck driver and obtained my class A CDL. I continued driving truck until 2012 where I retired due to some work related injuries.

From 1982 until 2004 I continued to repair most anything with an engine as side work, and extra income in addition to working my full time regular job. That included construction equipment, trucks, cars, boats, etc. Almost every dealership mechanic I have known over the years has done side jobs to earn extra money, it is almost a necessity as flat rate work is notorious for unpredictable paychecks, due to it's structure.

I was still keeping my hand into helping some local dirt track racers by building Pontiac engines, and carburetors for them. I helped out on a friend of mines late model stock car as well over the years, and sometimes lent a hand in the pits to a friend that races sprint cars.

A varied career, lots of years as a dealership mechanic, among other things.

FWIW, working flat rate in a dealership is a tough job, as you only earn if you're proficient at putting out as much work as possible in the shortest time possible, with no comebacks. It makes you very efficient at shortcuts that save time, but don't affect quality of work. Doing a job over for free, will kill your paycheck in a heartbeat.

Being fed a steady diet of warranty work by a service manager or service advisor will also kill your paycheck as labor on warranty work is usually roughly 66% of what customer pay labor is. A pissed off service manager can starve you!!! You need a good relationship with anyone that is dispatching the work in a dealership service department. Probably why I was always happiest working for myself over the years, or working hourly jobs.

As Mike has said, most people that train as mechanics don't stick with it, low pay, hard physical labor, measly benefits, and it takes a huge toll on your body, and health over the years. These are the reasons people in the field switch careers, or start their own businesses.

Working at a dealership usually has lousy benefits, hardly any vacation pay when I was doing it. You also have to supply all your own tools, which is a huge expense. My father (also a mechanic most of his adult life, that warned me to choose another profession) had always told me that some day a mechanic would be a respected profession that paid well. It seems that time has not come yet, not sure it ever will.....

Brad...it's sad that you have such little experience...

[mgarblik]

My first month at the Pontiac dealership I was the "Rusty Jones" rust proofing guy. A horrible, nasty job, drilling holes in new cars and spraying a waxy/oily substance inside the panels then a heavy undercoating over everything else that didn't move. I was 23 years old, An ASE Master Technician, and had a bachelor's degree in Automotive Technology. The Pontiac dealer hired me as a flat rate line technician. Second day on the job, the rust proofing guy was fired and I was the new hire. Do the job or you are fired too is the way it was presented. I needed a job so I did the work. 99 out of 100 would walk away today and never stop complaining. It was a real gut check. After that stint, I finally had a single flat stall to work in, no lift. If the car had to go up it was floor jack and stands. By the time I left, I had a lift and 2 flat stalls for myself and was turning pretty good flat rate weeks.

[RocktimusPryme]

Originally Posted by Sirrotica

As Mike has said, most people that train as mechanics don't stick with it, low pay, hard physical labor, measly benefits, and it takes a huge toll on your body, and health over the years. These are the reasons people in the field switch careers, or start their own businesses.

Thats why I always council people who are interested in it to go the A&P route. You can do so much more with it than an auto tech certificate.

I parlayed mine into a defense field engineering tech. But even if you do just stay a basic line tech, there are a lot more good paying jobs out there.

[jerry455]

Originally Posted by 1969GiPper

Were you ever located in the GM Service Research garage at the northeast corner of the Tech Center in Warren? Building later called Service Technology Group HQ and then GM Service Operations.

I started in Feb. 1986 at an offsite facility called GM Project Trilby. It was at 15 and Crooks. We did a lot of stuff that was 20-30 years out. Drive by wire, steer by wire, brake by wire, autonomous vehicles and vehicle navigation which later became involved with OnStar. We did a lot of vehicle testing at the Milford Proving Grounds and still do. I am at the Warren Tech Center now with Global Vehicle Safety. We work with lawsuits and vehicle investigations.

[Schurkey]

Small-town Chevy/Olds dealership, apprentice mechanic, first job out of Trade School.
Larger-town Chevy dealership, Service Advisor
Small-town Chevy dealership, Parts Dept.

All three of these are either out-of-business or have changed ownership/management so many times they wouldn't remember me.

Most of my Auto Repair Industry time was spent away from auto dealerships--Mass Merchandiser, Independent repair shop.

They've given up on auto repair, or changed ownership also. Nobody in the business knows who the hell I am. Or was.

[Cardo]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

You had a very difficult job as an end of line electrical technician. One of the most technically challenging jobs in vehicle repair. With over 2 miles of wire in a late model car or truck, and that ONE pinched wire, pulled back connector, or intermittent terminal connection, or loose ground could be ANYWHERE!! Hats off to you.

WOW!! Someone who understands exactly what i do! You described my job as if you had done it! We are up to 5 miles of wire in some of these higher content vehicles, 5 CAN networks and 6 or 7 LIN networks with up to 54 modules, all networked and talking to each other. I finally walked away from it this year. I got sick of management having no idea what we do or work on, and up your arse constantly wondering why you can't fix a truck in 20 minutes.... I still really enjoy that work but not going to do it under those circumstances any more. I'm still at Ford, but no longer working on vehicles for them.

[Schurkey]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

I finally had a single flat stall to work in, no lift. If the car had to go up it was floor jack and stands. By the time I left, I had a lift and 2 flat stalls for myself and was turning pretty good flat rate weeks.

One of the dealerships I was with, had a policy of hiring more "Techs" than they had stalls. The "Techs" were on the "Communist Team System", with the shop divided into two teams. Each team had a certain number of stalls, some guys were expected to "float" from stall-to-stall helping out "where needed". So, for example, if there were twenty stalls in the dealership, there'd be twenty four "techs" to work in them. It was just hateful--any car waiting on parts got shoved outside to make room for something else, and then brought back in hours later when the parts showed up. Shoving cars in and out wastes a heap of man-hours; and the open doors in the winter made the temperature in the shop unbearable.

Of course, the two teams were pitted against each other--the team using the fewest shop rags that month got a bonus, the team using the least aerosol carb spray or brake cleaner got a bonus...you can guess how that worked out. Place was filthy, nobody cleaned anything. The team with the most billable hours got a bonus. One team had all the veteran mechanics, the other team had all the young punks who got paid squat and turned-over quick. I wonder which team got all the bonuses.

After I got out of the Auto Repair Industry and got a "real" job, I discovered the guy who moved-in next-door was a Tech at the Ford or Chrysler stealership. We talked over the fence one day. I told him that when I started, it was fairly common for the Tech to get 50% of the hourly rate. I thought he was going to cry. Apparently, shop rates have quadrupled since my day, but Tech pay per hour is not much more.

[Tom Vaught]

Back when I was first hired to do the Emissions Certification job for Ford, 1978 timeframe,
Ford was laying off people. Times were tough then. But I was hired to do Certification Work. That meant that you could not sell a specific Powertrain/Vehicle unless it passed 50,000 durability testing and Emissions tests every 5,000 miles. People were laid off and I was working 7 days a week for months at a time

So the AEFEO organization was a 24 hour operation. And being a new hire you wound up on the Midnight shift for a minimum of 3 months at a time. So you started work at 11:00 pm and worked until 8 am every day, 7 days a week unless you could trade with a Afternoon guy or a dayshift guy for that day or week.
I worked 79 days in a row one time without a day off.
Course they paid time and a half for Saturdays and double time on Sundays. They also paid a shift premium for the off shifts with Midnight Shift being 10% more pay.
You ate off the Roach Coach, or packed a lunch each afternoon before work.

You did not have your own desk or chair, you shared a chair and desk with two other guys, just like you would share a hot bunk on a submarine.

So I did that job for 7 years. Eventually getting enough time in the job to be able to swap with guys on other shifts to day shift occasionally. THIS WAS A ENGINEERING JOB.
They wanted people with integrity, vehicle knowledge, the ability to work with the Cell Technicians and the Mechanics. I shoveled snow off cars and trucks in the winter in snow storms that were scheduled to test at the EPA the following week. WE worked when the rest of Ford and the other companies in Detroit were shut down for bad weather.
If you made a mistake there was a 50% chance you would be fired, it depended on if the mistake was caused by you or by the guy before you who touched the vehicle. You both were fired if both of you missed the problem with the vehicle and the tests had to be rescheduled. We had people fired for tampering with vehicles, having sex in vehicles with female dyno cell drivers, stealing parts, etc. Most of these issues were with people with time in the company with doing stupid stuff and thinking they would not get caught.

You kept your nose clean, worked your shift, did not complain, and maybe in 6 or 7 years you were able to move to a day shift job in another part of the company. No Union Reps to protect your butt. We were Engineers.

I certified the first Ford Mustang Turbocharged Engines/vehicles with the EPA and CARB.
I went over every part/hose/electrical connection, fluid checks, tire checks, weighed the vehicles and added weight as required with 25 pound steel shot weight bags.
I was involved in the first Ford Turbocharged Engine program in 1977 and was involved in the design and development of the ECOBOOST Le Mans Ford GT 50th Anniversary domination over the rest of the world in 2016. My last year in Ford.

So my point is, not all jobs are easy in your life. YOU are the ONE who makes the job a success or a failure. People ASSUME that when they read ENGINEER those people sit at a desk and read the paper in the morning, take a 2 hour lunch, and go home at 3 pm and collect the big bucks. RIGHT. They do not have a clue.

Tom V.