[KS circutguy]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jR_ql...?feature=share

[brad900]

Originally Posted by 59safaricat

Pay reflects wisdom and quality. These stores only want for fork out minimum wage and they get exactly what they pay for....a bunch of stoned/drunk dumbasses that don't care. Honestly, I don't blame them.

The auto repair industry had become a joke. Shops want to pay 1980's wages while raking in nearly $200 an hour in some places. I wouldn't recommend the automotive repair field to my worst enemy at this point.

They must have been paying good back in the 80's then. If I wanted work more than 50 hrs a week I could easily make $250k at my dealer.

[form74]

Originally Posted by ID67goat

You can test it yourself,…..all you need is a set of jumper cables and a battery…..

We did bench test it , was dead

Was just double checking

New starter installed and working

Now a fuel issue.

The new build is kicking my butt

[KS circutguy]

Originally Posted by brad900

They must have been paying good back in the 80's then. If I wanted work more than 50 hrs a week I could easily make $250k at my dealer.

How Dealer Mechanics are legally Underpaid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAjR5tVVlqg

Finding a mechanic is literally IMPOSSIBLE right now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAjR5tVVlqg

[brad900]

Originally Posted by KS circutguy

How Dealer Mechanics are legally Underpaid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAjR5tVVlqg

Finding a mechanic is literally IMPOSSIBLE right now!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAjR5tVVlqg

Legally underpaid So you think $250k a year is underpaid? In 1982 the avg tech made $8.46 hr, convert that to today, $26.71. Yeah I make a lot more than that. Yeah it's hard to find any young person that wants to do any manual labor, they want to sit at home in front of a computer.

[KS circutguy]

You must do a lot of flushes.
As a 72 yr. old retired Master Tech I've never heard of a "legit" Tech making 250K+ a year.Ever.
News to me even today,with all mostly warranty work.I have several friends that still wrench for a living but they still say the real money is with the independent shops.
Not in my day,100k was tops,and they were the guys doing what we called "Wallet Flush".
You know, trany flush,PS flush,coolant flush,fuel injection flush ect.
Not saying that's you just my personal experience.
Cars of today are not really made for repair,they are made to last till warranty period and flush.lol
It's a job that is no longer desired by today's youth,and I can't blame them.
It takes years to get to big money level.You spend your day's freezing or sweating.
Tool bills that never end,and vehicles engineered with the last priority to be repaired.

[67drake]

You guys are comparing techs to counter people at AutoZone.
Personally my local NAPA had an old guy who could find anything, if it was available. Got out the old dusty catalogs when necessary. Then he retired. Ugh
Living rural like I do now, I have one local parts store. Luckily he’s old school and pretty knowledgeable. I’ve found it best to do my own research and go into a parts store armed with my own info and part number, then give them the part number myself. Otherwise I order of the internet.

[KS circutguy]

My guy at NAPA retired as well.
Only had 1 usable hand-arm, but was the best.
It's a joke at his old store location now.

[sdbob]

Same at NAPA here,some of the standard small parts no longer available. Most Guys mean well for the most part. Seemingly because not enough sales or profit I guess. Like the cartoon on net .I need 36" of heater hose,what yr,make model of vehicle?

[brad900]

Originally Posted by KS circutguy

You must do a lot of flushes.
As a 72 yr. old retired Master Tech I've never heard of a "legit" Tech making 250K+ a year.Ever.
News to me even today,with all mostly warranty work.I have several friends that still wrench for a living but they still say the real money is with the independent shops.
Not in my day,100k was tops,and they were the guys doing what we called "Wallet Flush".
You know, trany flush,PS flush,coolant flush,fuel injection flush ect.
Not saying that's you just my personal experience.
Cars of today are not really made for repair,they are made to last till warranty period and flush.lol
It's a job that is no longer desired by today's youth,and I can't blame them.
It takes years to get to big money level.You spend your day's freezing or sweating.
Tool bills that never end,and vehicles engineered with the last priority to be repaired.

Well I guess you were working on the wrong car brand then. Power steering flush, none of our cars have had a hydraulic steering for 10 years, they are all electric & even when they did there was no such thing as a flush. Also no such injector flush. We follow the required service interval per the manufacturer , so when you say "Wallet Flush" you mean perform the required services, yeah I do those because most people who spend $200k-$300k + on a car want to keep it going. All mostly warranty work? I would say 30-40% is warranty along with CP service. If they are not made for repair then how am I making a living? Nobody is freezing or sweating, climate controlled shops. Tool bills that never end?? 95% of my tools were bought 27 years ago, every now & then you might have to buy something new but I bet I don't spend $100 a year on any new tools( yes Snap-on or Hazet).

[form74]

This is what it’s like now

[Roofy]

I have been out of the retail auto parts scene for over a decade, but even then, I'm probably still a good couple of decades younger than the average poster on here. Even when I worked in the parts business, I absolutely HATED the way the corporate bigwigs were trying to push out the old catalogs and tech in favor of everything new and fancy. The thing that was mentioned with the new touchscreen computerized alternator/starter/battery testers, you literally CANNOT test them without entering "their" part number into the screen. Sure, if you have more than 2 brain cells to rub together and know what youre doing, you can fake it, but as some have mentioned, the push for lower skills and wages is only attracting the inexperienced newbies and high-schoolers, while anyone with experience moves on to greener pastures.

As an aside, I always made a habit of keeping the catalogs that corporate would occasionally have us dispose of, and made the managers aware that anything they wanted to throw away, I wanted first dibs. Some of that stuff is nigh irreplaceable and holds a vast wealth of information that you cannot get on the typical online lookup. Well, Imagine my disgust when I came back from a 2 weeks vacation to find that corporate had "upgraded" our seal and bearings interchange and lookup guide to an all-online setup. And the very valuable and hard to find IBI bearings and seals interchange books had all been tossed in the dumpster while I was gone!!! To say that I was upset would be a vast understatement! It's been more than a decade and I'm still POed about that. And of course, the latest and greatest online lookup has no functional way to look up anything by dimensions, or oddball setups from an individual tractor, or anything like that....

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by Roofy

I have been out of the retail auto parts scene for over a decade, but even then, I'm probably still a good couple of decades younger than the average poster on here. Even when I worked in the parts business, I absolutely HATED the way the corporate bigwigs were trying to push out the old catalogs and tech in favor of everything new and fancy. The thing that was mentioned with the new touchscreen computerized alternator/starter/battery testers, you literally CANNOT test them without entering "their" part number into the screen. Sure, if you have more than 2 brain cells to rub together and know what youre doing, you can fake it, but as some have mentioned, the push for lower skills and wages is only attracting the inexperienced newbies and high-schoolers, while anyone with experience moves on to greener pastures.

As an aside, I always made a habit of keeping the catalogs that corporate would occasionally have us dispose of, and made the managers aware that anything they wanted to throw away, I wanted first dibs. Some of that stuff is nigh irreplaceable and holds a vast wealth of information that you cannot get on the typical online lookup. Well, Imagine my disgust when I came back from a 2 weeks vacation to find that corporate had "upgraded" our seal and bearings interchange and lookup guide to an all-online setup. And the very valuable and hard to find IBI bearings and seals interchange books had all been tossed in the dumpster while I was gone!!! To say that I was upset would be a vast understatement! It's been more than a decade and I'm still POed about that. And of course, the latest and greatest online lookup has no functional way to look up anything by dimensions, or oddball setups from an individual tractor, or anything like that....

It's clear to me from your post that you really cared about your job and went the extra mile to really be a "Parts person". Generally, in the parts business model, you would never receive any recognition, or financial reward for doing the extra things that customers really appreciate. Actually, in many ways you are punished for doing anything "extra". You were probably wise to find a different career. But old geezers like me appreciate your efforts.

[67drake]

Originally Posted by Roofy

I have been out of the retail auto parts scene for over a decade, but even then, I'm probably still a good couple of decades younger than the average poster on here. Even when I worked in the parts business, I absolutely HATED the way the corporate bigwigs were trying to push out the old catalogs and tech in favor of everything new and fancy. The thing that was mentioned with the new touchscreen computerized alternator/starter/battery testers, you literally CANNOT test them without entering "their" part number into the screen. Sure, if you have more than 2 brain cells to rub together and know what youre doing, you can fake it, but as some have mentioned, the push for lower skills and wages is only attracting the inexperienced newbies and high-schoolers, while anyone with experience moves on to greener pastures.

As an aside, I always made a habit of keeping the catalogs that corporate would occasionally have us dispose of, and made the managers aware that anything they wanted to throw away, I wanted first dibs. Some of that stuff is nigh irreplaceable and holds a vast wealth of information that you cannot get on the typical online lookup. Well, Imagine my disgust when I came back from a 2 weeks vacation to find that corporate had "upgraded" our seal and bearings interchange and lookup guide to an all-online setup. And the very valuable and hard to find IBI bearings and seals interchange books had all been tossed in the dumpster while I was gone!!! To say that I was upset would be a vast understatement! It's been more than a decade and I'm still POed about that. And of course, the latest and greatest online lookup has no functional way to look up anything by dimensions, or oddball setups from an individual tractor, or anything like that....

Yes, you sound like the NAPA guy I posted about earlier.
Many times I would go in looking for a part for one of my 60’s era cars, and the young guys who worked there would just say “The part isn’t available “. This old guy,Rick, would always tell me “Hang on a minute “. Then break out the interchange catalogs from under his desk. He could track down anything for me. One time I was fixing an old early 70’s tractor for a friend. I needed a coil and couldn’t find it anywhere in town or online. Rick spent at least a half hour looking up old numbers from catalogs and cross referencing, and finally found something that would work. He didn’t get paid extra for this.
A few times I bought pizza in to NAPA in appreciation of their service)It was actually Rick’s service!). When he told me he was retiring, I was honestly sad. If anyone has an old timer at their local parts store like this-give him a pat on the back and buy him a case of his favorite brew.

[misterp266]

. . . .

[Mr_GTO]

Originally Posted by misterp266

. . . .

LOL Ever hit the old school parts stores on School St in Taunton or the one on 44 in Taunton across from the old Gaff's or even the old Napa on 140 near Manny's. Some of those guys were old school parts guys.

[A.W.Dille]

My local O'Reilly's has some good people. The manager I've known for around 14 years and two others know me very well. No problems getting stuff checked and no problem with warranty parts. Never had any problems with special order parts either.
I guess I'm pretty fortunate as far as a retail parts store goes. And one of the guys just did old school testing on the starter for my 87 Ford diesel. He's a younger guy but knows what he's doing..

[A.W.Dille]

My local O'Reilly's has some good people. The manager I've known for around 14 years and two others know me very well. No problems getting stuff checked and no problem with warranty parts. Never had any problems with special order parts either.
I guess I'm pretty fortunate as far as a retail parts store goes. And one of the guys just did old school testing on the starter for my 87 Ford diesel. He's a younger guy but knows what he's doing..

[Sirrotica]

In my experience most of the "REAL" parts guys that can find you the parts you're looking for, have wrenched themselves, or at least been exposed to the repair end of the automotive business. As has already been mentioned, I look my own parts up and pre pay, then pickup locally, or just order from Rock Auto, or other online vendors if I have the luxury of waiting.

I also made my living wrenching for the most part of my adult life, from graduating from high school/vo tech auto mechanics in 1970, to around 2004 when my injuries over the years made it very painful to continue to wrench full time.

I worked for independants, dealerships (always GM), self employed, and never even came close to $100,000 a year. The most I made was while working for myself. The best thing I ever did was ditch the automotive field, and start working on equipment. Less stress, and much better pay, as well as benefits, and working conditions.

Any young person I run across that is considering working as a mechanic/tech I always try to point them in the direction of equipment repair, as opposed to automotive repair, I was a slow learner about getting away from automotive, and of course didn't pay attention to my father that also started off in automoive repair, and later switched to fleet truck repair as his profession............

[TAKerry]

We have an old school parts store in town. Luckily its actually the closest auto store to me. All of the guys in there know their stuff. And like mentioned before will go out of their way to help find something obscure. Go to the auto zone and I mean no disrespect but they are all kids waiting in line for the next job in greener pastures. The turn around seems like it is weekly and I get the impression from some of them that they couldnt name more than about 3 car brands. There was one 'person' that I cannot even mention on here!