I used to delivery pizza in my hometown when I was in high school. When I was old enough to be certified to drive tractor trailer (with the money I saved from delivering pizza), I was in college for the 2nd year, and, I paid off my college with the money I made from driving truck. Anyway, I have a old friend who told why he donating more money to democrats even he is a Republican; Simple because, democrats need the money the most, and politics has no right and left, only people's moral standard. If you have bunch people want to go into wars, you better have the stomach to make money off them, we are just survivalists from our own circumstance.
friends include certified, long-term general mechanics at Firestone. The shops charge $95 an hour. But the mechanics do NOT keep 50-60% of it. $80-$100K as a matter of course MIGHT apply to a mechanic who is working 60-80 hours a week, or is a partner/owner in the business. But that is hardly comparable to someone working 40-50 hours at a regular job. Most mechanics make nothing like that. And the mechanics tend to have a LOT of physical problems, including knee and ankle problems, often getting cut or bumping into metal. Standing on concrete floors all day, bending, kneeling and squatting takes a toll on the back, legs. And in a LOT of the country that doesn't happen to be near a major city, mechanics may work for $10-12 an hour.
If your friends are at Firestone they aren't that good.If they were good drivability and transmission guys that can quickly diagnose and repair they would no longer be at Firestone Techs can work 40-50 hours a week and make 80-100 grand a year,my bud was in the 90's last year working for a ford dealership.At a busy shop a tech can clock 70 or 80 hours a week,but as i explained earlier they don't work that many hours.A good tech can finish most jobs in half the time or less of the flat rate manual but they still get paid for the full hours The only mechanics who make 10-12 an hour are lube,suspension and brake guys,no master mechanic makes 10-12 an hour
Kids spending huge on college is nuts. That's why they want taxpayers to start paying for college. Obama said so. Anyway, I have a masonry chimney and front stoop that need to be repaired. The stone mason said that he charges $120/hour (for him and his two sons, maybe 22 and 25 years of age). I told him a month ago I have cash in an envelope for him. He won't even show up for that. Unless you get a gpa >3.75 in something in demand, college is a complete waste of money.
The average salary for ASE certified mechanics in the RTP area of North Carolina at dealerships appears to be about $45K per year based on ads in the paper over time. Even for mechanics the current job market is tight, many dealerships are closing, merging, and laying off staff. We have one friend with an ASE who lost his dealership job and is now making only $11 per hour at Jiffy Lube.
ASC certified in what ?There are around 8 ASC certifications Is your friend factory certified and has factory training from a manufacturer ? Is your friend L1 certified? Did your friend go to school?Where did your friend school?,was it a school sponsored by a manufacturer where he had factory training and factory apprenticeship and training after graduation? There are a million questions that could be asked.A tech can be ASC certified in brakes,but they are not the same as a master mechanic with the major certifications with factory training,experience and certifications.Is is quite common for maintenance guys to call themselves master mechanics though.There are a lot of variables that go into how much a tech can make.75-100 grand a year is on the high side,but i was referring to to the best techs with those figures.While a Firestone tech is looking up service bulletins and service manuals trying to figure out how to find a problem or fix a newer car a factory trained tech already knows the problem and has fixed it and is working on the next vehicle Also Top mechanics wont be looking for jobs in the local paper,they have recruiters calling them I am a diesel mechanic.My best friend is a auto mechanic who has pulled in over 85,000 grand the last 3 years.Some of My instructors in school were auto mechanics who told us they were making 70,000 + a year and that was about 7 years ago
EXACTLY. We were going to have our roof replaced. When we did the contractor's "P&L", the guy was NETTING $200/hour ! No college education for that guy either.
"And now Obama is putting even more money into education. Another 12 billion." $12 Billion more in worthless liberal arts degrees. How much of that will be eaten up by 7% - 10% increases in tuition. More anecdotal evidence: My company hired two mechanical engineers .. each had 300+ applications sent in.
You did not start out arguing "master mechanics" or "ASE cert" or lube/tire people or "diesel" or specialized or with new car dealer vs. a place like Firestone, or with/without lots of overtime. You said "Auto mechanics make 80,000 -100,000 a year on average." and that is completely false. "Auto mechanics" includes EVERYONE. Inexperienced to master, mid-Manhattan to Podunk, Iowa. And a lot of mechanics are going to get dumped with the Chrysler/GM dealership closures. (BTW, I am not particularly interested in your next argument. You are theorizing and guessing basically. The truth is, the average auto mechanic makes far less, and it is hard on the body longterm. It is not like "gee- who would go to college when you can make all this money???")
Sorry that your mechanic friend isn't that good a mechanic,if he is a mechanic at all.I'm guessing he is a parts changer or maintenance guy [/B]