Sick of being a motor mechanic :(

Tails142 wrote: »

I was shocked to hear that average mechanic pay is 36k a year, can't remember exactly where I read it.

Would you ever consider setting up your own business?

That's €750 a week which I doubt most mechanics would be getting.

Trojan wrote: »

Two indies close to me have shut down recently. I know another who can nearly print money. It all depends on how you approach it, enthusiasm and good processes make a difference.

One of the guys who closed doors said that chasing money was one of the biggest issues - in a rural community you can't avoid giving credit sometimes. If I was doing it I'd have an 8 foot x 8 foot sign that says "No cash, no keys" and ask people do they see and understand before taking on a job.

You'd have to put that sign up. Even if you think for half a second about a customer "ah sure he's a grand auld divil" you have lost the war. Once people see a small business they think they don't really need to pay any time soon (or at all) whereas if Vodafone cuts off their phone for not paying they'll be onto their support straight away with their credit card details at the ready.

martinr5232 wrote: »

There is not many mechanics on 36k id say average is under 30k

I can confirm this too.
I know master techs who would be happy with 30k a year.

bucketybuck wrote: »

If there is one constant at every garage I've worked its the cold, I've never yet seen a garage of any size that could be heated properly. Its the big bay doors, sucks the heat right out of any place. Seen various solutions tried, oil burners, space heaters, heaters in the roof space, you name it and the place will still be baltic in the winter. Its a real bitch doing fiddly jobs with numb fingers, believe me
I suppose its no different to many jobs that would be outside, with maybe the difference being that many building sites or guys putting up steel wouldn't be open in the depths of winter like garages are.

I laugh when I see a garage with one or more big roller doors open and they trying to heat the place. All you need to do is wear a hat, neck warmer and thermal top and bottoms, then your toasty. If you leave the trade for too long you could be left behind and unhireable if you decide to return. Change garage maybe or go out on your own. Money is good if you work for yourself. Pressure is up too,but being your own boss is bloody great.

jones 19 wrote: »

I laugh when I see a garage with one or more big roller doors open and they trying to heat the place. All you need to do is wear a hat, neck warmer and thermal top and bottoms, then your toasty. If you leave the trade for too long you could be left behind and unhireable if you decide to return. Change garage maybe or go out on your own. Money is good if you work for yourself. Pressure is up too,but being your own boss is bloody great.

Ok. And do you laugh when there are 10/12 of those big doors and because the place actually does some work they keep having to be opened and closed?

I'll make sure to put a notice up tomorrow about the thermals too, its a real shame we didn't know about those a few months ago.

I do a bit for myself when I can, doing shocks last week and came across a stubborn bolt..
Long story short, I roared at my uncle who was in the same shed "MECHANICS DESERVE EVERY F%$*@N PENNY"...
Then there's days when I do a simple brake pad change and I think. 'now why would I pay a mechanic to do that'...
Swings and roundabouts my friend swings and roundabouts!?

iamtony wrote: »

Mechanic mate of mine got a job in the nct centre. I think he gets about 800 balloons a week and never gets dirty. Worth persuing.

Nahhh....average take-home pay for a vehicle inspector is around 550 a week.

Del2005 wrote: »

Bringing vehicles in and out means that the heat will be lost once the door is opened, so no point in keeping them closed. Your fingers will still be cold though.

My point trying to heat a garage with big doors is futile, throw on some extra layers. Also You would be surprised with the heat retention of Tiger grip gloves.

LIGHTNING wrote: »

I never understood why people go through all the training/cert for a career and then once they get there leave after a few years due to salary and/or conditions. Do people not do any research? These types of things are not hidden you can find out easily enough. You see it in the new people complaining about the salaries of certain jobs. OK then don't take it up as a career

it was a dream, a life long wish and desire, he has always had a fascination with cars and is pretty good at fixing them to. it actually wasnt really the pay but how badly he was treated as an adult. pay was one aspect for him leaving but not solely, it was mainly his ill-treatment, a highly disrespectful environmental to work in he said. its important to realise he was in his thirties at this stage, married with a child, worked since his teens in various different industries, various different roles, but never came across such an environment to work in. with a person thats had over 20 years work experience behind them, something isnt right there. but to be fair, he probably ended up working for a dreadful company, so it wouldnt be fair to paint all employers with the same brush.

I would say there's quiet a few lads got in to the game through a romantic notion of working on cars. Most lads and ladies go through a car phase and think that working on cars all day would be a dream come true but all to often it's a passing phase and the reality soon dawns. It's not for everyone and for the "average" mechanic the rewards will be modest. One of the problems in the industry is the fact that cars devalue at a high rate and once the get to a certain age it's not economically viable to carry out expensive repairs so the money flowing is limited.

I served my time many years back doing repairs on mostly heavy plant and trucks and agri. Long hours and poor pay but when you are young and love what you are doing it's good. Later in life I moved to industrial maintenance where the rewards are much better with less stress. I was recently in a plant where the rate (including 4 cycle shift) is in excess of 30 euro p/h plus overtime. These rates are possible because in these places the profits are often in the hundreds of millions and an hours downtime could equal a tech's wages for a year or more.

dieselbug wrote: »

I served my time many years back doing repairs on mostly heavy plant and trucks and agri.

The real test of whether you are fit for the industry or not! There are a lot of car mechanics that simply couldn't hack ten minutes working at HGV's, just wouldn't be fit for it.

Sam Quentin wrote: »

I'd say once you hit your mid 40s 50s a mechanics job becomes really physical and stressful!?

id say its always physical and stressful, but after many years, like anything, this takes its toll

Doctors room ghost wrote: »

It’s alright saying become a good indy but the overheads and initial investment is huge.shed,lifts,pit,tools,lights,security,advertising.costs are massive.no point taking on jobs if you haven’t the tools to do it.then you have maintenance costs such as insurance,a wage for yourself and staff prsi electricity etc.
Health and safety then thrown in and more overheads with waste disposal and safe recycling and you have a fukn nightmare on your hands.

And then you have Johnny ringing about his sh1tbox Passat that wasn’t serviced in 2 years wondering is it ready,even though the spurious parts he supplied aren’t even close to what was needed and how much is it going to cost him,and pat the rat up the road could have done it for 50 cheaper.

the mate i mentioned above ended up on the dole for a while afterwards, they brought him in for a meeting and offered him funding to start his own business, a couple of grand in grants, he laughed, saying it wouldnt even cover his insurance.

kona wrote: »

Was that on a contractor basis or on a permanent contract?

That would be a full time permanent tech and would be a 24/7 shift rota.