2nd Year App Mechanic

[PRIMRK]

Hey All,

I'm currently working at one of the euro dealerships and am finding it rather boring doing the same thing day in day out, so I was thinking of moving to a general mechanic shop or if I'm lucky enough a performance shop.

Only real issue is the future of the trade, with car becoming more and more complicated and being even more geared to dealerships will the smaller shops be able to survive? I don't want to jump ship only to find that in 10 years down the track I'll be strugling to get by.

Please post your views on this as I'm a lil conflicted as to what to do and I guess there maybe some people here who may have a bit of insight into this topic.

Thanks!

[.:: GimpS-R34 ::.]

10 yrs old.. thats a long time.. im sure if you have been working at the one shop for 10yrs you would be considered a reliable competent worker

personally i think alot of cars under warranty are taken to smaller shops as they all seem to keep car warranty at their shops.. and strive to keep you as a repeat customer as they have reputations to uphold.. where as dealerships sell mass cars and are alot larger.. (obviously you need to go to the dealership of the car you want, nissan.. holden etc)

ask around at work hsops and just enquire to app and busy etc..

[GTR-N1]

Dealership

Pros = Security if it's a top brand, Room for advancement firstly to Service advisor etc, Service dept bbqs on Fridays

Cons = Holidays may have to coincide with workshop holidays, Doing more boring servicing than diagnostics (even to the extent that plugs/filters are tossed out after 'x' amount of Kms rather than be examined), Not very good pay unless you advance up the ladder. You see things going on that shouldn't go on (eg additives used in some places so that the dealership reaps more profit)

Private Workshop

Pros = Stimulating puzzle solving by greater amount of diagnosing, More major work because you get laden down with cars that haven't been maintained as often as they should, Get off from work early sometimes when work is slack, You can choose your own holiday times with less restriction or pressure, Better pay if it's a busy place

Cons = Work can be inconsistent and not steady depending on a few things, Less room for advancement, Have to keep checking your Super in case the boss gets slacko or cuts corners

[s13_Skyline_inside]

think about job security is the only thing i can say, i moved from a dealership hired through a recruitment company, went to work at a certain performance workshop, boss didnt pay my super for 2 years and owed me holdiday pay, at least I got my papers signed in the end before he went belli up

[PRIMRK]

Thats the main thing is the job security, Im just not sure i could stick out doing the same thing day in day out till i got promoted (and even then ts jst watching the sames thing day in day out).

The other thing is that if i get qualifyed i could travel to europe and work for the same brand dealership there, wouldnt mind it but still same thing just dif place.

What i realy want to know is where people think the auto trade is moving to, with new cars will all the small local workshopd be muceled out by dealerships?!?

Can you get a job at a dealership even if you havent been trained at one, all people at my workplace have been from dealerships, dif brands but all still dealerships?!?

[R31Nismoid]

Mate if you can work where you are, and then end up overseas out of it - fken do it.

Yeah you might be doing the same thing overseas too, but look at the fact its a different country. Your weekends will be spent exploring the vastness of Europe, Asia, whatever etc etc. Just beacuse your monday to friday is boring, doesn't mean your weekends have to be when you are on you time. Means to an end. I could work a boring as fark job if it meant i was going to Paris one weekend, and Spain the next

If i had that chance @ my work, i would do it - so, obviously I'm heavily biased

[GTR-N1]

^^^ Agreed!

Even save up a little cash and do a couple of laps around Nurburgring

Just be patient and think about

a) skiing

b) drive through Stelvio Pass

c) river trip from Amsterdam to Vienna

d) stayover at Modena and visit ther Maserati Museum > half hour to the east 2X Lamborghini museums > half hour to the south Ferrari museum and test-track (and stand on 40 gallon drums, look over the fence and take pics of Prancing Horses fanging it day after day)

e) stroll around Venice

f) Paris will blow your mind

g) similar scenery around Barcelona & St Petersburg

h) medieval castles

i) pretty French girls that don't sell you car insurance (on TV haha). Spanish & Italian girls are just as pretty hehe

j) Greek and Croatian Islands

[FineLine]

Finish your apprenticeship in the security of the dealership. Once you have your indentures signed then think about broadening your horizons.

That piece of paper will mean everything to your future and can be a real problem to attain in smaller workshops.

Too many of them go belly up for one reason or another and leave you out in the cold.

[NZM.031]

from my own experience my friend..

do your time at your current dealership, then decide when your papers are signed and your apprenticeship completed.. if you want to move to another dealership, do it as a full qualified mechanic.. if you go somewhere else as an apprentice, you will always be the apprentice.. even if youve been there for 10 years, so will other guys, they will move up the rung before you.. you will be 40 before they move on and you move up... they generally send the gun mechanics away for training courses as they want them to be master technicians.

service work day in day out is boring... but its easy, its stress free, and it pays the bills.. do you want to be constantly thinking about diagnosing a technical problem even when your at home or do you want to go to work, do what you do, go home again??

i honestly will never go back on the tools... i love cars, i enjoy working on them, but i will not go back to being a mechanic unless i absolutely have to.. its a horrible job, always in the firing line, shit pay, mostly shit conditons, never get any respect, yet you are the ones holding the dealership afloat..

the world will always need mechanics.. if car sales drop, they will still need mechanics.. if people cant afford to get a service, then they will be back sooner or later for an engine or something.. parts and service will always be around..

10 years is a long way to look into the future... you should be living day by day, in 10 years... who knows WHERE you'll be.. i certainly did not think id be where i am when i started my apprenticeship.. i had planned to stay at the original place i started at, pay off my subaru liberty and live at home till i was 25... well, my 25th birthday has come and gone..

ive had 16 cars since i started, ive lived out of home for nearly 4 years, rented, now bought a house, moved towns, changed dealerships, changed jobs, changed roles, been overseas, had 2 months off to just relax and enjoy the summer..

live for the now, dont plan for the future.. everything happens for a reason, just enjoy life and everything will fall into place.. you're to young to be worried about 10yrs time... dont waste your life away thinking about tomorrow when you should be enjoying today.... tomorrow may never come.

[adamskill]

mate at least your not a chef.. haha if u wana talk about shit pay, shit work conditions, shit days off, no weekends, high stress blah blah blah. linton is correct however when he said everything will fall into place. life has a funny way sorting itself out. apprenticeships are very tough, just stick it out, and learn as much as u can and enjoy the fact u dont start work at 9am and finish at 11pm with NO BREAKS, and that u actually get a weekend, and u can have fun with ya mates, go to track days and on cruises and generally enjoy life.

[turboedsloth]

you've only really experienced a little bit of what dealerships can have to offer in terms of training. i came from an independent transmission workshop where the only training you had was out of a book and hands on. dealerships have the funding to send you away to courses and what ever else is required to get you to be a master technician. as wat nzm 031 said, look at what you wana do with your future after you have your papers signed. they should be the number one priority atm. once i had finished my time i jumped ship into the mining sector and have not looked back since. and on my days off i still play with cars. at the end of the day its entirely up to you but

[NZM.031]

mate at least your not a chef.. haha if u wana talk about shit pay, shit work conditions, shit days off, no weekends, high stress blah blah blah. linton is correct however when he said everything will fall into place. life has a funny way sorting itself out. apprenticeships are very tough, just stick it out, and learn as much as u can and enjoy the fact u dont start work at 9am and finish at 11pm with NO BREAKS, and that u actually get a weekend, and u can have fun with ya mates, go to track days and on cruises and generally enjoy life.

ahmen to that mate... i worked with a mature age apprentice, he was 32.. and first year.. he was an EX head chef of some establishment in queensland... he loves being a mechanic.. straight work hours, straight forward work and no nitty little customer complaints.. i think if you are passionate about something, do it after hours.. you'll end up hating it otherwise.