Question for certified ASE mechanics

it really depends on the type of vehicle your working on, ie: toyota, chevy, honda etc. Also depends on if you want to work at a dealership or an independant place like a gas station service center. Also depends on what part of the country you live in or plan to be a mechanic in. Im an ase certified tech in boston mass at a toyota dealership and the pay is less then 30$ an hour, which isnt bad but its not great but ive been with toyota for 7+ years. id expect anywhere between 20-25$ to start out.


jeff
 
ASE certified techs at the Pontiac Buick GMC dealer i work at in NJ
make anywhere from $24-$28 an hour but thats on the flat rate system not a salary job and most of them have 15-20 years in the business. I have 2 ASE's under my belt and only make $12 an hour but I'm salary and I know I should be making more and so does everyone else in the shop but my service manager sees it otherwise
 
i am a ASE master mechanic up here in the detroit area. i have been wrenching since i was 17 and i am 22 now. i started out hourly doing oil changes and such only making 12 dollars an hour. now i do everything and anything. i dont work at a dealer. i work at an idependant goodyear and i make 22% of parts and labor. so if the bill is $1,000 i would make $220. if it's a half way decent year like last year i should be anywhere from $60,000 to $70,000. but cost of living is more up here i believe. i went to a tech shool in st. louis and there where lots of guys from down south that were living fine off of $20 dollars an hour or so....so i am not sure how that all works out. in this trade you have to really be willing to work hard and go to classes all the time to learn about new technologys if you want to advance your pay and position. for example for the last 2 months i have been going to a hybrid car class two times a week just so i can be ready for them. it's not an easy carreer by any means. dealing with customers suck, and my body hurts alot after some days, and i am still young. i am just trying to tell you what i tell anyone who wants to be a mechanic. you really have to love cars if you are going to enjoy doing this every day. but if you do than you will like going to work everyday cause it's always something new.
 
ya as some of these guys said it depends a lot on where you are planning on workin. im currently going to WyoTech out here in Laramie Wyoming and by the time im done out here in about a year i will be elegible to get some of my ASE's. by the time i leave here around this time next year i will have around 2500 hours of shop time under my belt.
 
this is very true, basically it depends on how much money you want to make as far as flat rate is concerned, if you wanna make more money then i suggest u hussle just dont hussle so much that it aint done right, that will cost you more than if you took your time and made a little less on the job. comebacks are a b%&&h.
 
one of my instructers was telling me a story about a painter and how the painter was makin around 180,000$ a year because he came up with a system for paintin the cars at the shop. if you can come up with a system that works good and know the tricks of the trade then there is money to be made. and you have to be good at what you are doing. when you go to school for auto pay attention and do the best you can dont mess around and make ok grades. its like what the school president said to us once if you go to pizza hut and order a pizza and it comes back with 3 slices missin are you gonna be satisfied buyin only 70% of a pizza. i know i wouldn't, i want the whole thing so when it comes to school i pay 100% of the tuition i want 100% of the education.

just my .02 worth!
 
depends on where you work. here our line techs make from $25-35 an hour flat rate. ASE means nothing to Ford unless you want to become a SMT. also at my dealer we refuse to hire UTI or Wyotech grads, they have to be untrained before they actually make hours. when we do hire, we hire students from the local CC.

btw i have ASE certs in Engine Repair, Engine Performance, Brakes, Suspension/Steering, Electrical and Service Writing. im also a Master Certified Ford Parts Counter, Service Writer, and will soon also be a master Parts Manager, Warranty Admin and Service Manager.
 
just curious, whats the rational behind this?

ya i would like to know this also. there have been many WyoTech grads that have gone on to be on tv shows like xtreme 4x4, overhaulin, worked for major race teams in NHRA and NASCAR. WyoTech grads in chassis fab which is going to be one of my majors leave this school with 98% job placement right out of school. Wyotech grads are ready for the business in half the time also. All the instructors here have been in the business for many years have owned shops of their own or managed others. some have been in the racing business. So i'm still trying to understand your comment. Also WyoTech also teaches you everything you would need to know take chassis fab for instance they will teach you how to build everything from custom k-members and control arms to full tube frame chassis'.
 
around here it is about 5% for a master.I have a master in auto,med/heavy truck,machinist,hydraulic certified and make around $28 hr,but I work for the city so benefits are great
 
out of uti and working at ford now i make more then 17 and less then 19 an hour :D i got a good amount of certs right now. our techs are making about 25 an hour tho. i dont have any ase cause ford doesnt really care like said before. flat rate is tough especially if your new cuz you dont get any gravy work but with experience it gets better.
 
just curious, whats the rational behind this?

a lot of the grads have a severe inability to diagnose. we had one who insisted that every no start was a fuel pump. when we handed him the pump he would come back in 10 minutes later and say it was broken. after he was fired from the dealer for only installing a torque mount on a taurus instead of all 4, he went to pep boys where he was fired for misdiagnosing every car. one of my friends went to the Audi school, and said that he slept through it, graduated top of his class and had a huge learning curve at the dealer.