10/01/2026
Writers make commissions, techs typically dont.
And when i was working in a “Stealership” i was making minimum wage ($11hr at the time-when it just reached that$11 mark)
Identifying as a l**e tech, but realistically doing the work of a classB or classC technician + mandatory 56hr work weeks. That was 2016, and even then, It was actually bs, taking home less than $500 a week looking at $500 or more repair orders a dozen times a day.
THIS IS WHY WE BECAME A SMALL BUSINESS. An opportunity to offer REALISTIC WORK at a competitive cost without the middleman (service writer) trying to sell you the stuff the technician never said you needed…
With a mission of Offering transparency, an understanding how everything works, why its important and why it needs attention now, or can wait until later.
Mechanics especially at big shops really don’t get paid their worth.
Just so everyone has something to think about when they go next time for a routine service.
One friend of ours said this:
Working as a technician at a car dealership is one of the most overrated jobs. Terrible environment. Extremely fast paced. Mediocre benefits. L**e Techs start at about $20 an hour and work hourly at 40 hours a week which is $41,600 a year. It would easily take AT LEAST 10 years even with OSHA and factory certifications to become a “certified master technician” at which you point you might be at $40 an hour FLAT RATE. So let’s say you work 5 days a week, 10 hour days, that’s 50 hours in the building but your fast and smart and you generate an average of 60 hours of billable hours that’s $124,800 BEFORE TAXES. If you walk into a dealership and there are 20 technicians maybe 3 of them make that $40+ flat rate and are “certified master techs”. And don’t even get me started on the fact that the technicians basically get no respect and the customers never get to meet their technician. It’s the guy with the GED also known as the service writer wearing a cheap suit who is made to look like the superstar in front of the customer. And when you think it’s the mechanic trying to upsell you 1 million things it’s really the service writer. your mechanic is the honest guy the service writer is the greedy snake. The only work environment worse than a car dealership repair shop is a restaurant. The people who are truly happy at car dealerships and make good money without having to kill themselves is the car salesmen. I think the main reason why automotive technicians are not well respected blue-collar tradesmen is because unfortunately it is not a licensed trade.
Our only add to that is;
You can find mechanic (legit or backyard guy) on just about any corner in Massachusetts. So it actually makes sense.
A major U.S. company is struggling to fill thousands of high-paying mechanic positions, even with salaries advertised around $120,000 a year. Ford’s CEO has repeatedly highlighted that the automaker currently has about 5,000 open mechanic jobs that remain vacant despite offering six-figure pay, warning this reflects a broader shortage of skilled trades workers across the country. He described the situation as a serious issue for the U.S. labor market and economy, stressing that technical roles require years of training and that the current workforce pipeline isn’t keeping up with demand.
