I was wondering if any of you guys went to college for Automotive. Should I go to a college, or a trade school like UTI? Where is the best place to go?

 

Hi,

You might get a better response in a non specific 5.0 Tech topic, such as the Off Topic thread.

This thread is designed for 5.0 Tech posts...

 

If you want to be an auto mech, college is worthless. UTI is too expensive, a community college would be just as good if not better and probably free with a pell grant. You can try to get a manufacturer to contract a UTI type program/employment for you. You need to get a good set of tools, often times you can get a good job if you have the tools and no experience, you just starting working at $6.50 an hour and after a month you can switch to hourly (labor rate) pay. Its not bad, but the workplace sucks right now, there is not much work getting done. I would suggest a higher skill trade, like paint/body.

 

Hi,

Just to throw in my 2 cents, i also go to a community college for my Autmotive Degree. All the ASE Master Tech Teachers at my college also recomend going for your Bachelors.
The college i also attend will help you out in setting up for your ASE exams also.

If you can become ASE certified, it will help somewhat in landing a job, but like the other poster said, there isnt much work right now. Alot of people are trying to work on there own vehicles these days to save money.

 

becoming a mechanic without ASE certification is dumb as hell IMO. if you a set on being an auto mechanic, get your certification. otherwise, get a better degree from a traditional university in a field with high demand.

 

Be prepared to spend a lot of money for tools and equipment. I am an ASE Certified Tech and I work in a shop. I had to total up what I had in tools for our insurance and it was well over $50,000 and that didn't count the $10,000 tool box to put them in. And I still have more specialty diagnostic tools and such to buy. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my job but it's something you have to have a passion for. If you are in a relationship or married, you need to be with someone that understands that your tool purchases are a requirement for you to do your job. You also need to be able to retain what you have learned and have a higher than average attention for detail. The down side is that there are a lot of shop owners out there that want to only pay $11 to $13 dollars an hour for an ASE Tech with tens of thousands of dollars worth of tools. I am lucky in that I work for someone that appreciates me and understands what I am doing for them.

As for a secondary education, my advice would be to ABSOLUTELY get one but to major in a field such as Business with a minor in Automotive Technology. That way you can someday be a shop owner and know how to make it successful because the bottom line is that you will never become a wealthy person working for someone else in this field. Just my opinions but I have been doing this kind of work for 20 years so I am not speaking without knowledge. Whatever you decide or wherever you decided to further your education, I wish you luck in your endeavor.

 

Thank-you. This is the response I wanted. I really love to work on cars..every chance I get I work for free now, I have about $3,000 work of wrenches, drill bits, screw drivers, sockets, ratchets, and other tools now. I may go for business major like you said, and Automotive Tech. I also want to learn to paint cars, like airbrushing. I have painted 2 cars, both went well, Its alot of work, but its fun.

 

Also, some places like an education, some hate it...Us, we hate folks that come in the door with Lincoln Tech or other trade program certs like i-car. They like to think they know what they are doing, but tend not to last long because mistakes cost money, and once you cost your shop too much, you are out the door. We had a guy like that, i-car and ase, and had no idea wtf he was doing around a car. Our lead taught him as much as possible, but in the end, we had to let him go. Cars that had 5.0 hours worth of damage, would take him 10.0 hours to do, which can be murderous to your cycle time.
In this business, experience pays. I would take a guy with 4 years exp over a 4 year degree everyday of the week.

A pointer for applying to jobs, make sure to speak their language. You want to talk about how you will meet and exceed their cycle time goals, how you can do quality work within the allotted time, etc. If you come in the door with just your education, you will be looking for a long time. Also, right now, the industry is down. People are not paying out of pocket for repair work, either body or mechanical. They are waiting until it quits or falls off before coming in. Insurance work is still there, but depending on the area, you might have trouble finding a job. I would encourage trying to work while going to school, because like i said, you really need the experience. It is no different than a computer degree, most employers want a 4 year, but also 2+ years experience. The only way to get that is to work while going to school. Also, you want to look at places that give you the work to meet your financial goals. Typically, body folks want to try and turn 100 hours a pay. Like i said, some places just don't have the amount of work right now to give guys the opportunity for that. I know guys that are only working 4 hours a day, yeah, that sounds awesome, but they aren't making any money. We keep only a couple quality guys and give them as much work as they can handle.

I would also look to a skill like painting, or in my case, estimating repairs. In some cases, estimators make commission off what they write. i don't, I am just hourly, we don't have the workflow for commission. But it is just a thought.

 

However, word to the wise... a four year is toilet paper now-a-days, get a tech or a professional degree. Tech degrees in medical are amazing.

 

If you really have your heart set on some sort of automotive trade schooling, you really should look into body and paint since you have a little experience and like it. That has the potential to be a very lucrative career without a lot of tool type overhead. Yes, the GOOD paint and body tools are expensive but you don't have to upgrade or buy more because of the change in technology nearly as much as with other auto repair. A good body and paint man is something that people will actually WANT to pay more for to get higher quality finished work.