Shortage of Auto Mechanics Has Dealerships Taking Action

General Discussion
81

I know car mechanics duties have gotten way more complicated, retiring in a couple of years, been a solo act but trying to find a person that could fulfill 1/2 of the duties was impossible. Administer relational spatial database, sql queries, python scripting, make cat 6 network cables, troubleshoot network issues, install fiber optics, set up redundant network switching, scada controls, soldering new piezo speakers on field equipment, administer anti virus and constrain user permissions, file backup and restore, pa system maintenance, fix day to day computer issues, keep tablets for field crew updated and working, making thematic maps like my latest, parcels by known type of service and services by known type of service to target areas for lead water service replacement, then throw in printer, and basically anything with a plug or a battery I could go on.

Yes I work with our mechanics to make manuals and diagnosis computer software needed stuff work, It is like what is this? it is a usb drive that contains the manual but needs a network connection to verify license and allow you to use it. Glazed eyes at that point but get them up and going, and it is really incredible with us both fumbling through stuff it all gets working and it is impressive the amount of data they can look at and analyze a solution.

82

ohā€¦ my story tooā€¦

on my last 2006 Pathfinder purchase: Iā€™ve asked shop to smoke-test exhaust, as I strongly suspected a leak in exhaust manifold to make for oxygen to leak and be detected by O2 sensor, throwing OBD code

picking up car next dayā€¦

ā€“ did you guys find anything in smoke test?
ā€“ yes, sir, tested it twice and it was rock-solid, so we decided to replace you Air/Fuel Ratio sensor!
ā€“ ???
ā€“ you had a new one installed there, we checked it is not OEM one, so we installed OEM one!
ā€“ ???
ā€“ weā€™ve seen them to go bad and crap computer up, so letā€™s give it time to self-adjust and you will see it will work just fine

sure enough, Iā€™m getting CEL and the same OBD code the very next day, but this time I decide to make a home-grown smoke machine to test exhaust myself, before going back and making a scene

sure enough, smoke gushes out all around, most importantly on the flange to calayst (!!!)

at this point, I went back to the shop and asked the owner to go ā€œtake a breath of fresh airā€ and had some sense talked into him, at what point he quietly refunds 100% money for diagnostics and sensor, but writes some nasty essay into what I believe is a customer database shops use to exchange info on the customers about ā€œunhinged customerā€

so, in the end, Iā€™m looking like an aā€¦ole, not giving a professional mechanic to learn at my expense ?! :slight_smile:

83

you guys are talking about mechanics not owning up to their mistakes . . .

Yeah, thereā€™s several of those guys out there, and I agree they do hurt the image of the business

But Iā€™ve seen the problem on the other side, as well

ā€œever sinceā€ . . .

The customer blames the mechanic for an engine or suspension problem, but the mechanic only replaced brake pads, and NOTHING else. In some cases, the car was there solely for one thing, not even a scheduled service or inspection

Iā€™ve seen that a LOT. Some of these guys are clueless, and are convinced it just canā€™t be a coincidence, the mechanic must have somehow caused an engine oil leak or a worn out ball joint, while he was changing those brake pads. And other guys are just plain evil, because they knew about the problems before hand, kept quiet about it while dropping their car off for the scheduled pad slap, and figured by yelling and screaming and blaming the mechanic, the service manager will break down and agree to replace those parts, at no cost to the customer, because theyā€™re scared heā€™s going to cause a scene and badmouth the shop to all their friends and coworkers. And the big loser is the mechanic, because now heā€™s replacing those worn ball joints for free

Iā€™ll bet you guys lunch those UTI head hunters donā€™t mention those kind of stresses, when recruiting guys with a pulse. He just says that the kids will be raking in money hand over fist . . .

84

The Seinfeld version:

85

Thatā€™s really nasty :frowning:
I can not offer any other solution but to record everything happening in the garage 24x7 to have evidence later to back up shopā€™s version of events.
Still, not a panacea, but I happen to be in surveillance software manufacturing business, so ā€œsince Iā€™m using a hammer, every problem becomes a nailā€ to me :slight_smile:

86

In several of those cases, we were able to conclusively prove that the customer was an evil person, and was lying like a rug.

The service manager saw this conclusive evidence, and still decided to side with the customer for public relations sake

Like I said, itā€™s usually the mechanic who loses in such situations

87

I realize this will be off-topic, but want to share the nonsense that happens in other fields. I was the first tech in my company, after engineering designed the box, to work on a microprocessor based box.

I was at my career peak. I could troubleshoot everything that needed it, run environmental tests; assist our out of state service centers with problems by telephone, perform the data package, and sell the scheduled quantity of boxes in about an hour a day. Final data package standard time was 2 hours and I did it in 12 minutes. Sounds weird but the department simply did not have odd jobs, so I read a lot.

I eventually got a much higher paying job in another department. A few weeks later, a tech from the old section came over to my new job, laughing. He said the foreman over there is bragging how he got rid of that lazy, no good tech who only worked an hour a day, and got in two hard working techs who worked 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I said, ā€œSurely he is joking.ā€

He said, ā€œWell, we thought he must be, but we discussed it and he is serious.ā€

That, with time and a half and double time, times 2, meant they were paying around 200 hours pay for what I got 40 hours pay and worked around 5 hours a week. And, this moron thought he had improved things.

I later learned they couldnā€™t even fix anything. If a circuit board failed, they would order a new one at fairly high cost and scrap the old one.

Somehow it was hard to work that smart and hard again for management people like that.

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88

You ran. Just because youā€™re smart, doesnā€™t mean everyone else is. :wink: Especially if they have a corporate board to answer to.

89

I left the Bay area many years ago largely due to congestion but secondarily due to the corporate mindset of my employer and most others. I returned to a small town and for 30+ years ran my own little show and found it very gratifying and rewarding.

Itā€™s difficult to decide whether there is more dishonesty in politics or corporate management. I have avoided both as much as possible.

90

What a prospective UTI/WyoTech/Lincoln Tech student should ask before signing on the dotted line is this and to be asked of an instructor.

If a new UTI/Wyotech/Lincoln Tech student can make a 100 grand within 5 years then why are you the instructor spending your time teaching us naive dupes for way, way money less than that?

As an very experienced instructor you should be out in the field earning 150k a year or betterā€¦

And db4690 is dead on correct in the assertion that there are a ā€œfairā€ number of consumers who will lie and pull every stunt in the book to get a free or heavily discounted repair. And those are verified beyond all doubt weaselsā€¦
That would be an interesting topic for another thread; and itā€™s a big part of why I walked away from working for dealers permanently.

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