Hello, I'm 17 years old and love land rovers! I've been planing on going to UTI for while, but the other day I though about becoming a land rover mechanic . Do yall enjoy you work? How's the pay? Do I have to go to UTI, or will land rover UK train me? What does it take to be a mechanic?

 

Not a very promising career for the hills of North Ga. Rover has already announced plans to change the product line up, maybe dropping 4WD. Rover sells fewer units in the USA in a year than Kia does in a month. You might want to consider a more general mechanic career path, so you could be an asset at any dealer or indy shop. In the future, you may find the right gal, and her job may take you to other towns or areas of the country.

Mechanics work long hours, in difficult positions, noise, smells, grease, heat. Few shops are air conditioned (most are climate controlled - the climate controls how fun it is in the shop today). Pay is usually based on expertness of the worker, you work faster, you make more. You work sloppy, you fix it for free or money comes out of your pay for someone else to fix it. Most shops have a split on the labor rate with the tech, so how much you earn can vary from one shop to another. Every vehicle that comes in does not have an easy diagnosis from a code reader. And prowling the floor is a "Mike", part drill instructor, fountain of knowledge, and good hearted on the inside. You will owe a great deal of your pay to the tool company, who has sold you a giant metal box full of tools with a mortgage payment to go with it.

Eventually you can open your own shop, and be a master of the manly arts of motor coach maintenance, and get gray hair from running a business.

Some young men your age select a career with the military, and get some intense training on maintenance of their rolling stock. You have a world of options. Talk to guys in your area, and don't forget the dudes that maintain the heavy slow movers (CAT, Komatsu, Deere, JCB).

Like anything, if you do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life. And try to learn something new everyday.

 

UTI, WyoTech, they all will offer the basics of technology and will give you a starting point. Do not believe them if they suggest you can be earning $100,000 after you complete their program (they are trying to sell you something). You may eventually, but not right away. When you come out of a trade school you are ready to start learning about a product and proving yourself. The Dealers or indy shops where you get a job will think of you as an apprentice, even if you graduated with a certificate from BMW or Mercedes. It is possible to apprentice in a shop and make the same progress as tech school.

 

UTI, WyoTech, and other schools like that are only good if you like haveing huge school debts added to your tool debts. If you want to be a mechanic, go to any university offering an Associates in Applied Science(2 year degree, yes degree, not certificate) in Automotive Technology or Heavy Duty Diesel and focus on learning as much as you can, as well as studying and taking your ASE certs. I did the automotive AAS and now work primarily with heavy equipment. It pays more, is simpler and much more room inside the vehicle. On the side, I do automotive work. I worked automotive in an indy shop and a dealership(before switching to diesel) and liked the indy shop 100 times more than the dealership.

Whatever you decide, just remember that any school you go to is only going to tell you about the best you can achieve, they won't tell you about the majority of the students that are barely surviving on their entry level pay. They are in it for the money, your money. Whether you get a job or not is ultimately not their concern, as long as they get your money.
I will tell you, I have several friends that went to WyoTech and a few that went to UTI. All of them advised me that while they are great school, you don't get what you pay for. You can get just as much from a local college or university for a lot less, and have more money available for tools.

Remember, it is the tools that make the mechanic, not the toolbox!

Biggest lesson you can ever learn is not how to fix a car, but how to utilize your resources and where/how to look up your answers.
You can't have everything memorized today like you could 20 years ago. But you can know where to go for the info.

 

I do wish to compliment the young man. He has energy, motivation, natural curiosity; these are things that will help. And the idea to ask others and learn from their mistakes is a very good thing to have developed at such an early age.

 

Thanks you for the Info. I think I'll hit up a local tech school and see what they have to offer. I love working on my Disco . I want to stick to high end names, I don't want to be one of those guys who do oil changes for the rest of their lives. I figure people will always get sick, and people's cars will always brake down. I'm a senior in high school, so i have 4 or 5 months to procrastinate before realizing that I'm almost out of time. I'm not expecting to make $100,000 Maybe around $30,000 after taxes. I know this is a silly question, but how much would you say all the tools together cost a mechanic?

 

You could easily spend $1000 on a STARTER set of tools. I recommend buying what you need as you need it, not sets of wrenches or sockets. It helps if you are working with someone so you have the tool to use before you buy it. After 30 years I have approx. $30,000 invested and I loan them to the young guys as they encounter new needs. It means a lot when you look at a single tool in the drawer and know what task you bought it for and how to use it.

 

Collin, I'm now 36. When I was 16, and really into cars, I got a job at an auto parts store. I remained in that field until about 4 years ago, when I got a job at a repair shop, up front, ordering the parts for the techs, customer service, and the go to guy for anything Land Rover related (other shops in our town often deferred their customers to us for Land Rover repairs)
Aside from 5 years part time working for a local internet company doing tech support, while working at O'Reilly auto parts full time, this has been my life. Because my boss is an *******, and doesn't pay me for any overtime (something for which I plan to take him to court) I'm going back to O'Reilly within a few weeks. This is only because I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up, and this is easy.
I should have gotten a degree in computer science, instead of pursuing philosophy and psychology, and then dropping out for personal reasons. I could/would then be a lot better off than I am.
Enough with my background.
An entry level tech, even having gone to a tech school, might make $30k, if he/she is very lucky. At least where I live, entry level techs get stuck with the crappy jobs, like oil changes, brakes, etc. It may take many years, and several different shops, to work up to where you want to be.
Tools cost? That depends. What do you have currently? Luckily my dad began giving me tool sets for birthdays and Christmas starting at age 10: small ratchet set, wrench set, screwdriver set, hammers, etc. Specialty stuff I began buying on my own as the needs arose. I now have enough to do 95% of what I need to do on personal vehicles. I insure my tools for $12,000 through homeowners insurance (rough repurchase price) but there is no way my meager tool set would enable me to work even in the shop I am currently at. I would estimate the two techs we have working there have spent approximately $20,000 on the tools they have, with the owner having a box with at least $75,000 in tools in it.
That's not taking into account scan tools. Is the shop going to provide them, or are you expected to have your own? OBD scan tools can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 each, the shop I am at currently has no less than 7 different scan tools.

Seriously, I'm not meaning to discourage you, but really think about the costs, and how long it might take to recoup the expenses of schooling and tools. You might want to even get a part time job doing menial work like changing oil in a small shop or quick lube place to see how you like it before deciding this is what you want to do.

Maintaining and repairing your own vehicle is one thing. Doing that for a living is different.

Anyone who is in this profession: voice your opinion if you disagree.

 

Can't disagree with that sentiment, I left the LR dealer cause my new boss didn't want to pay anyone. I loved the brand but my boss was the problem. Plus when you are flat rate which you will be its not like it was before. You will have to work twice as hard for the same money. Even if you are one of those guys that sell lots of work it comes down to the shop you work for and the vehicles coming in. Brand name has nothing to do with it. Its how the shop has trained the customers. If they are trained to come to you for oil changes and timing belts and CEL then thats what they are coming to you for. But if you train them to come for all their maintenance needs like the domestics are doing nowadays then expect alot more work. Until you are experienced with five or more years then you wont make much money at all. But if the shop sells lots of maintenance cause they train the customers the right way then you can make a living as you get better. But if a VW shop trains its customers for oil changes and timing belts don't expect to make a dime until you are a senior master tech.

 

Okay, I spent $12k for an AAS in Automotive Technology at a normal University, not a tech school. I started when I already had $8K in tools. I am still buying tools today(just got more this last weekend) and have over $30k in my toolbox at work with another $8k in my toolbox at home.(no, I did not make up those numbers. I have it all documented for my homeowners insurance policy)
Don't worry about specialty tools, 1/4" sockets, 3/4" drive sockets, puller sets...

Don't get a bunch of precision tools right off the bat. You probably will not need them for a while.

My rule is, If I have to borrow the tool more than once each week, I need to make plans to purchase one. If the tool is stopping me from progressing within the job market, I need to make plans to purchase one.

This never means to charge up a huge bill on a tool truck or 4. It means to plan and budget. Make sure you have a budget for tools. You will need one.

Mac tools in the past has always offered tools/toolboxes at a discount of 50% to automotive/diesel students while in school for said field. Save your money for that. To get that discount, you have to pay in full up front. The offer does not work for anything you purchase on credit with them.

Talk to a university/tech school you would like to attend. They will provide a list of tools and the costs of such that you will be expected to have your first year, and another list for the second year. Don't rely on their cost estimate. I found that the list they gave me listed the costs as $1-2k. When I priced out the tools on any tool truck, it was 2-5 times that amount. Even if you purchased the tools from Sears, it was more than the $2k they listed.
Go to some dealerships and indy shops, tell them you want to be a mechanic and ask if you can speak with a mechanic or two regarding tools and schools. They have already gone through what you want. They can give you insight that noone else can, especially regarding the area you live in.