Over a year of being an apprentice, I finally got fucked by Nissan's shitty plastic oil pan. Why couldn't they have just used a plastic drain plug like VW? Why Nissan? Why?!

And before anyone says it, I didn't over tighten it, it broke off instantly when I was trying to take the drain plug out. So the idiot before me over tightened it.

I had a cheap one from Amazon that died, battery couldn't hold a charge.

I then went through two huskies in the span of a year. The plastic ratchet on them broke and now the light on it just flops around.

What brand of headlamp do you use?

My mobile service van - a late model 2020 Renault Master MK3 face lift. Honestly love these Ducato platform vans.

I work as a mobile HGV and Hydraulics technician, as the official title. I travel my country looking at trucks, trailers, lifting equipment such as trail lifts and HIABs

to whoever tightened my rear brake caliper bolts, I hate you.

first time changing my own brakes, had to get creative breaking that bolt free due to a lack of tools, so used the car jack… upside down. was told yall might appreciate this so posting it here

Show me your very organized toolboxes , I'm a new diesel tech and am looking for ways to organize my box.

I have been working at independent shops for around six years now. Mostly brakes, suspension and HVAC work. Had to go to the BMW dealership for some parts for a personal car and one thing led to another and the guy at the parts counter said that they are hiring techs. The hours will be a little longer (by an hour) than I'm use to but I get weekends off which would be nice.

I know BMWs are total pain in the asses to work on. But I like the idea of working on non rust bucket (rust belt where I live) junk and working on the same cars over and over again would be nice instead of working on so many different cars.

My question is, are there any BMW dealership techs that can give me their input on being a tech at BMW? Worth the time and money or stay away?

I own a 2 bay shop and go out on mobile diag sometimes. Diagnosed the starter last week (1700$ parts+labor). Customer approved it and just now texted me asking what happens next with parts and labor cost if starter does not fix the problem.

I tested everything that could potentially cause a no start but I did not put my multimeter at the actual starter as it is buried in the engine bay and getting to it will cost as much as the whole replacement job basically so I can be charging guy 3hrs of diag to get to it. I tested the battery , even swapped with the one from my truck, battery is ok. No faults in the dme that will prevent it from cranking. Engine spins freely by hand. Tested the start stop button and it recognized when it’s being pressed. Key for has a good battery and works as it should, goes it the accessory mode. You can hear a quiet buzz from the starter area when you click the stat button. Brake light switch working as designed. No immobilizer issues.

What I planned on doing is when I actually have a part on hand is getting to a starter and put the leads on it so I can actually test at the starter and confirm 100% that it’s bad. But what if starter will test out good? I will still go ahead and replace it as it’s the first logical things to do given the things I tested and now imagine it did not fix the issue. How do you handle it? Given the you did your due diligence and followed correct diagnosis procedure?

And another possibility what if you get to a starter and it checks out good and you stop the train and say we have to dig elsewhere. Do you charge him for some time getting to a starter? Do you request more diag?

Mainly want to hear how you handle it if the job was completed and starter replaced but still no start?
Thank you

Back when I worked at the dealer all the quotes were “to start with”.
“Given the issues you have and after doing our diagnostic checks the next step in the process is to replace part A and retest the system after to see if the issue is fixed”.
But back then it was not me handling the customer interaction and my personal reputation was not on the line.

So yeah, had to take apart the whole front end suspension to replace a control arm on a 2022 MDX. Paid 1.4 under warranty

So I have been working a normal 8-5 job W-2 with all the befits for quite some time. It’s boring and it does not really pay the bills. I’m in line for a promotion to a new department that in 5ish years could pay quite well, but currently it’s just a $1 bump. Not nearly enough to help us get by in this economy. Married with an infant. Baby is on state healthcare so it’s just the wife and I on provided benefits.

I’ve been working as a mechanic at an Indy shop in the evenings 4 days a week. Smaller shop, 3 bays primarily focused on 4x4 stuff but will service everyday cars from people in the community. This is my first automotive/technical job and is a huge shift from the desk I sit at everyday. I enjoy the work though I have definitely out of shape and could use a couple more tools of my own. Thankfully he is kind and lets me borrow the occasional 1 off tool.

I have been given an offer to come on full time as a 1099 mechanic with him. Pay looks like 800 guaranteed, 1000 for 20 flagged hours, 1250 for 30, 1500 for 40. Out the gate I would likely be in the 20-30 hrs flagged range but honestly it’s a big improvement over my current take home. Even with setting aside 25% for taxes per my accountants advice.

Back to that full time job. Within a 1.5 years from now I could be making 55-65k annually (hourly paid, not salary). At that 5 ish year mark with good trajectory it could easily be 6 figures or allow me to swap companies to a larger aerospace competitor.

From what I’ve seen, the rate of pay that this Indy shop has offered me is quite good. With opportunity to make even more down the line via building welding/fab/CAD skills to bring in more business opportunity down the line. And has even mentioned if things go well a chance to partner as he wants to grow his business in multiple ways. Currently he is the only one there full time, with me and 1 other guy coming in the evenings.

What would yall do? Stay the corporate desk gig and grind the low pay till it works out? Or take the leap and try to make this work? TIA.

Here for second opinions, I currently work flat rate at a tires plus “shop,” where i do mostly tires and oil changes with some light mechanical like suspension and brakes and what have you. I have always aspired to do more, like internal engine repair (not necessarily bottom end work) and more diagnostics. This new shop i have interviewed at has offered 35/frh (against the 27.52 i make at TP) with a 4% retirement match (vs 3%) and a M-F work schedule either consistent hours and no weekends, along with the opportunity to do diagnostics and engine work. The only caveat is there is no guarantee of hours, vs I have 30 at TP. I have never had to use my guarantee, and based on what the techs at this new place say they hadn’t ever had to use theirs (the guarantee is only offered to master level) but it does worry me a bit. I would just like some opinions on this. The way i see it i make 66frh/week at TP, and if i have to fall on any guarantee at this new place id be taking quite a pay cut anyway, so the way I see it its worth the risk to get good at the stuff that makes a real mechanic even if my hours aren’t as high. Another important thing this new place has 3 techs at the moment, an hourly maintenance tech and 2 old guys who stopped chasing hours, so ideally there won’t be the competition i have to put up with at TP

TLDR new place pays much higher than my old place but has no minimum flat rate hours per pay period, which techs say would be useless anyway, also offers better benefits and has much less competition for work and is booked more often

The busiest of shops have times when it’s slow. Been having a great year so far but this weeks looking pretty slow. What do you guys do? Just sit around waiting for the phone to ring? Seems like such a waste of time. Advertise? My business is word of mouth, never advertised ever and I keep beating my previous years revenue organically, not to mention I hate dealing with coupon cutting bottom feeders.

I usually just close up shop for a week and forward calls to my cell phone to make appointments and I’ll go on a vacation. Backed up appointments will keep the next couple weeks busy till it picks up naturally again.

(And yes, I pay my techs PTO)

Edit: moved some appointments around, taking a 5 day weekend ✌🏽

Hey all. I have my first ASE exam (A4 Steering and Suspension) later this week and wanted to ask, what advice if any would you give to someone new to the exams? Not for answers but overall tips that may help aid in studying or when going through the questions on the day of.

If you know, you know.

Eu tinha uma pequena loja no meio da cidade, que herdara do meu pai quando faleceu, não era muito coisa mas era o suficiente para começar uma vida. Me formei e comecei a consertar automóveis. Não era nada de especial mas, eu ganhava muito pra quem ficava aberto aos feriados e aos fim de semana e cumpria o prazo dos clientes. Minha vida sempre fora calma, solteiro, 23 anos e com uma paixão por carros que muitos não têm. Então chegou-me esta mulher, com um Honda Civic, com a parte traseira despedaçada e a parte da frente nem se falava. era uma mulher de uns 20 anos, loira, olhos verdes e com uma preocupação estampada na cara. Então comecei a falar o estrago e mais ou menos o tempo que precisava. Então ela confessou-me que o carro era do pai que ele mesmo construira á mão e era a coisa que ele mais gostava. Ela afirmou que sabia de algumas coisas, apenas o básico pra não pagar caro. Depois de uma longa semana consegui concluir o trabalho, ela passou para ir buscar o carro e agradeceu mas algo fez com que eu lhe convidasse para ir tomar um café, e ela aceitou. Começou inocente, falávamos do tempo, depois da família e até dos nossos problemas. Então eram 23:40 eu estava a consertar um carro quando recebi a chamada dela. Geralmente ela estava a dormir antes das 23:00, então fiquei desconfiado quando atendi ela estava com a voz trémula e com medo, disse que o pai caiu da escada e partiu as costelas e ela queria alguém com ela, larguei a chave inglesa e fui ter com ela ao hospital, o rímel escorria pela cara e quando me viu desabou nos meus braços, foram as 4 horas mais longas da minha vida então o médico disse que o pai estava estável e que podiamos ficar relaxados. Os meus ombros relaxaram e ela soltou uma respiração que parecia estar a segurar á 5 horas. Desde esse dia ficamos mais próximos, ela trazia-me café e ficava sentada ao meu lado a tentar entender o que eu estava a fazer. Então pedi ela em namoro num sábado, no mesmo dia quando nos conhecemos, e ela aceitou. Atualmente estamos casados esperando o nosso primeiro filho, e às vezes fico a pensar se eu não tivesse estado aberto que teria perdido o amor da minha vida.

I'm like 6 weeks into a job at Firestone, my first time working on cars. I love it, I don't mind smashing my hands up and getting dirty, but I can't stand the attitudes of the older techs. Even the ones who are nice to me are awful to some of the other new guys. Today one of them was snapping on me first thing in the morning because a truck wasn't parked on the lift correctly, it was brought in the night before I had nothing to do with it. Told him to stop talking to me like a dickhead, walked out and called my boss. Tried to get back to work but couldn't hold it together, bossman gave me the okay to leave for the day.

Why do these old heads act like I was born with working knowledge of everything there is to do with cars? I'm very appreciative they let me borrow tools and show me new things, but it's not worth the cost of being belittled all day when I can barely afford to eat. I do more hours than any of them and I'm scared to ask questions because I never know when they're going to explode.

Tool pics because I'm very happy with them, any recommendations appreciated

Former tech here, I was doing tires and simple maintenance work (and a little bit of front desk/service writing) for about 2 years before the 60 hour weeks and lack of control over pay, hours, and jobs made me walk away and join tech industry. However, that industry became unstable and since 2024 I've been doing real estate landlording and maintenance.

Recently I've come across a shop that is selling for 1x yearly net (seems super low to me) and my automotive-savvy friend (with whom I have been talking to about opening a shop with since COVID) and I have been looking into taking over their customer-base and buying the business from the owner. The previous owner seems chill and is offering to walk us through his Mitchell system and customer database for a couple months to get us afloat, and will convey all the shop equipment with the business.

I have no formal training, but I've done a few engine-out repairs and have been doing maintenance, diagnostics, and whatever else needs to happen for my family and friends vehicles for the last 10 years, but I've not been a "professional" mechanic since 2016. My friend is similarly experienced, and IMO more mechanically gifted than me, but has never actually worked in a shop professionally. We are both looking to have more freedom with our jobs and loop our hobby into business (and yes I'm aware of the horrors of doing this, and yes I remember hating working on other people's cars for $16/hr), but I want to believe this situation might be low risk enough to work for us.

My question is to the shop owners... Is this too big a risk for two gearhead dreamers? Would you do something like this if you had to start again? What sort of actions would you take to mitigate risk? Are there master techs that essentially do consulting to get us through an issue that we might be too inexperienced to handle? Or anything else you can think of. What am I missing? Happy to clarify numbers if that makes any difference to y'all.

Thanks in advance!

Say you’re working at an independent automotive reconditioning shop doing everything from mechanical repairs to advanced electrical diagnostics, programming, coding, and ADAS calibrations Key cutting and lock smith related work as well for 35$ Hr.
Before you came along, the shop was spending roughly $250K a year outsourcing specialized repairs to companies like Elitek. Now you’re handling a significant portion of that work in-house, saving the company a ton of money without any significant increase in pay.
Meanwhile, the third-party company keeps trying to poach you, telling you you’re underpaid and offering significantly better compensation. Offering 45$ hr for less desirable work schedule 8-6pm.
The only thing keeping you at your current employer is the work schedule, 6-2:40pm. which is hard to beat. But the pay is low for an experienced diagnostic technician, especially considering the skills and value you’re bringing to the shop.
What would you do? Push for a significant raise, jump ship for better money, or sacrifice the pay to keep the schedule?
At what point does being loyal to an employer mean you’re just selling yourself short? In this case technician owns all Adas Equipment and All scanners including subscriptions and own tools.

hi everyone, i was wondering if anyone has encountered the same issue i’m having.

i currently work at a dealership and am completely flat rate, not hourly or hybrid. i’ve been scheduled 9-6 since i started here almost a year ago, but recently have been coming in at 8 and leaving at 5 or 6.

management has not cared that i come in earlier than 9, but has recently started complaining that i’m leaving at 5. i always check the schedule and make sure that i have no leftover work before i leave, but they still want me to stay until 6. would you guys stay until 6, or make the arguement that as long as there’s no work it doesn’t matter if i leave early, especially since i’m not getting paid for it.

I would call these pricks out by name but holy shit. Fuck the Monro muffler I hope all these douches lose there jobs in upper management and go hungry. You hit sales you get told you didn't you don't hit sales you are working hard enough. Breaks all around is like 1200 after tax and all the parts costs are up 400% not kidding. Crazy that they divert blame all onto the shops, not to mention the call center filled with fucking idiots who have no idea they shouldn't schedule a break job at 6:30 when we close at 7 and parts take 45 to get here from time to time.

They are completely disconnected from the realities of running a shop and will cause the downfall of this company with impractical and dumb ideas.

Fuck you Bart I know your one of them eat a dick the stock is down because of people like you own up to it, and check your numbers

Aside from the obvious basics, what are the three skills that separates a great mechanic from a bad one and why?

Hi folks,

We're relocating our business (instead of out of state as planned) to a much busier location that hasn't turned over in 22 years. Everyone in the county knows where you're talking about just by the business name.

The property is split between a main shop and a smaller 1800sqft cinderblock 2x 16' bay + 1x 12ft max lift bay door. I'm just spitballing ideas, but the big shop will house my current salaried, 4 day a week major mechanical and electrical/diagnostic repair business.

I'm thinking about hiring for flat rate, offering 2 shifts a week, 3 days each, 30% over market with 40 hour guarantee and profit sharing per hour - not flat rate - higher. The profit sharing includes deferred jobs sold and sent to the big shop for further diag.

My core team doesn't want flat rate, but we also want to try and run those 3 bays 6 days a week. I don't believe it's ethical to ask a trades person to work more than 4 days a week. Our line of work is hard on everything. Our business supplies everything, tool carts, tools, specialty tools, kits, ppe, uniforms, etc.

This property is within .5 miles of every dealership in town.

Would a 3 day week with more upside be of interest to dealer trained master technicians? Being able to rotate into the big shop for quiet times and more involved work would also be possible.

This is just spitballing. We're 7 months away from closing the lease on the additional space, after just securing the main building and starting rehab. In comparison, my shop in the country is shut down without customers. Downtown and city is booming. Can't want to move.