From Grease Monkey to Lab Coats

There's a shortage in America today. Not gas or meat or any other consumable, but of skilled qualified automotive technicians. In the old days it seemed like anyone with a shade tree and a few wrenches could call himself a mechanic. These days this kind of DIY'er (Do It Yourselfer) is more of a danger than a help. Everyday I see cars that someone took to a "friend" or "brother-in-law" or "friends brother-in-law" who tried to repair them. They usually know just enough to screw things up real well. A qualified technician is someone who has spent years training in up to date automotive technology and spent thousands of dollars on the tools needed to complete a job correctly.

As someone on the inside of the automotive business I cannot understand why so few people these days want to become auto techs. The hours may be long, the work is hard, but the money is good and if you're good you can make as much as you want. Yes, there is a big investment to be made when you start. You have to pay for education, tools and equipment, but so do doctors and lawyers. Maybe it's a prestige thing. Young people now seem to want a job where they start at the top, nevermind that they don't know what they are doing or are unable to do a job that they can take pride in. Today's auto tech still lives under the image of the "grease monkey", a dirt and grease covered, semi-literate creature with wrench in one hand and no social skills. In fact, most mechanics now have nearly as many electronic diagnostic tools as wrenches in their tool boxes. Tools that they must learn to use to be able to fix a car. Reapiring a vehicle correctly gives a tech something to take pride in, to point and say "I fixed that." And with todays computer controlled systems he probably didn't even get his hands dirty. Maybe universities should begin offering degrees in automotive technology and engineering.

Money is often heard as another reason young people don't want into the auto repair business. Yet people are astonished when I tell them I know techs who make over seventy-thousand a year. Plus they have no car repair bills of their own in most cases. The money is there to be made. People will always need to have their cars fixed so the job security is there.

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