Career in automotive
 

I recently just started apprenticing under my friend and his dad in a shop out in Coquitlam. My friend's dad specializes in body repair & painting and I have to say I really enjoy learning how to fix damaged cars even though the work can be a bit tedious at times. Starting to have thoughts of possibly pursuing a career in the automotive field of work but I'm not completely set on it since I'm in school for something else right now. Opinions from people in this line of work would be much appreciated in giving me an idea what I would be getting into.

No.

Yes.

It's hard work, and not great pay considering the negatives of the job. You work with nasty chemicals and other products. Lot's of airborne hazards. I'm sure you already know, but unless you are very fit and flexible, you are working in odd positions for extended periods of time. Lot's of back/knee/elbow pain.
Unless you work for a well established auto body shop/chain, you won't enjoy it. The alternatives are shitty, immigrant run shops that do shitty jobs fixing shitty cars and will treat and pay you poorly.
Only worth if you set your own small shop up and work for yourself.

What are you in school for right now, and how far in/how much longer do you have?

As others have stated, its not something where you will make lots of money. I'm sure there are rare success stories, from people who fired up their own shops and they grew their businesses into chains, and so on.

But most shop owners will be right there working on cars, likely making enough to live comfortably.

It's no where near as good as it used to be. You will not become rich doing it.
The top paid people in Vancouver are lucky to get above $100k a year after tax.
If you enjoy it and want to do it, then go for it. It will pay the bills, you will always be in demand and its a trade that will offer you a lot of skills that can be transferred to other areas if you so choose to.

If you wanting to do just bodywork, the money is crap, the work is hard and the amount of chemicals and stuff around you is very high. Look at most guys who have been doing it for 20-40 years and they are half brain dead from the stuff they smell all day.

in Edmonton I was a 2nd year AST apprentice, I loved going to work everyday its always something new, always something to learn, always a challenge. but at the end of the day I was so sick of working on minivans and fwd cars that I didn't want to do anything to my own car. Cars are my passion and hobby, I've decided to keep it that way. I work at a dealership now and its a lot less exciting not being on the tools.. but its still enjoyable and theres definitely opportunities to make just as much money in service or parts as mechanics do.

I'm in first year biology at the moment and have at least another 3 years minimum to go. I'm not sure what kind of career to pursue within biology and is the reason why i considered automotive. As much as I love biology, I'm more of a hands-on person. Also browsing through bcit trades programs to see if anything interests me.

Sort of a side note then, but unless you have a specific career path within biology that you're aiming for I'd move to something else, I have a pile of friends who took bio and chem degrees without thinking of the fact that they had no use for them when they finished. At present one chem grad is going for her masters (to teach more people to get a useless degree...) and the rest are working min wage jobs.

After flipping through a good article in Wired magazine a few years ago, it would appear fully automated driver-less cars will be a commonplace in maybe 5-10 or 20 years. Going to guess there will be half the work in the industry once you're the manager or supervisor.

the trade is going down the toilet.
Immigrant workers and apprentice being taken advantage of.

Speaking from experience?

And driver less cars are exempt from mechanical maintenance? :suspicious:

Also 5-20 years is a pretty broad margin for someone to guesstimate something will become "commonplace". Sounds like something some dipshit author who knows nothing pulled out of his ass cause it made him seem smart.

Also the experience of someone who can fix things, goes much farther than cars, it extends too all things mechanical, of which our dependency will only continue to grow.

My point being, don't limit yourself to not doing what you desire to do, because you think there might not be a future in it. The truth is nobody knows what's going to happen tomorrow, let alone try and tell me that trades are useless because in 10 years robots will do everything for us.

Just open a shop that does Vinyl wrap, plastiDip & tron stickers :)

to add to this I worked at a shop with 18 other mechanics over half of them were Philippino or from another country and worked for $12/hr. 90% of their jobs would come back for me to fix. (IM NOT SAYING ALL PHILIPPINOS are like this, I'm not racist and DO NOT mean to generalize at all) im just speaking from my own experience. If the boss came around they'd grab a broom and act like they've been working hard all day. they gave our shop such a bad reputation with all of their shotty jobs and comebacks. its frustrating, part of the reason I became a mechanic in the first place was because I didn't trust anyone touching my cars. I could write a novel of the horror stories and its just sad that good customer service in this industry is so far and few between.

I would encourage you to continue to look further into the trades, there are a numerous options that are significant better than automotive in every respect. Whether it be HVAC, plumbing, electrical, carpentry, etc. there's endless opportunities in a very wide range of different environments with the potential to easily run your own business.

If you want to get into any trade involving cars, I suggest autobody/collision repair..

It's already a difficult trade as it is considering all the competition there is in the city, but there wont be much for new mechanics entering the trade in the future.

As much as I love the sounds of an engine, it won't be long before the majority of people will be driving electric cars

"Filipino"

The boss must be stupid to keep shitty workers around, regardless of race. It's pretty easy to determine who's work comes back to get re-done.

Working in a general repair/tire shop made me so sick of working on cars that I lost any desire to work on my own stuff. I moved on to a different trade and I'm much happier. There's also a lot of competition and you pretty much have to get lucky or climb a long ladder before you make any decent money.

As mindbomber suggested, you should consider other trades - even HD mechanics have it easier than auto techs.

Oh good. You missed the point completely. It wasn't about race it was about what made him the most money. A handful of guys that can do a job really quick and get paid $12/hr or one mechanic that does the same job but thoroughly and gets triple the pay, in the long run they make him more money even with the comebacks .. Which is what is wrong with the automotive trade

You can have it quick and cheap but it won't be done properly.. When it comes to me id rather take a little extra time, do everything the right way and not have to do a job twice.

Again, regardless of race, my point is if they're doing shitty work, they're making the owner less money in the long run. Any shop with a bad reputation, as you said, doesn't get repeat customers.

Agreed!

I've been a mechanic and working at a dealership for over 23 years and just quit a little over a month ago. Left the auto industry and not missing it.

Working flat rate is truly a dog eat dog environment. It can be very lucrative IF, its very busy, or if your very bright and can work fast, or can find ways to avoid the shitty paying jobs or have no shame in making unnecessary recommendations. I'm not saying the trade is going down the toilet, but is definitely getting harder to make hours.

I used to enjoy staying late and tinkering on my own car, but much how like ICE BOY said it, i just got sick of it and lost any desire to work on my own car. Working on the motorbike is still kinda fun though.
If you really wanted to get into the mechanical part of it, i would suggest at least having a look at the HD mechanic side of things. Partly because i think it might pay a bit more but mainly, it seems to open the door to more mechanical related career opportunities. BUT i must say, the skills i learned and acquired through my old dealer and manufacture has transferred well into my new career. And i am very grateful for that.

If i had to do it all over again and pick a trade, i would consider something related to construction, such as plumbing or electrical.

just my 2 cents, and bit of a rant

Flat rate painter working for a big shop.

You have hamburger shops like kirmac and craftsman in bed with ICBC.

This trade has slowly deteriorated into becoming a general labours job.

only positive I see are the old guys retiring and apprentices becoming discouraged and quitting after a short while.

Which means the demand is strong for QUALITY fast bodymans or painter.

Becoming an electrician or plumber has interested me in the past. Probably gonna look into that again.