Formal Auto Repair Education

Hello Folks, i've always been interested in mechanics and auto repair, but as a 8-->5 cubicle guy i've never really acted upon it (yet).. does anyone know how i can get some formal (weekend or after

5:00PM) education in that department? i'm an advocate of mid-life career changes (which come in both forms: voluntery and compulsary).. i live in DFW area. any advice is much appreciated.
Reply to
SunMan
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SunMan,

The first thing I would suggest is to investigate the trade and try to get a feel for what you would like to do.

=46or information about national certification go to=20

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=46or additional information about forums for professional technicians go to

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ASE is a voluntary program for technician certification and includes certifications for Automotive, Heavy Duty Truck, Machinist, Body and Paint, Parts Specialist, Service Consultants, School Bus Technicians, Auto and HD Engine Machinists, etc. A technician who has attained full certification in a given area is given a Master certification (e.g., HD Gas Engine Repair (and/or Diesel Engine repair), Steering and Suspension, Brakes, Electrical, A/C and Heating Systems, and Drive Trains certifications would qualify for Master HD Truck Technician). Two years of verifiable field experience is required for certification.

Also check out any local requirements. Michigan was the first state to require mechanics to be licensed and today a state license (or the ASE equivalent) is required to get paid to repair vehicles. In addition, there are license requirements for Motorcycle technicians, Recreational Trailer Mechanics, and Pre-1973 Vehicle mechanics, to name a few. There may also me requirements for Inspection and Maintenance programs.

Most large secondary school districts and private vocational schools cater to working adult student, but keep in mind that this will be BASIC instruction to get started in the field. Advantage: It's the quickest, cheapest way to get your foot in the door. After finishing one of these programs, don't be surprised if your first job is at Pep Boy's making $10/hr.

=46or a better start a local community college is a good way to go. Same comments apply as the vocational school, but the training will be more intense and higher quality. In addition, skills not directly related to turning a wrench will be learned. Advantage: Better Training, and you get a 2 year degree. This will also allow you to qualify for other ENTRY LEVEL work in the automotive field such as lab work, testing, etc.

This is another reason for getting a general idea of where you want to go. If you want to be a technician in a dealership, the vocational school, ASE certification, and a couple of years experience (along with ongoing manufacturer training) will get you there.

I must mention, however that most of the experienced technicians I have come into contact with (thousands), would like to get out of turning wrenches for a living. (This is especially true here in the Detroit area - I believe because there are so many other ways to apply the same skills.)

There are very good reasons for the nationwide technician shortage. The automotive field is huge and the jobs range from service manager, to retail store manager, franchise store owner, independent store owner, test technician, NVH, freeway technician, and many, many more.

I'm not putting down wrenching (heck, I was and always will be one myself!) I'm just saying find out what you want to do and GO FOR IT!

Good luck and HTH

Reply to
saeengineer

"SunMan" wrote

As someone who started in the trade when I was 18 and now approaching (or, right in it) mid-life....might I just caution you? Mid-life is not the time to be getting into this trade unless you can be guaranteed that you will be staying away from the heavy end of it. It's tough on the body. I still enjoy the trade, but I've had to learn how to work "smart", not "hard"....like I used to.

Ian

Reply to
shiden_kai

Auto repair software reviews can sound a lot alike. What are the most important elements of such software products?

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Reply to
wilianswilim

I took an online course for moto repair when I was in mid 20s. it was about $500 and quite useful. Might be useful for you too if you plan to do hobbyist grade wrenching as part of mid life crisis as opposed to switching to $10/hr job fulltime (which other posters have warned you against already)

Dunno how expensive an offline program at a local school would be. brick&mortar format might help to build some local contacts too, comes handy when you need advice or someday need a local shop to make a custom tool for a specific use (to pull forks apart in my case).

Reply to
isquat

shiden_kai:

If I had my druthers I do alignments for a living. :)

I've received too many shitty alignments in my life and I just want to give back proper alignments to consumers.

Reply to
thekmanrocks

back proper alignments to consumers.

+1.

fortunately, bad alignments are rarer these days - some of the modern digital alignment machines are pretty hard to screw up and don't rely on skill to get good readings. look for a shop with a modern hunter rig and you should be ok.

Reply to
jim beam

back proper alignments to consumers.

interesting. Every vehicle that came in "wanting" an alignment where I used to work, either needed ball joints, or had been wrecked, and couldn't be set without buying a "camber kit" that no one had in stock, and a new strut or two.

I wonder if our idiot service writer left the customers feeling like you do, when it wasn't true here.

I told him to stop "selling" something that couldn't be done. That he needed to EXPLAIN to the customer that we would CHECK the alignment, but this isn't the 1950's where we could just adjust ten different things, (and that they would probably need something repaired).

IME of course GW

Reply to
Geoff Welsh

back proper alignments to consumers.

These are all frequent things. And frequently I see kids at tire stores just putting the car with the bad ball joints on the machine and doing what the machine told him to do, returning the car to the customer just as screwed up as it was before.

When I see cars going for alignment work, it's mostly either because the tire store has convinced the customer that they need unnecessary alignment work with their new tires, or because something in the suspension has just been repaired (like those ball joints or struts).

But I suspect it depends a lot on your market, too.

Checking the alignment is a thing you do after repairing the things that need repaired. But that's another story, sadly.

--scott

Reply to
Scott Dorsey

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