[Jmouse007]

Not really, dealerships have been greatly reducing the hourly wage for their auto mechanics, while greatly inflating the hourly rate they charge their customers. The massive amount of profit goes to the dealerships. This is the primary reason why there is a shortage of qualified mechanics. They have been leaving the field in droves to be replaced by inexperienced newbies who are willing to work for peanuts that don't know what they are doing.

Another factor for the shortage is those seasoned mechanics who stayed end up having to fix the repairs being botched by these replacement mechanics. This leads to burn out and their leaving.

The shortage of qualified mechanics largely boils down to GREED on the part of the dealerships. They take the lion's share of the profits and leave the scraps for the mechanics who are doing all of the work.

[nascarnation]

Isn’t that what America is all about...quit and get into competition with them.

[To-Whose-Benefit?]

Well, that would certainly explain why no matter where I’ve taken my cars to get them wrenched on I have been getting BURNED for the last 25 years.

[mewzilla]

Occupational Employment and Wages, May 2017 49-3023 Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics

From 2017, but those wages look pretty good to me.

[wally_bert]

That jives with someone else who has a relative that does some kind of training for dealerships. Getting mechanics was tough.

[oldtech]

I’m retired now, but I sure can relate to this. It seems to be lucrative for some, but many are just not making it at all, & most of that is for the reasons as stated. I won’t recommend it to anybody, but if they decide to go into it they better concentrate heavily on electronics. Chances are if they are really competent with electronics, there’s a better career than auto tech waiting for them.