Being a mechanic

[VSSPak]

I've been deciding weather to do a Plumbing appreticeship or a Mechanics appreticeship, i mean hell, I love cars and mucking around with them.

I believe I'd enjoy mechanics way more then plumbing, being around cars is great..But whats the money like? Is it well off?

Plumbing i heard is a big trade..earns heaps...I always wanted to own my house n shiz, and Even tho i woudlnt love it as much as beign a mechanic, id do it if its what i had to.

Is mechanics fun? And what is the pay like?

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

I am a mechanic although I dont work as one now....I own my house and have 2 rental properties. I'm 38, married with 2 kids. It is my second marriage, I was left with nearly 10k of debt when my first marriage ended, that was 11 years ago. My current job is a car salesman which I have only been doing for 3 months. What I suppose I am saying is, it doesn't matter what you do but rather what you do with what you have. You do what you enjoy the most and the rest will come to you.

[MikesVT]

If you're in it for the money, Plumbing. I know plumbers that have to say no to a whole bunch of jobs because theyre just flat out. 3 new cars in the driveway, nice house, holiday houses popping up all over the place.

BUT... If you're only in it for the money, you won't last long. You'll get really burnt out really quickly. You're better off doing something you enjoy. I'm sure mechanics are pretty well off, but don't know many myself.

What about being a plumber and doing mechanics as a hobby kind of thing instead, earn that little bit extra cash... But thats alot easier said than done.

Good luck with your decision though. All the best

[sircruisealotVS]

mechanics get paid pretty crap really....i got a few mates i went to high school with who are finished their apprenticeship now and dont earn all that much (like around $500 after tax), but its more about the love of cars for them.
as you said, a plumber earns really decent money, again a mate i went to high school with is a plumber and on an slow week still brings home well and truly over $1k easy....he also enjoys the job by the way, i personally couldnt see how plumbing could be enjoyable, but he loves it.

[Bravotwozero]

I am a mechanic although I dont work as one now....I own my house and have 2 rental properties. I'm 38, married with 2 kids. It is my second marriage, I was left with nearly 10k of debt when my first marriage ended, that was 11 years ago. My current job is a car salesman which I have only been doing for 3 months. What I suppose I am saying is, it doesn't matter what you do but rather what you do with what you have. You do what you enjoy the most and the rest will come to you.

Great advice there!

[88GreenVN]

go for plumbing - pays real good and then you can play with the cars after hours. Lots of mechanics have cars that run bad because they are sic of working on them after a few years. EARN THE MONEY FIRST.

[Burt_vn]

My dads a mechanic, and all through me being a kid he told me not to be one, but of course following dads footsteps i started my apprenticeship ra ra, did 2 years of it, and quit. But this all before i finished year 12, and im still only 18 now and have done a lot of things to do with work experience, but yeah, i had the same idea in mind..that i love working on cars, etc. The knowledge of a mechanic is a great thing to have and i love working on my OWN cars, but day in day out ****ing around with other peoples cars gets to you, oily hands, every day, your constantly burning yourself, and i got over having to jam my arms in hard to reach places all for the one ****ing bolt they had to put above the steering rack behind the started motor and next to the exhaust manifold! Also, apprentices get payed worse than any other job ive heard of, at tafe most of the guys in my first year class were around the age of 20, and were getting payed $6 an hour if they were lucky..second year not much better..third year like $8, etc. Once your qualified you can earn good money if you stick to your work and go places, but thats four years of earning **** money and living pay cheque to pay cheque. If you have amibitions of owning your own house and the likes, a plumbers apprenticeship would be the way to go, and who knows, you might enjoy it. I do agree with the other guys though, doing something you enjoy is the key, if you find yourself doing plumbing and all your thinking about is going home and at work your going **** this **** that, then find something else, its only gonna drive you insane.

anyway, i was just bored at work
dont expect anyone to read it, but i successfully burned 5 minutes off my friday

Peace.

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

So wise for an 18 year old....wish we had more like you. I totally agree, also its hard to know what you want to be at 18, 25 or even 35. Try different things while you're young, if you want to try plumbing go for it, at the end of the day you will have a trade and the opportunity to earn big $$$. Massive shortage of people in the building trade over here in WA, come here for a few years, earn your money and set yourself up.

[badaz]

I was a carpenter, at school I loved wood work the whole family are in the industry. When I finished my apprenticeship I hated it that was 12 years ago I have friends asking me to build stuff for them I dont do it. I have a job now thats great. So what I'm saying think hard about it ,you make the choice dont let others do it for you. Dont do it for the money, do it cause you really want to.

[deathsminion]

There's no real money in being a mechanic, unless you do a lot of cash jobs (which won't get you any closer to a house).
The only way to make real money is to rob people blind. Every car you see, recommend new shocks, exhaust, wheel alignment, etc, whether they need it or not.
I'm a mechanic, but I'm getting out of the industry simply because of those reasons. I'm too honest for the place I'm working at now, and it's putting a lot of stress on myself and my family. Also, it hurts to see a young father pick up his old Corona with shot brakes, and put his two young children in the back. You can tell them the rotors are warped, and the pads are on the metal, but rather than pay the 300$+ to have that fixed, he'd rather waste $65 on a wheel alignment in a failed attempt to get rid of the vibration at 100km/h.
The sad thing is, after a few years, you stop feeling bad for these people, and start hating them for being 'tight'.
Also, if you take pride in your work it can mean taking great loss. A cash job that I'm still finishing off was only meant to be a couple of relatively small things, but I've ended up completely rewiring most of the engine bay because of obvious wiring faults at my own loss, just because I want the final product to be something to be proud of.
Oh, and then there are the people that come in and pay for an oil and filter change, and a week and a half later come back with squealing brakes, and accuse you of 'breaking them' when you had the car for service. The fact that they can be disproved easily doesn't remove the fact that other customers in the vicinity might be driven away.

In short, be a plumber. Sure, as a first year you'll have to crawl around on the ground under houses a lot, and dig a lot of holes, but for the money you'll end up with, it's well worth it.
Or if you dont like that idea, but want huge money for hard(ish) physical work, become a roof tiler. Of all the jobs I've had, it's the only one I regret leaving.

[vt1538]

There is more to mechanics than just cars. The heavy diesel mechanics make huge wages & are in very short supply. Plus you learn the basics in petrol & are only a few courses from having the same if not better knowledge base on passenger cars etc.
Plus you have generally better access to parts( you only need two elbows instead of three).

[impulsesv6]

im a mechanical fitter and turner and i find this to be the best trade, some times the job can get kinda dirty but if i was 17 again id do it again, i finished my time in 3 1/2 years and came out with my cert, $4000 in tools paid for by my work, and great skills which led me to my current employer, im currently 22 and clear between 1g and 1.5g a week.

the best bit about being a fitter is that not only are you working with mechanics, but your tools (spanners, sockets, torque wrenches, etc) are paid for (pipe wrench no good for a car) the extra savings like getting trade price at suppliers by saying you work at ???????, and also the boss doesnt mind if you bring in a turbo or starter motor to reco during work time using work parts, cos its considered "training"

choose maintenance fitting!!! thats what i do and i love it, at our work we machine, weld, fabricate, repair, modify, and of course foreigners.
i much prefer this than working at a jobbing shop doing production work.

but one important thing to keep in mind, choose big businesses:
lots of tradesmen= lots of work,
check out their steel rack= not afraid of spending money,
ask where the company is going in the future= assess how far off china taking over is- its a sad reality but you have to be prepared for it.
tafe= most big business will pay for it and other courses needed as well

but do a day or a week work experience and find out which you prefer

[redcv6]

my dads a mechanic, we are doing alright, own a house in warrandyte, own a house in rye, own 1/3 of a house in st lenards(across the bay from rye), own 6 cars (80 series landcruiser, brand new lexus is250, 2 1957 chevs, my vt, sisters mazda 323 and a barina, he bought that to drive whilst his wrist is broken, and he owns his business, so i wouldn't say mechanics get paid ****, just gotta get a good job, like every trade. although saying that he wouldn't let me be a mechanic in a million years because of the stress it puts on the body.
cheers johnny

[Troy711]

be a plumber. if you play your cards right and get yourself set up then in 8 - 10 years you could be earning 250K a year before tax. you would be surprised what good tradesmen can earn when they are on contract rates.

simple as this, do your 4 years. once that is up work for yourself for a year or two to get some money behind you. after that, take on a partner. two years later put on 1 or 2 apprentices. in 2 years your business should be turning a very tidy profit, providing you have the initiative and you are hungry for money. when you apprentices finish put them on a set wage and then put some more apprentices on. basiclly continue the cycle and you could have 10 people working under you and your partner. it isnt easy, but it is possible.

[ash1169]

good on buddy more people should b doin tht then they might understand wat really goin on under the bonnet. ya right cubic feet tooo

[cruzncommo]

plumbing is what i wanted to do but couldnt find an apprenticeship. mate if you do your trade and work your ass off for a few years who says you cant retire at like 30? at the moment i work at a sawmill and looking for a boilermaker/heavy mechanic/any apprenticeship.

[VSSPak]

I've decided to go with plumbing.. Only problem is now i gotta get the appreticeshipp...kinda hard coz they accept like 30 epople and over 250 applied..But i can try find my own apperticeship..

thanks guys.

[Burt_vn]

good luck mate.

[cruzncommo]

I've decided to go with plumbing.. Only problem is now i gotta get the appreticeshipp...kinda hard coz they accept like 30 epople and over 250 applied..But i can try find my own apperticeship..

thanks guys.

try every plumber in your region

[vtdemon]

I'm doing a Light Vehicle Mechanic apprenticeship now (2nd Year) and I kind of started it as something to do to earn money(after leaving uni after 1st year), build experience, cause at this point I still don't know what I want to be doing, haha. I do enjoy it for the most part, but for most of the same reasons as mentioned in the thread ($$$, conditions, somewhat dead-ended etc.) I can't see myself doing it for much more than my apprenticeship lasts.

I'm wondering if anyone knows how much of a step or what differences in qualifications are there going from being a mechanic to say, a mechanical fitter or similar would be?

[Weissen]

Hmmm, plumber or mechanic...
I think by far the best option out of those two is to stay at school and go to Uni and do a degree.
Money earning potetial with a degree 10+ years from now......at least twice what any mechanic or plumber is getting with the added benefit of working in a nice clean office environment, wearing nice clothes everyday, salary sacrifice and other benefits, and perving at all the pretty chicks wandering around the office.

I did a fitting and turning apprenticeship when I left school and now regret I didn't go to uni earlier in my life. I'm 40 now and am only now just catching up with what my school buddies who went to uni are earning, and I've been off the tools for over 15 years.

These stories of mechanics and plumbers earning the bigs bucks are mostly BS IMO unless they are self employed.
If there was any real money in the trades there wouldn't be the shortage of tradesmen that we have here right now.

I'm not trying to knock what you are doing buddy, no way, if that's what you want then you just go for it, but go in with your eyes open, think of the future not 2 years from now but 20 years from now.

Excellent advice in the second post BTW. Pay that!

[sv9946]

mikesvt and deathsminion you are both right on the money, its a shame to see people come in to work with tyres that have wire hanging out, shot brakes etc etc and then watch them put their kids in the car. light a fag and tell you to hurry up fixing that cd player (irrelevant to the actual problems i.e. tyres brakes steering) because they have to go to the pokies soon. then when you tell them about the brakes tyres etc etc, they tell you they don't have enough money for that. beleive me all of you happens at least once a day where i work. i do disagree that the wages are always crap, down in victoria where i am people will pay twice award wages or more (i.e over 1k a week) for good mechanics who look like staying for a while as they are in great shortage. i left school at 15 to be a mechanic and throughly enjoy it,that said the stress and pain to your body well put it this way you must be very well determined to be a mechanic, as it does get tiring soon for even the most competent car enthusiast mechanic.

just for an indication i am taking home $350 a week for just over 42 hours, plus overtime if i choose(first year apprentice), don't rule this out as a job because if you do, you will always regret it saying i wonder if i had havr done that where would i be right now.

anyhow my 2c but to the op, if you want to be a mechanic and think you would enjoy it more then do it as someone said to me you work to live not live to work, and you spend a lot of time at your job so you must make sure it is something you will enjoy

[Boonz]

i am a second year mechanic myself, there is definitely a great shortage in both trades.
i chose to be a mechanic because its something i enjoy and you can get a job anywhere around Australia once your qualified... the pay doesn't really bother me all that much cos its $300+ a week on average plus travel and other allowances for trade school and stuff.
after a while you do get sick of doing repetitive things but hey i think it beats sitting down at a desk all day... if i was offered a job as a service manager i wouldn't take it even if it was twice the amount of what i was earning cos i enjoy what i do, thats why i chose it.

[jeep97tj]

Im a heavy diesel mechanic, working away, flyin/flyout i was taking home $2400 in the hand a week. I work back home now work 2 day, 2 nights 5 days off and still take home $1250 a week. Mates are still at uni and working in fuel stations trying to pay there fees.

[bangers]

Im a heavy diesel mechanic, working away, flyin/flyout i was taking home $2400 in the hand a week. I work back home now work 2 day, 2 nights 5 days off and still take home $1250 a week. Mates are still at uni and working in fuel stations trying to pay there fees.

you work in the mines?

plumber or fitter and turner make the best wages if you want to work local. if you're willing to travel or work in the mines then either heavy vehicle mechanics or fitter and turner.

i was a HV mechanic and i loved it but the money wasn't as good as some trades and it was VERY physically demanding, especially if you are on the roadshift (on call).