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 :thumbsup:

 

[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! :thumbsup:

 

[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 :thumbsup:
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.