The Reality of Being a Mechanic in 2025

00:10:49
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysbT_ufwRbk

Resumen

TLDRIn this video, a mechanic discusses the multitude of challenges faced in the automotive repair industry, highlighting the impact of poorly designed cars and customer relationships. Older cars often contain rust and can be difficult to repair due to outdated parts, while newer cars suffer from frequent recalls and high demand for specific repair parts. Customers who neglect their vehicles or misunderstand the repair processes tend to complicate matters further. Additionally, the mechanic explains the flaws in the industry system, including the flat rate payment structure that may not adequately compensate mechanics for the time spent on repairs. Lastly, the importance of mutual respect between mechanics and customers is emphasized to improve the overall experience in automotive repair.

Para llevar

  • 🔧 Mechanics face immense challenges in today's automotive repair.
  • 🚗 Older cars may be better built but are often rusted and hard to fix.
  • ⚙️ New cars struggle with poor design and frequent recalls.
  • 💰 Labor costs have risen significantly, impacting mechanics' earnings.
  • ❗ Customers often misunderstand the mechanics' role and the repair process.
  • 🛠️ Aftermarket parts can lead to dissatisfaction and more issues.
  • 📉 The flat rate pay system can lead to unfair compensation for mechanics.
  • 🚧 The system as a whole is flawed, affecting both mechanics and customers.
  • 🤝 A respectful relationship between mechanics and customers is essential.
  • 🔍 Many good mechanics just want to help and earn a decent living.

Cronología

  • 00:00:00 - 00:05:00

    Mechanics face immense challenges in their profession, largely stemming from a broken system and difficult customer interactions. Older vehicles present complications due to rust and a lack of available parts, while newer cars often suffer from poor designs leading to frequent failures. The relationship between mechanics and car owners is strained, primarily due to misunderstandings and a general lack of respect. Mechanic experience can vary widely with customer care reflecting in how vehicles are maintained, which influences the overall repair process.

  • 00:05:00 - 00:10:49

    The flawed auto repair system complicates the mechanics' job, often leaving them underpaid and blamed for issues stemming from manufacturers' decisions. Labor costs have surged while the complexities of modern vehicles make repairs increasingly challenging. Mechanics are typically compensated on a flat-rate basis, which can lead to situations where they work much longer for less pay due to unexpected complications. This environment contributes to a shortage of skilled mechanics, posing long-term issues for the automotive industry.

Mapa mental

Vídeo de preguntas y respuestas

  • What are the main challenges mechanics face today?

    Mechanics face challenges such as dealing with poorly designed vehicles, difficult customers, labor costs, and a flawed repair system.

  • How does rust affect car repairs?

    Rust can significantly increase the time and complexity of repairs, making what should be a simple job much more time-consuming.

  • Why do mechanics struggle to get paid fairly?

    Mechanics often work on a flat rate pay system which can result in low income due to unforeseen complications during repairs.

  • What type of customers do mechanics find challenging?

    Customers who do not understand car maintenance or treat their vehicles poorly tend to be more challenging for mechanics.

  • What is the impact of aftermarket parts on repair jobs?

    Aftermarket parts are often of lower quality, can cause more frequent failures, and lead to customer dissatisfaction.

  • What can customers do to better communicate with their mechanics?

    Customers should try to understand the repair process and maintain their vehicles well to foster a better relationship with their mechanics.

  • Why is there a shortage of mechanics in the industry?

    The shortage is due to various factors including poor pay structures, high demand for skilled labor, and the increasing complexity of vehicles.

  • What should customers know about new car technology?

    New technology in cars can make repairs more complicated and costly, which is often not communicated when purchasing the vehicle.

  • How do service riders affect mechanic work?

    Service riders often have a sales background, which can complicate communications and lead to misunderstandings between the customer and a mechanic.

  • What is a common misconception about mechanics?

    Many people wrongly perceive mechanics as greedy or trying to scam customers rather than appreciating their desire to help and fix cars.

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Desplazamiento automático:
  • 00:00:00
    mechanics are tired of dealing with the
  • 00:00:01
    bull craap that comes along with fixing
  • 00:00:03
    cars you can ask any mechanic the
  • 00:00:05
    problem isn't just the cars it's the
  • 00:00:06
    terrible people that own them people
  • 00:00:08
    treat mechanics like we're trash and act
  • 00:00:10
    like we're all scammers when 99% of
  • 00:00:12
    mechanics just want to fix some cars
  • 00:00:14
    make some money and go home but several
  • 00:00:16
    factors can make that difficult one
  • 00:00:18
    being today cars are not made as well
  • 00:00:21
    two being the people that own the cars
  • 00:00:23
    are broke and difficult three being the
  • 00:00:25
    system itself of car repair is broken so
  • 00:00:29
    when you're mechan in today's world
  • 00:00:30
    you're either working on an older car
  • 00:00:32
    that's on his last set of wheels or a
  • 00:00:34
    newer car that's poorly designed and
  • 00:00:35
    made to fail this can make jobs on both
  • 00:00:38
    difficult because on older cars things
  • 00:00:39
    will break when you're taking stuff
  • 00:00:41
    apart and newer cars aren't always
  • 00:00:43
    designed with the mechanic in mind let's
  • 00:00:45
    start by talking about older cars most
  • 00:00:47
    of them were made better and built to
  • 00:00:49
    last so they're still on the road and
  • 00:00:51
    when they come into the shop and they're
  • 00:00:52
    in decent shape their owner cares a lot
  • 00:00:54
    about them but these cars are over 20
  • 00:00:56
    years old so it's likely when you're
  • 00:00:58
    fixing one problem you will find others
  • 00:01:00
    along the way or even worse you may
  • 00:01:02
    break some things which will cost you
  • 00:01:03
    time and money now rust is the devil to
  • 00:01:06
    a mechanic and it can make the easiest
  • 00:01:08
    job take triple the time it should and
  • 00:01:10
    older cars are usually full of rust in
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    the worst places another factor is
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    getting parts for older vehicles get
  • 00:01:16
    used to hearing that part has been
  • 00:01:18
    discontinued or hey it's on back order
  • 00:01:20
    and then you have to use some janky
  • 00:01:22
    aftermarket part that's built in
  • 00:01:24
    someone's basement or a sweat shop in
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    China and it won't last half as long as
  • 00:01:28
    the OEM part now this isn't just a
  • 00:01:30
    problem with the older cars newer cars
  • 00:01:32
    are designed poorly and they are filled
  • 00:01:33
    with recalls and bad designs that fail
  • 00:01:36
    all the time and when these designs fail
  • 00:01:38
    all the time they all fail at once and
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    when they all fail at once everybody
  • 00:01:42
    orders the same part at once and when
  • 00:01:43
    everybody orders the same part at once
  • 00:01:45
    that part gets out of stock and when
  • 00:01:47
    that part gets out of stock it goes on
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    back order and usually you can't get it
  • 00:01:50
    for months at a time and then you're
  • 00:01:52
    forced to use a janky after market part
  • 00:01:54
    and we already went over that they
  • 00:01:55
    usually don't work half as good and when
  • 00:01:58
    you get a part that doesn't work half is
  • 00:02:00
    good and it fails in half the time the
  • 00:02:02
    customer brings the car back to you and
  • 00:02:04
    then blames you for the problem and that
  • 00:02:06
    brings me to my next point we already
  • 00:02:08
    discussed the cars and like I said the
  • 00:02:10
    cars aren't the big problem the big
  • 00:02:11
    problem is usually the people that own
  • 00:02:13
    the cars they don't understand the car
  • 00:02:15
    they don't understand how it works and
  • 00:02:17
    they don't understand how a mechanic
  • 00:02:19
    does his job now just like there's good
  • 00:02:21
    and bad mechanics there's good and bad
  • 00:02:23
    people and in fact most people are
  • 00:02:25
    actually good and are decent enough to
  • 00:02:27
    give you the respect you deserve but a
  • 00:02:28
    good portion of the population treat
  • 00:02:30
    their cars like trash and usually when
  • 00:02:32
    they treat their cars like trash they
  • 00:02:34
    also treat their mechanics like trash
  • 00:02:36
    and ironically those are the people that
  • 00:02:38
    usually need the mechanics the most cuz
  • 00:02:39
    they're the ones that usually have the
  • 00:02:41
    most broken cars in turn these are the
  • 00:02:43
    people that mechanics see most of the
  • 00:02:45
    time unless you're working in a Mercedes
  • 00:02:47
    or Audi dealership with goldplated
  • 00:02:49
    floors and Kool-Aid running out of the
  • 00:02:50
    water fountain you're usually going to
  • 00:02:52
    see Hyundai and Kia owners or even worse
  • 00:02:54
    a Jeep owner and these people don't
  • 00:02:57
    treat their cars very well and you can
  • 00:02:59
    usually tell the type of of person by
  • 00:03:00
    the type of car and the way it looks on
  • 00:03:02
    the inside and out for instance if we
  • 00:03:04
    have a 4Runner come in and it's clean on
  • 00:03:06
    the inside and really clean on the
  • 00:03:08
    outside odds are that job's going to go
  • 00:03:10
    pretty smoothly and we're going to have
  • 00:03:12
    a pretty good relationship with that
  • 00:03:13
    customer moving forward but if a car
  • 00:03:15
    comes in and it's a Nissan Ultima and
  • 00:03:17
    the hubc Cap's missing and it's got a
  • 00:03:19
    cracked bumper on it and it doesn't look
  • 00:03:21
    very well on the inside either we know
  • 00:03:23
    that putting a transmission in this car
  • 00:03:25
    probably isn't going to be the smartest
  • 00:03:27
    thing to do even though the customers
  • 00:03:29
    insist on it and that's exactly what
  • 00:03:31
    happened to this 2013 Nissan Ultima this
  • 00:03:34
    car came in we knew it wasn't worth the
  • 00:03:37
    price of a transmission repair but the
  • 00:03:39
    customer stated she had no money in the
  • 00:03:41
    car as it was given to her and she was
  • 00:03:43
    ready to spend money so she had a good
  • 00:03:45
    reliable vehicle she was desperate for a
  • 00:03:47
    car and even with the Hefty bill this
  • 00:03:48
    was about the cheapest option she had
  • 00:03:51
    and we stayed in contact with her for
  • 00:03:52
    weeks and months talking about the bill
  • 00:03:54
    making sure she was going to come in and
  • 00:03:56
    pay it and she always insisted that she
  • 00:03:58
    was going to come in and pay us and I
  • 00:04:00
    actually believe her and actually
  • 00:04:02
    believe that she was going to do it that
  • 00:04:04
    is until the day that we no longer heard
  • 00:04:06
    from her and I guess she found a cheaper
  • 00:04:08
    option for a nice reliable car and I
  • 00:04:10
    can't say I blame her if she did find
  • 00:04:12
    that cheaper option but now I'm stuck
  • 00:04:14
    with a 2013 Nissan Ultima and I got to
  • 00:04:17
    get my money back out of it and this
  • 00:04:19
    isn't the only story I have like this in
  • 00:04:21
    fact I have a lot of stories like this
  • 00:04:23
    and it was my main job when I first
  • 00:04:24
    started helping out at the shop to get
  • 00:04:26
    all the abandoned cars off the lot and
  • 00:04:28
    get whatever money I could for them and
  • 00:04:30
    I bet I've done over a hundred of them
  • 00:04:32
    for my dad and for my shop and other
  • 00:04:34
    shops in the local areas that's right
  • 00:04:36
    it's not just a problem at my shop it's
  • 00:04:38
    a problem at other shops and I have a
  • 00:04:40
    couple businesses I'm partnered with
  • 00:04:42
    where if they have cars that are just
  • 00:04:44
    left on the lot I'll come over there
  • 00:04:46
    I'll look at the car and I'll actually
  • 00:04:47
    give them an offer to buy it so they can
  • 00:04:49
    get it off of their lot now sometimes
  • 00:04:51
    these cars are left abandoned before
  • 00:04:53
    they're even repaired and sometimes they
  • 00:04:54
    are repaired and then left abandoned
  • 00:04:57
    either way they probably need some more
  • 00:04:58
    repairs before they're in a sellable
  • 00:05:00
    condition so anytime a car is left on
  • 00:05:02
    the lot it's a guaranteed liability and
  • 00:05:05
    it's going to be guaranteed you're going
  • 00:05:06
    to have to pour more money into it to
  • 00:05:08
    get your money back out of it let's take
  • 00:05:10
    this 2013 Nissan Ultima as an example we
  • 00:05:14
    got a transmission for this thing
  • 00:05:15
    straight from the dealership and the
  • 00:05:17
    transmission alone cost us about
  • 00:05:20
    $2700 now when you factor in other costs
  • 00:05:22
    like programming and fluid and labor we
  • 00:05:25
    probably had about $3,500 in this job in
  • 00:05:28
    total now we didn't have the job sold
  • 00:05:31
    for much more than that and I can't
  • 00:05:32
    remember the exact figure but it doesn't
  • 00:05:34
    matter anyways because we did not
  • 00:05:36
    collect the money and the only way we
  • 00:05:38
    could collect the money now was to get
  • 00:05:40
    the title for this vehicle and try to
  • 00:05:42
    get it in sellable condition and get our
  • 00:05:44
    money back out of the resale value so
  • 00:05:47
    now this car is ours long story short we
  • 00:05:49
    did not get our money back we only got
  • 00:05:51
    about $2,700 for this vehicle after
  • 00:05:54
    months of it sitting on our lot for sale
  • 00:05:56
    I've had vehicles that we actually got
  • 00:05:58
    for free and we P little money money
  • 00:05:59
    into it and we're able to sell it for a
  • 00:06:01
    decent profit and I've also had Vehicles
  • 00:06:04
    like this Nissan Ultima where we did not
  • 00:06:06
    make any money on it and in fact we lost
  • 00:06:08
    money on doing the business now this is
  • 00:06:10
    the system that has been set up in the
  • 00:06:11
    automotive industry that's causing all
  • 00:06:13
    these issues the system itself is flawed
  • 00:06:16
    and it's the mechanics that usually get
  • 00:06:17
    the short end of the sticks and also
  • 00:06:19
    ironically the blame for everything as
  • 00:06:22
    well like I said in the beginning of the
  • 00:06:24
    video most mechanics just want to fix
  • 00:06:26
    some cars make a decent living and go
  • 00:06:28
    home and live a peace ful life I have
  • 00:06:30
    never once met a greedy mechanic that
  • 00:06:32
    was trying to get out there and scam
  • 00:06:34
    people out of their money like most
  • 00:06:35
    people think they are those people are
  • 00:06:38
    service Riders and they can either be a
  • 00:06:39
    mechanic's best friend or worst enemy
  • 00:06:42
    the problem with service Riders is they
  • 00:06:43
    usually come from a sales background
  • 00:06:45
    which means they're going to try to
  • 00:06:46
    pitch a sale to you when you need them
  • 00:06:48
    to fix your car and nobody wants to be
  • 00:06:50
    sold to when their car is broken so
  • 00:06:52
    often times when you're an independent
  • 00:06:53
    shop the service Rider will need help
  • 00:06:55
    from the mechanic explaining the issues
  • 00:06:57
    and actually getting the customer to
  • 00:06:58
    sign off on the repair which takes up
  • 00:07:00
    more time for the mechanic now there are
  • 00:07:02
    good service Riders out there but they
  • 00:07:04
    are not easy to find and usually they
  • 00:07:06
    are older mechanics that are just tired
  • 00:07:08
    of working on nuts and bolts and they
  • 00:07:09
    just want to answer phones now and stay
  • 00:07:11
    in the AC now service Riders are
  • 00:07:13
    absolutely necessary in the repair
  • 00:07:15
    industry because we can't have customers
  • 00:07:17
    one-on-one with the mechanic at all
  • 00:07:19
    times one the mechanic doesn't have time
  • 00:07:21
    for that and two the mechanic is more
  • 00:07:23
    prone to help the customer out by giving
  • 00:07:25
    them a cheaper price which is okay for
  • 00:07:27
    the customer and okay for the mechanic
  • 00:07:29
    of as long as he can afford it but
  • 00:07:30
    usually in this industry you will not
  • 00:07:32
    make any money helping people out with
  • 00:07:36
    prices and that brings me to my final
  • 00:07:38
    point the system of car repair itself is
  • 00:07:40
    broken and it's not the mechanics to
  • 00:07:42
    blame it's not the service Riders to
  • 00:07:44
    blame it's the manufacturers we need to
  • 00:07:46
    blame because they're the ones that have
  • 00:07:48
    designed these cars where they cost so
  • 00:07:50
    much to repair that it leaves little
  • 00:07:52
    room for a little guy like the mechanic
  • 00:07:54
    or service Rider to make any money off
  • 00:07:56
    the repair on the back end one major
  • 00:07:58
    expense that has tripled in the last
  • 00:08:00
    couple years is labor now labor has gone
  • 00:08:03
    up for several different reasons one
  • 00:08:04
    because it's in higher demand because we
  • 00:08:06
    have less mechanics out there willing to
  • 00:08:08
    do this work and two it's because these
  • 00:08:10
    cars are more advanced now and it takes
  • 00:08:12
    a more advanced mechanic to get them
  • 00:08:14
    fixed now nobody ever tells anybody this
  • 00:08:16
    when they're going to buy a car that's
  • 00:08:17
    brand new and has all this new
  • 00:08:19
    technology in it they don't mention how
  • 00:08:21
    hard it may be to fix or how much it's
  • 00:08:23
    going to cost when it finally breaks
  • 00:08:25
    this is the manufacturers throwing the
  • 00:08:26
    service Riders and mechanics under the
  • 00:08:28
    bus because they got got to be the bad
  • 00:08:30
    guys to tell you that your car sucks and
  • 00:08:32
    it's going to cost way more than it's
  • 00:08:33
    worth to fix and this is why service
  • 00:08:35
    Riders and the mechanics get the bad rap
  • 00:08:37
    when they really shouldn't and honestly
  • 00:08:39
    they're the ones that get paid the least
  • 00:08:41
    I mean the guys that sell the cars
  • 00:08:42
    they're always in the nice fancy suits
  • 00:08:44
    and driving to Mercedes to works and the
  • 00:08:46
    guys that are working on them they're
  • 00:08:47
    the ones driving the old 1997 Toyotas
  • 00:08:50
    that's because the way mechanics get
  • 00:08:51
    paid usually is not fair they get paid
  • 00:08:54
    on a system called Flat Rate which means
  • 00:08:56
    you get paid for what you get done and
  • 00:08:58
    the good thing for that is is the more
  • 00:09:00
    things you do the more you get paid but
  • 00:09:02
    you only get paid for a certain amount
  • 00:09:05
    of time per job for instance if a job
  • 00:09:08
    calls for 4 hours to remove and replace
  • 00:09:10
    a transmission and you get it done in
  • 00:09:12
    two well you get paid 4 hours for that
  • 00:09:14
    job even though it only took you two
  • 00:09:16
    here's the bad part unless you're a
  • 00:09:18
    mechanic that's really experienced and
  • 00:09:20
    you know the car like the back of your
  • 00:09:21
    hand that transmission swap is probably
  • 00:09:23
    not going to take you 2 hours it's
  • 00:09:25
    probably really going to take you eight
  • 00:09:27
    which is double the time that you're
  • 00:09:29
    going to get paid for now not all jobs
  • 00:09:31
    are like that there are jobs called
  • 00:09:32
    gravy jobs that are fairly easy to get
  • 00:09:34
    done and they pay a lot of time so you
  • 00:09:36
    can make a lot of money doing those jobs
  • 00:09:38
    but they're not easy to come by and if
  • 00:09:40
    you've ever worked on a car you know
  • 00:09:42
    that unexpected things happen like
  • 00:09:44
    broken bolts and Rusty studs that take a
  • 00:09:46
    job that should take 30 minutes and turn
  • 00:09:48
    it into a 3-day ordeal now imagine
  • 00:09:50
    you're in one of those jobs that's
  • 00:09:52
    taking 3 days and it should have took 30
  • 00:09:54
    minutes that means you're only going to
  • 00:09:55
    get paid for 30 minutes even though
  • 00:09:57
    you've been working 3 days and then you
  • 00:09:59
    go to look at your next job and you see
  • 00:10:01
    that it's a comeback from last week and
  • 00:10:03
    it's all warranty work which means
  • 00:10:04
    you're not going to get paid for any of
  • 00:10:06
    it now these are real life situations
  • 00:10:07
    that mechanics go through every single
  • 00:10:09
    day and it is the number one reason why
  • 00:10:11
    we have a shortage of mechanics in the
  • 00:10:13
    US OFA and if we don't fix it soon you
  • 00:10:15
    will have nobody to work on your cars
  • 00:10:17
    and you'll have to email me about every
  • 00:10:19
    single car problem you have and if you
  • 00:10:21
    do have any car problems and you have
  • 00:10:22
    any questions about it you can email me
  • 00:10:24
    at just callme Edy 1@gmail.com and I'll
  • 00:10:27
    help you out with any problems that you
  • 00:10:29
    have have you can also follow me on
  • 00:10:31
    Instagram and Facebook where I post
  • 00:10:33
    weekly content about the day-to-day
  • 00:10:35
    things that I do don't forget to check
  • 00:10:36
    out my YouTube shorts and my patreon
  • 00:10:39
    while you're at it thanks for watching
  • 00:10:40
    and whatever you do however you do it
  • 00:10:43
    make sure you work hard make sure you
  • 00:10:44
    play hard and most importantly make sure
  • 00:10:46
    you stay dirty you can just call me
  • 00:10:48
    Eddie
Etiquetas
  • mechanic
  • car repair
  • automotive industry
  • customer relationships
  • flat rate pay
  • labor costs
  • old cars
  • new cars
  • service rider
  • parts availability