Mechanic School: Get Valuable Auto Mechanic Training To Become Automotive Technician

A good mechanic is worth his weight in gold. Everyone drives a car, and every car breaks down at some point. As car becomes more complicated, trained auto mechanics will be in high demand. Good mechanics can make 6 figure income and if you open your own shop, and have your own clients you will make even more money. Unlike other business, good mechanic will always have a job even in economic down time.

Most people learn the skills by fixing their own car, their family, friends and neighbors cars. As you build your reputation by word of mouth, before you know it, everyone is knocking on your door when their car breaks down. You do the small routine maintenance jobs, like changing battery, checking fluids, fixing little things like wipers, rotating tires, small electric repairs.

From there, the next big step would be building a project car. You can get a non-runner junk car for almost nothing. The motor is bad. And the owner just gives it away. You go find a refurbished engine, and used car parts dirt cheap at local junk yard. You will learn a lot in the process.

Now you are ready looking for apprentice opportunity in your local car mechanic shop. You may only get the grunt assignment at the beginning, but you learn the trick of trade. And most importantly you learn how to run a successful car mechanic business. If you really want to make a lot doing what you enjoying doing, i.e., fixing cars, then you really need to learn the "business": investing in shop equipments, bookkeeping and accounting, marketing and promotion, getting and keeping clients, managing and training employees, and state regulations compliance.

For most of the professional mechanics, they do not have to go through the traditional route: backyard shade tree mechanic -> apprentice -> strike out on his own. They go to trade schools, and as I mentioned earlier, computers and chips drive the car most of the time these days, and the car is not your grand father's cars. Wrench, plier, pipe, hose, and wire are still important as basic of mechanic trade, but too many things could go wrong without proper in depth systematic mechanic training.

You learn to use the high tech diagnostic equipments, learn how to use specialized shop tools, and learn to use factory shop manuals, and software. And you also learn the business itself like marketing, shop up-keeping, financing, insurance, and franchising. Compared to auto mechanic shop apprenticeship, the school gives you comprehensive learning environment and you get to use variety of shop equipments.

Most of the technician school has certificate program at the end of the training. It is important to get ASE (Automotive Service Excellence) certified. Because a lot of customers will ask "Are you an ASE certified mechanic?" before they hand over their keys for you to work on their BMWs. See ASE here is like the marketing statement in the real world.

Specialization. Engine, Transmission, Electrics, Fuel and Emission, AC, Body Work, General Service. Select the specialization that interests you most. Also it would be a good idea doing some research and see what would be in highest demand in your area. They are very different as far as the job prospect and pay scale goes. So think about the school as an investment for your life time career, pick the right specialization.

High end cars like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Ferrari, Audi, Lexus, and Infiniti may have special training process. If you want to focus on those cars, you will make more money per car, but you will have less customers and the marketing strategy to affluent clientele is very different from mainstream middle class too.

The mechanic school itself. Do some research on their reputation, post graduate career prospect, and industrial connection. Many schools have partnerships with local business to provide on-site real world training and apprenticeship, and job referral and placement upon graduation. That should also be a factor to be considered when you make the choice.

For those that would like to learn on their own paces, online training can be an excellent option. You get multimedia CDs or learn via broadband internet. While it lacks hands-on training, some good training CDs can be as good as hands-on experience. In this case, working on a project car mentioned early would be a great supplement. As most of the automotive factory shop manuals are presented as multimedia CDs or computer software nowadays anyway, this mode of training is just as effective.

For those interested in starting their own auto repair business, here are brief sates licensing requirements per Automotive Service Association: Alabama(AL), nominal license tax required; Alaska, body shop painters needs to be certified; California, registered with Bureau of Automotive Repair; Connecticut, licensed and bonded ($5000); Florida, licensed with Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles; Hawaii, certified by University of Hawaii; Illinois, licensed for collision repair business; Louisiana, permit required for inspection business; Maine, certified for inspection mechanics; Maryland, licensed; Massachusetts, licensed by Mass. Bureau of Standards; Michigan, certified by Bureau of Automotive Regulations; Nevada, licensed and bonded ($10,000); New Hampshire, nominal license fee; New Jersey, licensed by DMV; New York, certified, also routine inspected by Commissioner of Motor Vehicles; Ohio, registered through Board of Motor Vehicle Collision Repair Registration only for collision repairers; Rhode Island, licensed and adequate space; Texas, compliant with EPA, Water Commission etc; Utah, corsporate surety bond ($10,000), licensed with DMV.