Vehicle Technician a dying trade?

[Sam0207]

Title: Vehicle Technicians – A Dying Trade?

Hi all,

I’ve been thinking about the current state of the automotive industry, and it seems like finding skilled vehicle technicians is getting harder by the day. From what I’ve seen, dealerships and garages are struggling to bring in new talent, and I wonder if this is a sign that being a technician is becoming a “dying trade” in the UK.

Is it just me, or is there a real shortage of new, younger people entering the trade? And for those of you still in the game, what do you think the future holds for vehicle technicians? Are there ways the industry can do better to attract fresh talent or provide more support for those currently in it?

I’m really interested to hear from technicians, garage owners, or anyone else involved in the industry. Is there something we’re missing in keeping this trade alive and thriving?

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!

[Luke.]

Are you a journalist?

Odd first post.

[bearman68]

Is it a dying trade? There's plenty of work, but no money.

[TheLoraxxZeus]

bearman68 said:

Is it a dying trade? There's plenty of work, but no money.

Yep same old tired story.

Are UK pubs no longer popular with the younger generation?
Are night clubs a thing of the past?
Why is no one buying anything?

Then followed on by, is X industry dying? Answer is normally always no, people just don't want to work themselves into a stress induced coma for barely enough money to cover shared living costs.

[ChocolateFrog]

bearman68 said:

Is it a dying trade? There's plenty of work, but no money.

Exactly, it's always about the money.

[ChocolateFrog]

£80k as a Sparky or £40k as a vehicle tech

[Sam0207]

Luke. said:

Are you a journalist?

Odd first post.

Noooo not at all buddy, it’s just a general thought. I’ve been hearing about it for a while and now even to the point where dealers are hiring from South Africa putting them up in properties even I was wondering surely it can’t be that hard to find people here in the UK. But I used to be in the trade I used to hear technicians talk about the pay quiet a lot and of course the amount of work they’d have to do with in certain amount of time.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

bearman68 said:

Is it a dying trade? There's plenty of work, but no money.

My dad retired a few years ago, proper old school mechanic who started work at 15. He spent most of his life earning little more than minimum wage, did I follow him into the industry?

No way.

[Sam0207]

Do you believe theirs more passion behind it then? As to why people go into or even stick around then

[seabod91]

33M. After school I decided to go to collage to “get a trade”

I ignored my Dads wise words to do plumbing or electrical and because I was obsessed with cars I wanted to be a mechanic.

It is the worst “trade” by a long shot. st money and the added stress that doesn’t come with many other trades.

Absolutely horrid profession where the skill to pay is just so low.

I thankfully worked my way into the aerospace / sheet metal industry and never looked back.

[Promised Land]

seabod91 said:

33M. After school I decided to go to collage to “get a trade”

I ignored my Dads wise words to do plumbing or electrical and because I was obsessed with cars I wanted to be a mechanic.

It is the worst “trade” by a long shot. st money and the added stress that doesn’t come with many other trades.

Absolutely horrid profession where the skill to pay is just so low.

I thankfully worked my way into the aerospace / sheet metal industry and never looked back.

I’m self employed in the building trade and had to work in a main dealers service area a few weeks ago, I thought to myself if I had a choice again I’d probably have gone down that route.

Trouble with all of the building trade we all rely on the economy, things get tight and people stop buying new houses, having extensions built first, and it’s always the last to recover.

Being self employed then is hard, on site our prices got cut in half overnight in 2008, if you don’t like it walk, but where too? All sites are the same, if you’d been PAYE they couldn’t do that or unions would be up in arms.

Having a trade is not all roses. Yes there are good times but when it’s bad it takes years to recover.

People always need their cars repairing, they don’t always need that extra room or brand new house.

In this main dealers I saw 5 or 6 chaps servicing cars, 2 were doing discs, pads, the rest routine services from what I saw, very laid back and not hectic and fast like I thought it would be.

I guess to earn good money you have to go it alone and set yourself up.

[yorksram]

We own a garage, bodyshop, MOT centre and as usual, it's not just a single issue but a plethora of smaller issues/situations, from poor money ( comparatively compared to some other trades..) to work ethos, partially generational-derived, others due to schools steering students into other paths. Most of the older techs are starting to retire and this is leaving a real void, more of a worry for the classics as the expertise disappears.

Honestly don't know where it'll go in the future, there's going to be techs but the level of complexity in vehicles is pushing repair costs through the roof. I don't see a new car today being on the roads in 20 years time.

Edited by yorksram on Tuesday 15th October 21:01

[Xcore]

The amount my mechanic pal spent on his snap on tool box boggles my mind. Alot of money to invest to earn 35k/year with.

[Caddyshack]

ChocolateFrog said:

£80k as a Sparky or £40k as a vehicle tech

I think the majority of sparkys suggesting 80k are normally thinking of their turnover. I have arranged a lot of mortgages for sparkys and most do not actually earn that.

[j555]

yorksram said:

Honestly don't know where it'll go in the future, there's going to be techs but the level of complexity in vehicles is pushing repair costs through the roof. I don't see a new car today being on the roads in 20 years time.

Edited by yorksram on Tuesday 15th October 21:01

The level of complexity in modern cars makes me wonder how long a used car will be financially viable to keep on the road in future, too.

I also wonder what the future holds for current high end cars, hybrid supercars etc.

Ferraris and similar brands have never been cheap to run, but can you imagine the potential future bills to run something like a Ferrari SF90 PHEV once its getting a bit older?!

[Caddyshack]

j555 said:

yorksram said:

Honestly don't know where it'll go in the future, there's going to be techs but the level of complexity in vehicles is pushing repair costs through the roof. I don't see a new car today being on the roads in 20 years time.

Edited by yorksram on Tuesday 15th October 21:01

The level of complexity in modern cars makes me wonder how long a used car will be financially viable to keep on the road in future, too.

I also wonder what the future holds for current high end cars, hybrid supercars etc.

Ferraris and similar brands have never been cheap to run, but can you imagine the potential future bills to run something like a Ferrari SF90 PHEV once its getting a bit older?!

I am guessing that either an aftermarket of specialists will develop who can replace or repair batteries etc. OR many cars will become liabilities and thus very cheap. I think many 80/90s high end cars such as Rolls Royces became throwaway money for a period of time due to cost.

My neighbour had a V12 BMW 750i and he literally could not give it away.

[Haltamer]

The mention of other trades is an interesting thought.

In the process of doing things to cars, you end up doing / touching on plumbing (Hot and pressurized!), Diagnostic / fault finding but every car is different, metalwork / engineering, electricals, painting / filling / bodywork, etc etc.

Through car based tinkering I've learned things that apply to plenty of other aspects of practical "doing"

The jack-of-all-trades abilities are undervalued.

[P2KKA]

I was working in parts for 3 years, am plenty capable of servicing cars, using diag etc. I applied to the apprentice position.

""Sorry you are too old*""

They could have had me working as 'free labour' from the first day.

Changed industry and won driver of the year in my first year at the new job.....

• 35 at the time.

[j555]

Caddyshack said:

j555 said:

yorksram said:

Honestly don't know where it'll go in the future, there's going to be techs but the level of complexity in vehicles is pushing repair costs through the roof. I don't see a new car today being on the roads in 20 years time.

Edited by yorksram on Tuesday 15th October 21:01

The level of complexity in modern cars makes me wonder how long a used car will be financially viable to keep on the road in future, too.

I also wonder what the future holds for current high end cars, hybrid supercars etc.

Ferraris and similar brands have never been cheap to run, but can you imagine the potential future bills to run something like a Ferrari SF90 PHEV once its getting a bit older?!

I am guessing that either an aftermarket of specialists will develop who can replace or repair batteries etc. OR many cars will become liabilities and thus very cheap. I think many 80/90s high end cars such as Rolls Royces became throwaway money for a period of time due to cost.

My neighbour had a V12 BMW 750i and he literally could not give it away.

I think you will get people who specialise in repairing common mass market hybrids but I'd be surprised if many will want to touch something so rare and complex as a hybrid supercar.

Would be interesting to get the view of existing independent high end specialists on this subject. I suspect that many will just support older vehicles and many will not touch cars with this sort of technology with a barge pole!

Main dealers should support them for a good period, but the potential bils could be eye watering!

[vw_99]

I have worked parts dept for last 17 years from leaving school. I have done apprenticeship at a dealer then onto factors then back to same dealer as a manger then back to same factors.

When i 1st started at the dealer there was a range of ages in the techs. From 65 down to 16.
When i returned for 2nd stint round. The 65s had retired. The 16yo were now time served and anyone that was anygood had left and set up on there own.

So there was no experiance to show the time served how to do things properly. So when the next load of apprentices came along they basically learned from a textbook.

I was often asked to go out and help with diag as no one had a clue.