Auto Technician Salary: Where To Go From Here

Are you someone that has always loved cars and working under the hood, but never really considered the possibility of turning that hobby into cash?  Well, if so, then you may want to consider what you might be missing.  For instance, the number of master auto mechanics as had a major decline for the simple fact that cars are not what they use to be.  In essence, while cars used to be rather easy to figure out, like a son learning the basics with dad in the garage, those days are rapidly coming to a close.  The onboard computers in some of these vehicles are beginning to rival the ones they had on spacecraft from the early 80’s.  As these vehicles become more and more advanced, we are beginning to understand the implications: it takes trained, smart, and educated technicians to do the real work on cars.

A Real Career
Grease monkeys are a dime a dozen, and there are quite a few tire rotators and oil changers out there.  These jobs are easy, they are simple to train for, and at the end of the day; you won’t be working for $30 per hour doing it.  However, where the real money can be found, is in the difficult stuff.
In fact, one of the best parts about being a master auto technician is the fact that a salary can range upwards of $45,000 to $55,000 per year.  In addition to that, the training required to get there is only that of a tech school, which may run a total tuition cost of $30,000.  There are not many jobs out there that offer such a cost to benefit ratio in terms of education prices and salary compensation.
Simply put, expertise is needed in the market place.  As we said before, the number of auto mechanics has dropped for the simple fact that the average “Joes” can’t pull apart a complex onboard computer required in running a diagnostic.  This is going to require someone with an advanced knowledge of vehicles, engineering, circuitry, and even computer programming in terms of modern and advanced cars.
It is for this reason that you can not only find job opportunity, but you will also find job security, which is all too often hard to come by these days.  If you get educated at a UTI, you will become a very precious commodity in an ever-advancing industry that simply isn’t going anywhere.

What You Can Earn
These days, salaries seem to be going down, but the auto technician salary just seems to keep on rising.  For instance, despite inflation in the last half-decade, most salaries either froze or dipped in 2008.  However, the auto technician salary actually steadily rose through it all.  Now, take away the recession and inflation, and you’ve got a massive increase in demand.
In addition to these little calculations, the most insane part is the fact that tuitions for tech schools did not rise according to the rates of inflation.  Of course, education and tuition will always be on the rise year after year, it did not keep up with the increase cost of living after the fed instigated inflation in 2010.  Overall, this means that your cost will be comparatively low, and your auto technician salary will be comparatively high, which is exactly where you want to be.

On the Job
If you are searching for a job, there is no shortage to the opportunities you can explore.  For instance, car dealerships are always in need of people who are well trained, well educated, and are not only capable of oil changes and tire rotations.  This is one reason why the auto technician salary is so high these days: the demand is felt in every town in the US.
Considering your options if you were to get trained at a UTI, you would be able to find work at car dealerships, mechanic garages, auto body shops, other technical schools, and even auto manufacturers.  The interesting part about being employed at an auto manufacturer plant is because many of these are located all over the US, despite the fact that the company may be considered a “foreign car”.  Overall, your auto technician salary will jump substantially, because most workers in these plants are uneducated factory labor.  You will be one of the few in the building with knowledge of the systems themselves, which could fast track you to a managerial position very quickly.

Summary
Being an auto mechanic could become quite a valuable position in the coming years, if the current trends continue.  Not only will you find yourself with a heft auto technician salary, but also you will also experience success and promotions you might not have dreamed possible from a $30,000 education.