UTi is nowhere close to what they claim. BE CAREFUL!!!! 30k at that place is too much right now, I spent 22k and got robbed, in a couple years they may have finally fixed things, but there was a big transition from being a good school to being publicly traded. Its all about the green now, But even then, the classes were out dated and under resourced, at least in CA and its supposed to be a good one? I dont really know.. And you might make that good money, but guess where you gotta live to do it? YOU WILL NOT START AT 30K A YEAR! Maybe in LA, San Francisco, etc. But congratulations on moving to a place that costs $1000 a month to rent a studio. or stay in a small town, make regular money. It'll still take at least 10 years to make 100K and you might not ever. I know a few 6 figure techs, they arent in small towns, or even big ones. Large metropolitan areas mostly, some here in Bakersfield make that much, but they're like 45. And, if you dont have experience in the field, no schooling really matters, maybe a couple bucks over the other guys. Besides if you can get on as a lube tech, tire tech at a Benz dealer, you get the training if you work at it, within a year, you could be a helper or assistant, get up to 10 and hour, and your in better shape, and its more useful because it isnt a few months squeezing in an entire line of vehicles. You still have to interview and get the right grades to get into benz ELITE, etc. So after all your hard work, in the end, if they dont like you... tough. And you'll almost surely need to move someplace else for that specific training.

English classes are very useful, communication is important both in your profession life and your personal life.

Good luck with your schooling.

__________________
Regards

Warren

Currently 1965 220Sb, 2002 FORD Crown Vic Police Interceptor

Had 1965 220SEb, 1967 230S, 280SE 4.5, 300SE (W126), 420SEL

ENTER > = (HP RPN)

Not part of the in-crowd since 1952.

It's not that hard; if you make $30 a hour with one week of a year you come close to $60K. But here comes the surprise; you get paid more hours a hour: if the books say a job takes 4 hours but you do it in 2 hours you still get paid for the four hours. And its not uncommon you will be working on multiple cars at the same time, getting paid for multiple jobs. Then if you get other mechanics under you you get a percentage of there hours.

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1979 Black on Black, 300CD (sold), 1990 Black 300SE, Silver 1989 Volvo 780, 1988 300CE (vanished by the hands of a girlfriend), 1992 300CE (Rescue).

Do you work for Sangera? We bought our first Benz there from Suki in December '96 (the 97 C280). I thought they were a nice group of people.

Anyway, I've read the full spectrum of pay possibilities. 30k to 100k +.
I understand book time - I was a mechanic at a Cat dealer for a while back in the early 80s. Pulled in about 65 hours every 40. My co-workers hated me and let me know it. I "made them look bad". I gave a crap. Union scum. So I left. Thank you, union fools for propelling my career. But I digress, sorry. Can a MB tech regularly pull in 60 hours of book time per week? How are electrical diagnostics handled - how can a book time be assigned? What about jobs like a 140 evap - sounds like a job like that could be a money loser. Or squeeks? Who gets the gravy jobs - the senior guys, and the newbies get the crud? My kid does not understand these shenanigans. And how does going to UTI change any of that?

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Thank You!
Fred
2009 ML350
2004 SL600
2004 SL500
1996 SL600
2002 SLK32
2005 CLK320 cabrio
2003 ML350
1997 C280 Sport

I took some auto tech classes at a Community College in the Alameda county system and it was first class, IMO. I'd try some of that before the UTI stuff -- much more bang for buck, plus, you're more likely to meet girls at a CC. I mean, let's get our priorities straight.

Around here, $50 to $75 K is not unusual. I hear it can run higher on the east coast.

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Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

I'll chime in here. As qualification, I am a service manager for one of the largest MB dealerships in the country. We hire a good number of our techs through the MB ELITE program, which is a pretty good way to get one's foot in the door. There are a few misconceptions about UTI (and other similar schools) training that they do very little to dispel. When you graduate UTI (again, I use them only as an example, it is pretty similar in all the major tech schools), you must have maintained excellent attendance, kept your grades near the top of your class and (as mentioned) pass an interview process with the representative from the manufacturer's training program. Following that you continue through more schooling (five months for MB) and will then be released to the dealer pool where you will be interviewed for jobs in various parts of the country (which is not likely to be your home area).

You will not be that good of a technician at that point. You will have the skills necessary to perform very basic diagnosis, you will understand how your manufacturer's diagnostic computers work, you'll know some chassis codes and have limited knowledge of some of the cars. Again, you will not be a good technician at this point. To really be proficient with modern German cars will take years of practice, and a lot time spent banging your head against the wall. Individual ability plays a role, and if you have basic mechanical knowledge before enrolling, you will have some advantages. UTI itself will seem somewhat useless after you get to ELITE as you will mostly learn about domestic brands. Your instructors were good techs years ago. They are not techs now. It is impossible to stay sharp on what is out there in the field right now unless you are out in the field right now.

Also, please keep in mind that these schools are BUSINESSES. They are in it to make money (which they do very well). There aren't entrance examinations because they do not want to discourage you from spending your money. No experience, no problem. Not quite. Even amongst those that make it through ELITE (or whatever program they attended), many do not succeed in the field. You are also not guaranteed to have anything but your ELITE training paid for. The 30K bill at UTI is yours. Some are lucky enough to find an employer who will subsidize that cost, depending on the employment contract you are able to land. ELITE costs my dealership quite a bit. You will likely be in the same place for a very long time if you expect to have your "undergraduate" studies paid for. The UTI staff will tell you about tuition reimbursement, tool allowances and what not. This is simply not the norm, rather exceptional deals worked out by students filling holes in areas or dealerships that were (for lack of a better term) desperate to recruit. You will not get this moving to popular areas of the country.

If you are lucky enough to land yourself in a major metro (NY, LA, Chicago), you will have the potential to earn quite a bit of money. You will always be working class but will be pretty comfortable as far as that goes. Warranty times have been cut across the board and "problem cars" seem more and more abundant. Even the best techs lose their ass some weeks. A good point was also brought up that this will no longer be your hobby. See how inspired you are to work on your own car after chasing down rattles on ML's all day.

The last thing I want to do is scare you away from the profession, but I don't want to make sure you enter into it with an understanding of what you're signing up for. This is a big decision that will cost you a lot of time, money and effort. Make sure this is what you really want to do. I'm sorry if my paragraph structure has been a bit disjointed; I've been at the office putting out fires in between spurts of typing. If you've got any questions I can help to answer, feel free to pm me.

you make a good point there.. about the whole not going to be a hobby... ive still got one more year.. right now im preparing for my architechure competition. thats my number 2 and number 3 is mechanical engineering if i go to college

Funny thing, I couldnt get a job as a mechanic after school, nobody was hiring, so i took a job at Sangera as a salesman for about 2 weeks and hated it. I dont think most of the same crew is still there. But i think suki is, there are a few good people there, but the turnover rate is terrible! eventually i found a job at Chevrolet, wrenching, and I'm trying to get out of there too.

By golly, that is an excellent description that could easily be generalized for any technical or scientific training. Especially concerning the instructors. This is why it is critically important for instructors to keep-up by doing whatever it takes to stay current.

Well done, Phaedrus.

UTI=Urinary Tract Infection

As a tech at an indy shop who happens to have an MD for a father, that has always been the connotation I've had.

I can't see the point of spending *that* much money to train to be a tech.
It's just absurd. I really think that if you went on in-state tuition, you could get a BS+JD degree and be an ATTORNEY for the amount you're going to invest in that wrenching education.

BTW I'm in Phoenix (not exactly a small town) and I know of only one tech over $100K- he's a shop foreman at a Euro dealership and used to own his own shop. IIRC, he went to community college for training, 30 yrs ago.

Myself I have almost two years under my belt and I'm doing over $30K, but realize this is basically self-taught. I actually have a BA degree and no training in the automotive field. But what guys here have said about the vets getting the gravy jobs and the noobs getting the ones where you can't make the book time, that's spot on. As for warranty work, and electrical diagnosis:

There is a dealership not far from the shop. A tech from there came by looking for a job, he feels he's getting the short end on diagnostic time (easy to lose time there, true)... he has a point. The manufacturer (I'm not saying which because this might NOT actually be true- but it's not MB) states that the new policy is: ANY problem shall be paid a maximum of one hour to diagnose.

Oh boy, forget that. There aren't going to BE any more good weeks with a policy like that.

The Don, I just can't recommend you go to UTI, I feel bad that I can't recommend a much better alternative for you. There is much wisdom being put out there in this thread, (not from me) so read carefully...