"Death of the shadetree mechanic"
Is it fair to say that the shadetree mechanic is a thing of the past? I think so, that is if we are talking about today's modern cars that we all drive and depend on, and we are trying to get a car repaired by your next door neighbor who is "pretty good at fixing cars." But, that doesn't mean you won't see a 68 Camaro or a Model T up on blocks in some guy's garage. I think that will be there for a long, long time.
The American shadetree mechanic is now an “antique.” Years ago it wasn’t uncommon that a relative in the family was known as the “guy” to go to if you had car problems. In some instances that shade tree relative still exists. But don’t count on it being the norm these days.
Today’s cars are so complicated and so much more electronically advanced that you’re not going to be able to repair them without a lot of expensive equipment. Which, by the way, depending on the type of vehicle …. might even be as obsolete as the cars themselves. The one thing to keep in mind is that the manufacturers ambition is to sell cars, the independent shop or in this case the “shadetree mechanic” is trying to make the car last longer. Which is counterproductive to what the manufacturer is trying to do. So it makes sense that the technician has a hard time keeping up with the changes. In other words, why else would the manufacturer be so hesitant about handing out the latest greatest scanners and tools required to maintain their cars, self preservation?
This is probably the leading factor in the evolution of the shadetree mechanic. Not to say the early pioneering shadetree mechanic didn’t come up with some innovative way to repair or improve on an existing technology. He did, and that could happen even in our modern times. However, it’s not wrenches and screwdrivers anymore, it’s laptops and software.
Tuning a car with timing light was yesterday, going through a crank angle relearn procedure with a scanner is today.
Hey, that’s the times, that’s the way it is. For me, I’m an old salt of a mechanic now, back in my younger days I would grab a dwell meter and a timing light along with my specially sized screwdrivers specifically designed to get into those tight distributor housings and carburetor’s adjustments. I would listen to the engine; let it tell me what to do. Sometimes you would have to make a little tweak or slight adjustment from the “factory” numbers to compensate for a weak cylinder or internal part wear. You might even have to adjust for altitude or octane.
There was always something to do under the hood that made the mechanic essential to be there rather than behind a computer screen. The day of the adjustable engine parameters for the sake of argument have gone into the history books. The computer has taken over and there isn’t much use for those old tools and techniques today. I still keep them in a drawer near the bottom of my tool box.
Each year they keep getting shoved further and further back into a corner. Oh, probably someday I’ll get them out, knock the dust off of them, get all nostalgic and tell those old war stories to that young tech standing next to me. I’m sure he probably looks a lot like I did when I was his age. All that young, fresh attitude, eager to learn and wanting to know more and more about cars. He probably looks a lot like me when the old mechanic I learned the trade from pulled out his “growler” and showed me how to test generators with it. Now I am showing my age.
Let’s face it, change is a good thing. Cars will always evolve and become more and more sophisticated than they are now. Can you imagine the cars of say… 30 years from now? Customers, or should we call them “vehicle occupants” of the future still will need some sort of service performed on their mode of transportation.
The idea that cars will drive themselves is still a possibility. Will the cars of the future run on something other than fossil fuel? Sure, why not, we’re almost there with the hydrogen systems. Will car accidents be a thing of the past? Good luck with that one. Could it be that the car can fix itself… maybe, maybe not, but… who’s to say… it’s all in the future… when we get there, we’ll be able to answer those questions.
My personal take on all this new fangled electronic-self driving-accident avoidance-fix it themselves vehicles is quite simple, man made them. They’ll break, they always do, nothing last forever. Even Mother Nature hasn’t grown anything that hasn’t died, so I guess the same holds true with the shadetree mechanic. Sooner or later he will pass into the history books.
Don’t give up on those wrenches to soon though… we’re not quite there yet. But, I would suggest that you keep one eye towards the future. It’s coming...
"A drive across the desert"
One topic that seems to come up quite a bit is "How do we charge for diag time?"
This includes any sort of diagnosis that is going to take more than a simple visual inspection. Some drivability and electrical issues can become quite involved, and take a lot of time to isolate...especially if it's your first time on that particular problem or vehicle. After all, you have a lot more homework to do. Then there are the tools you need to diagnose these problems, none of which are cheap.
Experience certainly plays a role as well. An experienced tech should be able to find the problem faster. But then, do you charge less time to the customer? A new tech may spend all day finding what turns out to be a simple fault. Do you charge the customer 8 hours? In each case, how do you pay your tech? Should the experienced guy get paid less time than the new guy? Should the new guy be penalized for being new?
My shop, and most of the ones I've worked for in the past, charged 1 hour at the shop rate, and paid 1 hour flat rate. How does that apply when the original complaint is "The MIL light is on", and you pull half a dozen codes that may or may not be related. What if, during your diagnostic process, you determine that it is necessary to measure engine compression on a motor that requires plenum removal to access the rear bank? How do we justify the need for additional time to the customer? It seems to me that too many customers still think of us as "grease monkeys" and don't understand the skills it takes to repair today's cars. They have no problem spending $20K or more to buy it, but heaven forbid the repair costs more than $50! One story I heard a long time ago is applicable to this discussion. It goes something like this:
A young man is driving across the desert when his car starts running rough. There is no sign of civilization as he continues down the highway, praying the car will make it to his destination and not leave him stranded in the middle of nowhere. Several miles along, the car is still running rough, and the young man is getting worried that he may be stuck in the middle of the desert over night. As he crests a small ridge, he sees an old shack with two gas pumps out front on the side of the highway. Thanking God for his good fortune, he prays there is a mechanic there.
He pulls up to the shack and sees an older man, rocking in his rocker and sipping lemonade. The young man gets out of the car, and says, "Excuse me, sir...is there someone here who can help me with my car?"
The old man rises, and offers to take a look. He first listens to the engine idling, then opens the hood...looking first to the left then to the right. "I'll be right back", he says, and heads off to his garage. He returns momentarily with a small hammer in hand, leans over the engine and makes a light "tap" somewhere near the firewall. The engine immediately runs as smooth as silk.
The young man is ecstatic that the repair was so simple. He asks the older man, "How much do I owe you?"
Without batting an eye, the old man responds, "That'll be $89.99."
"WHAT!", exclaims the young man. "90 bucks for hitting it with a hammer!?"
"No son, it's 99 cents for the hammer tap...and $89 for knowing WHERE to tap it."
I earn my living with my mind and my hands. I am a trained professional like any other. So what is the answer? How do you handle this in your shop? How do we get paid fairly for what we know, for our experience, and justify it to our customers?
I look forward to your opinions...