Automotive Jobs

"ToyotaFamily" (robbav35) 10/14/2018 at 15:40 • Filed to: None

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R8 for your time

A couple days ago my coworker and I started talking about how there aren’t as many enthusiasts as you’d expect working in the automotive field. Be it at the dealership or corporate level.

I’m curious as to how many Oppo members work in the automotive or a related field (OEM suppliers, finance sector, engineering, etc...)

Happy Sunday!

My bird IS the word > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 15:48

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Thats because these companies are ridiculously picky and don't pay well.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 15:52

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I like cars, i dislike car people, i work in the car field.

The companies two managing partners are HUGE car guys, so are most of the staff at the two retail locations. Not sure about any of the other buyers

I think the problem is, and I say this as my own .02 after a total of 3 years in the car busienss, the love of cars and the car business don’t mix. People make this field SUCK and hate it. 

Tapas > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 16:03

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I know for a fact that the automotive industry, in terms of manufacturing parts, is not the best place to work for one reason.

The automakers negotiate costs to the tenth cent. So a part or a manufacturing process cost would be $2.756. And they are adamant on reducing cost every so often.

Th is makes for a very cut throat market and I know some manufacturers cut corners on quality.

ToyotaFamily > My bird IS the word 10/14/2018 at 16:13

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Do you say that from personal experience, and what sector specifically?

ToyotaFamily > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 10/14/2018 at 16:15

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That’s a good point. I work with car buyers and I’ve met  3, maybe 4, that are car people. 

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 16:20

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your picture looks like an auction, Manheim? 

ToyotaFamily > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 10/14/2018 at 16:22

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Adesa. My coworker goes weekly.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 16:24

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if you don’t mind me asking, what do you do? Wholesaler? 

ToyotaFamily > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 10/14/2018 at 16:33

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I actually work at CarMax, Purchasing department.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 16:37

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really? That’s pretty sweet.

I didn’t think CarMax went through the auctions, at least I don’t think I’ve seen you guys at Manheim. 

jimz > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 16:46

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/raises hand

I w o r k f o r a c a r c o m p a n y ( c o r p o r a t e , e n g i n e e r i n g )

ToyotaFamily > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 10/14/2018 at 16:48

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CarMax has people at almost every single large auction, even some smaller ones that run mostly consignment.

ToyotaFamily > jimz 10/14/2018 at 16:49

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That’s pretty cool, what type of engineering if you don’t mind me asking?

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 16:49

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Huh, interesting...wonder if you guys have bought from us before. 

ToyotaFamily > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 10/14/2018 at 16:59

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Do you guys do mostly high end luxury, or more normal stuff like Accords and the like?

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 17:01

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We buy everything, from $2000 corolla’s to $3,000,000 LaFerrari’s. I work with the Exotic end partner, but do buy everything $15,000 and up. 

ToyotaFamily > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 10/14/2018 at 17:11

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That sounds really interesting.

How do you like your job, I’ve been wanting to get a bit more experience working in  automotive wholesale.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 17:12

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It’s a grind fest to be honest and sometimes just a smidge overwhelming with all the info thrown at my face. I think the perks though outweigh it all, I work with the coolest boss, we get fun cars at my warehouse, and I have the freedom to buy anything really. 

Levitas > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 17:17

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I’m in engineering for one of the big three. There’s a wide mix; my building has a few enthusiasts, but a lot more people who are just there for an engineering job and really could care less about what a car is and the emotions they can evoke. Especially among the new engineers fresh out of college, it seems many of them don’t have the passion/soul for the vehicles they work on.

For me personally, I’d almost say working in the field makes me less of an enthusiast. All the engineering/testing/verification just makes me wary of modifying anything, and having knowledge of how much stuff is engineered because many customers can’t be arsed to do something ruins a lot of modern vehicles.

ToyotaFamily > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 10/14/2018 at 17:20

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That sounds like something I’d want to do. You have a good job it sounds like.

Ssfancyfresh > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 17:21

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I’m an engineer. I work in automated m anufacturing (robots and shit, yo). My customers are OEMs. They are usually terrible and not interested in cars.

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 17:26

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It’s good, hoping it can only go up from there.

Does CarMax have a “wholesale” positon or is your position kind of like that?

ToyotaFamily > Levitas 10/14/2018 at 17:27

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I’m curious, when you apply for the job does the company  ask anything about automotive interest?

ToyotaFamily > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 10/14/2018 at 17:28

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I work in a store, pretty much just look at trade-ins all day for conditions and stuff. Buyers at auction locations deal with wholesale a lot more hands on. 

My bird IS the word > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 17:30

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Looking for work currently. That would be the corporate end

ToyotaFamily > Ssfancyfresh 10/14/2018 at 17:30

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Please prevent the robots from taking over the world when they eventually grow smart enough.

I’ve heard that about many OEM suppliers. My friend has worked with people who worked at OEM companies and they say it’s pretty boring .

jimz > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 17:46

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u p p e r b o d y / i n t e r i o r e l e c t r i c a l & e l e c t ronics. much of m y t i m e i s c alibration, test/measurement, s p e c d e v e l o p m e n t , a n d b e n c h m a r k i n g . T h e l a s t o n e i s n e a t s i n c e I g e t t o e x p e r i e n c e and dig into a l o t of compet i t o r s v e h i c l e s .

m u c h b e t t e r t h a n b e i n g a d e s i g n & r e l e a se engineer; those folks are the ones who have to deal with suppliers , g o o v e r c o s t & t i m i n g a l l d a y .

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 17:50

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Huh, interesting. Enjoy it?

ToyotaFamily > jimz 10/14/2018 at 17:54

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Ooh, that does sound pretty cool being able to dig into competitors products. Is there any one manufacturer that is like the de facto benchmark for certain things ?

ToyotaFamily > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras 10/14/2018 at 17:55

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Yeah, it has it enjoyable moments. Every now and then I’ll get to look at some classic car or exotic. I always like doing the highly modified stuff.

Levitas > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 18:14

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For fresh out of colleges hires here , the main requirement is Formula SAE experience. I was asked if I’m a car person in my interview, but I don’t believe it had any impact on my getting hired. I’d say for a lot of engineering work here knowing your way around a car/ tools is unnecessary to do the job, but will make doing the job easier (or get done sooner).

Rock Bottom > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 18:55

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I’m an aerodynamicist for one of the Big Three. Can confirm, automobile enthusiasts are rare in automotive engineering. Depressingly so. Most of these people can’t drive sticks, change their own oil, or know why I smile and then cry when they say “Fox program ” (because they mean a 3 cylinder Fiesta engine and not a sketchy/fun pony car from my childhood) .

Elumerere > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 20:07

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I work in advertising in the wider sense (film production side) and these days almost exclusively with cars and car brands.
Just coming from a job overseas , everyone from the design team of the car brand I worked with was an enthusiast.

The marketing department less so.

jimz > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 20:49

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From my side (electrical?) no, not really. As cars become more complex and add more and more modules, everyone seems to have their own issues. I don’t know what the other functional teams experience.

if you pressed me for an answer, I’d say that something like the Tesla Model 3 might be an indication of the future; they’ve gone to very highly integrating their electronics architecture. The reason that almost everything is done via the touch screen is because the module the screen is connected to runs almost everything in the car.  It’s interesting in how they’ve massively reduced the complexity of the electrical system, but there’s part of me which thinks they may have taken it a step too far in condensing almost everything down into nearly a single point of failure. 

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 21:13

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*reads own name*

... umm nope, not here, definitely not me...

Actually there are more in the field here on oppo than you’ve gotten responses from. If you repost during the week you’ll probably get a lot more replies.

I’m actually less of an enthusiast now than I was when I first got into it professionally. It wears on you. I still love it, but I’m way past the honeymoon at this point. I’d be hard pressed to nam e 5 other enthusiasts in my building, but in my experience, 95% have been in service as opposed to sales.

ToyotaFamily > AMGtech - now with more recalls! 10/14/2018 at 21:40

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I’ve heard that multiple times from multiple technicians. Good t echs are under appreciated IMO. It’s no surprise I hear of many leaving.

Textured Soy Protein > ToyotaFamily 10/14/2018 at 23:22

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Cars are expensive. Dealership jobs don’t pay so great. Car manufacturers only have offices in certain cities.

pip bip - choose Corrour > ToyotaFamily 10/15/2018 at 06:11

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i work in parts dept of Holden/Audi/Skoda dealer