"Hey Julie" (hey-julie)
01/11/2019 at 21:56 • Filed to: None
0
7|
"Hey Julie" (hey-julie)
01/11/2019 at 21:56 • Filed to: None | 0
| 7 |
Sorry for the wall of text, I don’t want to post any compromising pictures and I don’t have a lot of people to vent to.
Today marks the end of my second full week as an express tech at my local Nissan dealer, as an express tech I change oil and rotate/balance/mount tires as well as all the cleaning and miscellaneous grunt work around the shop. I took a pay cut from $13/hr and 55-60 hours per week to $12.00 /hr and a strictly enforced 40 hrs a per week ( with around $300 / month in sales based bonuses so maybe it will even out ) but I went from being the biggest fish in a shit filled pond ( instant oil change) to being the smallest fish in a much bigger pond.
The good:
I actually have a future here, the hierarchy goes from express tech to level 2 tech which covers brakes, warranty work, and post delivery inspections (to save the gravy for the flat rate techs) and then to the line techs who are flat rate and have designated bays. I’ve already surpassed every other express tech in terms of my online training (I stayed up all night for two weeks taking tests while my peers were sleeping and doing drugs) and prior experience so I qualify to be a level 2 tech.
Most importantly, t he service adviser is great, he understands and values his techs and he told me he wants to move me to an apprenticeship as fast as possible.
I got to move a customers r32 GTR around the lot and take a manual 370z nismo to fill up the tank.
The bad:
The express adviser who is my direct superior is like a rat on cocaine, e xactly like one there is no better way to describe him.
My fellow express techs are not people I enjoy being around , mostly fresh out of high school with dreams of working on GTRs they are sloppy, unorganized, and think they are better than me just because they have been here longer . Even worse, the line techs are simply dicks, they don’t want me to succeed because then I will be competing with them for precious flat rate hours. They don’t answer questions, refuse to help, and sometimes even purposely mislead me and taunt me or throw me under the bus when the express adviser comes around . Luckily I have a thick skin and the level two techs have quickly become my friends otherwise it would be very hard to learn here.
I don’t care about leafs versas altimas sentras rouges and muranos I want to work on Mercedes!
I’m nearly 22 and I make a shit wage doing work that is far beneath me and it seems like there many months ahead of me while I wait for a open apprenticeship.
GoodIdeaAtTheTime
> Hey Julie
01/11/2019 at 23:12 |
|
I went from working on Mercedes to Nissan, well Infiniti, close enough. I make more and am less stressed at Nissan/Infiniti than I was at Mercedes. I make a bit less hourly but turn more hours than I did at Merc. I am/was a lead master/diagnostic tech at both. If you have any questions fire away. BTW, I went to a tech school, then a manufacturer (Jaguar, my I get around...) training program, and got hired on as a level 3 tech at a dealer. Skipped the whole express position. Something to think about.
|
Hey Julie
> GoodIdeaAtTheTime
01/11/2019 at 23:18 |
|
My issue is that I was going to a state college and then a massive unforeseable disaster in my life ended my ability to pay tuition or receive any more loans so now I have monthly student loan payments and no degree which makes going to a tech school impossible for me in my current situation. When you say manufacturer training program what do you mean? I’m assuming it’s completely different than the Nissan virtual academy classes ive been blowing through
|
GoodIdeaAtTheTime
> Hey Julie
01/11/2019 at 23:38 |
|
Very different from the virtual academy . I went to Universal Technical Ins titut e (crap school but they had the best manufacturer programs) before I attended Jaguar’s PACE program. M y grades and attendance weren’t quite good enough for Porsche... . Anywho, i t was 5 months of instructor lead training on all vehicle and diagnostic systems. Basically every ounce training offered, online and classroom condensed into a semester. I had high enough scores that I started at a dealer as a level 3 tech at 22 , 6 months later I was a master tech. A nd as a bonus I was a guild member, think best of the best, at the time there were only 10 9 guild members, in the world. It was costly, 5 months unemployed living in Orlando, course was a little over $ 11,000, not including living expenses . Once hired the dealer picked up the tab though, or at least that was what I demanded to get hired on. I had my pick of dealerships in the country. After 3 years I had the 30k of student loans paid off as well.
AMGtech - now with more recalls!
> Hey Julie
01/12/2019 at 12:57 |
|
Stick with it if that’s really what you want. Every dealership experience is different and that’s got less to do with the manufacturer than it does the corporation that owns the store and the management they’ve put in place.
If there are Benz dealers near you, drop in and talk to the service manager. Don’t wait for your application to get fished out of the sea by their recruiter.
But remember this: like many things in life, you get back the effort you put in. Meaning that if you're working hard, doing a good job, and constantly trying to better yourself, people will notice and you'll move up. Don't stand around playing on your phone, offer to help others if you don't have any work yourself, be positive, and don't talk shit about anyone. Automotive is a small world. Saying something today could burn a bridge 5 years from now.
|
AMGtech - now with more recalls!
> GoodIdeaAtTheTime
01/12/2019 at 12:59 |
|
Neat! I did it the other way. Infiniti was my first dealer experience. Hated it. Much happier with Benz. No manufacturer training program for me though.
|
GoodIdeaAtTheTime
> AMGtech - now with more recalls!
01/13/2019 at 14:41 |
|
The people I work with at Infiniti are soooo much more enjoyable to be around. Which was a constant source of stress at Merc, if I hadn’t of left bad things may have happened. S everal techs go t into physical fights with the foreman, we won’t talk about sales department...
|
AMGtech - now with more recalls!
> GoodIdeaAtTheTime
01/13/2019 at 19:01 |
|
Holy crap! That's nuts! My crew is all great. The guys at Infiniti were cool, but the foreman and everyone above him were crap, including service advisors.