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Location:
NSW
Registered:
June 2002
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Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Tue, 03 September 2002 21:29
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Hi guys im interested in taking an apprenticeships in automotive mechanic. Anyone here doing it can give me some pointers. Thnks
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Club Member
Location:
Sydney, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Wed, 04 September 2002 06:32
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I'm an apprentice, well really a trainee... I go to work every Thursday (Duh, work tomorrow...) and it's not too bad... I've now been there for 1.5 years and I like it... I'm learning heaps of crap that I'm now rebuilding my motor... I will finish my apprenticeship and continue to work as a mechanic until I get sick of it...
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Location:
cambo
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Wed, 04 September 2002 06:44
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im a first year apprentice at a dealership. best advice i can give you is if you wanna learn about cars, go to a small business such as a servo mechanic. trust me, youll learn HEAPS more than i ever wiill. im trying to get out of a dealership cause all i do all day is services... quite boring you can train a monkey to do what i do. like alot of other people o speak to, ill probably get out of the trade after four years when i have my certificate. i wont have regreted being a mechanic cause atleast ill know how to work on cars.
GO TO A SMALL BUSINESS!
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I supported Toymods
Location:
south of the big smoke
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Wed, 04 September 2002 07:01
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| EVOSTi wrote on Wed, 04 September 2002 16:44 |
im a first year apprentice at a dealership. best advice i can give you is if you wanna learn about cars, go to a small business such as a servo mechanic. trust me, youll learn HEAPS more than i ever wiill. im trying to get out of a dealership cause all i do all day is services... quite boring you can train a monkey to do what i do. like alot of other people o speak to, ill probably get out of the trade after four years when i have my certificate. i wont have regreted being a mechanic cause atleast ill know how to work on cars.
GO TO A SMALL BUSINESS!
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too true evosti!!! i no a couple of mechanics they wreckon dealership mechanics are crap no offence dude
because of your same reason
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Location:
cambo
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Wed, 04 September 2002 07:12
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yup its true, we know nothing  dealerships are all about services, thats where they make their money. theres the odd gearbox or engine job or wahtever, but its mostly changing oil. at a small place, you do everything on every car. i wish i knew a year ago what i know now dont make the same mistake.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
south of the big smoke
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Wed, 04 September 2002 07:15
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when ya go looking for a small mechanic shop tell them thats why u wanna leave the dealership. this will show them that your kean and help ya chances!
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Club Member
Location:
Sydney, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Wed, 04 September 2002 07:55
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Ohhh, I dunno... I kinda like the dealership thing... I work at Chatswood Toyota and we get heaps of jobs... We do get a lot of services but we also get major engine work and pull in a few nice cars from time to time... I thought about working in a servo but I sort of didn't want to cause I was only starting... I didn't want to have to do EVERYTHING when I was only a first year... I like slow learning cause that way, I can get everything perfect before I move onto the next thing...
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Location:
Western Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Wed, 04 September 2002 10:33
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I'm a second year apprentince at a small workshop. I've done heaps of conversion-type work. Lots of wiring and what not. Where ever you go, just show them you're keen to learn and you're a practical thinker.
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
August 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Wed, 04 September 2002 11:08
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upsides are
: driving good cars (depending where u work!)
: learning to work on your own cars (and homejobs = $$$)
: making good contacts within the car industry 4 cheaper parts
downsides are
: crap money (esp. as an apprentice)
: never having clean hands
: treated like crap at 90% of all places
: being exposed to toxic chemicals
: not a huge room for promotion in small w/shops as most of the time the son/daughter will take over the family business
: you can't stand looking at your own car at the end of the day
i've been a mechanic for 7 years now (almost broken free thank god!), at the moment i'm foreman at audi/vw...when i first started as an apprentice i loved messing around with cars and modding mine on the weekends/holidays, about 3 years ago i "gze'd" my old rolla in my holidays and had an absolute ball doing it - now i can't stand looking at my cars on the weekend, which sucks 'cos i still love modding cars - i just can't stand working 40 hours on others and coming home to mine 
once i'm out i know i'll find the fun part of mechanics again, but only as a hobby...
basically, if u love cars find a decent job that will let u love them as a past time, not a burden
my 2 cents anyway...
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Location:
sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Wed, 04 September 2002 14:21
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i finished my motorbike mechanic apprenticeship acouple of months ago.... i went through so much crap but am glad to be finished and have my certificate.... becoming a mechanic is not an ideal career move as everything is goign electronic, you get paid way below where you should be for working flat out in a hot workshop... however there's endless amounts of learning always ahead of you and it has saved me a massive amount of money by enabling me to do all the work on all my cars and bikes i've owned. it's a trade that i know have and i can move on to something else and if it doesn't work out, i can fall back on my trade.... basically, if u wanna do well working as a mechanic, you gotta own your own business......... if you're an absolutely awesome mechanic and are exceptionally gifted in it... yopu may be able to earn 1000 bucks a week.... that's absolutely shit house if you ask me!...... how many wankers are there out there sitting in an air conditioned office writing enmails to their mates all day getting paid the same!
anyway... that's my little dummy spit for the day
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Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Wed, 04 September 2002 14:49
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I recently started as an apprentice aircraft maintenance engineer (basically a aeroplane machanic).
All the good sides of being a motor mechanic, with less than half the down sides.
.Apprentice pay is shit no matter what, but because I started over the age of 21 I get 3rd year wages (double first year).
.Your hand do get a bit dirty, but there's usually a pretty high level of safety & personal protective supplies & equipment is always available, so it's pretty easy to stay clean.
.The dodgy chemical factor is much higher, you wouldn't believe some of the shit we use at work. I tell you what, we've got the best solvents for any application. But again, all the safety equipment is supplied, it's just up to you to use it.
.There's a huge number of possible promotions and different career paths you can choose from, it's just a matter of choosing what. The pay gets pretty good too.
.I guess the other thing is you may have to do a bit more study, but really, it's not that hard.
.At the end of the day, there's nothing better than jumping into your own little car, getting home & being able to play with a little machine that doesn't need 50 dudes to service. And the parts you can get your hands on, ooohh, you wouldn't believe the amount of stuff that can be used on cars.
.Then you get the benifits of working for a big airline, as opposed to working on light aircraft for small private companies, like mega cheap airfares and long service rewards like 1st class trips around the world...... plus being a large airline it has a worldwide reputation for its training, a big plus if you're looking for work overseas.
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I supported Toymods
Location:
Berowra-Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Wed, 04 September 2002 22:15
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I did want to be a mechanic at some stage until a friend who was a mechanic for Honda told me not to.
he said pay is shit and at the moment you love working on your car but once you start doing it full time you loose interest and no longer can be botherd working on your own car.
He said my car is a hobbie for me and if i become a mechanic then i'll loose interest in working on it.
go out and get a good paying job and stay on these forums and read all the threads and you will end up having a fantastic amount of knoledge on cars and will be able to do all your own work yourself yet still enjoy it while you do it.
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Location:
NSW
Registered:
June 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Thu, 05 September 2002 07:20
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Bigworm
.Apprentice pay is shit no matter what, but because I started over the age of 21 I get 3rd year wages (double first year).
How much is 1st year wages ? this for the aircraft maintenance engineer ?
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Location:
Adelaide
Registered:
August 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Thu, 05 September 2002 12:03
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our apps get about $5.20 an hour i used to get $4.55
in adelaide tho, prices are alot lower for wages here
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Toymods Board Member
I supported Toymods
Location:
Turramurra, Sydney.
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Thu, 05 September 2002 17:30
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First years get about $250 a week after tax, but that would include shift penalties & weekend loading, tool allowance etc. Without all that it would be around $250 before tax (you do the math).
There's also a fair bit of oportunity for overtime; double your days pay for working an extra 4 hours.
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Club Member
Location:
Sydney, NSW
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Fri, 06 September 2002 06:31
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I get $300 a week for first year wage... Not bad for a mechanic... That's one of the bonuses of working at a dealership that services 120 cars a day...
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Location:
Brisbane, Queensland
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Any Apprentice mechanic ?
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Fri, 06 September 2002 08:41
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I've almost finished my first year $5.40 I get an hour and usally take home $220 a week after tax.
You do get do drive good cars a bit of the time, I've spanked a Westfield, HG 454block ute, heaps of nice merc's, convertable alfa new and old, but then you have to drive the shitters
I had to on monday test drive a camira, it was rooted, blowing so much smoke, it broke down on me so I had to hike it back to the workshop 
the worse thing that I have found is that my skin reacts to the handcleaner, sorry all handcleaners, I have to use a barrier cream to stop rashes, it sucks!!.
I work in a small garage workshop at the moment,(few workshops around that my boss owns and I go here and there), you will deffinatly learn more about mechanics if you don't work in a dealership. I love getting cheap parts ordered in at trade price. I save about $20 on brakepads than what you would buy retail.
But in all essense, Everyone wouldn't work if they didn't get paid, therefore we all find reasons to hate our job or complain about.
If it's what you want to do, do it.
I go through group training australia here in brisbane, look around and see what more info you can get.
I've learnt so much in one year and still haven't gone to tafe.
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