How much do you think car mechanics earn?

[AnnaQuayInTheUk]

My son is a car mechanic. He qualified last year. I was talking to a friend about his starting salary and she was surprised at it. So what would you expect a newly qualified mechanic to earn?

Exactly. It’s a serious job that requires skill and conscientious work. I’m delighted to hear it’s well paid. Good on him!

Sounds completely reasonable to me. I was chatting to a Vauxhall service manager on a course the other day and he was saying his highest paid tech makes £90k inc bonus.

Good for your DS! Skilled professions deserve decent pay, they require a lot of training and education and people's safety relies on the job being done right. Good luck to him and I hope he enjoys the work.
I'm an aircraft mechanic, just got my first job with zero experience at 32k(euros) which is not bad for a first salary considering I'm still learning on the job (don't worry, I don't work with passenger jets!)

I am surprised! My DH was in the motor trade 40 years. Started out as a fitter,then called a mechanic lastly a vehicle technician. He didn't serve an apprenticeship, they didn't exist then. He was a bronze tech, not interested in going higher because of courses away from home (which he said were a waste of time) he's old school, proper job, service, remove wheels. He didn't earn anything like this, retired 2 years ago. Had to buy all his own tools, which cost an eye watering amount.. the electric vehicles were just coming to the garage,no end of issues, only one tech qualified to touch them. Last position,main dealership and nothing like that money, and no bonuses,that stopped years ago. 15 years there, vauxhall originally,then became pergeot.

£35k

I would've guessed about 28k but I've seen your update. Good for him! How is his bonus calculated? Is it how many cars he fixes per month?

Thank you @AnnaQuayInTheUk

I think it depends where you work as a mechanic. An F1 mechanic won't be on the minimum wage. My DS will be on 42k when he qualifies. The first year of the apprenticeship paid £20k and it increases each year. He was very lucky to be taken on where he works, as it's a prestigious company. The interviews were quite long, and maths tests were involved. I think DS will be keen to progress and earn more than the starting wage, as he seems to have a lot of confidence and drive (no pun intended).

A friend's DS is qualified and works at the local garage, but is on the minimum wage.

@Nannyfannybanny yes, he's had to buy all his own tools. When he completed his apprenticeship his employer gave him £1,000 towards the cost but of course that hardly touched the side

@ColourBlueColourPurple it's to do with how many jobs you complete within the time. So if you're allocated a car to service you're allowed, for example, 3 hours to complete it. If you complete it sooner then you've hit your target. If you take longer then you haven't. Each month the technicians have a percentage target they have to meet to get the bonus. I think DS said it's 80% ie at least 80% of his work has to be within the target time. If he rushes a job to meet the target it backfires because he loses the bonus if the car gets returned due to poor servicing. Plus there's a random quality check and they lose their bonus if they fail that. I think the bonus is on a sliding scale. DS is only 4 months post qualifying but has hit his bonus every month so far.

AnnaQuayInTheUk
Does he know that he can claim tax relief on the cost of his tools.
It does mean completing a claim, or tax return, but it can definitely be worthwhile.
I was staggered by how much DP spends on tools, he brought a 2nd had tool box that was £5,400 about 8 years ago (I say box, it was more like an enormous wall cabinet).

Are you encouraging people to avoid their tax responsibilities? The money that pays for the NHS? Good quality schools? Decent roads?

Great image.

The amount of tax relief on tools) every vehicle type requires different types) was minimal,same as I got in nursing for buying a small amount of stuff, and washing uniforms.. also washed his overalls because sent away to the specialist laundry they took too long to return. Someone mentioned productivity, yes, the bosses were only interested in,get the job done, throw it out quick, make money.

I work on the service side and we earn commission on basically the number of hours work we book in
Definitely not well paid though!

Good for him OP, there's too many people bumming around doing pointless degrees at university when your DS has shown he can be just as successfull- or even more so - learning a trade.

The owner of a garage I take my car to told me he pays his staff £38K

Whereabouts in the country probably comes into the equation as well.

@Chasingsquirrels DS was very lucky in that my mum bought him a 2nd hand tool box when he qualified. I think it was about £1500. DS' employer would have lent him the money to buy his tool box and claimed it back through monthly deductions but luckily DS didn't have to do that.

You're right, it's like a huge cabinet. I can't believe how much they cost

The target thing sounds weird but I suppose it makes sense

@KittenPause it's incentivisation to be productive I guess. If they don't get the target number of jobs completed then they don't get the bonus, so they don't mess around or spend ages drinking tea.

Well it seems like he's lucky he has a job with an employer who seems ok for now

Once he's been there a while and knows what's what he can always work elsewhere

I work in the motor industry and there's a massive shortage of good mechanics so I reckon £42,000

Well done to your son! Hes done incredible to land this job and he’s only going to grow in experience. He’ll hopefully develop a really good reputation and be able to earn some cash in hand with his trade. I think people forget how good earnings can be when you go down the trades person route.

Go him. He deserves every penny he earns. Hope he loves his job and goes from strength to strength.

My partner was on £12.50 an hour 3 years ago with 15 years experience so I'm quite surprised how much more the salary has increased compared to a couple of years ago (in a good way). When he asked for a pay rise this was classed as a decent wage for his role around the area in other garages (he did a 9-5 monday to friday in the east midlands) He transfered his skills (he had a level 3 qualification in mechanical engineering which took 3 years as an apprentice) and now works fixing trains and is on 53k a year now including shift allowance. He said he wish he had done an apprenticeship straight to working on trains now , that's the starting salary including newly qualified apprentices. It's 3 years training aswell i think.

thanks everyone. We are very proud of him. He had very poor mental health in his teens and ended up not taking his A levels. At one point I thought he'd never get a job. So he's come a long way in the past few years.

Some of his friends went to uni, have accrued lots of debt and are now working minimum wage jobs. He is in a much better position than lots of them.