Entry Level/Higher Level Good Year/Chain Automotive Shop Employees?? Open this Thread

[Kozworth]

I've been looking for a new job for some time now, while the pay is good I am looking to move further in the automotive field. I am currently working at an oil change place in my town.

However, I've seen numerous times (pretty much everytime I go on a job site/craigslist, over a couple of months) have seen Good Year looking for employees. I thought to myself "great, they are local and do offer more of a learning experience" but a friend of mines friend said that it isnt the best place to work at (manager wise).

I know this all varies between location, But I was wondering what your experiences in chain automotive shops were (sts, good year, midas, etc).

Im basically looking for future advancement, respectable and reputable employees/managers, hourly, hopefully to start of not only oil changes but tire rotations and small suspension work, and NO BS. Ive read a lot about flat rate jobs having bs service writers, where you gotta be on their good side to get the good repairs.

[lambo]

Off topic, but how is working for an oil change place? The job I had lined up for summer fell through so I'm starting to look around a little bit.

[agile30]

I used to manage a jiffy lube and not only managed but worked the floor as well. It all depends on your manager and fellow staff. The pay the technicians got were garbage in my franchise. But I took care of them with lunch pretty much everyday. Because I know how it is to make a hair above minimum wage yet food adds up quickly. You mainly just need to make sure you don't get comfortable and use it as a temporary solution until you find something else where you can gain more experience.

[DREWHALL]

You could probably get a job as a quick service guy at a dealership instead of working at some butt hole like that. Though at a butt hole like that you wouldn't have warranty work.

[Kershaw]

a friend of mine is the assistant manager at a goodyear. he makes good money and it's a nice shop. i know he gets paid hourly, im not sure about the people on the floor.

just go and check it out. yolo.

[Kozworth]

I used to manage a jiffy lube and not only managed but worked the floor as well. It all depends on your manager and fellow staff. The pay the technicians got were garbage in my franchise. But I took care of them with lunch pretty much everyday. Because I know how it is to make a hair above minimum wage yet food adds up quickly. You mainly just need to make sure you don't get comfortable and use it as a temporary solution until you find something else where you can gain more experience.

Im making a considerable ammount (for an entry level college job/only oil changes, seems more then fair) for oil changes. While I will admit I do have some good days, honestly it brings a lot of bad days. Not even about the work, mostly just BS that should not be happening in the background and such. We have a unpaid "lunchbreak" of 20 minutes, but every saturaday I work we are working all day, basically screwing me out of 20 minutes pay. So do the math, 45 or so weeks there/3= 15 hours pay lost.. which is a considerable ammount especially since I was working. Management can be better, and the comission is complete bs (basically, you can do the wrong thing and make more comission then doing the right thing, and not get in trouble for doing the wrong thing).

Small perks like a peaceful 20 minute lunchbreak even when unpaid would make a hell of a difference, even just better management.

You could probably get a job as a quick service guy at a dealership instead of working at some butt hole like that. Though at a butt hole like that you wouldn't have warranty work.

I also heard how warrenty work is a pita, but at the moment im looking for really anything. I am a very quiet and diligent worker, dont get me wrong I like to talk and enjoy my work as I get things done, but the place I work is a lot of drama. Its mostly because the guys do not have passion in their job, or much of automotive passion. Very restricted to knowing how to work on their car (which isnt bad in a sense, but closemindedness to other automotive things is bad in my opinion if your in the field. Not every car is like an e30).

I am really looking to keep it as a short term job, but a year is nearly passed. I would get 1 week vacation after a year, but honestly I do not care much about that. i would really like to get into learning more, and doing soemthing more that I would like, even if it was a paycut.

[agile30]

What are the labor laws in nj about breaks? That sounds lik complete bulshit. Depending how long the work day is you should have a longer than 20 min lunch. Shit that's not even enough time to go get food and comeback in most cases.

[DREWHALL]

Warranty work sucks but not as much as a 20 minute break. Most dealerships, especially when you're flat rate, you kind of take breaks/lunch when you want or can. Most days I don't take a real lunch. Heat up food and eat at toolbox while staring at whatever I'm working on. Other days I'll go out with a couple of the guys and sit down at a restaurant for an hour. Depends on the mood, work load, and how many hours I've already got in the bag.

[Kozworth]

I work 9 to 10 hr shifts regularly.

Id say saturaday and fridays usually we have a line up of cars so we shove food down our throats to get the next guy on break. Honestly, all the other days for the most part one guy can go on break while everyone else takes the cars that come in. There are also times where we don't do oil changes and wait for like 10 minutes to maybe even an hour. I still think its bs that its unpaid, but that's really besides the point.

I'm looking also for input on moving up in these shops. I'm basically a student and seeing what duties they'd give and such, personal experiences in these work places, etc.

[Kozworth]

Off topic, but how is working for an oil change place? The job I had lined up for summer fell through so I'm starting to look around a little bit.

Missed your post. Here are my experiences.


We use pits. A guy down low drains and does the majority of filters/lubes fittings. I'm the uptop guy who greets, does hoods (essentially adding fluids/oil/changing the topside filters), and tire pressure. At first, coming from nwaiting tables, I loved it. You ggot to actually touch cars, id quiz guys with different things under the hood I had learned about in class.

After a while, I got sick of seeing the same cars. If you work with scumbags, and there is a comission part of the job, it will make you mad. A lot of unfair 'techniques' go down. Maybe if my job offered tire rotations, tire work, etc at not a 'get em in and out' rate id like it better. While I know time is a major factor in these chains, I just think that it makes the day drag if you can flip a car every 5 minutes as opposed to a whole brake inspection/30 minute oil change.