Justifying the High Cost of High-Tech Auto Repairs

Time was, a good mechanic kept his shop clean, his customers happy and had such a good intuitive feel for machinery that he could fix almost any problem on any car.

Today, top mechanics have four-year college degrees and earn as much as $90,000 a year. And they don’t like to be called mechanics any more. They are technicians.

Increasingly sophisticated cars require better trained mechanics. The 1992 cars, for example, have half a dozen computers. A mechanic armed only with his trusty socket wrench and grease gun is out of his league.

Ten years ago, cars contained about $150 worth of electronic gear. Today, that figure is about $500, and by the end of this decade it will jump to $2,000.

Major car manufacturers and dealerships long relied on trade schools and community colleges to graduate the best mechanics. But with state budget cutbacks, the quality of education at such schools has been slipping, according to John Shurtz, national manager for technical training programs at Toyota.

Shurtz said that technical training at community colleges generally is about 10 years behind the level of technology in cars.

To compensate, manufacturers have established aggressive training programs to bring their newly hired mechanics up to snuff and to maintain the proficiency of all their mechanics. One Toyota program is known as T-10. In it, 65 trade schools, community colleges and some four-year universities are helping to educate better mechanics.

Toyota claims to have the best-trained work force in the auto industry. Shurtz said that of Toyota’s 8,500 mechanics at dealerships across the country, 72% are certified in at least one auto repair discipline by Automotive Service Excellence, the national organization that certifies mechanics.

Although it is not necessary to have a four-year university degree to get the most advanced jobs as Toyota technicians, many mechanics have them.

So far, Penn College, Northern Montana, Weaver State and Kansas State universities are participating in the T-10 program.

“There are a lot of four-year engineering graduates who become auto technicians because it pays more than engineering jobs,” Shurtz said.

In addition, college graduates have a better shot at eventually running the repair departments at major dealerships.

In California, the average master mechanic makes $50,000 to $60,000. Shurtz said he has heard of mechanics who make more than $100,000.

Although cars require fewer repairs than they did 20 years ago, the financial damage is considerable when they malfunction.

The potential for a major malfunction costing a couple thousand dollars leads many people to buy extended warranties, essentially a form of health insurance for the car.

The increasing complexity of cars poses a real dilemma for consumers. Some opt for a discount garage that doesn’t have the highly trained mechanics charging rates as high as doctors’. On the other hand, a bad repair will be waste of money.

As repair costs escalate, consumers will have to shop carefully. When you need the high-priced car doctor--for example, when your fuel injection system fails--he or she may be a bargain.

But for routine service on your oil, tires and exhaust system, you might want to look for somebody still clutching that trusty grease gun. As cars get more sophisticated, though, your a trip to your mechanic may end up being as costly as a trip to your doctor’s office.