Thinking back to when I first applied for a job ad as a lube technician, I thought to myself that I might just be able to make working on cars my next and final career. Prior to that I worked at a shipyard doing all the planning for different systems on ships so I was definitely mechanically inclined, just hadn’t put my hands on anything yet. I’ve always learned from hands on experience, so after the first 2 weeks of doing oil changes they let me go on my own and to this day I haven’t made very many mistakes. Let’s talk about some things that I wish I personally would have done differently!
Lube Technician Tools:
When I started this new career, I was living with my family and had just made 50k in profit on selling my house. So, I had enough money to stupidly do what I wanted to do. Whether you start at a dealership or local shop, you’re going to be seeing tool trucks weekly. I would highly recommend against buying any tools from the tool trucks until you are 100% sure that this is going to be the career for you. I have nothing against Snap-On and Matco tools. I personally think someone new shouldn’t go into debt with these companies just because you can finance with them and only pay 50-100 bucks every time you get paid. For an example, the first impact set I got was a 1/2 drive and 3/8 right angle drive from Matco which cost me about 1500$. I also bought a small tool box from Matco that cost 2100$ used. So, I was already in debt 3600$ (even though I could have bought it outright). You could almost buy everything in harbor freight for 3600$ and harbor freight tools aren’t that bad for starter tools. So, take a good look at harbor freight and go to pawn shops and flea markets for tools when you start out. You’ll save a ton of money especially if you decide the career isn’t for you.
Check out my article on lube technician tools by clicking here.
Learning as a New Lube Technician:
I work for a Mazda dealership. When I started I only knew around about where an oil drain plug was located and knew to put oil back in after draining it. That was the extent of my knowledge of working on cars and didn’t know how to do anything else. My dealership has a certification but it is very basic and doesn’t really go into detail on anything other than basic starting systems, measuring tools, and other basic essentials. The certification had to be done but no other classes were provided.
I would never tell anyone not to go to school to be a automotive technician. But, in my personal opinion, the time you would be going to school would be missed out learning at the dealership or shop you are working at. I would also recommend doing some research on where you will be working because the reviews will tell you how good the mechanics are in most cases. We have 2 technicians that have been working there since I was a baby and our shop foreman knows just about anything there is to know on any type of vehicle. Sometimes, I would come in on my days off just to work with the shop foreman and learn about what is going on. Regardless on if you are going to school or not, when you are working and have nothing to do (that includes cleaning lol), go talk to the main techs and see if they need assistance or ask them if they wouldn’t mind explaining what they are doing while they are working. In my case, they love me because I will go over there and help since I know more about what I’m doing now and they will come over and explain something if I end up getting a diagnostic that I can’t solve. The knowledge that they have is almost priceless.
In very simple words, moving up the ladder is all on you. If you just come to work and do the oil changes, battery replacements, tire repairs, etc and don’t learn more you will always be stuck doing that and from what I have experienced, it’s not enough money.
One other thing that I will mention is that for the first 6-7 months, I literally lived on YouTube in my spare time. When I got home, I would crack a beer and I would pick a system to learn about and watch several videos on that system. I started only researching on newer Mazda’s just to get familiar with the cars I was mainly working on. Once I had a good knowledge of everything, I started branching off to other manufacturer’s. This goes back to what was mentioned previously, the more knowledge you have, the more money you will make. My service advisors get upset with me sometimes because when I get a new ticket I’ll tell them the diagnosis before I bring the car in and I love when I’m right.
The only other advice I can give as far as learning is to find a car to work on or work on your own car. I have a 2010 mustang GT with 41k miles and I’ve been doing my own maintenance and repairs to it since I started.
Conclusion:
I hate to say this because it should be common sense but I’ve seen enough of it that it makes me think otherwise but don’t be late to work and don’t call out because you don’t feel like working. That’s all I’m going to say about that, I’ve seen too many new lube technicians get fired for that reason. One other thing that I see a lot of new lube technicians getting fired for is for being careless. CHECK YOUR WORK. It takes a few seconds to unbolt something if you think you didn’t tighten it all the way. I get customers that come from Jiffy Lube and Take 5 places all the time complaining of oil leaks and I really hope it is just because they get rushed and make mistakes. My boss told me when I started if you aren’t making mistakes than you aren’t working but honestly, If you check after yourself the mistakes will be minimal. Just keep in mind these vehicles you are working on belong to friends, family members, kids, etc. I hope this has helped shed some light on what not to do as a new lube technician and if you have any questions post them in the comments.
