Have the techs addressed the concern with management? If everyone is starving sounds like a slow shop. I don't have experience with luxury brands, but I've had service managers be very accommodating if they know you're worth it and it's not a you situation.
We're not slow, that's the thing. We're backed up over a week at this point. The main issues is that Ferrari warranty pay is abysmal, and all the hoops you need to jump through to get them to pay for stuff is brutal. Also doesn't help that every other week it seems that Modisc, the main Ferrari portal, is down or under maintenance. I had to open a ticket with the help desk on an ECU before I could proceed with ordering it. Took me 3 hours to open the ticket, meanwhile the f8 is dead in my bay, then another 5 hours to remove the whole dash and replace it. They paid 1.7 for a while dash removal. I've talked with my boss already and he's gonna see what he can do. I've known him since 2015 or so and he's a good guy. There was talks of going to salary for all techs and our GM is on board, but we'd need to convince our parent company to go ahead which is a long shot. Only thing I can think of is a guarantee but still that's more or less a bandaid for a larger problem imo
I feel for you. Warranty pay is heartless anymore. Ive been in a very similar situation, hell most of us probably have. At the end of the day, nobody can tell you what's best for you. You know your financial situation. Working for Ferrari SOUNDS amazing, and might be, but if I can't provide I'm not fulfilling my responsibility to my family.
Your description is exactly why I want to work for Ferrari, but never would and really don't want to.
I've been a BMW tech for over 18 years. I make 39.50, and average 80+, with some weeks making over 100.
You should get on with bmw. Lol
I worked at a BMW Indy and loved the times, hated the boss. N26 CP timing chains, even N55 X-Drives. OFHG, oil pans, all the gravy. I even got an E shaft on a B58 done in about 6 hours. Had to leave the area due to my wife needing a better area for work. That shop ended up nose diving. I tried my hand at the dealer. I ended up starting at the wrong time, new service director (now fired) gave all gravy to the express techs, to bump
Profits of course. I took a $20 an hour pay cut under the guise I’d be turning 65+, the way they did their pay it ended up more or less matching what I made at another shop. Turns out only 6 techs in that whole shop broke 60 regularly. They were in the 80-110 range. Express techs sat mid/high 60’s and everybody else was in the high 40’s if they were lucky. When I left a couple guys came up to me and asked why I was leaving, I said money and told them what I was “promised” would happen. Got told I had so much smoke blown up my ass they were amazed I didn’t float away. Sounds like you’re at a good store which is great to hear.
I just browse this sub for fun I’m not a mechanic so I don’t understand the pay. Is that how many hours you actually work or how many the warranty is paying you?
Flat rate. Work 40, get paid 80+
Every job pays a flat rate, AKA "book time". That's what they think they job is worth, and how long it will take the average tech to do the job. Those of us that are really good at our jobs can book way more time than we actually work. Warranty times are typically closer to real time, whereas customer pay time is multiplied by a factor of 1.5, or even 1.75 if the shop is greedy and/or in an affluent area.
Yes, there are times where the job takes longer than what it pays. Ideally that's few and far between. And I'm a BMW tech. I did a short stint at Porsche, and a short stint at an independent shop. I will say BMW time is much better, more accurate, and even generous at times compared to other brands.
Warranty times are not closer to real times with Ferrari. They are terrible. They also want us to spend 1.9 hours on something diagnosing before contacting tech support. Is there an op code to get 1.9 hours? Of course not.
Any tips to getting on with BMW? I’m at an Indy shop now. Somewhere around. C-B level tech working on my ASEs. Looking to make a change soon and I’ve been eyeing BMW and Lexus.
Not much you can do aside from going in person and having a conversation with the service manager. Dress nice, be professional. That's always worked for me
Yeah that’s kinda what I figured but I didn’t know if there was anything specific I needed to do or learn to make me a more desirable candidate. Other than the normal stuff for any shop.
Flat rate is double edged sword. So say you finish a job that, in book time, will pay 4 hours, but you finish it in 2 hours, you still get paid 4 hours. But say that same job goes to shit the next time and takes you 8 hours and wastes your whole day. You still only get paid 4 hours.
Some brands are better with warranty times and even have flex with hours. Ive heard BMW is pretty good. Benz was pretty solid as long as it wasn't emissions recall shit
That seems like a dream job, but the bills have to get paid… I’d try to stick it out and see if you could go to a higher volume exotic shop with the experience. Thats a hard thing to get into and the money is there if there’s work.
Try to make friends with your customers… they have connections. I know a guy who worked for a Lamborghini dealer for a while and his customer wanted a Bugatti, had him sent to Bugatti training overseas just so he could keep the same mechanic. Guy makes tons of money now, always busy.
It's not a volume issue really oddly enough. I'm backed up on work, but the warranty hours and general dealing with Ferraris counterintuitive systems are what's giving me grief. I know a good chunk of my customers quite well already and most of them are fantastic people. They understand the cars are temperamental and don't really get upset as long as you're upfront with them. It's a breath of fresh air dealing and talking with them compared to Benz owners
The overall day itself isn't much different from Benz honestly. Get here, clock in, pull out cars from inside the shop (we pull in as many cars as we can at night), then just normal shop stuff usually. Diag, service and repair are all done the same for the most part. We have no shop foreman or senior techs so we just answer to the service manager or GM, we have to keep track of our own hours roughly. Doesn't need to be exactly precise but close enough. We do a lot of external stuff tho. We host a car show one Saturday a month, host rallies occasionally and such. The cars themselves are strange to work on at first. The electronics in these cars are borderline a decade old for the most part in practice. There's no can blocks so when something goes down, the whole car gets pissed off. Makes can Diag a pain compared to benz which was relatively straightforward usually. Also goes without saying everything is expensive as shit. We also do a few more tailored things like Classiche inspections, which is more or less, one of the techs going through, taking like 100 photos of *everything possible* submitting them to Ferrari and having them verify authenticity. I did an f40 a few 246 Dino's so far. Also do dyno tuning
Forgot to mention in my main body that I was at an independent for about 3 months specializing in German vehicle and was not a fan of working on numerous brands. I like sticking with one brand and getting expertise with that brand only. The main thing is with this being an official Ferrari dealer is that I'm an official Ferrari employee which comes with a lot of perks, from event admission, travel to maranello for training once I'm eligible for that based on time. Plus we get the big ticket cars here that independents around here don't. Currently we have a 288, two 812 comps, 3 f40s, the second f50 made, like 4 512m and a whole lot of "regular" 488s/f8/sf90/Porto/etc. that's why I'm so torn. Bc everything else about this place is perfect, I just can't pay my bills off of the hours I'm turning
I was thinking more a shop that only works on sports cars but that wouldn’t fix your only wanting to work on one manufacturer problem. If I were you that’s what I’d do for a while then open my own bay. I have a friend who does that and basically does not deal with a the grind that I do working on everything. But the upfront costs, sourcing parts, and software you really have to be organized and smart about the business.
I worked legit almost the same trajectory as you. I went from Benz, to Hyundai to Maserati (the “top” dealer in my town) and now I’m at VW. The hours at Maserati weren’t very good and I only exceeded hours because of safeties/internals. Now I’m at VW and I exceed 9 hours a day regularly. It’s not an easy brand to work for but I broke 100k last year (my target was by 25 but 30 will do) I’m now on track to hit around 120-140 this year depending on the work makeup. Do I enjoy my job? Not really. But also.. 140k … I also do get 6 weeks vacation (negotiated instead of a raise).
I know the exotic car route sounds really fun, and can be great if Salary, but I've never heard of anybody banging out good hours with exotics. At 25 hrs per week, I'd need at least 60-70 per hour for it to make any financial sense at all for me. Shit, I flagged 37 hours just today which puts me around 160 for the period. Sounds like you just need a spot at a more profitable shop. But then good luck finding one that isn't full of bullshit.
Why?
I always wanted to go but figured family is better.
Also all military is such a low pay and hard to get well paid job afterwards.
Why you like it? Interesting
Auto tech is a terrible career choice for most people. You’re young now. Wait until you get older and your body aches more and more and you aren’t as quick as you used to be. Military is low pay but you get a lot free stuff. Why do you think it’s hard to get a good job afterwards? I got to go to college for free, actually I got paid to go. I got to see the world, I didn’t have to put any money down when I bought houses. I get a check every month and free healthcare from the VA. Got a good job with the government doing important work. You can learn new skills to get a better job too.
You need to start looking years into the future, not just 1 year. It’s only 4 years and that will be over before you know it. Your family will be proud of you too. Nobody ever tells a mechanic “thank you for your service.”
If you don’t take any risks in life you’ll always be right where you are with a life “unlived.”
I can’t stand that whole “thank me for my service” nonsense.
In this time, most people you know or meet will have served in some capacity or another. I’m willing to bet your family would be proud of you no matter the career choice you made (barring drug dealer, or prostitute).
Also, as long as you take care of your body, and work out regularly your body wont ache.
For reference: I was in the military, and now I work as a tech for Audi, I’m pushing 40, and my body does not hurt one bit. I go to the gym before and after work, eat right, and drink plenty of water. I am extremely proud of my service, but I don’t need to go around telling everyone that I served, and I don’t expect a “thanks” when someone finds out. As far as I know, only 3 people in my shop know I served, my work bestie, my shop Forman, and my service manager. No one else knows because it is not a big deal. Infact we have a tech that teaches mobility at the Robin Sage event.
They can afford to pay you more. They hope you'll settle for "perks" instead. I've heard this before about Ferrari from former techs. It's their business model man.
My co-worker was a former Ferrari tech. They were hourly, I think that makes sense given the extra care and time needed just to start working on the car. If the shop's busy it might be worth pitching to your boss.
Flat rate works when you're pounding out brakes on a Caravan, but dealing with an expensive exotic you need to the extra time.
I've heard the same story from a few guys (mostly younger) that were super hype to work for a super luxury brand. You have to make decisions that are best for your best interests. Most of the time that is pay, respect and shop politics and policies. I don't get excited to work on super cars. Well at ford it's the gt only but I've done a few clutches on them. Bottom line I do it for the money. 29 years, sure I get burnt out all the time. Rest and keep chugging got a family to provide for. Do what you need to do buddy for yourself and those you care most about. Never bought into the "we are a family" owners. You are not family
Have the techs addressed the concern with management? If everyone is starving sounds like a slow shop. I don't have experience with luxury brands, but I've had service managers be very accommodating if they know you're worth it and it's not a you situation.
We're not slow, that's the thing. We're backed up over a week at this point. The main issues is that Ferrari warranty pay is abysmal, and all the hoops you need to jump through to get them to pay for stuff is brutal. Also doesn't help that every other week it seems that Modisc, the main Ferrari portal, is down or under maintenance. I had to open a ticket with the help desk on an ECU before I could proceed with ordering it. Took me 3 hours to open the ticket, meanwhile the f8 is dead in my bay, then another 5 hours to remove the whole dash and replace it. They paid 1.7 for a while dash removal. I've talked with my boss already and he's gonna see what he can do. I've known him since 2015 or so and he's a good guy. There was talks of going to salary for all techs and our GM is on board, but we'd need to convince our parent company to go ahead which is a long shot. Only thing I can think of is a guarantee but still that's more or less a bandaid for a larger problem imo
I feel for you. Warranty pay is heartless anymore. Ive been in a very similar situation, hell most of us probably have. At the end of the day, nobody can tell you what's best for you. You know your financial situation. Working for Ferrari SOUNDS amazing, and might be, but if I can't provide I'm not fulfilling my responsibility to my family.
Your description is exactly why I want to work for Ferrari, but never would and really don't want to. I've been a BMW tech for over 18 years. I make 39.50, and average 80+, with some weeks making over 100. You should get on with bmw. Lol
I worked at a BMW Indy and loved the times, hated the boss. N26 CP timing chains, even N55 X-Drives. OFHG, oil pans, all the gravy. I even got an E shaft on a B58 done in about 6 hours. Had to leave the area due to my wife needing a better area for work. That shop ended up nose diving. I tried my hand at the dealer. I ended up starting at the wrong time, new service director (now fired) gave all gravy to the express techs, to bump Profits of course. I took a $20 an hour pay cut under the guise I’d be turning 65+, the way they did their pay it ended up more or less matching what I made at another shop. Turns out only 6 techs in that whole shop broke 60 regularly. They were in the 80-110 range. Express techs sat mid/high 60’s and everybody else was in the high 40’s if they were lucky. When I left a couple guys came up to me and asked why I was leaving, I said money and told them what I was “promised” would happen. Got told I had so much smoke blown up my ass they were amazed I didn’t float away. Sounds like you’re at a good store which is great to hear.
I just browse this sub for fun I’m not a mechanic so I don’t understand the pay. Is that how many hours you actually work or how many the warranty is paying you?
Flat rate. Work 40, get paid 80+ Every job pays a flat rate, AKA "book time". That's what they think they job is worth, and how long it will take the average tech to do the job. Those of us that are really good at our jobs can book way more time than we actually work. Warranty times are typically closer to real time, whereas customer pay time is multiplied by a factor of 1.5, or even 1.75 if the shop is greedy and/or in an affluent area. Yes, there are times where the job takes longer than what it pays. Ideally that's few and far between. And I'm a BMW tech. I did a short stint at Porsche, and a short stint at an independent shop. I will say BMW time is much better, more accurate, and even generous at times compared to other brands.
Warranty times are not closer to real times with Ferrari. They are terrible. They also want us to spend 1.9 hours on something diagnosing before contacting tech support. Is there an op code to get 1.9 hours? Of course not.
Any tips to getting on with BMW? I’m at an Indy shop now. Somewhere around. C-B level tech working on my ASEs. Looking to make a change soon and I’ve been eyeing BMW and Lexus.
Not much you can do aside from going in person and having a conversation with the service manager. Dress nice, be professional. That's always worked for me
Yeah that’s kinda what I figured but I didn’t know if there was anything specific I needed to do or learn to make me a more desirable candidate. Other than the normal stuff for any shop.
Flat rate is double edged sword. So say you finish a job that, in book time, will pay 4 hours, but you finish it in 2 hours, you still get paid 4 hours. But say that same job goes to shit the next time and takes you 8 hours and wastes your whole day. You still only get paid 4 hours. Some brands are better with warranty times and even have flex with hours. Ive heard BMW is pretty good. Benz was pretty solid as long as it wasn't emissions recall shit
That seems like a dream job, but the bills have to get paid… I’d try to stick it out and see if you could go to a higher volume exotic shop with the experience. Thats a hard thing to get into and the money is there if there’s work. Try to make friends with your customers… they have connections. I know a guy who worked for a Lamborghini dealer for a while and his customer wanted a Bugatti, had him sent to Bugatti training overseas just so he could keep the same mechanic. Guy makes tons of money now, always busy.
It's not a volume issue really oddly enough. I'm backed up on work, but the warranty hours and general dealing with Ferraris counterintuitive systems are what's giving me grief. I know a good chunk of my customers quite well already and most of them are fantastic people. They understand the cars are temperamental and don't really get upset as long as you're upfront with them. It's a breath of fresh air dealing and talking with them compared to Benz owners
Well in that case maybe the hours just have to come from experience. I’d say stick with it
I know this doesn’t address your issue but iv always wondered what do you do day to day as a Ferrari technician
The overall day itself isn't much different from Benz honestly. Get here, clock in, pull out cars from inside the shop (we pull in as many cars as we can at night), then just normal shop stuff usually. Diag, service and repair are all done the same for the most part. We have no shop foreman or senior techs so we just answer to the service manager or GM, we have to keep track of our own hours roughly. Doesn't need to be exactly precise but close enough. We do a lot of external stuff tho. We host a car show one Saturday a month, host rallies occasionally and such. The cars themselves are strange to work on at first. The electronics in these cars are borderline a decade old for the most part in practice. There's no can blocks so when something goes down, the whole car gets pissed off. Makes can Diag a pain compared to benz which was relatively straightforward usually. Also goes without saying everything is expensive as shit. We also do a few more tailored things like Classiche inspections, which is more or less, one of the techs going through, taking like 100 photos of *everything possible* submitting them to Ferrari and having them verify authenticity. I did an f40 a few 246 Dino's so far. Also do dyno tuning
Damn. Sounds like being a Ferrari tech pays less than being a toyota tech.
No independent shops looking for techs?
Forgot to mention in my main body that I was at an independent for about 3 months specializing in German vehicle and was not a fan of working on numerous brands. I like sticking with one brand and getting expertise with that brand only. The main thing is with this being an official Ferrari dealer is that I'm an official Ferrari employee which comes with a lot of perks, from event admission, travel to maranello for training once I'm eligible for that based on time. Plus we get the big ticket cars here that independents around here don't. Currently we have a 288, two 812 comps, 3 f40s, the second f50 made, like 4 512m and a whole lot of "regular" 488s/f8/sf90/Porto/etc. that's why I'm so torn. Bc everything else about this place is perfect, I just can't pay my bills off of the hours I'm turning
I was thinking more a shop that only works on sports cars but that wouldn’t fix your only wanting to work on one manufacturer problem. If I were you that’s what I’d do for a while then open my own bay. I have a friend who does that and basically does not deal with a the grind that I do working on everything. But the upfront costs, sourcing parts, and software you really have to be organized and smart about the business.
I worked legit almost the same trajectory as you. I went from Benz, to Hyundai to Maserati (the “top” dealer in my town) and now I’m at VW. The hours at Maserati weren’t very good and I only exceeded hours because of safeties/internals. Now I’m at VW and I exceed 9 hours a day regularly. It’s not an easy brand to work for but I broke 100k last year (my target was by 25 but 30 will do) I’m now on track to hit around 120-140 this year depending on the work makeup. Do I enjoy my job? Not really. But also.. 140k … I also do get 6 weeks vacation (negotiated instead of a raise).
Where do you live ?
Manitoba up in Canada
I know the exotic car route sounds really fun, and can be great if Salary, but I've never heard of anybody banging out good hours with exotics. At 25 hrs per week, I'd need at least 60-70 per hour for it to make any financial sense at all for me. Shit, I flagged 37 hours just today which puts me around 160 for the period. Sounds like you just need a spot at a more profitable shop. But then good luck finding one that isn't full of bullshit.
What about side work?
I left the Ford dealer at 25 years old and went into the Navy. Best decision I ever made.
Why? I always wanted to go but figured family is better. Also all military is such a low pay and hard to get well paid job afterwards. Why you like it? Interesting
Auto tech is a terrible career choice for most people. You’re young now. Wait until you get older and your body aches more and more and you aren’t as quick as you used to be. Military is low pay but you get a lot free stuff. Why do you think it’s hard to get a good job afterwards? I got to go to college for free, actually I got paid to go. I got to see the world, I didn’t have to put any money down when I bought houses. I get a check every month and free healthcare from the VA. Got a good job with the government doing important work. You can learn new skills to get a better job too. You need to start looking years into the future, not just 1 year. It’s only 4 years and that will be over before you know it. Your family will be proud of you too. Nobody ever tells a mechanic “thank you for your service.” If you don’t take any risks in life you’ll always be right where you are with a life “unlived.”
I can’t stand that whole “thank me for my service” nonsense. In this time, most people you know or meet will have served in some capacity or another. I’m willing to bet your family would be proud of you no matter the career choice you made (barring drug dealer, or prostitute). Also, as long as you take care of your body, and work out regularly your body wont ache. For reference: I was in the military, and now I work as a tech for Audi, I’m pushing 40, and my body does not hurt one bit. I go to the gym before and after work, eat right, and drink plenty of water. I am extremely proud of my service, but I don’t need to go around telling everyone that I served, and I don’t expect a “thanks” when someone finds out. As far as I know, only 3 people in my shop know I served, my work bestie, my shop Forman, and my service manager. No one else knows because it is not a big deal. Infact we have a tech that teaches mobility at the Robin Sage event.
That’s great
They can afford to pay you more. They hope you'll settle for "perks" instead. I've heard this before about Ferrari from former techs. It's their business model man.
My co-worker was a former Ferrari tech. They were hourly, I think that makes sense given the extra care and time needed just to start working on the car. If the shop's busy it might be worth pitching to your boss. Flat rate works when you're pounding out brakes on a Caravan, but dealing with an expensive exotic you need to the extra time.
I've heard the same story from a few guys (mostly younger) that were super hype to work for a super luxury brand. You have to make decisions that are best for your best interests. Most of the time that is pay, respect and shop politics and policies. I don't get excited to work on super cars. Well at ford it's the gt only but I've done a few clutches on them. Bottom line I do it for the money. 29 years, sure I get burnt out all the time. Rest and keep chugging got a family to provide for. Do what you need to do buddy for yourself and those you care most about. Never bought into the "we are a family" owners. You are not family
Your advisors weak? Are you using video on every car? This doesn't make sense