Mild Rambling with a Dose of Stupidity

[MrSony]

Gonna go on a little ramble. Earlier this month I got a job as a Lube Tech (oil changes, tire rotations, etc) at a big-ish local Chrysler car dealer. I know, I know. Chrysler bad. I had a friend who worked there who was leaving for the Air Force, so I applied knowing there was an open spot. Me being a car guy, I thought I'd be a shoe in. I got hired almost on the spot. A week in the brakes went out on my car. As it was my only car, and I just got hired, my boss was cool about it (probably didn't want to do the paper work to fire me in all honesty) and had my car towed to the workplace for the "techs" to fix the brakes, and they'd just siphon the bill from my next couple checks. Sounds cool right? I also thought I might as well have them replace my two bald tires as it's winter, and from expereince driving that car in the winter with no brakes and two bald tires is not fun. 'specially when you're going down a hill at 30mph at a 45* angle through an intersection in 3 inches of snow. Fast forward 9 days later and basically nothing had changed. They ended up replacing the master, the prop valve which I guess was needed. They also replaced the line from the prop valve to the rear distribution hose, and the axle lines because they were "blown". Ok, I guess he blew my rear lines. Weren't blown when I drove it previously, but whatever. They were the most janky *ss lines I've ever seen run. The prop to axle line was touching everything it possibly could, and was kinked near the hose where it goes through the frame. Great "tech" you got there. And get this, the tech guys' boss told me he told him to run the lines as "efficiently as possible" and that it was my job to re-do the lines once I get the car back. Excuse me, what?

Over the course of the 9 days it was there, at least once a day I would amble over to the lift where my car was (about 50 feet away, when work was slow and we were basically just waiting for cars to show up) just to see what was happening with everything, at the very least to marvel at my pristine rust free floorboards. If the "tech" happened to be there, I would shoot the sh*t and ask him what he thought of the situation. He would tell me what was goin on, I would nod along. We'd talk about cars n sh*t. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

After 9 days he, and at times upto 3 other techs (at least one guy to pump the brakes for bleeding I assume, either that or he was diddlin himself in the driver's seat) still couldn't get the brakes to work, even with the new master, all new rear lines (I installed a new hose a few weeks prior, old was swelled shut), and a new prop valve. They got fed up for the day, and shoved it outside so they could continue on with other cars, which is understandable. I'm not the only guy who's car needs fixed. Customers come first, it was a public dealer after all. They said the car needed to stay there for a few more days because the tech just couldn't get the brakes to bleed properly and they were talking about ordering another master (I wouldn't have to pay for it obviously, but it was just more time my car was not working). So, that means he spent about 5 days trying to bleed the brakes? Is that what he was doing all that time? After work I drove the car out of the parking space they left it in, said "Nope." and pulled it back in. The car was no better, if not worse than when it came in 9 days prior. And the tires which arrived about 5 days prior were still sitting in the tire room un mounted.

I gotta say, around day 7 I was starting to get a little annoyed. I started asking some of my co workers things like "how long are cars usually in here for", "is this guy a good tech (genuine question, he was one of the youngest there, maybe early 30s at the oldest)", stuff like that. Apparently, word got out that I was questioning the tech's abilities, at least in the time it was taking. The tech got butthurt and complained to the boss. Looking back on it now, if you can't fix 80s GM brakes in 9 days, you probably should take a look at your skill set and see where it's lacking, to put it lightly. I ended up getting fired over it because the tech was apparently so angry, he was ready and willing to fight me and the technician area boss didn't want any fighting. This is the first I've even heard of his unbridled anger, so it caught me off guard a little. The tech boss called me into his office, told me the previous statement, fired me, and then ordered me off the property immediately and told me to walk about a mile in 30 degree weather to the nearest gas station to wait for a ride. I said "Ok", but as soon as the door closed behind me, I said "**** that" and I went and sat on the trunk of my car until my ride got there. The tech boss guy came out and said since I was no longer working there, they wanted the car gone, legally they couldn't let me drive it, so they towed it back to my house, with the still unmounted tires in the back seat, which by the way were the wrong size and brand (the new tires on the car I got last summer were 195/75/14 primewell blackwalls, and the two tires they got were 195/70/14 uniroyal tiger paws, so I guess the tech didn't even bother looking and just guessed at the tire specs and got the cheapest shittiest tires).

I then took a two hour nap, and spent another two hours bleeding the brakes my way (as opposed to gravity bleeding which the tech tried to do) with my dad working the pedal. "My way" is just the ol' clear tube into bottle of fluid method. Bled the 4 corners, took er for a spin, and voila, my brakes work. Take that **** face.

So, to some it up, I got fired three weeks into a decent albeit low paying job ($10 an hour, bi weekly checks [****in hate those]) because of the incompetence of a "certified tech" that was "once of the best" there. sh*t, if he was one of the best I'd hate to see the work the rest of them do.I fully support the notion if I would've not had my car taken in there, I'd still be working there today. No car, no "tech" monkeying with it, no reason to question abilities, no firing. Seems simple enough.

All is well I suppose. Working on new stuff in general irritates me to no end, let alone stupid *ss Chryslers. Driving cop cars and new Challengers was cool though. Being rushed to work on cars I didn't understand was really shitty. If can imagine if I had to do that for years, it would make me hate working on cars.


Rambling over.

 

[fleming442]

Welp, that sucks. Hoist by your own petard.

 

[307 Regal]

Being rushed to work on cars I didn't understand was really shitty. If can imagine if I had to do that for years, it would make me hate working on cars.

That's basically why I never became a mechanic. It takes me long enough to even work on my Regal, let alone my Century. That pretty much leaves bustin' knuckles on the rest of the town's rides out of the question. Didn't help that one of my teachers at community college said that there were many days where he couldn't even close his sore fingers to grab a water bottle.

But d*mn, even I'd get your brakes done in less than 9 days. Good on ya.

 

[MrSony]

That's basically why I never became a mechanic. It takes me long enough to even work on my Regal, let alone my Century. That pretty much leaves bustin' knuckles on the rest of the town's rides out of the question. Didn't help that one of my teachers at community college said that there were many days where he couldn't even close his sore fingers to grab a water bottle.

But d*mn, even I'd get your brakes done in less than 9 days. Good on ya.

Yep. I mean, I'll work on stuff for my friends and family, but having to do an oil change, rotate tires, etc on a car you've never even seen before let alone worked on in 20 minutes by yourself sucks. For 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, wears ya out.

 

[64nailhead]

Well young man, you just discovered the difference between an employer that values you, implying they invest in you as a person and as a productive mechanic, and a shop that values what you did today. I wonder what was the average time of employment at that place, I'll bet pretty low,

I'm a service manager for a truck dealership, but we don't have entry level type positions like you just started at/got fired from. I look for young guys just out of trade school or young guys with some ambition and general knowledge. From there I train them for 6 months. Hopefully by 4 months they are beginning to be able to bill out 20-30% of their day. Training is a requirement, mostly online, but must be completed. To become fully certified for the OEM and Cummins is about 300 hours, which we pay, but it's done on your time - not while at work. I fire plenty, about 3 out of 5 new guys, but the 2 out of 5 that apply themselves, show up to work without excuses and prove that they are learning and applying what they are learning move into $40-50K / year guys. Some get there in a couple of years or so, others within 3-4. It depends on the person. In this area, that is a more than respectable wage for a sub 30 year old. My senior guys make more than previously mentioned, but they produce, have good attitudes and show up to work.

We all work together respectfully by discussing issues with each other, no yelling or screaming and no back stabbing. No one worries about their tools getting stolen and we all operate with the highest levels of integrity - no bullshitting the boss or each other. Those that do are weeded out in the 3 out of 5.

You have to decide how you want to work. You're a young guy and you found an employer that isn't the type of place that I would like to work. You should've went and talked to the guy that couldn't get your brakes bled, but perhaps the same result would've occurred. But addressing him face to face is the best way to eliminate any issues and perhaps learn something in the process, and then both gain and earn some respect - in both directions. Again, perhaps it would've went poorly due to the type of employer you were at, but maybe not.

End of my rant to a young guy trying to explain how things can and should go. Some employers suck, but not all of them.

Best of luck to you, keep your head up and keep putting effort in. It will pay off at some point. You can expect very little success without any effort IMHO.

 

[lilbowtie]

Your getting a taste of the real world. Sounds like your boss was trying to help you out and things deteriorated from there. Don't know the level of your education but I'm sure you have learned the more you have, the more doors you open. You need to seriously look at what you want to do with your life and strive to get there. I have been fortunate to have jobs that I really enjoy and it doesn't seem like work.

 

[DRIVEN]

Well, I guess you can cross lube tech at the Chrysler dealership off the list of things you want to do when you grow up.

 

[Turbo Zach]

Too bad you don't live a little closer to my area. I probably could help you out. Auto mechanicing sucks around here. Low pay, shitty places to work, and big tool investment. Maybe you should look into Heavy Equipment Repair? Lots of places to work and more money. Construction companies are always looking for someone like you.

 

[TURNA]

Welcome to the real world!!

 

[MrSony]

Yep.