How much does an auto technician make?

Answer 1

With a automotive tech field being mostly 100% commission based obviously there is lots of room for variance. I would have to say 95% of technicians make 20k-105k a year gross. Probably 85% of technicians make 40-65k gross annually. Generally there is a "sweet spot" being a technician. Mostly all tech's making over the 55k mark are at a manufacturers dealership. These are (most of the time) higher trained and higher experienced tech's. Also, picking a brand like Kia or Hyundai will result in a lower commission rate. On the other side picking dealers like Audi, Mercedes, or even Lexus will result in a higher commissioned rate at the downside of having far less cars on the road to potentially service. In my personal experience as a career tech dealers like Ford, Chevy, and Honda have the best balance between commission rate and volume. Another thing important to a dealer employed tech is the ratio of customer paying work coming into the door compared to warranty work. Warranty work is better than no work but generally pays anywhere from 30-60% of what the same job would have been quoted to a customer.