I have a friend that was a diesel mechanic and I was a gas mechanic for 20+ years.. the money is gone from both jobs. He went on to be a warranty claim adjuster at a engine re-manufacturer and I still wrench but on my own products. I am a used car guy now.
when I started wrenching it was a 60/40 split on labor and 5% of parts.. Now, you are lucky if they offer you high teens on flat rate. The best paychecks I ever got were at that first shop, as I got more experienced and more tools pay just kept going down..
There is a reason no one is entering these fields.. They no longer pay to enter. Who is going to drop 50-100K on tools for 16 dollars an hour?
I ran a federally-funded homeless veteran program about 30 years ago. One of the things we did do was buy them tools if they had a trade. Spent quite a bit of money that way.
Not so many months ago, a local WI Gordie Boucher dealer had billboard sign advertising start mechanic at $28 and up
Some of the dealer techs do pretty good but it depends on the service writer. If he/she gives you all warranty work, you’re screwed. That whole flat rate thing will get you too, especially if you’re working at a non dealer shop. Almost impossible to hit the mark on those times until you’ve done the same repair procedure a few times(and have all the best equipment and special tools).
Diagnostics pays pretty good but they’ve used it to break down the field into smaller roles. Once diagnosed, a mechanically inclined illegal alien can do the parts swap.
I can relate to this one. I had about 50 yrs. experience in the mechanical field;most was on cars & trucks,but l did very little diesel. As it was stated....there ain’t no money in it & working conditions vary as to how much they may suck. Back in “the day” it may have been pretty good(I’m told it was),but times changed & not for the better. Nowadays,in most but not all cases,it’s probably not worth even considering.