Comment: Average age of todays mechanic's

[wrench459]

Take a guess

[George]

twenty three

[Dennis Texas]

I'm guessing HS graduate with two year automotive skill trade class
21

[Crazy Harry]

I'm guessing around 30: Newbies are about 23 or 24 (High School plus college and apprenticeship hours to get a licence), then there are some oldies still plugging away. In all - Young enough not to know what a carburettor is

Harold.

[biglefti]

24 and likes beer.

[ddoyle]

I am going to say 44. There is a shortage of skilled technicians and is expected to get worse.

Dan

[OriginalOpelGTOwner]

I agree. I am going to say 44 as well for the same reasons.

[opel kid]

well as soon as i get out of school i'm going to be a mechanic so 18?

[2 Fast 4 U]

Wild one, I say pushing 50 [that would be on Dutch standards]

[Dennis Texas]

my answer is wrong do we get second choice. LOL

[ungermm]

Average age? Most mechanics have past away which brings the average age way up. However, most of the mechanics haven't been born yet which brings the average way down. Hmmm....I'm a pretty average guy and I'm 53. That's my answer. But, maybe you need to define what a mechanic is. I'll assume you mean living mechanics that earn money for fixing cars. Oh well, I'll stick with my first answer and hope it's right. Wait, no one has guess thirty something yet. So, I change my answer to 35 which is 53 reversed.
And the winner gets?
Jerry

[hallgeir]

Wild guess....., eh........, 37??

[jeff denton]

How about ex (truck, heavy equipment, marine) mechanics, do we count? Hey, I still work on race cars every Saturday night.

[wrench459]

From a reliable source 50 years old AVERAGE!!!!
This has got me a little.. no allot worried about were I'm going to have my vehicle repaired in my old age.

[opel kid]

well, if it's 50 then i'll just get a head start

[2 Fast 4 U]

Originally Posted by 2 Fast 4 U Wild one, I say pushing 50 [that would be on Dutch standards]

Originally Posted by wrench459 From a reliable source 50 years old AVERAGE!!!!

Almost bulls eye

Originally Posted by wrench459 This has got me a little.. no allot worried about were I'm going to have my vehicle repaired in my old age.

start learning to be your own mechanic, if I can do it you can do it to

[jeff denton]

Originally Posted by wrench459 worried about were I'm going to have my vehicle repaired in my old age.

Step one is the consumer has to be comfortable with paying a shop the kind of hourly rate that can make it worth keeping open.
Step two is the shop owner has to share this shop rate (after paying the overhead) with his mechanics at a rate they feel is worth showing up for.
It's tough! These are both really hard to do! They work hand in hand, require good management, experience, location, proper targeting of clientele, and a solid reputation. To be especially diverse AND have a unique specialty works well, too.
I sure don't miss it. What an awful waste of time all those years were. I could have been making real money a long time ago if I just knew how and could get a start somehow.
Now I have at least a hundred grand worth of tools and equipment I don't need anymore. What a waste.

[wrench459]

Originally Posted by jeff denton Step one is the consumer has to be comfortable with paying a shop the kind of hourly rate that can make it worth keeping open. Step two is the shop owner has to share this shop rate (after paying the overhead) with his mechanics at a rate they feel is worth showing up for. It's tough! These are both really hard to do! They work hand in hand, require good management, experience, location, proper targeting of clientele, and a solid reputation. To be especially diverse AND have a unique specialty works well, too. I sure don't miss it. What an awful waste of time all those years were. I could have been making real money a long time ago if I just knew how and could get a start somehow. Now I have at least a hundred grand worth of tools and equipment I don't need anymore. What a waste.

Jeff you said that sooo good I'm not going to edit anything.
But I must say that I enjoy working on automobiles.
As I pass the half century mark here's what I've got to show for the hard work. House is paid off,three titanium rods in the back,enjoyed every minute of the challenge,arthur in every joint(old joke). I've got an extra t-2 bit that I'll swap for for a butterfly impact

[ungermm]

Originally Posted by wrench459 From a reliable source 50 years old AVERAGE!!!!

Hmmmm, Did this source consider the ages of all the auto mechanics from China (14 years old, even though the legal age is suppose to be 16 or older)? Or, maybe I'm having an over 50 moment.
Jerry

[2 Fast 4 U]

Originally Posted by ungermm Hmmmm, Did this source consider the ages of all the auto mechanics from China (14 years old, even though the legal age is suppose to be 16 or older)? Or, maybe I'm having an over 50 moment. Jerry

Lets go for the maybe moment

[wrench459]

Signal protocols
There are five signalling protocols currently in use with the OBD-II interface. Any given vehicle will likely only implement one of the protocols. Often it is possible to make an educated guess about the protocol in use based on which pins are present on the J1962 connector:

SAE J1850 PWM (pulse-width modulation - 41.6 kbaud, standard of the Ford Motor Company)
pin 2: Bus+
pin 10: Bus–
High voltage is +5 V
Message length is restricted to 12 bytes, including CRC
Employs a multi-master arbitration scheme called 'Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Non-Destructive Arbitration' (CSMA/NDA)
SAE J1850 VPW (variable pulse width - 10.4/41.6 kbaud, standard of General Motors)
pin 2: Bus+
Bus idles low
High voltage is +7 V
Decision point is +3.5 V
Message length is restricted to 12 bytes, including CRC
Employs CSMA/NDA
ISO 9141-2. This protocol has a data rate of 10.4 kbaud, and is similar to RS-232. ISO 9141-2 is primarily used in Chrysler, European, and Asian vehicles.
pin 7: K-line
pin 15: L-line (optional)
UART signaling (though not RS-232 voltage levels)
K-line idles high
High voltage is Vbatt
Message length is restricted to 12 bytes, including CRC
ISO 14230 KWP2000 (Keyword Protocol 2000)
pin 7: K-line
pin 15: L-line (optional)
Physical layer identical to ISO 9141-2
Data rate 1.2 to 10.4 kbaud
Message may contain up to 255 bytes in the data field
ISO 15765 CAN (250 kbit/s or 500 kbit/s). The CAN protocol is a popular standard outside of the US automotive industry and is making significant in-roads into the OBD-II market share. By 2008, all vehicles sold in the US will be required to implement CAN, thus eliminating the ambiguity of the existing five signalling protocols. Did not happen the Sweet Old Bobs got grand fathered in
pin 6: CAN High
pin 14: CAN Low

This is the stuff I'm dealing with today....still wondering who is going to fix my car in 15 or so years.