Tech1993

Hey i stater to become a lexus fan every sence i saw that beautiful LFA and fell inlove with lexus cars nd the technology in them and how fast its growing. Im going to become a Technician one day and right now im a mechanic on a shop woking my way up and hoping to get in the Lexus dealership but i keep on searching the salary a Technician makes but i keep on seeing 20 hrs and hour or more (i know it depends on were you work and how hard you work) but the highest i seen make was 50 and hour and other than that i seen less. But what i really whant to know is how much does a Lexus Technician really makes I'm also not doing this because i think Technicians makealot of money but is because i know that later in life im going to wake up knowing im going to work on cars witch is a thing i love to do and i know lexus is now requiring technicians to trin alot of electricity witch thats were the money is and im hoping to bew on the top one day. so my question is....how much does a LEXUS Technician really make?????? (Average)


Thank you!

BDSL

At your current spelling and grammar level, you are not going to make much....

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

If you work in a shop already, you should know how the pay structure works...

In ~most~ shops, Lexus included, there are different grades of techs. First, you have your GS, or general service tech. He/she is responsible for simple things like oil changes, tires, and things that most anyone can do, but doesn't want to. Depending on the area of the country, experience, time with company, etc, pay will be between minimum wage and $12-$14 and is generally paid on an hourly rate. In a labor manual, a GS tech may be referenced as a "D" level tech.

Above GS, most shops pay technicians based on the amount of work they do, not necessarily how many hours they are in the shop. We call this Flag Rate or Flat Rate Hourly. In the labor manual, we rate these as A, B and C techs. The better, more experienced techs will be paid more per hour, be able to do more things, and have a higher rating. Typically, as a service manager, we don't assign work to techs that don't have the training and experience to do the work, so, higher rated techs are more valuable. Depending on location, experience, time with company, etc, it is not abnormal for a lead tech (the guy with the most experience and leadership in the shop) to make over $30 per flag hour. An entry level, C tech, however, may start as low as $9-$10 per flag hour.

Now, here is where techs can really make out, this flag rate stuff. Say a customer comes in and requests a timing belt change with water pump, cooling system flush and an alignment. Average timing belt is 4.5 flag hours, cooling system flush is 1.0 hours and alignment is 1.2 hours. (these times may vary depending on car) Now, as a tech, we want to get this done as quickly and efficiently as possible. Why? because we are getting paid for 6.7 hours worth of work, whether it takes us 4 hours or 10 hours. So, instead of working, lets say we make $15 an hour, and in a 10 hour day would normally make $150 on a normal hourly system. This particular day, not only did we do the timing belt and maintenance job earlier, but, we also did a clutch, master and slave cylinder for the clutch which paid a total of 6.5 hours, as well as a complete brake job front and rear which paid 2.5 hours. This particular day is not at all unreasonable for a good tech, and he/she just got paid for 15.7 hours worth of work, or, in this case, made $235, an $85 increase over if he/she was paid just hourly. This means that although his rate is only $15 per hour, on that particular day, his effective hourly rate was $23.50. I used to have a tech that would average 80-100 flag hours per week. He was my lead tech and was paid $21 per hour (in a small town, in a large city, he probably would have been paid $30). He was in the shop roughly 50 hours a week, give or take. That means on a 100 hour week, his effective hourly rate was $42 per hour. He got work done quick, period, and could do anything you threw at him...

Now, here is the catch. A badly run shop may have too many techs, or just not be that busy and that much work not be available. The flag rate still works out most of the time, but may not be able to beat hourly in pay terms, but definitely in work terms.

This system works well, IMO, techs tend to get things done in a timely manner, which benefits the customer and the shop (more productivity, cars back faster), and, they get compensated for being good at their jobs...

Hope this helps, if it is confusing at all, or you would like any more information, just let me know...

TheDream

^Thanks for the info. I knew about the flag hours but I didn't know about teirs of techs. I thought they train everyone so they can do most jobs, with the exception of major things that would be left to the most experienced. Does the service manager assign jobs or is it all computerized now?

Mikeyy

iTrader: (3)

Most dealers have a dispatcher who dispatches the workload according to their expertise. Like the lube techs would only get the oil changes and tire rotation, etc the easy stuff. The line techs would get the more advance jobs like timing belt, diagnostic, etc. Certain jobs like Hybrid diagnostic would only be assigned to the Master Hybrid Tech.

Basically for most people, you start off as a lube tech, and with each training you get you move up the ladder

RTIS250

iTrader: (9)

A lot of shops are moving to an electronic repair order system now, where work is dispatched electronically. But there is usually still some oversight by someone on who gets what. Lead techs top out around 30-35 an hour (in a flat rate environment). If you can clear 60-80 hours a week flat rate, then you're going to be making upwards of 6 figures. Usually there are only a couple guys in the shop that make that much though. While there are certain people that are higher trained than others, its encouraged that all techs do all work. How else are you gunna learn?

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

With this economy, if you could flag 40 hours you are good. I know soo many techs from different dealers moving to an independent shop for better pay. Just saying.

mitsuguy

iTrader: (2)

At a crappy run dealer maybe? Too many techs at the dealer? My techs consistently flag 60 hours a week and I think they could be faster at times... I used to have a tech that would consistently flag 80-100 hours a week...

starknight

iTrader: (21)

IMAO

GS4_Fiend

iTrader: (22)

Depends where you are located and depends if customer are willing to send their cars to the stealership. Now days, people go to independent shops and get the job done cheaper.

VVT-i

I think Mitsuguy nail it to the head about the flat rate hour and how much a tech should make.

You will learn while you're burn. If you want to make more money by doing the job as fast as you can you will get burn because every car you'd touch will come back and bite you in the rear end. You will learn to slow down and take times to do the job right the first times.

In the past 20 years I've seen a lot of young men came in as a trainee and all they want to do is make money and a lot of money......they got fired. Some of them went out and opened an independent shop,but not success.

If you need to be a good tech, first, you need to ask you self " Can I fix every car like my own for the next 30 years and be honest to the customers?. If your answer is yes, then the money will comes. You need to know about yourself and learn what's you really want to do for living.

Buying a guitar does make you a musician. Buying a tool box and tools does make you a tech.

Brian@Vossen

Listen to these words. As far as I am concerned the best Lexus tech EVER.

2cars4Trbo

iTrader: (8)

All this talk about rushing to get the most work done, makes me happy I wrench my own car.

VVT-i

I'm glad you do your own wrench and hope your SC won't have any major problem that you can not do it yourself or wrench it yourself...lol.
If you read the entire thread you may pick up something beside "rushing".

2cars4Trbo

iTrader: (8)

Coming from pulling engines and tuning modern Audis and BMWs, I welcome the change...My life is a hell of alot easier since I moved away from German cars. More room to work with under the hood, less torx heads that constantly strip out, less specialty tools..the list can keep on going...

What I got from the thread is the new system or flag rate as its called encourages technicians to pump out as much work as possible in order to make more money. While thats great for the technician, if the service manual says a timing belt job is 4 hour job, then its my belief thats its a 4 hour job to make sure things are done right.

People can get complacent very easily when they get into the swing of things and before you know if a mistake happens.