I will be looking for a new job here soon, and I'm thinking about working for MB.
I am already familiar with autos in general, and have been a tech for the past 7 years [I work on tanks for the Marine Corps].

How do you like working for MB? Is it better or worse than other manufacturers?
How is the pay? I will be living in Eastern MA.
Is it likely the dealer will pay to send me to get MB certified?
Where can I/would I go to get certified? Ie what school(s).
Is there anything I should watch out for? Go for?

What questions did I not ask that I should have?

Thanks in advance for your help.
Jeremy

*Mods, looks like I posted this in the wrong forum. Sorry.
Feel free to move to the appropriate one.*

 

MBZ will foot the bill for training at UTI, see details here:

http://www.uticorp.com/go/schools/uti/msat/elite/

 

Good info.
Thanks.

Anyone else?
I know more of you are techs.....

 

I'm one of those UTI, MB ELITE trained techs. Since you were in the military, maybe they'll pay for your schooling. $20,000 bucks for UTIs education is an absolute ripoff, especially with you knowing something about something since you worked on tanks. You're there for a year, learning what a spring and shock are, learning what a valve is, blah blah blah. Provided you've had some electrical training and can use a computer, you're good. A lot of dealers will hire you and train you. You have previous experience in a mechanical field, and a military background, awesome. The dealer will hire you on, you'll probably train with a tech, after a couple weeks you'll get sent to school in Houston. This is for systems training, and a whole **** load of stuff. Going through the UTI/ELITE program does get you 40 training credits, though I'm still confused as to what good it does. Training credits really don't mean a thing. The few times you'll be sent to Houston for training you'll learn pretty much everything we did in ELITE, only you'd be saving yourself 18 months of school including UTI.

I think MB is good to work for because the cars break. If you went and worked for Lexus, you'd be changing oil and doing brakes. BMW is another good one. Any semi highline European manufacturer is a good bet. Times are getting cut here and there all the time, MB is getting very picky about a lot of things because they need to cut costs as much as possible.

Pay is decent, really up to you to a point. Techs at my dealership make anywhere from 40k-90k. This is based on skill level, motivation level, scamming level, and experience.

If you love working on cars and have lots of motivation and can deal with the bull**** of the car business, you'll love it. If money is what you're after, be a service advisor (70-120k), or a salesman (120k-350k).

If you have any other questions ask away. I don't mind answering them, and as you can see I'm pretty straight forward about my experience.

 

I almost made the UTI mistake. Don't do it. Get hired as an apprentice and work your way up.

 

I don't intend to enroll myself, I was just curious as to whether or not the dealer would send me and pay for it.
Do you think that would be a bad route? [The dealer sending/paying] I actually have quite a bit of experience working on autos, I've just never done it in a shop [I'm self taught], so I don't know how it all works.
I've rebuilt engines, torn apart auto and manual transmissions, done wiring, ect.
The only reason I was interested in the schooling is if it made a difference in my pay and if it was required to be MB "certified".

:p

I am interested in the money, which is one of the reasons I chose MB, but I'm not interested in selling. I particularly enjoy being a mechanic.
Maybe some day I might try my hand as a service advisor. :shrug:
I plan on doing up a resume this week, and bringing it in to the service manager. Any suggestions on what to wear? Being MB, maybe a tie and all?
Any more input?

Thanks guys.

 

A tie always helps, but you don't need to go that extreme, you are planning on being a mechanic after all. Just wear something presentable. Defenitly go for the dealer sending you to training, they take care of all the costs, including airfare, food, hotel, and paid wages, at least thats how my dealer works. I believe our dealer also pays for a rental car if you're there all week. UTI was probably my biggest mistake, now I'm paying over $200 bucks a month in student loans.

 

Thanks alot man.

 

I trolled in here since I was a technician years ago with Volvo and of course always a shade tree mechanic. I appreciate the candor, I believe and it's proven absolutely true at this forum. MB's are made to break, and it keeps the $tealerhips in the black w/repairs. MB simply is not what they used to be.
The only people that will differ in opinion are those with deep pockets and PAY for their repairs, not those turning the wrenches physically on the cars.

Good luck rallyeslide on your job endeavors!!!

 

I was happy with UTI and Elite. I learned a lot that I didn't know going in, and had fun doing it. UTI's tuition is now about twice what it was when I went, but when I joined the dealer I was started off at a higher pay than somebody trying to work up from the bottom. Unfortunately after five years with the company, I've just lost interest in the product. Quality is on a steady decline, and the warranty times are being cut, although they're still higher than a lot of other manufacturers. I'm going to start working for Lexus within the next week. True, the cars never break. But the pay is the same, and it's mostly customer-pay maintenance work, so it's easier to make money. I've had enough of manually version-coding W220 clusters, doing SBC pump replacements on W211s and R230s, having the DAS lock-up during delicate flash procedures, having W140 closing assist problems where every part in the entire system has been replaced twice and it still doesn't work right. And let's not forget the check engine lights with self-adaptation codes where MB wants you to do a whole Bible-full of procedures and flow charts, and when it's all said and done, still not fix the problem. And let's not forget the 722.9 transmission where you have to make a phone call to even get authorization and a code to even work on the car.

 

Now, there it is, folks - straight from the horse's mouth. Refreshingly honest, and most disappointing in that it confirms what we believe about "stealerships."

 

Just for the record..."scamming level" is refering to the mb warrenty flat-rate times (and how u can beat them) not the paying client.

 

Thanks for the forum support! My .02 on automobile mechanics: they shouldn't have to play politics (scam or kiss up to get the 'good' jobs) to make a buck. Also, manufacturers shouldn't make money on correcting defects...only maintenance required by use. Defect (warranty and beyond) repair should be break even accounting for the manufacturer and based on actual, not projected times to control build and repair quality.

 

You are exactly correct. I have never scammed a client, and never will. The word scamming here is coming up with ways to beat MB times. We aren't paid great rates for each hour we turn. We make our money by earning 12 hours in a 8 hour day. Warning for some of you going to some dealers. At the particular dealer I work at, we charge book time for brakes, services, etc. Many dealers charge up to 2x book time for customer pay items. Just something to keep in mind, I'm not saying all dealers do this, but I have plenty of friends at dealers that do.

 

Thanks for all the replies, guys.
Keep them coming.

 

i was planning on going to UTI to get the mercedes background..... but i landed this job at a highflow independent and the boss pays for mercedes classes and we got a sds ...... we do use the wis too..... so basicly i got all the perks of the dealer and i didn't have to go to UTI, plus i didn't want to be at the dealer acuse they treat you like a machince and not a person.... but the pay is supposed to be pretty good. i went into this shop w/ some experience... i was running my dad's shop from the office doing the invoices and what not.

 

Dude gimme a break "stealerships" ? I hope you dont go around throwing blanket statements like that all the time . . .
Anyways, I will say UTI is a good stepping stone for any mechanics with little or no experience to reach the goal of becoming a skilled tech by means of their manufacturer programs, unfortunately the cost DEFINATELY sucks. Unless you can negotiate tuition reimbursement, then its no biggie. Going to training schools like elite is good in the sense that go get a lot of training that techs will take years and years to get. 40 credits is a lot. Unfortunately ELITE pumps so much knowledge and history down your throat its hard to retain it all. Anyways - outway the pros and cons and you'll be good

 

You guys are crazy.

I am a WyoTech graduate and an ELITE class valedictorian. I have a couple years in one of the highest volume Mercedes Benz dealers, and definitely the #1 AutoNation owned dealer in the country. First full year in I made 60K.

 

60k your first year, wow, you're awesome. So how are we crazy? What have we said that isn't true? You mentioned that you were your ELITE class valedictorian. Should this impress us? Been there done that. 60k a year may be alot for you, but I'm looking for a lot more than that.

 

I'm not here to start an arguement. I just noticed a few pretty negative comments about the dealer when in fact we are posting on a site used widely by our customers. I'm in no way bragging about how much I made.. who would brag about 60??? Just letting the guy know what he would be getting into if he attempted to take a similar route as I did. Valedictorian doesn't mean much to me, didn't know I was in the running until like the last week. Just one of those things that looks good on your resume, but doesn't neccesarily make you a great technician.

 

Hopefully by your "UTI was a mistake and now I'm paying $200 a month for it" wont make other people run away that have little to no experience. Just cuz you're paying $200 doesnt mean there arent a ton that arent paying anything.

 

Training should never be thought of as a mistake you only get what you put into it. 20 years ago I attended APEX and I noticed many students do just enough to pass and get the cetificate and very few that were way into turning wrenches and high performance tuning.If you have a chance to go to school make the best of it, turn yourself into a sponge and absorb as much info as you can ,it can only make you a better wrench or a person.After 15 years in the automotive industry I teach future mechanics , I can spot people from far that are going to be succesfull and lame ducks that just wants a paycheck.

 

You are definatly right about one thing...lots of negitivity tward dealers here

 

I agree...what happened to the techs that take pride in their work and are proud of what they do? Greed = bad technician.

 

$$$=Why I work. If I didn't need money, I wouldn't work. I feel $20k can be spent in better ways than attending UTI. I went through all that and speak from personal experience. There are plenty of techs at my dealer that came straight to the dealer with no experience and we trained them. Many are just as good if not better than the tech school guys. With a little common sense, logical thinking, and practical knowledge you can bypass UTI. The question was asked, I answered. I don't think there are wrong answers here. I feel the opinions of many of us is not negative towards the dealer, but negative towards MB.