is being a mechanic worth it?

working on cars is good way to hate them while making shit money

>>16393409
dont become a car mechanic, instead become an airplane mechanic as they get paid better and you even if you hate working on planes its not like youll drive a plane home and work on one on the weekends.

>>16393409

You gotta already love taking shit apart and putting it back together.

I DIY on my Volvo and I hate European cars with every gut of my being regarding maintenance. Still fun to drive though desu.

>>16393425
2nd this

Go look at a tech school near you, see what courses they have. I'm in the middle of education for automation stuff. I get to play with a multimeter and spin wrenches most class periods. Just know that if you choose a technician job you must do your best to take care of yourself or you will be fucked as you get older. Programmer would be nicer working conditions but ask yourself if sitting at a computer is what you want your job to be. Also your job may just be fixing whatever shitty code some poo in loo wrote, outsourcing programming is kind of a thing now.
Also >>16393414 nailed it.

>>16393425
>its not like youll drive a plane home and work on one on the weekends
You don't know what OP is capable of

>>16393409
If you love cars then working on them for a living is the absolute worst possible thing you can do.
>Rusted, dirty shitboxes all day, every day
>Exhausting, menial work interspersed with periods in which you do nothing whatsoever
>You're completely reliant on service writers/cheap customers to make any money
>Around the holidays there's never any work
>All the worst parts of service/retail jobs, e.g talking to stubborn, ignorant customers, constantly trying to meet a sales goal, etc.
Don't do it desu.

Programmer sounds nice at first but you will end doing nothing exiting, just soul grinding code-monkeying interfaces for databases in java or some shit like that. Web dev and corporate programming are boring as fuck.

Put it this way. I've never met a happy mechanic.

>>16393515
*car mechanic

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In my experience, doing your hobby as a job usually makes you hate your hobby. I worked as a mechanic for 4 years.

You love cars because they're fun and rewarding to work on. I loved working on my old car and buying new parts, installing them and feeling pride in my vehicle. 99% of the work you're going to do in an average shop is going to be awful shit on commuter vehicles unless you work in a customs and hot rod shop, which are very picky. It's constantly dirty, you're rushed and customers are usually rude and in a bad mood.

Being a mechanic isn't a great job by any means. Especially at the start as a new hire when you're given all of the shittiest and unskilled jobs to do.

Programmer isn't great either. You'll be basically living on a computer.

The job market is kind of shit nowadays with globalization and the lack of big manufacturing companies.

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thanks guys, looks like i have 2 shit options hahaha

i kinda always wanted to open my own business, and both options seemed good for that... but now im having second thoughts

if both options are on the table, programmer is a way better career

>>16393515
The shop my dad takes his cars to was opened by three brothers.
One killed himself 10 years ago.
Another killed himself 2 years ago.

>>16393539
becoming a programmer is a much better option duh. be a code monkey for a few years save money then open your own business, if you fail, you have the programming thing to fall back on.

>>16393414
This.

look bro, if you are the kind of guy that likes to work on projects in your free time, get a job thats going to pay the most money for the least amount of work. fuck whether you like it or not.

at the end of the day, if you are too mentally/physically wiped from your job to work on your own shit, its not worth it and you end up resenting your job no matter if you like it or not.

>>16393539
Opening your own business is never a "good" idea--most fail. But its a good idea if you think opening it and having it fail is better than never having done it.
That's why I'm planning to open a bookstore in the next 5 years.

>>16393409
Programmer, easy. At least then you'll be able to make $120k/year like some of the other people hanging around on /o/.

I'd really recommend that you go to medical school though. Being a doctor will set you up for life.

>>16393553
Code monkey-ing pays nothing, there are Indians across the sea who are willing to do your same job for a third of the american minimal wage.

>>16393500
Maybe if every single retailer wasn't so disgustingly thirsty for customer money, customers would be nice and friendly. I have to become Rain Man whenever dealing with any salespeople ever. Fuck salespeople.

>>16393607
Being a tech school programmers isn't going to net you 120k

>>16393636
They don't work for that little unless you're hiring fraudsters

>programming
>chill in climate controlled room
>don't worry about getting dirty
>cool but not really

>mechanic
>indoors (if outdoors may God help you) sure but still come in contact with elements
>worry about getting dirty (its fun to get dirty)
>cool

>both
>responsibility

May others continue this.

I've been wrenching for over a decade and still enjoy my job.

Location is key in this field, find a job in a upscale city and enjoy gravy work on newer cars with clientele who only care how quick they get their car back and not how many payday loans they need to take out to have the fuel pump replaced on their 96 dodge intrepid.

Been making 70-80k a year working 5 days a week for the last 5 years.

Stay healthy and in shape, don't get in too deep with the tool trucks, make as much as you can while you can and plan an exit strategy for when your hit your 50's so you can retire and enjoy your life.

>>16393409

i know alot of mechanics, and i mean alot

alot of them are shit at their job and hate life but they work for the federal government so that's sort of a driving factor there

if you're not passionate about it or autistic over vehicles then it's probably not a good thing to look into as far as careers go

>>16393539
If you're a programmer you could also go into research, then into the big fields; talking AI, medicine, robotics, whatever you could imagine, needs people from computer science

The tradeoff is you need to live amongst academics for a few years until you finish your degree + get hired, plus you need to be good at what you do. At least you'll make bank though. I worked in an AI lab for year, it's alright, there's some politics.

Ask this question on /g/, no matter what you'll still have time to wrench

>>16393503
Yeah that's why I do infrastructure. It's a lot more fun, although it can be hellishly stressful if you wind up in a position where your position has outsize impact on a company's global operations, or if it's life-or-death work...or worse, both.

>>16393533
I got into my career as a hobby and after 20 years still love it. Except for never being able to take a real vacation. I may wind up being one of those guys who has The Knowledge who can't retire because he's one of the only people in the world with it, and what he knows is way too important. I'm acquainted with a dude in his 70s who has The Knowledge of old AT&T and Lucent PBXes, and makes mid-six figures doing part-time work for governments and banks that still have those systems.

Telco is a great big horrible bitch, but good god it can pay well. I'm kinda thinking of moving more in that direction.

But I can see it being totally different with automotive repair. You can't just tell a customer that you're gonna fix his problems by ripping out his engine and replace it with a new one that isn't total shit, and expect him to give you a massive budget to do it. In tech, that's normal and even expected.

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>>16393607
>Programmer, easy. At least then you'll be able to make $120k/year

you sound like every busniess major fresh out of college thinking they will get $60k out of the gate.

That mythical 120 will take years of long nights and weekend work, then you'll be a team lead or even god help you a manager

>>16393563
Dont you mean open a Cellphone repair store

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>>16393607
No

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>>16393409

Electric cars are the future. They don't have many moving parts, and don't require frequent service/maintenance. If you can become a programmer, do it.

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1078383_mechanics-worry-electric-car-brakes-will-ruin-my-business

https://www.thestreet.com/story/11917975/1/the-chevy-volt-driving-local-garages-into-the-ground.html

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/motoring-news/electric-cars-mechanics-with-no-specialist-training-risk-death-when-tinkering-with-the-vehicles-a6816786.html

>>16393409
Programmer.
100%.
Guaranteed work anywhere in the country. Nice clean office usually air conditioned, better career progression, larger companies will have better pension, benefits, share schemes etc

Being a mechanic would be shit

>>16394770
My friend is a programmer and his starting salary out of college was $62,000. Everything is tech now. Programming is valuable and you sound butthurt you can't do it.

>>16395506
These hybrid vehicles still have steering, suspension and brakes that need servicing. On top of that they use gasoline engines in tandem with electric motors. So if anything, these cars have a greater need for skilled techs than ever before and while everyone and their mom are attempting to become engineers and programmers while owing tens of thousands of dollars in student loans, the skilled auto technician is in short demand increasing pay for the guys who are smart enough to adapt and excel at it.

Nothing wrong with getting a little dirty for 100k/yr.

>>16395568
>programming
>hard
pick 1

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>>16393409
dont fucking do it, theres no money in being a tech anymore. your start pay is shit and you have to buy a shiton of tools to do anything, all of my coworkers say for me to get out of this field since its only going to get worse. heres bread to prove im a tech

>>16395886
>not bread on tool box
dumb ass

>>16395893
my tool box is nothing special and a pos i got from school

>>16393563
>bookstore

Don't you mean a kindle app store?

>>16393563
>Books
aka how to be a pretentious faggot that would rather live in a fantasy land than engage with the real world

don't do what you love, do what makes money, and use that to do what you love.

>>16395886
>shit pay
>posts a fancy bread

>>16396028
prob the worst advice ive ever heard.

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>>16393434
What kind of Volvo do you have my boy? Mine doesn't give a fuck if it's broken, and asides from it being rusty it seems to have been designed with DIY maintenance in mind. (Most) Everything is easy to access, big engine bay, very forgiving tolerances, and cheapish parts from FCP and IPD.

>>16396615
rwd is best volvo

>>16393409
>is being a mechanic worth it?
L O L
O
L

working on cars is what you do in your freetime

>>16396042

It's actually wise advice probably from somebody with experience in life. The "do what you love" cliche usually ends in a lifetime of wage slave poverty. The only exception is if you love medicine, law, or computers.

>>16393539
I started my own mobile mechanic business almost 5 yrs ago. Still love it...other than dealing with customers