Mechanic wage

mushtafa · 4 Aug 2016 at 22:14

I do have a Facebook page setup for my private work. It does OK.

My wage pays the bills, the Facebook income buys the treats

sigma · 4 Aug 2016 at 22:20

Does it do well enough to put it towards more equipment rather than treats? Are you asking for people to spread the word for you?

mushtafa · 5 Aug 2016 at 07:42

My wage only covers the rent, bills, food shop etc, so the treats would also mean days out with my 7yo, house repairs, school uniform, clothes in general, etc

I ask everyone I do work for to spread the word, but they either can't be bothered, or forget maybe? As far as I know, they are always happy with the work I do. Never received negative comments.
I only ask them once to leave a review and share the page, sounds rude to keep asking them.

Syla5 · 5 Aug 2016 at 09:01

mushtafa said:
£30K isn't unrealistic. I own tools, yes. But I will need to buy equipment which is normally company bought.

Ramp, compressor, welder, tyre changer and balancer, alignment equipment, A/C machine, diagnostic hardware and software subscriptions from the top of my head.

You can easily not start off with all the bold stuff. Tyres especially as if you have a tyre machine you need to consider holding a stock of tyres or mess about going and getting/having tyres delivered etc.

Alignment Equipment is more specialist as well, and can be very time/income inefficient. A nice to have not a must have to begin with.

A/C machine much the same, initially not worth the investment while you are getting started, and shifts focus away from potential core business.

Arguably you could also hold off on the welder as well.

As a qualified MOT tester you have the advantage of being able to focus on a part of the business that gets you turning over a solid amount of money while being time efficient. Correctional work, and work that gets more specialist can follow on once you have established your business and have hired a second tester who can help with the core business churn.

dalin80 said:
We had to have a new ATL with pit put in at our new premises due to room constraints (the footprints demands for a new fit NOT grandfathered are mahoosive) and that set us back £45000.

Ouch, that's significantly more then a family member paid when having his second MOT ramp with pit put in!

john_s · 5 Aug 2016 at 13:32

Syla5 said:
You can easily not start off with all the bold st6uff. Tyres especially as if you have a tyre machine you need to consider holding a stock of tyres or mess about going and getting/having tyres delivered etc.

Alignment Equipment is more specialist as well, and can be very time/income inefficient. A nice to have not a must have to begin with.

A/C machine much the same, initially not worth the investment while you are getting started, and shifts focus away from potential core business.

I'd agree with that. Find some local specialist companies for things like that so you can call them up to come in and deal with those elements when you need them.

mushtafa · 5 Aug 2016 at 21:27

The tyre equipment I would agree with, but some jobs are impossible to do without disconnecting some part of the A/C system. It was more me talking out loud really.

I just need to find someone in the know, and work out some sort of business plan, see how big of a loan I need, then work out if I can afford it....

snappyfish · 8 Aug 2016 at 07:47

mushtafa said:
I do have a Facebook page setup for my private work. It does OK.

My wage pays the bills, the Facebook income buys the treats

All tax paid? I was reading this and seems they have some power these days, even able to check your car value against what you earn and make some checks.

snappyfish · 8 Aug 2016 at 07:48

mushtafa said:
Are you a mechanic? What is your rough wage?

I only ask because I feel I need to earn more. I've Googled for an average wage, but even those results vary a lot.

I've been working at the same place since leaving school - 15 years ago.

Fully qualified, plus additional training, and MOT tester.

I earn around 23K a year and feel it's not enough - thoughts?

Gross?

mushtafa · 8 Aug 2016 at 20:46

No, not tax declared. It wouldn't be worth it otherwise. I know the risks which is why I'm not doing too much work.

Yes - gross pay.

Net pay, minus my tool payments etc leaves me around £310 a week

snappyfish · 8 Aug 2016 at 22:01

mushtafa said:
No, not tax declared. It wouldn't be worth it otherwise. I know the risks which is why I'm not doing too much work.

Yes - gross pay.

Net pay, minus my tool payments etc leaves me around £310 a week

I would say Mechanics in the car industry should be paid more.

snappyfish · 8 Aug 2016 at 22:06

mushtafa said:
No, not tax declared. It wouldn't be worth it otherwise. I know the risks which is why I'm not doing too much work.

Yes - gross pay.

Net pay, minus my tool payments etc leaves me around £310 a week

You have to buy your own tools?

mushtafa · 9 Aug 2016 at 07:35

Yes, the majority of mechanics have to buy their own tools and storage.

Syla5 · 9 Aug 2016 at 08:56

The benefits of which is you take them with you when you leave and over the years you will build up a pretty comprehensive toolbox.

bakes0310 · 9 Aug 2016 at 09:55

Just seen a jaguar land rover apprenticeship up in my area. Poor money till the apprentiship is over then I'm guessing you would be on £21k going by a previous poster.