uberwhelmed,,,
Between Bloo, waiting for parts, short frellin’ days at the J.O.B. feeling the winds of change in direction
My center is feelin’ a might wobbly, in need of a pre-load adjustment so to speak.
I never worked at a dealership. Corporate shops (the ProCare line) independents in several places, including a wife beater shop that didn’t last long (I was close to using a Breaker bar on the owner when I caught him beating on his wife, the secretary. Figured it was safer to just load my tools and leave, which is what SHE should have done, though I doubt she ever did.) Managed a corporate Line shop (fast change place,,,) Did my own independent thing off and on,
BAILED on it all when the SoundDOOD things became more than a weekender hobby, and made more in a couple years than I did in ten of turnin’ a wrench. I won’t spill the beans on my final contract rates in touring, but man, If I could turn those rates now,,,,
anywhoos,,, I digress. I know I am seeing shifts in my info feeds (the algorithm will adapt,,,) and one of the general vibes I keep picking up is that The AUtomotive repair world is in BAD TROUBLE. Techs leaving at increasing rates,,, Parts suppliers getting sub-par inventory,,, One that carries across several skilled trade areas: no new coming techs/tradesman. Not just auto, but plumbing, machinists, even carpentry.
I know this was Mike Rowe’s big schtick; to push the “don’t go to college, go to tradeschool” thing. Little too late in some ways, there is gonna be a HUGE generational gap between those taking that advice now and the outgoing NOW. Lots of lost knowledge, some of which will never be recoverable.
I can garan-danged-tee you, Mike in Fla has some knowledge buried behind those three brain-cells of his about ‘buildin’ an enJinn’ that will leave this world with him. Lord knows there are things I useta know, and may recall if I really get into this, or may not, but when I’m gone, If I don’t start passing that stuff along to someone esle, like the Franks and Clay did for me,
GONE! POOF!
I can say, CORPORATE POLICY has done a lot of damage to how things were to how things are. Like the current packaging of cars, with their “Propietary programming” and 45 omtergrated computer systems that requires annual updates (that independents pay HIGH DOLLAR FOR if they want to stay competitive, typical starts around $300/year, the better more direct dealer types are on the order of $3000/year PER MODEL,,,)
and it is never about the customer or even the technicians doing the work. The customer gets jacked over, the tech gets the short end of the pay stick, and the MAKER/OEM gets a cut on everything, everytime,,, Its about dollars and numbers, Cars designed for first owner, second owner and THAT’S IT,,, They are designed to shit out and parts will be replaced by the next design and not produced after the inititial decades long run,,, Aftermarkets will have to pay a royalty fee to the original designer (OEM) if they want to keep the cars running, IF the new owners don’t just roll the thing to the riverbank and burn it to turn into insurance claims as stolen.
I’ve even noted some ‘shady’ parts from sources in my efforts. Like buying a 195 degree t-stat, but the engine never gets over 185*,,, One make, just ship it all in whatever box it fits in,,,, And the parts places are all getting in on the “no warranty if installed” Of course they are because they would lose thier asses and be buried in dead parts waiting for the wholesalers to make good.
Apologies all, it’s been a downer day, short day, no sun, cool drizzly weather that brings on bad moods and of course I had time enough to soak up some negative vibes in UtooBie feeds,,,,
I’m gonna drop the ball there for the night, and go read a book,
Live
Learn
LOVE
Laugh
LOAD!
*this causes some drivability issues in certain vehciles: the engine never goes into closed loop mode and uses MORE Fuel,,,
Dio's Workshop 
yeah… Good times create weak men, weak men create hard times (where our society is now), hard times create strong men, strong men create good times… We’re halfway through the cycle. Keep eating right and living good and Good will give you opportunities to pass on your knowledge and values.
LikeLiked by 2 people
December 18, 2025 at 9:33 pm
Truth!
I would hope there were some close that were willing to learn, I was trained to teach in a past chapter before I went into the Marines,
yeah, my life has been a whirlwind of chapters,,
Ain’t done writing that story by far,,,
LikeLiked by 1 person
December 18, 2025 at 9:45 pm
What Fred said above!
Understand about the teaching, too. That’s a big part of my trade, as well. Attempted to make a lot of ‘prentices (and some Journeymen, too) understand how things are, and why I did things my way – not the books way. Most of ’em did learn (at least some of the stuff), some REALLY shined; but some of ’em just had too dam many rocks in the way to get through to ’em.
Anywho, ‘preciate the shout out. Many thanks! I’ve seen a bunch that had an incredible amount of knowledge, and it went with them. Dam shame!
Hatez to see things goin’ so sideways, but as you’ve said before ‘Ain’t a dam thing I can do ’bout it’. So, head on a swivel, eyes & ears wide open, and situational awareness AT ALL TIMES.
Oh, and no apologies needed.
Y’all take care,
Mike in FLA.
PS: (so I don’t ferget later) All Y’all have a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year😉😁
LikeLiked by 1 person
December 19, 2025 at 5:58 am
my wife and I both have a Toyota mini truck . Hers being a 2000 Tacoma with the four banger and automatic. We bought it new and she’s put darn near 300 k on it. Mine is a 92 . Same basic motor only with a manual trany, less than 200k on it. Without fail hers breaks inner door latches on a regular basis. Operator error me thinks , cos mine are the same latch and still the original still . Cost like twenty bucks on zon, forty at AutoZone and $100 at Toyota…
Watched a video on YouTube the other day dude replaced inner door latch on his new Ford pickup… part not available as only latch anywhere. You must buy the whole inner door panel from the dealer as an assembly for just under $400….
other day my neighbor had a customers BMW twin turbo rich boys toy. Car in for a headlight change. Unit must be replaced as an assembly. In order to replace the the complete fixture. In order to do this the whole front clip had to be removed including inner fender liners and grill…COST of new single headlight assy $2000 !!! Not to mention that all the control modules had to be removed from the old one and retrofitted to the new one…
he charged the man $500 labor.
dealer rate would have been $200 /hr.
LikeLiked by 1 person
December 19, 2025 at 8:00 am
Times arent like the 70s and 80s anymore. Amd the numver of specialty tools is insane
LikeLiked by 1 person
December 19, 2025 at 8:59 am
The old phrase “they don’t make ’em like they used to” becomes more relevant with each passing year.
I remember being 16/17 back in the 80’s, hanging out in a garage with my buddies, always wrenching on somebody’s old beater (generally a 60’s or 70’s model) just to keep it on the road a little longer. No computers, no special equipment – hell 9 times outta 10 we didn’t even have a manual for the car we were working on! Just the collective “knowledge” of some teenagers, maybe an older brother if we were lucky, and a second-hand collection of basic tools. That was it. And somehow we managed to keep a fleet of old Dodges, VWs , Fords, an old IH Scout, even a Porsche 914 rolling. Lots of bloody knuckles, frustration and an entirely new and expanded vocabulary of cuss-words, and some of the best days of my life.
LikeLiked by 2 people
December 24, 2025 at 2:25 pm