What sort of weekly salary can a good auto mechanic expect to earn in the Knoxville area? (Morristown: mortgage)

[Leaving Long Island]

We are looking into moving to the West Knoxville or Maryville area and will be visiting in a few weeks.
My husband has been an auto mechanic for over 25 years and is very well paid here, not that it gets us very far here (high property taxes -ridiculously high cost of living), but we just don't know what to expect down there.


Can anyone give us any idea on a weekly salary and spare us from the shock when he attempts to "go chat with the local mechanics down there"? He is especially talented with high-performance work, lives and breathes anything NHRA or street racing, and is already thinking that he will have no other option but to just build cars, weld, etc. out of his "dream garage/shop" and keep coming back to NY for the money and all of his connections in this field.

[hiknapster]

Others may say different, but I think you are going to be in for a shock.

My husband has 20 years experience. He came here from Florida, where he was a shop foreman for over three years. WE have been in Knoxville for almost three years and it has not been easy.



He has been offered a job for $6 an hour. He has worked as a foreman where he brought home $725 a week. It has run the gamut. When he opened his paycheck, three weeks before Christmas, and found $200 less he walked off that job.

Since then, he has been in business for himself. WE have eeked by. Some weeks have been better than others.

We recently bought a house, so my husband got a job where he would have a paycheck. The guy promised him a minimum of $400 a week. That's what he made for two weeks, even though he should have made more. The second week he was told that he made more but the computer gave the extra money to a guy that didn't work there anymore and he didn't know how to fix it.

He never did see that money. The final week, the guy never paid him. He keeps saying the check is in the mail, and of course it never gets here. In fact, my husband should be over there this evening, to collect his check.

This is just to illustrate the shenanigans that can go on around here.

On the other hand, he has met a couple of very nice shop owners. One is a retired state cop that has befriended him and gave him work. The other is a shop owner that has also been an invaluable friend. Not only does he get him work, but he has let him use a cellphone when my husband didn't have one, moved his tools around when he needed to, brought a beautiful sofa, loveseat and ottoman to our house, along with other wonderful things, and gone out and bought beautiful gifts for our daughter.

He would work full-time for this guy, but work is slow.

We are in a recession and there isn't always enough work to go around.

The profession is looked down upon around here, because many guys are taught by their dad how to fix cars in their driveway.

I hope I gave you an idea of what it is like here. I love the area. I would encourage anyone to visit and see if they like it. Some do, some don't.

I have never heard of employers that don't pay, or drop the pay, or the check bounces in the northeast, where I am originally from, but this has happened in Florida and Tennessee.

It is a very different culture here and it takes getting use to, but I decided in the end to call it home. I imagine things are tough all over.

The area is doable. Don't get me wrong. I just bought my first house, I will be able to make my first mortgage payment, Lowe's really loves us, and we went out to dinner last night.

Just don't expect fat paychecks. However, your husbands interests are the interests of many here, including my husbands. He very well may enjoy it, especially if he goes out on his own.

If we can help in any way, let us know.

And I hope this post is readable. I don't have my glasses on!

[Leaving Long Island]

[SIZE=5][/SIZE]
thank you so much hiknapster, even though you are the bearer of bad news

I'm sorry that you had and/or are having such a tough time moving down there. If it's any consulation, we're struggling up here too despite higher wages - the cost of living around here is a joke.
Honestly, the move off long island will be more for our children. Our 17 year old son and 9 year old daughter do not even have a shot at the american dream here, unless property values drop by 50% or more AND somehow magically, property taxes start to go down .



What I don't understand is WHY isn't the field respected down there .
Up here we also have lot's of kids coming out of tech school,etc. and they usually get hired at dealerships that are notorious for lower wages, but that's NOT descriptive of the whole field, and ALL mechanics aren't lumped into one category or level of expertise. My husband has never worked for a dealer and says he never will.

I just cannot accept that there is no demand for highly skilled specialists in the field. Someone must be doing that kind of work, but clearly, kids out of tech school could not possibly have the skills. What gives?

[hiknapster]

Aha! My husband has never worked for a dealer and never will.

There may be a school around here that teaches tech, but I'm not aware of it. My husband, down here, has managed guys that have no automotive education. He has not run across anyone that was taught this in high school.

I know. It's strange. We are use to the big vocational schools up north.

My husband graduated from a Florida high school. They didn't have vocational high schools there, either. So he worked and went to technical school. Both full-time.

He thought he would do very well here because he has the training, but apparently that and the experience is not enough. In every case, he has had to come in at ridiculous wages, and then gets raises. Big raises (for here) almost immediately. You have to prove yourself. But understand that $700 take home is very good pay here.

That's just the way it is. I guess I came across the wrong way, again. I love it here. We are doing well. I'm 46, and for the first time in my life I was able to afford a house.

I don't know what you mean by "I just cannot accept that there is no demand for highly skilled specialists in the field." I'm not lying to you and that is just the way it is. Different regions of the country do things very differently.

Have you visited Knoxville, yet?

[mbmouse]

I know this is not going to be about Knoxville but a good friend of my hubby opened up a shop in Grey a year and a half ago, only works on Toyota and Nissan's. Has a 4 week waiting period constantly, has the same 4 guys that work with him. They are doing a fantastic business. However the big key maybe the fact that he was born and raised here. There is another guy I know of in Greeneville, worked only on imports as well and specialized on VW's. He did a great business but could never keep a decent mechanic on staff no matter what he paid them, I know he was a good honest man he ended up retiring verses trying to hire yet another mechanic to help him as he was getting up in age.

[knoxgarden]

There are a lot of performance shops around. You don't see much drag racing or even street racing in Knoxville. This is dirt circle track country. He'll find plenty of local racers around and several shops that built race cars and parts. Goddard's, between Maryville and Knoxville, builds the Warrior chassis for dirt late models.
Goddard Performance Parts | Warrior Race Cars :: :: Welcome
There are several engine shops around, including Custom and Vic Hill.
Custom Race Engines - Knoxville, Tennessee
He might want to check out Carmax, they're hiring here:
CarMax Locations
I bought my last car there and have been impressed with their service operation.
If he's got experience with European cars, he can probably do well. There are relatively few independent garages that repair volvos, Saabs, BMWs, etc. and those are always backed up. (Former Saab owner).

[Leaving Long Island]

Knoxgarden -
Thank's for the links, but we're not at that point just yet.
We'd be moving next summer - if we decide on Knoxville or even TN.
Just trying to get an idea if it's a good move or not.

If there are a lot of performance shops around, then there must be a demand. It doesn't really matter if there is a track in town or not.
We don't have one eithor. The nearest track is in New Jersey - three hours away.

mbmouse-
Thanks for the insight. Yes, a good mechanic is hard to find and keep - unless they are paid well and given some respect by their employer. That said, my husband has been working at the same shop now for over 10 years. He has been offered many other jobs - without even looking for one, based on his reputation alone in the area. This always led to a raise. Now, he's being offered a raise again NOT to move. It just gets more and more confusing for us. Move? Don't move? Yikes.


hiknapster - Yes, visited last summer with my daughter but my husband and son stayed behind.
My brother moved to Friendsville from Orlando, Fl. two years ago. ( He also dragged my mom and dad with him from Orlando and found them a home in Maryville) I also lived in Orlando for about 8 years, but just had to come back to New York ( where I grew up) as soon as I was old enough.

My brother lucked out and got a great job at Alcoa - supervisor of some kind -and also works part time /on call or something like that for the Knoxville police department .
Whatever... he always wanted to be a cop but supposedly the PAY SUCKS for a cop in Knoxville AND Orlando so I guess he just does it for fun . He was a part-time cop in Orlando too . A great person to know, but doesn't have a clue as to what a mechanic earns in Knoxville. We've asked him to check into it and ask around many times . Hmmmm... just had a thought. Maybe he just doesn't want to TELL us so that we'll move there already.

We'd be okay I'm sure as we have a house to sell that can buy something decent down there without a mortgage payment and then some, but even so, I'm pretty sure that If I dragged my husband down there and all he could find for work as a mechanic was $6 an hour, he would kill me and bury my arse in the mountains somewhere, so I really have to be sure that this is the right move.

[hiknapster]

Well, the chances of getting paid $6 an hour are slim. Clearly, that guy was nuts!

I really hate answering that question, though. Inevitably, you get answers from people that don't really know what an auto mechanic makes and my husband comes off looking like an idiot.

No offense, MBMouse. In fact, your idea of running your own shop is great. I truly think that's the only way to make any money around here. But a guy that says he could never keep anyone in his shop, how no one was qualified...well, it could be true. Let me say this, though. We've heard that story a lot.

The last guy that he worked for? He said he couldn't keep anyone in his shop. He was glad to hire my husband because he couldn't find anyone that was qualified. After three weeks, my husband had to chase him for his money. He didn't know how to pay him more than $400 because he couldn't figure out the computer program. And the other two guys? He didn't pay them at all and they both quit. Now the owner is by himself. Again. (Yes, Fred got his money, last night. The check that was in the mail never materialized.)




Good luck to you, Leaving Long Island. This area is wonderful, especially for raising children. It is not for everyone, however. It sounds like you'd have lots of family here, but your husband very well may resent the move, if he has 25 years experience. Leaving that kind of job security during a recession is probably not a good idea.

Oh, and I swear, I am never answering this question, again.

[weisgarber1]

There may be a school around here that teaches tech, but I'm not aware of it.

Both auto mechanics and diesel mechanics are taught at the Tennessee Technology Centers in Harriman, Knoxville, and Morristown, and perhaps at other technology centers as well.

[ElizaB228]

Well, I have the complete opposite from the above story.... we were in Maryland where my husband had been working as a diesel mechanic for a company making around 40K-60K. The benefits were really good as well. The housing market there is sky-high though and he was commuting 78 miles one-way because we bought a house in an area where housing prices were lower but gas then was a WHOLE lot cheaper and it was worth it until they sky rocketed. So we decided to move here to buy our dream house... which didn't happen due to the real-estate market, but that is a whole other story. Anyway... we posted his resume online and was contacted by a company here looking for a top notch diesel mechanic. He flew down to talk to the owner and liked what he saw... and now we are here and making a whole much more than he was back home. The benefits aren't quite as good but do-able. I don't know if your husband does diesel work but the money is here for that... they say we are in the bible-belt... well we are also in the trucking-belt as well. The money is here for the making in diesel work !! A diesel mechanic can make any where from $15 - 26 p. hr. but that is for a top diesel mechanic.