Automotive technology is rapidly becoming more sophisticated, and most employers prefer applicants who have completed a formal training program in automotive body repair or refinishing. Most new technicians complete at least part of this training on the job. Many technicians, particularly in urban areas, need a national certification to advance past entry-level work.
Related job titles are: Auto Body Technician, Body Technician, Auto Body Repairman, Automotive Painter, Auto Body Repair Technician, Auto Body Repairer, Autobody Technician.
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Important Auto Repair Technician degree information -Top of Page-
- To become a fully skilled auto body repair technician, formal training followed by on-the-job instruction is recommended because fixing newer automobiles requires advanced skills.
- Excellent job opportunities are projected because of the large number of older workers who are expected to retire in the next 10 to 15 years.
- A repair tech needs good reading ability and basic mathematics and computer skills in order to follow instructions and diagrams in print and computer-based technical manuals.
How much does an Auto Repair Technician make in salary? || Auto Repair Technician pay -Top of Page-
Median hourly pay of automotive body and related repairers, including incentive pay, were $17.81 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earn a salary of between $13.74 and $23.57 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earn a salary of less than $10.75, and the highest 10 percent earn a salary of more than $30.17 an hour. Median hourly pay of automotive body and related repairers were $18.95 in automobile dealers and $17.40 in automotive repair and maintenance.
Median hourly pay of automotive glass installers and repairers, including incentive pay, were $15.44 in May 2008. The middle 50 percent earn a salary of between $12.40 and $18.88 an hour. The lowest 10 percent earn a salary of less than $9.71 and the highest 10 percent earn a salary of more than $23.39 an hour. Median hourly pay in automotive repair and maintenance shops, the industry employing most automotive glass installers and repairers, were $15.34.
The majority of auto body repairers employed by independent repair shops and automotive dealers are paid on an incentive basis. Under this system, body repairers are paid a set amount for various tasks, and pay depend on both the amount of work assigned and how fast it is completed. Employers frequently guarantee workers a minimum weekly salary. Body repairers who work for trucking companies, buslines, and other organizations that maintain their own vehicles usually receive an hourly pay .
Auto body repair helpers and trainees typically earn between 30 percent and 60 percent of the salary and pay of skilled body repait tech. They are paid by the hour until they are skilled enough to be paid on an incentive basis.
Employee benefits vary widely from business to business. However, industry sources report that benefits such as paid leave, health insurance, and retirement assistance are increasingly common in the collision repair industry. Automotive dealerships are the most likely to offer such incentives.
What is an Auto Repair Technician? || What does an Auto Repair Technician do? || Job descriptions -Top of Page-
Auto body repairers, often called collision repair technicians, straighten bent bodies, remove dents, and replace crumpled parts that cannot be fixed. A repair tech repairs all types of vehicles, and although some techs work on large trucks, buses, or tractor-trailers, most techs work on cars and small trucks. Auto body repair techs can work alone, with only general direction from supervisors, or as specialists on a repair team. In some shops, helpers or apprentices assist experienced repair techs.
If the car is heavily damaged, an auto body repair tech might start by realigning the frame of the vehicle. A tech chains or clamps frames and sections to alignment machines that use hydraulic pressure to align damaged components. "Unibody" vehicles-designs built without frames-must be restored to precise factory specifications for the vehicle to operate correctly.
Once the frame is aligned, an auto body technician can begin to fix or replace damaged body parts. Less serious dents are pulled out with a hydraulic jack or hand prying bar or knocked out with handtools or pneumatic hammers. An auto body repair tech uses plastic or solder to fill small dents that cannot be worked out of plastic or metal panels. On metal panels, an auto body tech files or grinds the hardened filler to the original shape and clean the surface with a media blaster-similar to a sand blaster-before repainting the damaged portion of the vehicle.
Many large shops make auto repairs using an assembly-line approach where vehicles are fixed by a team of technicians, who each specialize in one type of repair. One tech might straighten frames while another tech repairs doors and fenders, for example. In most shops, auto painters do the painting and refinishing, but in small shops, auto body repair techs often do both body repairing and painting.
Work environment for Auto Repair Technicians -Top of Page-
Auto body techs work indoors in body shops that are noisy with the clatter of hammers against metal and the whine of power tools. Hazards include cuts from sharp metal edges, burns from torches and heated metal, injuries from power tools, and fumes from paint.
How to become an Auto Repair Technician || Auto Repair Technician classes and degree programs -Top of Page-
A high school diploma or GED is often all that is required to enter this career, but more specific education at a trade or vocational school is needed to learn how to repair newer automobiles.
Continuing education and training are needed throughout a career in automo body repair. Auto parts, body materials, and electronics continue to change and to become more complex. To keep up with these technological advances, an auto body repair tech must continue to gain new skills by reading technical manuals and furthering their education with classes and seminars. Many companies within the auto body repair industry send employees to advanced training programs to brush up on skills or to learn new techniques.
Certification by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE), although voluntary, is the pervasive industry credential for non entry-level auto body repair techs. This is especially true in large, urban areas. Auto body repair techs may take up to four ASE Master Collision Repair and Refinish Exams. A tech who passes at least one exam and has 2 years of hands-on work experience earns ASE certification..
Where are the Auto Repair Technician jobs? -Top of Page-
Auto body techs and related repair techs held about 206,000 jobs in 2006; about 13 percent specialized in auto glass installation and repair. Fifty-eight percent worked for auto repair and maintenance shops in 2006, while 20 percent worked for auto dealers. Others worked for organizations, such as trucking companies, that maintain their own motor vehicles.
Auto Repair Technician job opportunities and outlook -Top of Page-
Jobs for auto body repair technicians are expected to grow 12 percent over the 2006-16 decade, as compared to 10 percent for all careers. Demand for qualified auto body repair techs will increase. In addition, new automotive designs of lighter weight are prone to greater collision damage than are older, heavier designs, so more repairs are needed. Jobs growth will continue to be concentrated in automotive body, paint, interior, and glass repair shops, with little or no change in auto dealerships.