community college?

Question

do auto mechanics earn more when they get their certifacate at a community college or vocational school

what the starting salary

Answer 1

It doesn't matter. An auto mechanic just needs his/her ASE certification and that will get their foot in the door at just about any dealership garage. From there, it just takes experience to move up the pay scale.

The starting salary will probably be $12-$15/ per hour, till you get some experience under your belt.

Some experienced top notch mechanics with dealerships earn $50-$60,000/year.
A lot of dealership garages pay by the job. Meaning, you get so much for an oil change, so much for a tune up, so much for a brake job, regardless of how long it takes you.

That's why experience is important. The more experienced you are, the better and faster job you can do, thus the more money you can earn.

Answer 2

Just to add on to summit's answer (which was very good, by the way), top dealership mechanics can earn over six figures.

That "pay by job" is the key. Getting and being able to quickly finish a large job is how you do it. You need to be very experienced for them to hand you a complicated job. However, it may be worth, say 10 hours. If you can do it in 6, well, you can spend the other 4 hours you should have spent on that job on other stuff. If that other job is worth more than it takes you, you're putting away a lot of hours. Being experienced, you should be getting a good amount per hour as well. You earn some big bucks that way.

In my state, $40-50K a year is what an entry to lower mid level mechanic makes at a good dealership. The top guys earn a lot more.