chevyboy_z28

im 16yrs old and unlike most other kids my age i dont really wanna be a doctor, or a lawyer...i wanna be a truckdriver and a mechanic/technician. my question is do any of you guys know of a program in the metro detroit area that is like the "hot rod-u" program offered at UTI in Illinois or offers the same kinda training. im already sort of a do-it-yourselfer but theres alot of stuff i dont know much about thats why i wanna take up a class or something when i graduate?

have any of you went to a school (trade school) or something like this that was beneficial to your learning more about cars.

IROC5.7TPI

Macomb and Oakland Community Colleges both have advanced programs available. Also you may want to get an entry level job at a local dealership and go thru their ASE training program. They will pay for it and you will have opportunities to advance to better, higher paying jobs.

Another thing you may want to do if you aren't already is to read car magazines. Read in-depth all of the technical articles and try not to focus on one single primary interest. What I mean is if you're into Camaro's don't close your mind to Mustangs or even 4x4's or imports. Learn about as much as you can and have an open mind.

I wish you luck in obtaining your goals.

94_formula

washtenaw community also has a few great programs..im there with you i dont want to be either of those for a profession..also if your school offers it try to get into there auto classes..its all a good start

streetbad

I started trade school at S.E.O.V.E.C when I was 16. This was through my high school. Ask a counsler at your school if there is a trade school that you can attend while still in high school. I had to ride a bus / drive a long way to do this,but I liked it. S.E.O.V.E.C is still there,(14mi & Coolidge) but now has a different name. If you want to drive a truck, keep your traffic record clean. Take your Z to the track. Schoolcraft College also has a trade program that I compleated. A lot of professsional race teams hire mechanics/truck drivers.

chevyboy_z28

i really dont have time to get into any programs like that right now b/c i have school and work all the time but i want to get into one after i graduate in order to better my knowledge of not just my car but alot of others.

Black Sunshine/ 00SS

"i wanna be a truckdriver "

If that's what you want to do, then decide what you want to haul. Such as over the road, or a local route driver. Believe it or not, the route driver is one of the higher paying jobs. You are limited by law as to what you can drive at a certain age.

I haul cars for the big 3. It's a great job, but I'm not home every night. I think I'd give up a little bit of the $$ for something like working for Coke. I almost had that job, but got into a car accident 2 weeks before they called me in for my 3rd interview.

Understand that you're gonna get screwed over for a few years in the trucking industry, because most of them like to see you with 1 - 2 years experience.

Being a mechanic can be a good job, if you can get in at a good dealer. To do that you have to be on top of the game. So go to a good school that is actually going to teach you to work on the type of vehicles that you really want to work on.

Bottom line, no matter what you decide to do, strive to be the best at what you do.

chevyboy_z28

i work at meijers right now so i figured ide just work my way up the ladder through shipping/recieving into the actual truck-driving and be able to retire early b/c im only 16 now. i really dont wanna be a full time mechanic i just wanna take a course or two so ill know how to work on my own stuff and learn how to build my Z into a monster and whatever else comes along. my father makes pretty decent money driving and if we would budget right wed actually see some of it, so i think i can go far in that field of work!

IrocSS85

thats how I became a mechanic. I went to Henry Ford comm. college 2 classes a semester while I worked full time after graduation. the class's are great and get right down to the point. w/class time being split with shop time and classroom time. I never liked school before I went there, but when your act. interested in what your learning about, youd be suprised what a diff. it makes. now, I didnt get a degree, just took selective class's in the order I wanted to learn them. starting with basic eng.s, then moving to electrical, then eng. rebuilding and so on. the school is great but it mostly focuses on ford products cause ford gives them vehicles and eng.s and the like to use. but that didnt matter cause your just learning the how and why.
they also have class's like auto machining and dynomometer (spelling?) operation.

I got a job at a dealership after I had some certificate's and started as a mech.s helper/trainee. to learn the ropes (which I highly recommend).

I really like the field cause its the kinda thing thats always changing/evolving. no day of work is like the last one. the only down side is its flat rate pay. which is just like comision basically., sorta.

good luck to you.

chris

chevyboy_z28

that program sounds a whole lot like the program over at Wayne County Community College (WCCC) that is sponsored by ford and lends the program actual cars to work with! i was kinda against this particular program (simply b/c it had something to do with ford) at first but i am learning that to be succesful in this you gotta know your competition and for me that means diversifying my mind and looking into more than just Chevrolet

chevyboy_z28

does anyone have any knowledge of the program over at Wayne County Community College b/c thats the closest one to me?

Chris Ja

I worked at the dealerships for many years line tech, sevice advisor, and service manager. The program you want to get into is the ASE asap program. You are going to have to go for a state cert and a ASE cert. The state cert will get you in the door but you will only have so much time to get your ASE cert. GM wants all tech to have ASE certs with I think a year of startingtime for areas being worked on. Now if the dealership has you only work on one area of the car or truck then that is what you will need certs in. Also the ASAP program is were the school or college will help get you a job at a dealership. You will go to school part time and work at the dealership part time. The dealership will pay you like $8.50 a hour while your working with a tech. I have seen like 10 guys go thru the program and some are making like $20.00 a hour now.
Once you have completed the programs your best bet is to go to the import dealerships and get a job. They pay much better anywhere from $18.00 a hour too $28.00 a hour. I worked at some Import stores over the years. There is money to be made. The Import stores techs work on the hole car were most GM stores each tech only works on one area of the car. Hopes this helps.