What is it like today to work in the dealership service dept - it is any good these days as a new career? I see at the local community college they have course programs from GM, Ford, and Toyota which prepare people to work in those dealers, I guess they'd be considered "factory trained" then as opposed to a regular mechanic.

I was considering the option of going back to school for a career change but not in a dead-end career. I had thought of this about 20 years ago but I wonder if the world of auto service has changed better or worse - aside from going more and more electronics. And then, which is a better program or place to work - GM, Ford, or Toyota?

 

I can't speak for GM or Toyota but Ford always seems to need diesel techs. I worked as a lube tech at a local Ford dealer and honestly, the dealer wasn't getting much work. There is good money to be made working at a dealer, however the economy has really hit dealerships hard lately. If you go the technician route try to get a job as a tech at your local UPS hub, those guys make very good money (I wanna say like 50-60k) and they have a union so job security wouldn't be an issue.

 

Hello Pony07,

The program we have is called, Ford Partnership for Advanced Studies. It’s an academically rigorous, interdisciplinary curriculum and program that provides students with content knowledge and skills necessary for future success in such areas as business, economics, engineering and technology. You should check out the site.

Deysha