Who would want to be a mechanic, these days?

[v8pete]

Hi all - just interested in what you think on this one? Are modern cars getting such a pig to work on nowdays that you'd be daft to want to train as a mechanic, as you'd probably come home each day with split knuckles and a rotten temper! Yesterday I'd planned to do a cam belt change on our little Audi TT - now I've done belt changes before on a rover twin cam, MX5 etc and built a few rover V8's in my time. Anyway, about an hour into the job, it dawned on me that access to the belt area was so appallingly bad that this was going to be just a battle-of-wills; absolutely no enjoyment whatsoever. In the end, I couldn't even manage to get the top part of the cam cover off (there was nothing left that I could see to remove to make better access – other than the brake master cylinder ! – and I was about to start ‘forcing’ things&#8230 which had I not built a cobra a few years back, might otherwise stand as a serious slur on my mechanical skills. I would say on the contrary, it shows just how difficult many modern cars are to work on.

So next time you hear some young person saying that they'd like to "become a mechanic", what advice would you give them?
Pete.

[Snake the Sniper]

Most modern cars require a computer to work on them properly, and I for one dislike working on them. Old cars are easier to fault find, mainly due to less electronic parts.

[Avocet]

I think cars are increasingly designed by people who have never had to work on one these days. It's very easy to get bits to fit together on a computer screen and you increasingly end up with engine bays being like the inside of a laptop PC with absolutely no wasted space anywhere.

As far as young kids wanting to be mechanics, I'd say "yeah, no problem, but you'll need to be pretty bright"! It's just a question of upping skills to keep pace with the technology. I can see being a mechanic becoming a degree course before too long. Maybe we need to create an extra tier of jobs to recognise the skills? There was a time when a good blacksmith could fix most faults on a car. Those days are long gone now. I don't bother stopping to try and help people who have broken down any more - I'd probably need a laptop and diagnostics software anyway! Even the mechanical bits are much more tricky. Tourque settings used to be for girls once upon a time. Now you really need to be careful because components just aren't over-sized like they used to be!

[V8OWNER]

I think tools provided its actaully getting easier, basically you need to know 'jack schitt', just read what it says on the computer screen and 'plug and play' replace that part. If that doesnt work see what the computer tells you to replace next.. all the time passing the cost onto the customer.

e.g 10 years ago if my car was using alot of fuel id turn the mixture screw a bit, nowadys its cost me 4 grand in parts.