Mate. I have been a motor mechanic all my life. Specialising in 4wd and European. I am 45 now. I gave it up about 2yrs ago. Make good money. NAH. Own your own shop and make good money.YES. Go home with cuts on your head,skinned knuckles,grating your teeth at night,covered in s**t and p****d off then go for it. 1st yr apprentice,clean tools,sweep floor,monkey to others,2nd yr same but now get to do basic service,3rd yr do all above and now start getting into major things,4th yr do all above but really get pushed into jobs you have not been trained in then ask for help. After done time, pushed into big wild world, then get ya head into gear and suck it and see. The making of a great mechanic is one that has done the hard yards,has a lot of nouse and can actually think and look at a problem and figure it out themselves. All my apprentices I have had have gone hard and done me proud. Both in my civilian trade and my Army time. The simple reason is that I actually gave them my time and experience and knowledge and instilled it in them. I did not want any of mine to go through the same as I did. So if you find a joint that actually trains you and has a great informed interest in you then go for it. You will find the major dealerships will do this for you. As I had for me when I first started. I first started out as a Jaguar,Daimler,Rover,BMW mechanic and had a great start in the mechanical world. After I finished I went and joined the Army getting a posting in Townsville in RAEME for 4 yrs. Then I left and worked as a mechanic for a drilling company in Townsville doing fleet maintenance and eventually got my drillers ticket. Look for what your after and where you want to end up. You may take some shortcuts along the way but stay focused on what you want your initial outcome to be and work towards that by looking at what jobs are on offer and if they will help you in the long plan and will they put you eventually where you want to be. I after being a greasey as I said chucked it and now I drive coaches. Making a s**t load more money than I ever did chucking spanners. Your choice is yours. I wish you luck. Talk to a lot of mech's and they will probably tell you the same as I did. Until they start paying apprentices more than 2 bob a week they wonder why they cannot get tradesmen. As I said mate I was highly qualified and knowledgeable but the fact of the matter is employers want to pay nothing for people that know everything. There are guys out there that pay high but they are few and far between. In the end we all need to eat and survive.
) but even in cities/major towns it pays $60k+ from what iv'e seen over my time.
