I’m 37 been in the trade for 7 years in dealerships of 3 different makes, Maserati/Alfa, CDJRF and Volvo. same dealership tech exploiting bullshit at all 3. Corporate chains, franchise chains and one salary position (no benefits) in commercial fleet maintenance shop. I hate it. Long hours, working days off, stress of flag, moving toolboxes between jobs, extraordinary tool costs. I like electronic controls and computerization diag and generally the technical aspects of the work itself but the environment and employers and never ending financial catch-up game are sucking the life out of me. Nor do I want to be a self-employed mobile mechanic as working on broke peoples shitboxes in their driveways sucks even more.
What are the other options?
This may not be the answer you expect, but you can nearly do ANYTHING you want to do. The big question is - what do you WANT to do?
Do you want to stay in automotive? If not, figure out what you’d prefer to do and pursue it. If you do want to stay automotive, make a list of every single auto-related job you think would interest you. From parts guy to some sort of odd work from home tech support.
One thing you should definitely check is federal/military jobs. They pay well. Excellent benefits. And the work load would likely be much more manageable. USAJobs.com is the only way to apply for federal jobs.
I just went to USAJobs and typed “mechanic” in to the keywords box. There are 1,251 listings. Anywhere from $15 per hour to around $80k a year for specialist positions (such as electronics equipment specialist).
You may seem stuck with what you’ve got. You may have blinders on to the rest of the world. And/or you may feel like you’re drowning in 3 feet of water and only need to stand up.
Pick your head up. You’ve got this!