UTI...The school..

[want-a-fast-svx]

Just was wondering if anyone here has gone/is going to UTI for the automotive program. I'm highly considering going to this school because of the porsche program they offer. If any of you know or have gone to the school, could chime in and lend me your thoughts that would be great. I would like to go to the school then after the main part go to the porsche school to become a porsche tech. I just want to make sure this is the best way to go about doing that. Thanks in advance for any and all help. I want to start this in january so I can get started to get on my way to having my own shop.

[Alycone]

I apologize, but when I see UTI I can't help but think of the medical abbreviation for Urinary Tract Infection.

[want-a-fast-svx]

Yea thats why i figured putting "The school" in the title would prevent this post Oh well....

[Beav]

Getting a job at a Porsche dealer doing something in the service dept. would be a great benefit. Talk to your local dealer's service manager and tell him what your plans and desires are. More than likely he'll have some invaluable tips for you. Even kicking it up a notch and talking to the zone rep would be a good idea, if possible. Nothing like networking...

When I lived in Denver there were three auto/diesel colleges. Most of the graduates would come out with full ASE certs and still not know which end of a screwdriver to hang onto. Practical experience + training is the key. Keep your eye on that. Look to see what type of stuff they'll have you rebuilding. Tackling a thirty year old TH350 in tranny class isn't going to do a thing for you when there's a new autobox designed and on the market every thirty days. You'll find that any tech's first two years are spent learning how much they can ... uh.. twist something before it breaks.

Best advice: assume the proper attitude. Think about what you're doing while you're doing it, what happens and why, why it went bad. Don't just go through the motions of bolting and unbolting like so many do. You have to love what you're doing in order to become the best, otherwise you may as well get a job at PoopBoys or Mydass and save your tution.

I do think you have the right idea by planning on beginning at the dealer level. Too few independent shops have any training available besides whatever dink courses the local parts store puts on. They basically boil down to a beer and pizza bash with some product pushing. Considering all of the evolvement occuring these days it would be damn difficult to become proficient on a wide variety of vehicle makes working in an independent shop. Most that try end up being butchers doing half-a**ed work.

On another note: I just got home from taking the ASE A8 Engine Performance exam. Not too bad, but some of the usual poorly formed questions. One in particular comes to mind, a diagram showing a fuel pump circuit with voltages shown at various test points. One of the voltages shown was battery voltage at the pump side of the relay even though the relay was still open... duh. Their tests mean very little to anyone except those that have no idea WTF is going on - shop owners, customers, the media.... However many shops now determine pay scale by how many certs one possesses, so I gotta play their game. Sheesh Testing only occurs twice each year. This round I'm taking two new tests and recertifying on two others. Three different nights over a two week period. Ridiculous. Now, on top of that, I'm working for a dealer so I have to take their courses (not a bad thing) and also take their exams... I just wish someone could explain to me why techs have to know resistor color codes by heart, how to wire logic gates, etc., when we don't work at that level of repair. If a box goes down we don't tear it open and start soldering in new transistors, etc.

*hijack OFF*

[Beav]

I have a lot to say on this, don't I?

I love my work. Do yourself right and don't take a job that requires a six day week, more than 45-50 hours, has little or no benefits. I get sick as a dog when some whiney schmuck wearing $100 sneakers and an $80 shirt starts the tech bashing and poor mouthing. I don't wear those kinds of clothes (normally) and I'll be damned if I'll put up with working twice as hard as they do, stay in continual education and have twice as much money wrapped up in tools than they do in their liberal arts college education. You'll find that once you are a top-flight tech you'll be the most educated and dedicated to your profession person in the building. So why should you have to suffer the worst conditions there? In a properly run repair business every single employee is there to support what the tech does. They do the jobs that the tech could do for himself, but that would take him away from being productive. i.e. the tech can do what they do, but they can't do what the tech does. Food for thought.

[n00b on demand]

Originally posted by Alycone
I apologize, but when I see UTI I can't help but think of the medical abbreviation for Urinary Tract Infection.

hahaha

[want-a-fast-svx]

Originally posted by Beav

Best advice: assume the proper attitude. Think about what you're doing while you're doing it, what happens and why, why it went bad. Don't just go through the motions of bolting and unbolting like so many do. You have to love what you're doing in order to become the best, otherwise you may as well get a job at PoopBoys or Mydass and save your tution.

I do think you have the right idea by planning on beginning at the dealer level.
*hijack OFF*

This is precisely how I feel. When something goes wrong I love the challenge of figuring out why it went wrong, and what i should do about it. I also believe the dealer is the best way for me to go b/c if I could get in with a company like Reeves (local high end dealer) then after a few years with them I would know not only porsche but audi and bmw's and the like. Then from there with that knowlege and money for tools, I would open up my own shop. I just want to eventually have it where I can charge people a reasonable rate and actually perform the work that I said would be done. I want no questions asked about the integrity of my work or my reputation. I feel that there are just way too many scam artist out there trying to make a buck. My only worries are there aren't too many porsches around my area of florida versus a place like miami or ft. lauderdale...I truly appreciate the help with this matter, as most of the people I talk to about it know nothing, or think I'm just gonna be a mechanic and why is that I would waste the money on UTI when i can go to a local P-tech program and get the same general ase certification.

[Beav]

Don't rule out the fun cars - Ferarri, Lambo, etc. I've only known a couple guys that made that choice but they've never complained. People that own those cars know they're going to pay, nothing goes unrepaired and they don't have a pound of french fries under the seats. The dealers tend to know about you before you know about them. Fewer jobs but not many qualified either. Plus they're kind of primitive cars compared to Lincolns and Cadillacs yet the labor rates are woohoo! Besides, compared to Orlando, Fort Lauderdale is climatically wonderful. (I grew up in Ft. Laud., and lived in FL many years. I hate Orlando's humidity and stifling heat. Head for the east coast, you'll love it.) Rolls are a PITA, Benz is ridculously self-infatuated (and unjustfiably so, IMHO) and a pain to work on. Funny though, those guys weren't much for working on a Chevy or Toyota.

Don't worry about charging reasonable rates, once you're there you'll be at the same place everyone else is or you'll be running one of those places with 130 old beetles and Yugos parked all around the shop. You'll find out...

Good luck to ya.

[SHISVX]

Originally posted by Alycone
I apologize, but when I see UTI I can't help but think of the medical abbreviation for Urinary Tract Infection.

that is what iw as thinking!

Kelli