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  • Service Advisor or Parts Advisor as a career

    Hi guys looking to switch up my careers and was wondering which one will suit me better Service advisor or Parts advisor. I have been working on, selling cars and parts all my life (BMW, Toyota, Honda, etc) but decided not to go into the field of tech since I didn't want to turn my love and hobby into a job so I went into X-ray. I noticed that I still end up helping people with cars here and giving them suggestions on repairs and parts no matter where I am and I like giving advice on things like that. Thing is only documented proof of my work in cars is high school tech class and brief time working for Strauss Auto before college. So now I feel I want to get into a field I love and have a passion for cars and helping people. Any information and opinions are greatly appreciated. So I guess my questions are:


    1. How do I get into that position
    2. What does each job require
    3. Difference in pay (average)
    4. Advancement opportunities
    5. Pros & Cons

  • #2
    stick with xray tech, i went from mechanic to RN and love cars way more now. and i feel a lot better about my job, as in im not ripping people off fixing thier cars. which no offence, is exactly what youll be doing as a service writer, its all about selling people shit they dont want or need to make your money.
    your intuition about not mixing your hobby and career was a very correct one stick with it.

    if you still feel like being a service writer
    ?#1,2 im pretty sure you qualify just apply for jobs and theyll train you.
    ?#3 no clue-but i cant imagine its more than you make now
    ?#4 no real advancement oppurtunities.
    ?#5 cons-ripping people off allday, everyday,
    it can be a very political kinda job-cuthroat in a way.
    and bro-in it up allday everyday-no ladies to speak of except when they bring thier cars in and you steal all thier monies,
    you dont get to goto work in what are essentially pajamas

    pros-bro-in it up allday everyday-no ladies to speak of except when they bring thier cars in and you steal all thier monies. i kinda miss bro-in it up sometimes...
    not sure where you work but it could potentially be a schedule change thats back to normal and somewhat flexible during the day like if you needed to leave work to do something.

    *edit just saw the parts guy thing-no clue about that. but those guys always seemed fairly happy with thier jobs but i dont think they got payed very much
    Last edited by parttimeprojectionist; 07-24-2014, 04:45 AM.

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    • #3
      Having done both jobs, there is nothing to love about either. Dealerships are scummy, miserable places to work. Your job will not be to help people with their cars, but to extract every possible bit of profit out of everyone who comes through the door.

      Stick with being an x-ray tech and wrench on cars in your time off.



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      • #4
        The above responses will be typical of just about anyone who's worked at a dealership in my experience. I have worked for the same family-owned high end independent (four shops total) for the last 6 years and it has been a great place to work. I've never felt that I had to compromise my morals or ethics in what I recommend to the customer or when it comes time to warranty a repair. You won't be able to be just a "parts guy" at an independent shop because you are both the parts and service guy as a service advisor for an independent (usually). Pay can vary widely depending on lots of factors, your location included. I make a very good living with full benefits and have a Monday through Friday schedule as the manager. You'll have to start as an advisor and will likely only have a shot with an independent that's willing to hire someone who hasn't been an advisor before. Most places will want someone with experience so you're going to have to sell yourself hard. Be confident that you can do the job and tell them why. I'm sure you know the shops that are well-respected by the public in your area. Find the best one and get yourself in there. Nothing worse than a poorly run or shady shop that won't last. Do not work at a quick lube or similar if you can avoid it as those places will make you **** your life. There are lots of opportunities in any company if you make yourself valuable and that's completely up to you. Hope this helps.
        '13 allroad - Airlift, Vossen
        '04 Cayenne Turbo - Links, 22" Renntech Reps
        '02 allroad - 402'd + Links, 19" Atheos

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        • #5
          ^ Not at all arguing with your experience, but I've worked for two indies as well, in addition to my time at corporate dealership. One was okay in terms of how we treated our customers, thought the boss turned out to be a violent sociopath, and the other was so awful it has become famous in the TDI world for their incredibly shady practices. I believe their Yelp reviews currently stand at one star. At the latter, we were under constant pressure to do the bare minimum of repairs on our used vehicles (including selling some quite obviously dangerous vehicles to the public) and expected to push unnecessary repairs upon service customers. Imagine a job where quite literally every task you perform is scrutinized by your supervisor and your supervisor's supervisors to find places you can extract additional profit, and everything is done as cheaply as possible. We had fantastic techs, all of whom left about the same time I did, not because of pay (they were paid better than they would get at a dealership), but because they were being asked to do things ever faster and ever cheaper, with the bosses looking over their shoulders at everything. It was not fun.

          I'm not saying all are this way - there are a lot of great independent mechanics out there that are honest and fair both to their staff and their customers. That said, the car industry is a volatile, cutthroat business, and all it takes is a couple of bad quarters or a hire of a slimy manager and you're either forced to act like a scumbag yourself or you're looking for another job. The thing about it is that the shop I spoke of above started out phenomenal - we were independent, doing cool stuff in the industry with biodiesel and the like, the mechanics were talented, and the owners seemed genuinely passionate about the job. Then, we had a couple business deals go bad that cost the company a lot of money and the owners made a couple of bad hires. Within a year, the place had transformed from a shining evangelist for biodiesel and EVs into yet another scummy used car dealership. It was not pretty.

          The other side of it is, if you're customer-facing, you're essentially working retail. Most of the shops I worked at were in the Seattle area, which meant we had a combination of extremely entitled tech-sector employees who were pretty convinced that the rest of the human population was their servants, as well as a lot of struggles with customers that ultimately boiled down to things like language barriers and cultural differences. I'd say about 80%-90% of our customers were great, but that 10%-20% is a daily challenge that gets old after a while.

          I certainly wish every shop would be like the indies that the gentleman above works at - I'd probably still be working as a service advisor if they were. If you can find yourself a home at a place like that, more power to you, but those kind of shops, with stable, reasonable management and a loyal customer base, are rare.
          Last edited by Oh Damn, it's Sam; 07-24-2014, 03:09 PM.



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          • #6
            and whatever this guy said^^
            pretty much spot on.

            ive worked for one rare independent shop that was honest and fair, but most are run by micro managing sociopaths.

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            • #7
              I haven't done any of these jobs, but I want to become an X-ray tech.

              What is it like? I feel like the online reviews and job descriptions are all BS that is put out by technical schools and colleges.

              𝔣𝔬𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴 𝔪𝔢
              @𝔳𝔦𝔳𝔢_𝔪𝔢𝔪𝔬𝔯_𝔩𝔢𝔱𝔦

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              • #8
                Service advisor:
                -pros
                * talk with people all day
                * keeps you busy
                * feels like something new every day
                * helps you gain people skills
                -cons
                * get yelled at a lot
                * usually commission based pay so you need to sell people things they don't *really* need
                * always running around

                Parts guy
                -pros
                * much more relaxing
                * barely ever get yelled at
                * regular pay (most places)
                -cons
                * boring work
                * need to memorize lots of numbers
                * pay is less than service people

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                • #9
                  Originally posted by Byron View Post
                  Service advisor:
                  -pros
                  * talk with people all day
                  * keeps you busy
                  * feels like something new every day
                  * helps you gain people skills
                  -cons
                  * get yelled at a lot
                  * usually commission based pay so you need to sell people things they don't *really* need
                  * always running around

                  Parts guy
                  -pros
                  * much more relaxing
                  * barely ever get yelled at
                  * regular pay (most places)
                  -cons
                  * boring work
                  * need to memorize lots of numbers
                  * pay is less than service people
                  I work at one of Western Australia's largest truck dealerships (Mack, UD & Volvo). Came from KTM Australia doing parts for the bikes.

                  Being a "parts guy" is good, it can be stressful, far less stressful that being a parts sales rep. The pay is good, the parts guys average over 85 hours a fortnight. And for the last couple of years, have averaged about 100k (AUS Dollars) before tax.

                  Still get yelled at from unhappy customers, just as much as you would being in the service department. What i guess is different between the car/bike market vs truck. Owning a truck is a business. You stuff up by giving someone the incorrect parts, or mis-diagnosing the problem while being in the service department can cost someone tens of thousands of dollars. The customer is relying on you, its their lively-hood.

                  I had a chance to work at a major Jeep dealership as a service advisor and turned it down to be a parts guy. I find it difficult to sell a extras to a customer when i know that they don't really need it.

                  Just my 2c.

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