nick49

After getting my car back from sitting in the shop for nearly 3 weeks for a replacement motor, I thought about tipping the head service tech that did all the work. When I got the car home I realized he had deactivated my PSE which required me to remove the rear bumper cover to get t working again. Also my shifting became more and more difficult and the car would shake and shudder when starting off in first gear and if shifting hard the motor felt loose. I jacked up the car and found the shifter cables were not seated correctly and loose, more alarming was that all the forward fasteners that held the motor and trans assembly to the body were loose and the nuts were just barely started on the threads. After finishing up their job at home I no longer felt like tipping them.

99firehawk

try again

DL Lawrence

Concur with manny. I do, but not in the traditional "golden handshake" cash type of way. It's not about the money. I went out of my way to get to know the Service Manager and the Porsche wrench at the Indy shop I use, and when they do work on my car for me, I always drop off a six pack of microbrew for them when I pick up the car. It's a gesture, not compensation- it says "thanks for taking care of my baby- have a cold one on me!", not "here's a few extra bucks". They know the car, did my PPI, are honest with me, and do good work. I appreciate that. People come from all over to have this particular guy work on thier Porsches. That says a lot. On any given day you can see a wide variety of P-cars outside from to 997's. I get great service from them, and I let them know I appreciate it.

Ray S

Brad, in your experience what percentage of people tip the tech's?

If they tip how much do they usually give?

NNH

Did something similar - after "qualifying school" for the Silver State last year, I had an odd noise from the rear brakes. I dropped into the Vegas dealer, who had never seen me before and had no special reason to help me. Their service department was booked solid for the day, but they still took my car round the back, found a warped brake dust cover, and bent it back out of the way in a couple of minutes. I got to run the race, and left the tech with $20 (if I'd had more on me, I'd have gone to $50 I think).

Like Riad says, service way beyond the call deserves some recognition - it's not that our $20 will make them rich, but it shows we appreciate their help.

wross996tt

Hey Brad, I bet you find this thread hilarious with everyone thinking they know what techs get paid etc.

99firehawk

.00000000000009%
I dont know.,........................... we arent allowed to take tips, I have gotten the occasinal 6 pack
or a hand shake.
im sure that lots of people tip the serivce advisers in most dealers (again here they arent alowed to take tips) and some problay give the money to the adviser to give to the techs but i doubt if the techs ever see it

99firehawk

i think you would find that most techs have a hard time breaking 50k a year
and those that do are the guys who either work 12 hour days 6 days a week
or are complete butchers and rapeing people when they bring their cars in.

dealers charge customers 130 an hour
techs would be doing well to get 15-20 % of that.

Pugnacious P

When I first got my Boxster, some idiot tapped me in the rear at a stoplight, no real visible damage except some small marks on the bumperettes, but I drove to the dealer and they took it right in to check underneath. It was actually the one time they went out of their way and did a good job. I was not sure if I should tip, but wanted to let them know I appreciated the effort so I bought the tech an autographed poster of the 917 by Vic Elford, and the advisor an autographed photo. Not sure if they appreciated it. But I thought it made an appropriate "job well done, thanks."

porschedog

When the service is fast & well-done, yes, I will give the guy a tip. I don't tip the car wash guy because I don't let them wash (scratch) the car.

michael.s.under

I personally dont know and will not comment on how much they make. But I just dont agree on paying someone a premium for what they agreed to be paid to do, and do right. A man should not be granted a bonus for having enough pride to do good work..... Although I do agree in certain situations some recognition whether or not monetary are earned.

gota911

TD - you tip them NOT to wash you car, right?

Moogle

No, although I do give each of the managers at the dealer a good bottle of wine twice a year

Tippy

Tell me where mechanics make this amount of money. As a mechanic I am getting it DRY, if you know what I mean.

If I was making that amount I wouldnt even try to finish college.

On the tip side, mechanic work sucks twisting and bending in all directions, working in confined places, and dealing with whatever the weather is outside, hot or cold. Tipping would be appreciated and if I owned an Indy, I would allow the techs to get tips. It will make the tech strive for better quality and the tech will enjoy better employee satisfaction.

sparks259

$100 an hour?
in new jersey $85-95 seems to be the range.
new york city, easily $100+
but then again, our two car garages are priced like a lot of people's homes!