How Much Does Collision Repair Training Cost
Auto Body Schoolhouse Information
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For many technicians in this trade, making accident-damaged vehicles look and part like new again is all only part of a stable and enjoyable career. An auto body school about you lot may offer hands-on training that helps you fix for jobs and certification in this fulfilling industry.
Educational activity & Training
In general, you get an auto body technician by getting formal training through a vocational college, technical institute, or merchandise school. Although much less common, it's likewise possible to get hired and trained past a repair store without prior education in the trade. Subsequently about two years of on-the-chore experience (or maybe less if you lot went to auto body schoolhouse), you can qualify for industry certification tests.
Length of Training
It generally takes between 12 and 24 months to become an auto torso technician by completing collision repair grooming through a mail service-secondary schoolhouse.*
Most Common Length of School*
(range in months)
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Automotive technology
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Welding
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Diesel technology
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Collision repair
Program Options
Nearly auto body schools offer one or more of these training options:
Certificate and diploma programs tend to take the least amount of time. They go along the focus on helping you develop the core skills and understanding you demand for getting started in this career.
Acquaintance degree programs are usually designed to concluding up to ii years.* They also provide core skills training. In addition, they include a broader range of classes in general and more advanced subjects. In some cases, they also include business-related classes, which may exist helpful if you ever pursue a management position inside an automobile body shop.
Typical Courses
Depending on your item school and programme, yous may have classes in subjects similar:
- Automotive terminology
- Safe procedures
- Shop practices
- Trades math and physics
- Advice and professionalism
- Collision repair tools and equipment
- Car body materials and repair concepts
- Harm assessment and cost estimation
- Basic welding and cutting
- Non-structural alignment, repair, and replacement
- Structural alignment, repair, and replacement
- Painting and refinishing
- Basic electronics and power systems
- Automotive mechanical systems
Skills You Can Learn
An machine body repair school almost y'all may offer training that helps you lot gain skills related to:
- Measuring vehicles
- Running computerized diagnostic scans
- Analyzing harm and estimating repair costs
- Interpreting damage reports and making repair plans
- Removing and replacing bolted, welded, bonded, or other parts such as:
- Outside trim and moldings
- Door skins, panels, and drinking glass
- Sunroof panels and convertible tops
- Repairing metal dents
- Welding, brazing, or cutting aluminum and steel using:
- MIG welders
- Oxyacetylene torches
- Squeeze-type resistance spot welding equipment
- Straightening or repairing vehicle frames
- Repairing, installing, or aligning:
- Fenders
- Plastic or carbon cobweb components
- Steel panels
- Removing paint
- Applying body fillers
- Sanding exterior panels
- Mixing and applying pigment
- Fixing pocket-size defects in vehicle finishes
- Doing fine detailing
- Aligning wheels
- Performing basic repairs on components related to:
- Braking
- Suspension
- Electric systems
- Inspecting completed repairs
Licensing & Certification
Aside from a driver'southward license for test-driving repaired vehicles, virtually machine body technicians don't demand to gain state licensure for this occupation. The exceptions are:
Professional certification isn't required for entry-level work, merely it is generally recommended in one case you proceeds enough experience. Many dealerships and repair shops prefer their technicians to be certified. The National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) is the main certifying organization for the standoff repair and refinishing industry. Information technology offers certification tests for:
- Not-structural analysis and repair
- Structural analysis and repair
- Painting and refinishing
- Electric and mechanical components
To qualify for the ASE exams, you demand at least two years of hands-on experience in the auto body trade. However, formal preparation through a merchandise school or vocational higher tin count toward some of that feel. If you pass each of the tests above, you can gain the designation of ASE-Certified Master Collision Repair Technician. The organization also offers a separate exam for price estimating.
To maintain your ASE certification, you lot must accept new tests every v years. (The recertification tests are merely about half as long as the initial ones.)
Also, some employers like their automobile body techs to be manufacturer-certified for working with particular materials or technologies. Axalta, 3M, and Chief Automotive Technologies are a few examples of companies that offer certification programs for their products.
Educational activity & Preparation FAQs
Do standoff repair techs need a lot of continuing education?
Once yous're established equally a working technician, it's of import to keep upward with changes in engineering science, materials, and repair methods. In add-on to reading technical manuals for new products and vehicle models, many employers expect their techs to attend workshops, seminars, or classes.
Information technology's also common for repair shops to have their technicians complete training programs through the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair (I-Motorcar). Sometimes that training is offered on-site or through online classes. Other times, techs travel to off-site locations.
Employers normally pay for any continuing education that they request or demand. But some techs pay for actress training themselves if they have particular interests that their employers don't deem relevant for their current or future roles.
How do I become an automobile body technician without a high school diploma?
Most employers expect aspiring techs to accept at least a high school diploma, GED, or equivalent credential. Virtually trade schools and vocational colleges also require that level of education for admission. However, certain schools may enroll you if yous pass an Ability to Benefit Test (ATB). Math and English language skills are the main drivers of these requirements.
In general, your prospects will be better if yous complete your high school education before pursuing formal training or a task in the industry. That said, you can notwithstanding look for entry-level jobs and see if an employer volition hire you and train you on the job. And so, after two years of experience, you can accept the ASE certification tests, which don't require a high school diploma.
Auto Body Schools
Lincoln Tech
Colorado
Connecticut
Illinois
Indiana
Tennessee
Texas
Lincoln Tech
Colorado
- Denver
Connecticut
- Eastward Windsor
Illinois
- Melrose Park
Indiana
- Indianapolis
Tennessee
- Nashville
Texas
- Grand Prairie
- Collision Repair and Refinishing
Career Data
Auto trunk repair (also called collision repair) is a trade that involves restoring the frames, exterior panels, or other components of damaged cars or trucks to their pre-accident weather. Qualified technicians in this field often bask their work, get paid well, and accept many potential opportunities to change jobs or motility up in the industry.
Career Snapshot
Career Outlook
five.3% growth from 2022 to 2030
Median Salary
Auto Trunk Technicians
Chore Openings
Average Yearly Openings
Length of Preparation
Nigh Mutual Length
Work Settings
Specializations
Non-structural repair, structural repair, refinishing, mechanical and electrical repair, price estimating, production management
Sources
- U.South. Bureau of Labor Statistics
- U.S. Department of Teaching
Earnings
Collision repair techs brand $45,350 per twelvemonth on a median basis, according to Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program estimates. Those at the upper stop of the pay scale make over $77,210.
Employers in this manufacture compensate their techs in a multifariousness of ways. In some cases, they pay a base salary as well as incentives for the speed and amount of work completed. In a nationwide survey of collision repair businesses, about 43 percent of shops indicated that they use flat-charge per unit (i.e., committee) plans to recoup the auto body techs they employ. About xl percent of shops use salary or hourly wage plans.
Median Annual Wage Comparison
Job Openings & Outlook
Based on Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projections for the decade from 2022 to 2030, employment of auto body repairers is expected to increment by five.3 percent. On average, a total of 15,200 job openings may become bachelor each yr. Near of those opportunities will come well-nigh considering of people retiring or changing careers.
Central Benefits
- Job security: Many people in this vocation are nearing retirement. In fact, the average collision repair technician is over 41 years old. Plus, car accidents are all the same a frequent occurrence on America's roads. So the demand for qualified auto body repair and refinishing techs continues to remain steady.
- Advancement potential: Every bit experienced technicians retire, they often leave behind open positions for the supervisory or managerial roles they had. That means opportunities often exist for moving upwards into college-paying positions such as shop foreman. Some techs even start their own car trunk repair businesses.
- Enjoyment: Making a damaged car or truck look like new requires a special combination of skill, inventiveness, and problem solving. Accomplishing such a feat can be a great source of pride and fulfillment. Plus, many technicians have fun working with the advanced materials and technologies that are oft part of this trade.
What an Auto Body Technician Does
Experienced technicians frequently work in all aspects of the trade, especially if they are employed past small repair shops. In large shops, techs might only perform tasks in specific areas. In many cases, it all comes downwardly to their level of skill or selection of specialization.
Depending on his or her item job, a standoff repair technician does things such as:
Determining What Needs to Be Done
- Looking over harm reports
- Inspecting and measuring vehicle frames and unibodies
- Using diagnostic browse tools
- Planning and estimating the costs of repairs
Making Repairs
- Removing parts like accessories, upholstery, electric equipment, and trim to gain admission to frames, trunk components, and fenders
- Cutting abroad desperately damaged components
- Straightening frames that have been aptitude or twisted
- Realigning vehicle chassis
- Plumbing equipment and welding metal replacement parts into place
- Grinding downwards welds to shine them out
- Hammering out or patching dents and other pocket-size forms of trunk harm
- Straightening metal panels
- Removing, repairing, and replacing body parts like fenders and doors
- Removing and installing commodities-on components like hoods, trim, deck lids, and interior items such equally seat frame assemblies, instrument panels, trim panels, moldings, carpets, and floorboard insulation
- Installing replacement windows and windshields
- Replacing other accident-damaged components such as airbags, restraint systems, or electrical systems
- Filling damaged areas with body solder or plastic body fillers
Applying New Finishes
- Preparing repaired surfaces by filing, grinding, sanding, and smoothing
- Masking bumpers, windows, and trim to protect them from pigment
- Refinishing repaired surfaces by applying primer
- Mixing and color-matching paint
- Sanding and buffing refinished surfaces and applying finished coats of paint
Taking Care of the Final Touches
- Verifying dimensional accuracy of repairs and adherence to manufacturers' specifications
- Adjustment wheels
- Aiming headlights
- Test-driving repaired vehicles to ensure proper alignment, handling, and component functionality
Piece of work Settings
Automobile body techs can find jobs in a multifariousness of settings, such equally:
- Collision repair shops
- Dealerships
- Armada garages
- Auto customization shops
- Auto detailing shops
Specializations
People who work in the auto body trade ofttimes have the opportunity to concentrate on the detail areas they savour most, which tin can include:
Not-structural repair: Outside body components are the focus of this expanse. It involves restoring and adjusting items like movable drinking glass, outer torso panels, and plastic components. Mutual tasks involve dent repair, metallic finishing, torso filling, metal welding and cutting, and the use of plastics and adhesives.
Structural repair: This area deals with the impairment washed to the core structures of vehicles. It involves tasks such as inspecting, measuring, and repairing frames and unibodies besides as fixed drinking glass. Metal cutting and welding are also oftentimes necessary.
Refinishing: This area is all nearly restoring the protective and cosmetic finishes to vehicle surfaces. Tasks unremarkably include sanding, masking, priming, pigment mixing and matching, and final paint application.
Mechanical and electrical repair: Much of this area involves tasks that a typical auto mechanic might tackle, such equally replacing any damaged components in a vehicle's braking, steering, suspension, fuel, frazzle, air conditioning, drivetrain, or restraint systems. Techs too may fix electrical components such as born cameras and sensors. Some technicians need to complete extra training in order to work in this specialty.
Toll estimating: In this area, the focus is on inspecting damaged cars or trucks, analyzing the extent of the damage, and preparing reports that accurately item the potential costs of repairs.
Production management: Later on gaining a lot of experience, some automobile body techs get the take a chance to motility into this avant-garde area. It involves planning and overseeing the twenty-four hour period-to-day workflow of an entire collision repair shop.
Career FAQs
What are the differences between collision repair, refinishing, and detailing?
Collision repair mostly involves fixing major damage to car and truck frames, unibodies, and outside body components. Refinishing primarily involves restoring vehicles' painted surfaces to their pre-accident advent after any repairs have been completed. Auto detailing involves the cleaning and cosmetic restoration and protection of vehicles' interiors and exteriors through pocket-sized paint touch on-ups, washing, waxing, and the application of surface films or coatings.
Many auto body technicians accept the skills to perform all of those jobs. But non all automotive detailers have the grooming or qualifications to perform collision repair or major refinishing work.
Are auto body techs required to purchase their own tools?
In many cases, employers expect technicians to invest in their own sets of basic hand tools and accessories. Some collision repair shops but hire techs who've already washed and so. Yet, expensive specialty tools and equipment are often provided by the employer.
Some repair businesses help new technicians buy the tools they need through repayment programs. And student discounts are ofttimes available through individual tool manufacturers.
In addition to your own tool cart and condom gear, examples of items y'all may demand to purchase when starting your career include things like:
- A disc sander
- A tape measure
- Chisels
- Clamps
- Dollies
- Drive sockets
- Extension confined
- Hammers
- Pliers
- Punches
- Ratchets
- Sanding blocks
- Scrapers
- Screwdrivers
- Spray guns
- Universal joints
- Wire brushes
- Wrenches
Auto Torso School Tin Assistance You Go Job-Gear up
With easily-on auto body training, your vocational goals tin motility much closer to condign reality. Many merchandise schools tin can even help gear up yous for industry certification tests.
* Length of training information is based on a combination of data from the Occupational Outlook Handbook, the U.S. Department of Education, and a wide sampling of relevant programme lengths from almost 30 individual school websites. They are a mix of public, private non-profit, and private for-profit institutions.
Source: https://www.trade-schools.net/trades/auto-body
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