Why auto technician morale is slipping—and what top shops are doing to fix it

Presented by:

Hey everyone,

Massive announcement coming soon in today's Daily Dealer newsletter!

Stay tuned…

— CDG

Welcome to the Market Pulse—your cheatsheet to auto retail, built to help dealers price right, stock smart, and stay ahead.

Technician satisfaction with pay and benefits is falling: Just 58% of techs say they’re paid fairly, all while satisfaction around benefits sits near 50%.
Misalignment in career development paths is driving churn risk: Early-career technicians report weak mentorship, unclear advancement paths, and low confidence in long-term growth.
But some dealerships are improving morale via added convenience: Shops seeing stronger technician retention are reducing daily friction through clearer training paths and faster equipment support.

(Source: WrenchWay Voice of the Technician Survey 2025 / CDG Interviews)

Technician pay structures are drifting out of sync with what techs value.

WrenchWay’s latest technician survey shows a clear drop in satisfaction with pay and benefits.

Just 58% of techs say they’re paid fairly, down from last year, and only about half are happy with their benefits.

A big driver of that decline is how technicians are getting paid.

What we mean: Many dealers are still treating the flat-rate pay model as the gold standard, even though surveys like this show it’s now preferred by only about one in five techs.

That creates a real point of tension for technicians in a market where the work mix has changed, but the pay structure hasn’t evolved.

NOTE TO DEALERS:

As Johan Ruge, a technician at BMW of Morristown, sees it, “a shop that wants to stand out to techs would have to offer a salary over a flat rate.”

His argument:

Even in busy shops, techs can have one strong week followed by a bad one, with little control over the difference.
Warranty work doesn’t pay as it did 10 years ago, and customers are less willing to spend dealer money on older vehicles.
And bonus math often feels unrealistic, because chasing 300+ hours a month for a $2–$3 bump isn’t achievable for most techs and rewards gaming the system over consistency.

Ruge’s POV: “The salary portion would bring techs in knowing they have stability, a paycheck that is going to be the same every week, and a bonus structure that is realistic.”

Service departments are falling short on training and mentorship.

Most techs say paid training is a must-have (67%). But the problem is that only 51% feel they’re actually getting that, per WrenchWay.

And the same gap is showing up with coaching.

According to the survey: Fewer technicians say new or younger hires are being trained well, and many don’t see a clear path from entry-level work to higher-skill, higher-pay roles.

Not a great look, because this is a highly credentialed group.

Most respondents are ASE-certified, so when training feels inconsistent (or mentorship depends on who happens to be free), techs read that as a lack of long-term commitment.

As expected, too, early-career techs feel this frustration most. Because when entering a new role, most people want to know who’s responsible for training them, what skills they’re expected to build, and how that translates into more responsibility and better pay.

WHY IT MATTERS:

When training and mentorship aren’t clearly defined, technicians leave. When they are, technicians stay and advance.

Here’s how Hudson Automotive Group’s Honda of Huntersville is closing that gap today:

First, they map a clear advancement path starting at quick lube, which defines exactly what training and skills are required to move from one level to the next.
From there, they bring in technician trainers to teach specific procedures from MPIs and tire checks to alignments, so development isn’t left to trial and error.
And to close the loop, they have a shop foreman to actively support younger techs, removing the frustration of having to chase around for help or figure things out alone.

As a result: Fixed Operations Director Stephen Rhodes says ten current line technicians have advanced from quick lube through a defined training process.

A quick word from our partner

This isn’t a voice bot.

Numa is the only AI with a Smart Inbox for dealerships.

Recover $1M+ per rooftop in missed service revenue
Cut response times from 23 hours to 15 minutes
2× advisor output, and 20+ boost in CSI

Numa is trusted by 1200 dealerships.

Join the movement.

Get early access.

Just above, Rhodes shared his store’s approach to training and mentorship. But also in our conversation, he dug into a few other Dos and Don’ts his team is seeing success with.

Here are some of those tactics his store is keeping front and center, and others should consider in 2026:

Do: Find ways to simplify small but constant interruptions in the shop.

At Honda of Huntersville, they rolled out what the team calls a “Bicky Mart,” named after their dispatcher, which keeps techs from having to leave the shop for basic needs.

❝

“They receive ‘Bicky Bucks’ each week to purchase whatever they want. They also earn extra bucks. We stock it with all kinds of drinks, snacks, lunches, etc.”

Stephen Rhodes

Why this works: It removes guesswork and unnecessary interruptions that many dealers dismiss as “not our problem.” In turn, techs stay in the shop, stay focused, and feel supported.

Another place this showed up was in his team’s approach to technicians’ equipment needs.

Do: Seek out feedback on equipment needs so techs don’t have to ask.

Instead of waiting for issues to bubble up, Rhodes said they build feedback into the week.

“We ask if anything is needed during our technician shift meeting three times a week. Our philosophy is that if it will increase efficiency, we will provide it and try to be proactive on future needs,” he said.

A simple, but surprisingly overlooked tactic.

Don’t: Overlook how shop culture shows up to technicians.

In Rhodes’ words, the service shop is “the backbone of the dealership,” which is why he says every technician deserves leaders who go out of their way to implement operations that make each day easier and more enjoyable than before.

“You can feel the difference when you walk into a shop that has fun and gets along. People want to work in those environments, and you never have problems finding technicians.”

A lot of people start the year by picking a word to guide their decisions.

If I had to suggest one word for service operators this year, it would be convenience.

That’s what operators like the team at Honda of Huntersville are clearly optimizing for right now.

Not flashy perks or one-off incentives, but by fixing the small things that make the job harder than it needs to be.

Because as long as customers are more selective about what they’ll spend on repairs, warranty pay keeps tightening, and the market keeps shifting underneath service departments, technicians are going to need every ounce of support they can get, or the so-called technician shortage will keep feeding on itself.