“This is ridiculous.”
A mechanic was tasked with replacing a radio. This is theoretically a simple task for a skilled technician. Except it wasn’t. This job turned out to be a nightmare.
In a TikTok, the mechanic (@user72293887608234) explains why swapping a radio in a Ford reveals why there’s a technician shortage.
“You wanna know why techs are leaving,” the mechanic begins. “Because all of this [expletive] work, under warranty to replace a radio pays two [expletive] hours with programing,” he vents.
The inside of the car is completely disassembled with all the trim off. This is quite an extensive job, considering that only the radio is being replaced. “This is ridiculous,” he concludes. He believes that jobs like this are the reason why there is a service technician shortage across the industry.
Viewers had a mixed response to this mechanics vent session. Some implied the mechanic should work faster.
“Just put the fries in the bag,” said one.
“Time for you to move a little faster,” another agreed.
Others were more sympathetic.
“As a technician that has been in dealership life for 35+ years, I have always said I wanna see a time stamped uncut video of them doing that job in the time that you’re trying to pay you,” one said.
“That’s about 10 minutes of pulling to remove all that trim,” a second added.
A few agreed that his experience with the Ford radio is fueling an industry-wide shortage of technicians.
“Friend of mine left the dealer he worked at like 5-6 years ago to run his own shop due to this and many other issues with working at a dealer. He’s much better off,” one mentions.
What frustrated the mechanic most was how much the payout was going to be from the radio replacement: just two hours’ of labor.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, mechanics made an average of $23.88 per hour, or roughly $50,000 annually, in 2024.
Based on this average hourly wage, the mechanic would have made around $50 to replace the radio.
Wages do fluctuate depending on location, however. Universal Technical Institute reports that California, Alaska, Washington, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Maryland, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Montana, and Washington, D.C. are the top 10 highest paying places for mechanics.
The mechanic’s pay could also depend on whether he’s an independent shop or works for a dealership. Given that it was warranty work, it’s likely he works for a dealership.
“The dealers where I live charge $240/hr labor. The techs don’t even see a 1/3 of that,” a person wrote on his post.
“$75 x 2 is $150 for two hours’ work,” one commented. “And the tech will only get paid $50,” another replied.
Changing a car radio can be a simple task done in 30 minutes—or it can take several hours. The time will depend on how difficult it is to get the radio out. As seen on TikTok, the entire dashboard trim had to be removed from the Ford to remove the radio.
Given this is a warranty repair, the customer is most likely not paying for it. If they were, the labor costs could run into the hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars. That’s why some may opt to replace their own radios at home.
According to AutoZone, here are the seven steps needed to replace your vehicle’s radio:
The tools needed for the replacement can include a wrench set, Phillips-head screwdriver, ratchet set, electrical tape, wire cutters, wiring kit, head unit installation kit, crimp tool with butt connectors, and a soldering iron and flux-core solder, per AutoZone.
If you are considering doing this yourself, it could be either 30 minutes or your entire afternoon. It’ll all depend on the level of complexity of your vehicle, so you may want to do some research first on how complex the job will be. Otherwise, you could end up spending the better part of a day or more taking your car apart.
Motor1 has contacted the mechanic via TikTok direct message and commented on the post. We’ll update this if he responds.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motor1.com?
– The Motor1.com Team