I'm currently a student at Universal Technical Institute (UTI) in Exton, PA. I'm about three months away from graduation and hoping to become a Lexus technician when I come out In addition to the core classes at UTI, I've also taken the Ford FACT elective, which pretty much teaches you how to use Ford specific scan-tools, equipment, and obviously work on Ford cars and their specific problems, along with more in depth electrical system and NVH diagnosis compared to the core classes. I don't know how much of the scan tool knowledge I can carry over to Lexus but I'm hoping the electrical and NVH diagnosis skills that was taught to me in FACT will look good on my resume

As for my shop experience, well, I don't have any Will a Lexus dealership hire me off the bat or will they require a new tech work at Toyota or some other place before hand? I don't want to start off as a lube tech after spending close to $30k for school

So for all you current Lexus techs, what advice can you give me so I can start off with a decent pay at a dealership and actually do "real" work (NOT just oil changes)?

Welcome to CL. You can apply as a trainnee or apprentice. It's depending on the dealer to dealer. At the dealership I work for those apprentice came from the T-Ten program( Toyota trainning class, like Ford FACT). I have trained 4 of them in the past 8 years. The first I'd trained was 7 years ago, the second was 4 years ago, the third was last year and now I'm trainning another one for almost 6 months now. All of them still work with us.

When those guys are on trainning they get paid hourly and they work with me side by side. They do from oil change, diagnosis, engine job, NVH or whatever the job I got. They're on trainning for about 9-12 months each before we cut them loose.

If you think the Scan tool, electrical and NVH is your strong point it's a much to have on your resume. Make sure you tell the Service manager during the interview. You need to show him/her that you're will to learn, hard working, and do some research about Lexus cars. Right now with all the new technologies, the Hybrid and more gadgets that coming out from Lexus they don't need another part changer. They need some one that can fix the car when needed.

Good luck.

Thanks for the welcome! What's the difference between a trainee and a apprentice? I've searched about the T-Ten program on here and went to their website as well, does it help alot or will it look just as good as FACT on my resume? How long is the program and what does it consist of? I just want to learn the Toyota specific stuff since I've already taken the core classes at UTI.

And also, what did your apprentices start out earning per hour? and what do they make now?

The T-Ten program will last about 2 years with 5 weeks in college and 5 weeks off to work at the dealership. They teach students all 8 areas of automobile and switch to regular match,english,history etc...just like regular colllege student. My trainnees will work full time from 7:30 to 5:30 for 5 weeks and go back to school for 5 weeks. When they're in school they will come at 1:00 p.m and work until 5:30 or 6:00 p.m.

At our dealership we started the trainnees around $9.25/hr. After they become the line tech they start at $14.00 per flat rate hour. Not much, but they can make a living around 40K-50K a year.

You can just use your FACT from Ford and get a hand on experience with Lexus at the dealership. The dealership will send you to Lexus trainning class anyway. Don't waste your time on T-Ten since you're already know the basic automotive classes. All of my trainnees never work on any other car manufacturer before and they're doing well will Lexus. I think you just need to head to the Lexus dealer with confident and give it a try.

Lexus really need the new generation of technicians to continous growing.

Ouch, only $9.25 an hour? How long does it usually take before you become a line tech? I was thinking along the lines of $12 to $13 an hour starting, then move on to flat rate within a year.