Autobody/Paint - Is it worth learning to earn a living?

As a car enthusiast the worst thing I ever did was go work at a bodyshop. I'm the manager/estimator at a high volume shop. I love helping customers,love and appreciate the beautiful work my guys do. But I have a 60 mile commute each way and it doesn't leave me much time for my own cars. I make great money, but what good is that if I don't enjoy what I used to love to do? Before this I worked at an insurance company as an adjuster. The money was ok, the job was ok, and i got to see all different cars in all different shops. I learned the skills I have that way. There's plenty of hacks out there that think they're Picasso .
The money as a body or paint tech sucks. For what you could make entry level you could work a desk job, get insurance, 401k etc. I used to believe in the saying, do what you love and youll never work a day in your life . To a point it is true. But that Person worked for himself, lol.

 

After reading all the great experienced advice I will add my 2 cents.......with your graphic art skills I would look into a clean cut job in possibly the advertising industry......I do not know much about a graphic artist but all artists have to be as was said wired for the innovative creativity necessary to sell your work. Well ,anyway ...here is my story.......24 years in the USPS Vehicle Maintenance facility as their body-man......hourly wage and good benefits but most of our work is going out the door to subs....we will eventually close the shop ......expensive paint booth dismantled and no more spraying......we do mostly mechanical body related work...only three of us for a 1800 fleet.....it has been a great job and career........40 years with the company and getting ready to bail. Now......it was all spelled out....the hard work....the hazards, the beatdown of the body.......the cut-throat wages......the tooling.........do not do it! I had a shop on the side during my career where I had to sell the job, pay the rent.......do the work....run for materials......satisfy the customer.....lots of part-time hours. I centered on doing motorcycles and custom paint.....it allowed me to put some of my artistic talent to work and did not tie up shop space....it was more of a hobby. If you have a passion for body work you could concentrate on the custom artistic work in that field on the side......but get your mainstay paycheck from using your graphic art skills for a career. This is a good thread to open the eyes of all who may think body work is easy. How many of us have heard this classic line, " It's just a lil rust over the rear wheel"

 

If it's your passion then have at it.

Doing auto body, (repairing, welding, etc) painting, and working on cars in general are my passions in life and I love doing it as a full time job. I'm weird though, I actually enjoy sanding, and all of the tedious work.

I've only been doing it five years but I can't picture myself ever doing anything else...

 

One of the insurance companies opened their own panel shop here a few years back.....didn't last a year!! wonder why?

 

I'm 25 and wanted to be a mechanic. I got a job at a Chevy dealership right after I graduate high school with the plan of working my way through school and then having a job lead. The mechanics all told me it sucked, didn't pay well, made them old before their time. They all said the body shop was the place to be.the body guys all said it was hell and they wished thy could do anything else.

 

Great Question Guy, Lots of answers and all are true, that's the scary part.
I just reread this and its kinda like a rant, so sorry about that, but its what is going on in the world now that I can attest too.
I started as a "combo, body and paint", out of service, my father was a mechanic so I grew up in the shop cleaning parts on Saturdays (still hate the smell of rear end grease). I did work as combo for 8 years, they gave you the keys when it came in and when you had washed it, you gave it back to the shop manager. (no complaining about 80 open coat scratches or wavy panels that way). Was a millwright/fabricator for a while and then back into a dealership for Body only, (mid 30's and flagging 100+ hrs a week) and yes then at 50% commission in Texas at that time we were at about $17.00 an hr ($8.50 wasn't bad wages after a divorce, and how many of us ended up there because no time for anything family, it was all work). I got tired of the peeling paint that GM had thru that time (White Celebrity Wagons paid 9 hrs to strip it with 175 grit disk on soft pad and R&I all for paint, warrantee time sometimes sucked) and started my own shop.
Economy took nose dive and in 96 went to work for the enemy, Insurance Adjuster. Learned more about running a body shop working for the insurance company than I would have ever thought. 16 years later still with insurance company, actually have a retirement now instead of just what's in my pocket like when I was in the shop. Do I like it? No, it use to be fun, even you guys still in the shop have to admit, when an adjuster came in that knew what it took to straighten a panel or you could talk to and they actually understood what you were saying, Life was good. Like they said above in other posts the insurance company's do control a lot of the methods of repairs and with the help of their lobbyist the labor rates. That said I am in one of the highest paid areas of the United States, northern Calif. in the central Valley pushing $70/hr, Bay Area $80, North Bay and Marin county $90 in some areas. (the bad part of this now is the tech's are getting $23-25/hr but they punch in at 8:00 and out at 5:00, so most Flat rate time is a thing of the past, 40 hr work weeks)
It all sounds good on paper "But" so many totals, its ridiculous, a car that needs a quarter, figure a $600-700 for uniside now then 13 hrs or so to install at $70 then, R&I for paint, to blend the rear door and deck lid another 3 -4 hrs, then paint time 6.5 to 7 hrs at $70 + $35 for materials (quick math some where over $2600 for a quarter) now figure that they get 22-25% back on salvage (if that car isn't worth $6k it's not repairable). Between the shops going broke from lack of work (nearly 50% of the owners not fixing their cars, just using the money to live on) and the EPA and out here the CARB.
Anyway I'm 63, My back and knees hurt, worried about all the Centari and Lacquer I sprayed in the past, along with the welding flash burns and what it will eventually cause. The insurance company's really don't want anyone that knows what you have to do, to correctly repair something, and someone said earlier that most in the shops are parts changers, and they are. I really don't think there is any areas I would go back into if I were in my 20's or 30's.
All I can say is its a lot easier to look at them than it is to repair them.

 

The difference between a mechanic/bodyman and a modern day tech is the mechanic/bodyman worked 50 percent and the tech works for 20 percent.

 

I'd recommend getting into the Aviation field instead of the Automotive one. Requires aviation training to obtain an A&P License but in my estimation well worth the effort and with much more stability. The aviation field had provided well for my family over the years with enough left over for me to mess with my old car hobby.

 

I went to college, learned it, passed, discovered I hate sanding, wasn't sure I wanted to breathe paint fumes for years, and never went to work in the industry per-se.

Now I paint my own beater with spray cans because it's easier than running a paint gun for results that the average joe won't notice the difference on or won't show up from 20 feet away.