25 of the Highest Paying Auto Repair Jobs in 2026

The best Auto Repair jobs can pay up to $150,000 per year.

High Paying Auto Repair Jobs

• Automotive Service Director

  Salary range: $92,000 - $150,000

  An automotive service director leads the service department at a car dealership or vehicle parts store. While the service director may help determine the mechanical needs of a vehicle, main duties often include managing employees, creating goals for the team, and ensuring efficient operations to help get the customer in and out of the shop quickly. The automotive service director may also control operating expenses and help manages inventory and accounts receivable. People in this career typically gain skills and experience as a service technician. Automotive service manager is a similar job title.

• Transmission Rebuilder

  Salary range: $55,000 - $146,500

  A transmission rebuilder is a specialized mechanic who handles the maintenance and repair of vehicle transmissions. As a transmission rebuilder, you typically operate in a body shop and work with standard mechanic tools to service cars. Your responsibilities are to diagnose vehicle transmission issues, rebuild transmissions to manufacturer specifications, and ensure these systems work efficiently and effectively. You handle gears, clutches, and other parts to assist with the recreation of the transmission, as well as properly remove and reinstall transmissions. Other duties involve maintaining the cleanliness of your area and tools.

• Bdc Manager

  Salary range: $48,000 - $85,500

  A BDC manager oversees the business development center (BDC) at an automotive dealership. The BDC department is responsible for setting appointments with potential buyers to meet with the sales representatives at the dealership. Staff members, known as development business representatives (DBR) or business development representatives (BDR), make these calls. As the BDC manager, your duties include hiring and training these representatives, setting quotas and appointment goals, driving sales, and tracking results.

• Automotive Shop Foreman

  Salary range: $50,500 - $83,500

  As an automotive shop foreman, your duties are to supervise daily operations at an automotive shop. This means that you hire and train new staff, oversee maintenance services, and help the owner or general manager order parts and maintain the appropriate stock of inventory. In addition to your managerial responsibilities, you often make repairs on cars, trucks, or pieces of heavy equipment. You can find automotive shop foreman jobs in a variety of places, including maintenance facilities at schools, tractor-trailer depots, and farming facilities. Your exact duties can vary based on the location in which you work.

• Automotive Diagnostic Technician

  Salary range: $60,500 - $81,500

  An Automotive Diagnostic Technician uses their knowledge, background, and qualifications regarding automobiles and relevant technologies to diagnose, repair, and maintain vehicles that run on gasoline, diesel fuels or electrical power. An Automotive Diagnostic Technician conducts testing on vehicles that might include using special diagnostic equipment that reads an auto’s internal computer chip or taking the car for a test drive. This professional usually has a job in an independent automotive garage, car dealer service department, or has a repair department for delivery vehicles, buses, or other public service vehicles. They might also perform responsibilities as part of a race car team or in shops that provide specialized services like oil changes.

• Master Mechanic

  Salary range: $56,500 - $81,000

  The master mechanic is a highly advanced mechanic at an auto repair shop or dealership. While a master mechanic is not necessarily a higher ranking employee as compared to a mechanic, your qualifications may grant you seniority. As a master mechanic, your responsibilities revolve around fixing engine and frame failures in customer’s cars. Your day-to-day job duties involve diagnosing issues, assessing vehicle damage, and executing repairs. You may also be responsible for performing basic maintenance, but you may delegate these procedures to less advanced employees. Master mechanics must be knowledgeable in technology, engine repair, collision repair, and other areas. As a master mechanic, you may work for yourself, an automobile dealer, or a larger auto repair shop.

• Automotive Service Manager

  Salary range: $56,000 - $81,000

  Automotive Service Managers work within a dealership's Service department to repair cars. They are the ones who are responsible for the business duties and administrative tasks, and oversee staff hiring, training, and firing. Automotive Service Managers also oversee the mechanics and the parts departments and ensure that vehicles are fixed to the customers' satisfaction. When something goes wrong with a repair or service, they are usually tasked with interacting with customers to come up with a fair resolution. Some Automotive Service Managers may be responsible for the shop's financial, marketing, and business goals. Automotive Service Managers should possess great customer service skills, as well as demonstrated knowledge of the auto industry and vehicles.

• Transmission Specialist

  Salary range: $80,000 - $80,000

  As a transmission specialist, you service and repair transmission systems. In this role, you may examine the mechanics of installed systems, provide training to new specialists, and otherwise ensure all automotive transmission systems function properly after you finish repairing them. Fulfilling the duties and responsibilities of this job requires physical stamina, the ability to disassemble and reassemble varying transmission systems correctly, and the ability to read and follow repair manuals. Transmission specialists are also known as transmission mechanics, and companies may advertise this job under either name. Some transmission specialists work with specific types of vehicles like buses or trucks.

• Journeyman Mechanic

  Salary range: $55,000 - $72,500

  A journeyman mechanic has completed a mechanic’s apprenticeship and can become a fully independent mechanic. As a mechanic, you have a variety of duties, such as conducting routine service inspections of your customers’ cars, performing routine maintenance, and providing emergency assistance when a car has serious problems. You may work at a large auto shop or open your own business. In addition to car repair, you must also know how to safely dispose of waste and follow all health and safety regulations.

• Mobile Mechanic

  Salary range: $51,000 - $69,500

  A mobile mechanic is an auto mechanic who travels to customers and provides vehicle maintenance on-site, rather than in a garage. This service is becoming increasingly popular because of its convenience, allowing customers to save time and avoid towing charges. As a mobile mechanic you can provide most of the services that are available in a garage, which includes electrical maintenance, transmission service, engine repairs, air conditioning recharging, battery replacement, and brake repair. Many mobile mechanics work weekends and holidays.

• Automotive Technician

  Salary range: $43,500 - $69,500

  An automotive technician is someone who has completed technical training and does repairs and maintenance of computerized car parts. Like a mechanic, an automotive technician will diagnose car problems, then offer repair solutions. Unlike a mechanic, automotive technicians work on the electronic and computerized parts of a car, doing maintenance and repairs. This work can be anything from repairing the brakes to adjusting built-in WiFi.

• Transmission Technician

  Salary range: $40,000 - $66,500

  As a transmission technician, you work on vehicles and their transmission components. Your responsibilities are to inspect, diagnose, and repair parts like couplings and hydraulic pumps. You usually work for a dealer or service company, providing your mechanic expertise to help repair cars in a quick and orderly fashion for customers. Other duties include testing parts for proper function, reading technical manuals, and performing essential maintenance. You might replace anything from a brake pad to wheel bearings, or change the oil during a shift. You also work with integrated electronic systems that pertain to a vehicle’s transmission.

• Engine Builder

  Salary range: $50,000 - $64,000

  The job duties of an engine builder involve working to design, build, improve, assemble, and test engines. In this career, you usually work in the automotive industry, though you could also design engines for aerospace, manufacturing, or a variety of other industries. Your duties as an engine builder may include engine teardown and rebuilding, as well as creating new engines. Your employer may also expect you to work on a specific aspect of an auto design project, such as the transmission. In some positions, you may add components and inspect engines to ensure proper functionality.

• ASE Certified Technician

  Salary range: $42,000 - $63,000

  An Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) Certified Technician is responsible for all auto repairs and maintenance. Most work within an automotive repair agency. Clients come with their automobile concerns, and it’s the ASE Certified Technician’s job to diagnose and treat the issue. They help communicate your recommendations to the team, so the customer understands the problem before they commit to those recommendations. ASE Certified Technicians perform required manufacturer fixes and stay current with industry best practices. They are responsible for delivering a safe and clean final product to the customer. ASE Certified Technicians mostly work traditional hours, but this does vary depending on the employer, as some request weekend and evening coverage.

• Transmission Mechanic

  Salary range: $41,500 - $62,000

  As a transmission mechanic, you maintain and repair transmission systems in cars, buses, trucks, and other vehicles. You often use jacks and hoists, carry and move transmission systems, use various hand tools, verify idle speeds, and adjust systems as needed. Fulfilling the responsibilities and duties of this job requires attention to detail, physical strength and stamina, and the ability to read and understand repair manuals for working with different transmission systems. This is a specialist position, though some transmission mechanics also serve as general mechanics certified by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE).

• Automotive Service Advisor

  Salary range: $38,500 - $62,000

  An Automotive Service Advisor is employed by a car dealership or service center to communicate with customers regarding their repair and maintenance issues. They then liaise with the Mechanics or Auto Technicians who make the repairs. As an Automotive Service Advisor, your responsibilities and duties include greeting customers, understanding their needs, communicating those to service providers, working with insurance companies when needed, and ensuring the customer understands the repair or maintenance options they have. Some jobs also require their service advisors to have technician or sales experience so that they can fulfill multiple roles in the company.

• Auto Mechanic

  Salary range: $43,500 - $61,500

  An Auto Mechanic is a trained professional skilled at making repairs and performing regular maintenance for automobiles. Some Mechanics specialize in specific areas, such as brake jobs, transmission repairs, or muffler repairs and replacements, while others work in general shops that service all repair and maintenance needs. The main job of a Mechanic is to diagnose the issue at hand and find the most timely and cost-effective solution for the customer.

• Mechanic

  Salary range: $41,500 - $60,000

  A mechanic repairs or services vehicles like cars and trucks. Their responsibilities include diagnosing automotive problems and making the necessary repairs. They also perform routine maintenance, like oil changes and tune-ups, to prevent future problems. They communicate with clients to assess their automotive needs and provide competent, appropriate maintenance.

• Automotive Service Writer

  Salary range: $36,500 - $60,000

  As an automotive service writer, you work at a vehicle service center, and your primary responsibilities are to inspect customer vehicles, such as light trucks and cars, to determine their working condition and then calculate how much any necessary repairs would cost. Your job duties include talking to the customer to find out what needs to be repaired, conducting visual inspections of a vehicle’s engine and other systems, and writing a report of your findings to include a list of recommended services and repairs. You can also find automotive service writer jobs at government agencies and corporations that own large fleets of vehicles. Car dealerships with automotive service departments hire automotive service advisors as well.

• Trailer Mechanic

  Salary range: $43,000 - $58,500

  As a trailer mechanic, you diagnose and repair mechanical and electrical issues in large vehicles, such as semi-trucks and tractor-trailers. Your primary responsibility is the maintenance and repair of heavy trucks. Your job duties are to identify problems, replace parts, and handle repairs to electrical systems, hydraulics, and brake systems. You report to a manager who ensures that repairs are completed to company standards. Another aspect of the job is answering client inquiries, so people skills are helpful. The qualifications for a career as a trailer mechanic are a diploma or certificate in mechanics and heavy truck technology.

• RV Technician

  Salary range: $38,000 - $58,000

  As a recreational vehicle technician, or RV technician, your primary responsibilities entail maintaining and repairing RVs. You assess the condition of the RV, repair equipment, order replacement parts when needed, and test your repairs to ensure effective and safe operation. You sometimes focus on a specific element of an RV, such as electrical systems, plumbing, chassis, generators, engines, or the RV body. Other duties include providing customer service to RV owners and asking them for details regarding their repair or installation needs. You can also build and install custom components or refurbish a recreational vehicle for a customer.

• Service Writer

  Salary range: $38,500 - $58,000

  As a service writer, you are an automotive professional who works as a liaison between customers and a variety of automotive service providers, including mechanics, dealerships, and other related entities. You work as an advisor to explain to customers the repairs that may be needed on their vehicle and the suggestions being made by the mechanic. It is your job to ensure the customer gets only the services they need while paying a price appropriate to the costs of labor and parts. You must be an excellent communicator and knowledgeable about cars and the automotive industry.

• Air Conditioning Technician

  Salary range: $40,000 - $57,500

  Air conditioning technicians install and perform maintenance on cooling and air conditioning systems. In this role, you determine what size unit is required for the home or office, find the best location for the air conditioning unit, install the unit, and test it to make sure it runs properly and does not disrupt any other system in the building. When the system stops working or has other issues, you examine the unit, make adjustments or repairs, and troubleshoot other problems that may arise. Some technicians focus exclusively on AC units, especially in companies that maintain a lot of them, but other technicians also concentrate on heating and ventilating systems. In these cases, the job is often called an HVAC technician instead of an air conditioning technician.

• Warranty Administrator

  Salary range: $39,000 - $54,500

  A warranty administrator guides all phases of the repair process when a replacement part is in need for cars, computers, and other products that have warranties. As a warranty admin, you have a hand in monitoring both quality standards and legal requirements, representing your company to manufacturers and compliance departments. You will review claims and keep track of credits. Once a request is approved, your duties may include ordering parts, tracking deliveries, communicating with legal teams, managing warranty agents, giving final approvals, and making sure all applicable paperwork gets filled out correctly.

• Chassis Mechanic

  Salary range: $43,500 - $54,000

  A chassis mechanic performs preventative and corrective maintenance on a trailer or intermodal vehicle. As a chassis mechanic, you inspect trailers, troubleshoot for any existing problems, and repair them for use and distribution. This includes repairing ABS systems, air brake systems, wheel ends, and structural assemblies. You must document each of your repairs to ensure there is a historical record of each trailer you work on. Other duties and responsibilities include conducting minor welding and fabrication on chassis and shipping containers and diligently keeping paperwork or using a mobile application to log work orders.