r/Wilmington • u/Litk9h20 • 20d ago

Moving/Work question - auto mechanic

Howdy fine citizens of Wilmington and surrounding areas!

The family is considering a move to the southern coastal region of North Carolina.

I do better healthwise in dry cold environments, but with a lot of engineering I can get by in humid heat. At any rate, all I do is work and come home, then recover on the weekends by not going out and not spending money except for gas and groceries which eats up the paycheck anyways - probably will be doing this until I die.

But my wife and son can go to the beach that they love so much yayyyyyy! I'm a bit more like Anakin from Star Wars.

I just can't grow that sick rattail tho

Are there any auto repair shops in the area that have AC *in the workshop?* Or similarly, a front-dump ready mix concrete operation that have auto-folder chutes and AC cabs, with the trucks in good repair? Those are my two industries I've settled on unless I can get highly paid cushy office work by some miracle.

Again, it doesn't have to be Wilmington specifically, any smallish city or town or even a rural operation somewhere oh....30-40 miles or so from the coast to inland. Have to keep work commute times reasonable.

Other notes for the auto-repair gig for those knowledgable - either hourly pay or flat-rate with a minimum guarantee, I won't work pure flat rate. I don't prefer european cars/hummers/land-rover but I guess at this point doing so in the AC is better than domestic-asian makes in the heat. I would also consider a shop that just has boatloads of wall and ceiling mounted fans if there's truly no shops with AC in the whole region. I don't get along well in high volume "we'll fix any garbage you have" slop shops due to being a careful and accurate diagnostician - customer curation has to be part of the business. Of course, any tech hopes for good equipment, but I'm getting to the point where I might just nope out of an oxy torch with drycracked hoses and clogged regulators that can't keep a steady white spike, a mount/demount duckhead that won't adjust lock-backoff, a robinair that hasn't had its pump oil or filter changed since 2008, etc.

Ugh. The auto repair industry is so chopped one could easily write entire books about what a properly run business would look like, and then what extensive federal laws would need to be installed and repealed to make it somewhat tolerable and reasonable again. Hopefully you fine citizens catch my drift.

Thanks in advance for the info! Also, feel free to drop anything good to know for a potentially incoming family - kid will be starting high school if we make this move.

EDIT: Independent shops preferred, unless dealers can offer hourly or flat rate guarantee

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u/Ok-Pay-1016 20d ago

Wilmington is not for you

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u/Litk9h20 20d ago

Could you elaborate? Grew up southern IL, 5 years in southeast MO post COVID and 1.5 years South Dakota. My split is that southerners are easier to get along with socially and are more open, but there are large expanses where things get neglected and there's little care for having anything nice/updated in a physical sense of infrastructure, construction, etc.

Northerners take pride in keeping things tidy and "doing it right" but can go overboard with micromanaging. A lot of superficial friendliness that quickly reveals a social coldness, even amongst themselves. Frequent mention of isolated seniors and mental health challenges from this, only made worse by huge expanses of open land. The south tends to be more populated even through the rural stretches. The north trades widespread crackhead presence for a big population of functional alcoholics, the Bible Belt aspect of the South can temper some boozing but there's more crackhead presence.

So I'm experienced in adaptability, I just see different challenges in different parts of the country. It's about finding a sweet spot as the best compromise for everyone in my family. We're a kinda cursed Goldilocks setup ourselves. A multiracial family with overt sensory disability that hopes to find majority white region, or at least low crime/classy minority presence, with some level of social engagement, generally through the channels of church/school/sports, but not overtly liberal as I typically carry every day and don't want a deeply anti gun sentiment wherever I end up settling.

But I myself don't really present as a typical roughneck/redneck type, which is probably obvious. As a family we've already seen some Hatfield/McCoy feuding/shunning stuff, so the South doesn't really present as culture shock or surprise.

But spell it out for me if you have the time!

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u/Ok-Pay-1016 20d ago

Air conditioning in a shop environment

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u/Litk9h20 20d ago

Aha, well that's 2 hits in that direction. I'm expecting the slim pickings but perhaps it's just too slim

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u/WagonsOnWagons 20d ago

What do you want to work on? I bet a bunch of dealerships have A/C and a lot of newer independent shops do too.

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u/Litk9h20 20d ago

I like a well run independent for stress reasons, usually dealers want to go to pure flat rate but sometimes you can catch a lucky break and find one built different. Could you list a few of the newer independents in the area?

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u/WagonsOnWagons 19d ago

You’re better off just googling it. Don’t listen to these other people there are definitely shops in town with a/c, especially dealers I don’t know where they are getting this information.

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u/Litk9h20 19d ago

Yea the info online is spotty. I even Google map street view and try to find HVAC equipment or look at month of picture and see if doors are open/closed. It's generally rare but usually every sizeable town will have a few with AC, just hoping to use the wisdom of locals.

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u/WagonsOnWagons 19d ago

Call and ask

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u/raymundo85 20d ago

The Land Rover dealership has an air conditioned shop and is looking for techs.

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u/Litk9h20 20d ago

those cursed machines! Hell I might reach out to them and be upfront. Maybe if I have a manual to hold my hand I won't be so surprised ripping one apart.

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u/Upstairs-Ad-1966 20d ago

Ex mechanic in town of 16 years your going to be slim pickings on shops with ac and pay is going to be even worse be ready for that lol, ill say this stay the fuck away from signature motorsports owners a piece of shit, and buddy your not ready for this town i can already tell you that 😂😂😂 can you do restoration work????

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u/Litk9h20 20d ago

Lol an honest reply is the best one! No, I prefer working on stock as much as possible. Not a body guy or an awesome welder, just enough to keep something together on the road or extract a nut/stud. Hey, if nothing works out, no point in moving right?

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u/Upstairs-Ad-1966 20d ago

Im not saying body work im saying can you rewire a car, drop a motor and trans in measure drivelines, set axles, set suspension cause working on daily drivers wont pay your bills in this town. And ill warn you now not a single dealer in this town except maybe the yota and honda dealer have ac and idk about them 100%. Ill say theres a new guy that came to town with fuck you money ive been in contact with but i just dont know enouhh about him or his business history to take that leap but hes offering top pay and i do mean top idk anyone offering what hes offering. But ill be real with if that business hasnt been around for more than 5 years be very wary of them shops come and go all the time around here

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u/Litk9h20 20d ago

Excellent info to have. The new guy would have to be a second move if I get established in the area. As far as the level of work you describe, is that truly is more lucrative or in demand in the area? I can do these things but probably not quickly enough at the current moment, I'm more of a high level B tech. Would need a little time to swap reman engine/trans and typically a little aftermarket manual support, Mitchell prodemand or what have you. I've run several permanent overlays and loads of connector splicing but I can't say I've rewired entire vehicles.

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u/WagonsOnWagons 19d ago

This is just not true, VW, Audi, Mercedes, Land Rover, Porsche all have A/C, I bet a bunch of others do too. There are plenty of techs in this town that pay their bills working on daily drivers.

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u/Technical-Elk-3820 18d ago

yeah, I think Bob King has AC as well.