Universal Technical Institute

I finally finished UTI a little over a year ago, which is why I havent been here in a long time. Just want to say to anyone thinking about attending that is really is not with the 30 grand you now have to pay. They make alot of promises to get you to sign up, but later you will find out it is mostly lies. ofr instance come to UTI and work for AUDI or Porsche. porsche only takes 1 person a year from UTI out of like 20000 students. the chances of working with them are highly, highly unlikely. Also they say you can make 80-100000 dollars a year in just a couple years. Most mechanics in the field barely make half that in 30 years. the best way to get knowledge and training isnt from UTI or Wyotech its just to work your way up from a lube tech or lot attendendant. In your free time walk through the shop and learn as much as possible from the techs. trust me, you will learn so much more this way.

Im sorry for this little rant deal, but I am just trying to warn some people fresh out of high schoool who could get tricked into this place like I did.

Good luck to all who are coming into the field, it can be great at times. However it can absolutely blow at times too haha.

The shop teacher's son from my school went to Wyotech and felt that it wasn't worth the 20 or 25 grand or whatever it was. He went for auto tech or some shit and ended up painting cars as a living, not what he wants to do but better than some jobs. I've looked into their classes and was looking at the Diesel Tech or maybe their motorcycle classes. I think because I just bought myself a brand new ZX-10R that I might go into a motorcycle class but I'm still not sure if Wyotech is right for me...

So until I decide I'll just keep working and living at home...:banghead:

My advice would be go to a local bike shop. Nice choice by the way, love the zx-10. Start off at parts or something if you cant be like an apprentice in the shop. Parts will help you get a grasp on everything that goes into a bike, if you dont already know yourself. Make frequent trips in the shop, get to know the mechanics and foreman/manager. Eventually they will move you in the shop when you feel you are ready. This is the best way, not a tech school, plus you wont spend 20-25k either, instead you will get paid. good luck

This reminds me of a conversation I was having the other day with a friend who teaches at a high school. She was saying how she thought that those who were going into a vocation rather than college should be in classes dedicated to the field they want to go into. I can tell you first hand that you cant learn a trade in a classroom. I am an electrician, how many classes have I taken for this? None. I have seen probably at least 20 people who went to a technical school and learned all about what to do, how to do it, building codes, things of that nature, and can you guess how many of them have lasted at my job? None. The best way to learn any trade is to work in it, not paying thousands of dollars for someone to tell you how other people do it.

just want to add that this might be specific to your country.
In the UK we have very good trade/apprentice courses that teach you the neccessary "knowledge" as well as the practical experience needed for all industries.

Those schools are really what you make of them. You have to keep your eyes open and take advantage of opportunities. I went to WyoTech for a year, then went to the Mercedes ELITE program. WyoTech was extremely helpful in getting me in the program even when I failed to meet application deadlines. After ELITE I got a job at MBZ of Beverly Hills. I was there 4 years and then asked by our foreman to be the the back-up SLR technician. After proving I had the skills to work on the car I'm now the lead SLR tech and have probably worked on more SLR's in one year than most will in 5.

I'll agree though, that $80-100k promise they make is complete BS. Warranty labor times are being hacked at Mercedes and I've been told it's the same at every other manufacturer. Techs are making less money now than they did 15 years ago. I'll be lucky to make $60k this year and that's working in Beverly Hills. :rolleyes:

I agree they diffinately are what you make of them. Alot of the teachers have so much knowledge its rediculous, not to mention they are gear heads and most have some pretty badass cars themselves. Thats awesome you are the SLR tech Blindside, my roomate just got a huge promotion where he works, Midwestern Auto Group. He just got promoted to Highline Tech. I deffinately envy his posotion now, even though we make the same wage. He now gets to work on Ferrari, Lotus, Aston, Porsche, and last but not least Saab haha. No idea why Saab is highline, but oh well. He went through the VW program that UTI offers, and it deffinately does open alot of doors. I am just still not sure if it was worth all the money to spend.

My friend left college to go to UTI and finished with high marks in less than 2 years. He now works at a Toyota dealer in Ft Lauderdale... not quite the fast track to Acura like he was told. I never really talked with him about how worth it the program was but he definitely complains that he doesn't get paid enough and he was expecting to be working at Acura not Toyota.

I was about to enter UTI straight out of high school but after hearing so many people disappointed with the overall program, I'm kinda glad I didn't. Although I would like to think that I would truly enjoy working on cars as a profession instead of what I do now. I like my job, but I like cars much more.

what a lot of people don't realise is that getting into the industry to do well is a lot harder than you think. there's no lying in the fact that there are plenty of people who didn't go to tech colleges that have more knowledge of cars than those that did study. but the qualification is largely what counts in getting a decent auto work job.

being in the right place at the right time also has a lot to do with it. as said before, it's what you make of it. if you don't push yourself, you won't do as well. if you're eager and willing to learn, put in the time and effort i'm sure you'll do a lot better.

i've learned more in 4 months working in a tyre shop that i did in a year at college. that said, the college i went to was a load of crap. now i'm working as much as i can to save to go to uti, because the qualification counts as much as the knowledge and because it's the only way for me to jump the borders..

You all are absolutely right! I am an ATC http://www.autotraining.edu/ drop out. I pissed about 10K down the drain attending that place. I had considered going there out of high school, but didn't. 5 years out of high school I was laid off from my job and looked in to going there. They took advantage of an out of work guy with a bunch of empty promises of guarenteed positions making 50-60K a year starting. What a bunch of BS. They are just like any other business, they are out to make money. I could go on for hours about that place.

A friend of mine went to UTI and now works at Infiniti. Hes not makeing great money, but some of the guys that have been there for awhile are making tons.

The shop teacher's son from my school went to Wyotech and felt that it wasn't worth the 20 or 25 grand or whatever it was. He went for auto tech or some shit and ended up painting cars as a living, not what he wants to do but better than some jobs. I've looked into their classes and was looking at the Diesel Tech or maybe their motorcycle classes. I think because I just bought myself a brand new ZX-10R that I might go into a motorcycle class but I'm still not sure if Wyotech is right for me...

So until I decide I'll just keep working and living at home...:banghead:

I love the new ZX10s! Still breaking it in or have you hit the redline on that beast yet? I rode an 06 and it was smooth as silk, I felt like I was sitting in the bike rather than on it. Good stuff. If I go for another liter bike you better bet on kawasaki!

Somewhat of an old thread but there is a lot of good information in this thread. 91300zxtt I have done work on motorcycles before but I live in a pretty secluded part of Iowa where there isn't much demand on motorcycles other than the mechanics already at the shops. Talking to the mechanic where I got my bike from they want to expand and add another mechanic but I think they're looking for someone that has been through the schooling.


My advice would be go to a local bike shop. Nice choice by the way, love the zx-10. Start off at parts or something if you cant be like an apprentice in the shop. Parts will help you get a grasp on everything that goes into a bike, if you dont already know yourself. Make frequent trips in the shop, get to know the mechanics and foreman/manager. Eventually they will move you in the shop when you feel you are ready. This is the best way, not a tech school, plus you wont spend 20-25k either, instead you will get paid. good luck


Off topic but yes I absolutely love my 07. I plan on getting rid of the underseat exhaust though and possibly going with a custom Racefit exhaust from overseas. That will really lighten it up and get it back down there to the first generation(04-05) ZX-10R's. I've got just over 3100 miles on it and the power these bikes make is insane...especially the Kawi...PM me if you want to talk further about bikes...


I love the new ZX10s! Still breaking it in or have you hit the redline on that beast yet? I rode an 06 and it was smooth as silk, I felt like I was sitting in the bike rather than on it. Good stuff. If I go for another liter bike you better bet on kawasaki!

sorry the ADD took over. (on topic now) I have always been told there is no replacement for experience. Sure you can read about taking apart an engine, but until you actually do it, you have no idea.

I went to NADC. I feel it was good for that $14k (back then) piece of paper. Their thing is "you can come back and review the course for free". And everyone that don't know any better thinks "great!". Not realizing its a basic course that won't show you anything new if your in the field. But it did get me about $2 an hour more than someone out of high school when starting out. And I learned more the first year in the field than all thru vocational school and college combined.

2 years ago I went to the adult ed course for ASE "offered" by the county voed school. I have a comprehension problem, make a long story short and thus had to drop out. I was told "I can't hold back the rest of the class for one person." What it seemed to me was a bunch of questions from other students like "can we go smoke? can we go home?" Nothing to help us learn at all; more like talking about/with the people whom were in the earlier bits of the course. I talked with a few people "in charge" of the adult ed programs, and was given the "tough cheese" response.

two things:

1. please check the dates on threads to ensure that they are timely. This thread is nearly a year old.

2. Not everyone that goes to a trade school is going to have great success in whatever they do. Nor will everyone that goes to said school do well. I know people who have gone to UTI and now have mediocre jobs because they just can't hack it or didn't take advantage of opportunities or whatever. Then there is my brother-in-law. He's currently preparing to head to Maranello, Italy to work for Ferrari. He went to UTI and graduated last August.

Just because some people don't have a good experience with an institution doesn't mean that it's a problem with the institution.