put it this way... in my opinion there is no substitute for experience. that being said, however, having a master cert is paramount to making money in the auto repair field. it would definitely give you a leg up... especially if there is any kind of job placement assistance going on. to my experience toyota takes care of their techs. if you can get on at a reputable toyota dealership, you could be on your way to a successful career.

but one thing i noticed about a lot of the guys who came out of big money schools is they really didn't know how to fix anything. yeah maybe they learned how stuff works, but the key to making good money is being able to diagnose quickly- for example, knowing common problems on specific car platforms can give you a huge advantage in knowing exactly what part is associated with a certain symptom. i know that if a mercury mystique comes in with an a/c inop, the harness and switch for the blower motor is a frequent problem so that's the first place i'm going to look, and most likely that will be what's wrong. another tech who'd never seen it could spend hours trying to figure out what's going on. this is just one example... but you only get to know these types of things through experience. but having the knowledge will definitely help you out... i'm just not sure if it's worth the price you might be paying for it.

and i wouldn't be overly optimistic on a starting salary either, unless like i mentioned previously there's some kind of really good job placement hookups that goes along with the training. i think a lot depends on how dedicated you are to learning the field, and definitely where you end up working. i for one knowing what i know now would not choose it over college, but it's still a good trade.