Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics
Diagnose, adjust, repair, or overhaul automotive vehicles.
704,640 people do this job in the US. $50,620 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 4%
- 1%
- 95%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 4%. Today's estimate: 4%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 30 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Repair or replace parts such as pistons, rods, gears, valves, and bearings.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 12% | 1 work day3.3 h to 2.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Repair or rebuild transmissions.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 11% | 1 work day5 h to 2.1 work days | Stays with people | |
| Rebuild parts, such as crankshafts and cylinder blocks.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 9% | 1 work day3.3 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Tear down, repair, and rebuild faulty assemblies, such as power systems, steering systems, and linkages.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Repair and service air conditioning, heating, engine cooling, and electrical systems.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 5% | 2.1 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Perform routine and scheduled maintenance services, such as oil changes, lubrications, and tune-ups.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Retrofit vehicle fuel systems with aftermarket products, such as vapor transfer devices, evaporation control devices, swirlers, lean burn devices, and friction reduction devices, to enhance combustion and fuel efficiency.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Overhaul or replace carburetors, blowers, generators, distributors, starters, and pumps.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 4% | 2.1 h1.3 h to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Rewire ignition systems, lights, and instrument panels.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 2.1 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Tune automobile engines to ensure proper and efficient functioning.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Diagnose and replace or repair engine management systems or related sensors for flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) with ignition timing, fuel rate, alcohol concentration, or air-to-fuel ratio malfunctions.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Repair, reline, replace, and adjust brakes.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Rail Car Repairers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists0% now, 0% by 2028
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers3% now, 3% by 2028
- Motorcycle Mechanics0% now, 0% by 2028
- Engine and Other Machine Assemblers8% now, 9% by 2028
- Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians3% now, 3% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).