Mechanic1974

Hey there to you all.

This is just at a research stage at the moment, but i am looking to move to Benidorm or near - such as Polop, or La Nucia, Relleue, Vallejosa.
I have seen that it should be ok to find a house / villa for long term rental, but what i would like to know is - is it difficult to find work out there as a mechanic.
Im currently working in a Toyota Dealer in Wales uk. I am 36 and have 20 years experience on the tools. Trained on Fords, and worked on them until i was 25, worked on Jaguar and Land Rover until 2008, achieved Master Technician status on both Jaguar and Land Rover. In the same garage - i worked on Mazda, Mitsubishi, Rover, LDV, and a little on Citroen. I also did just under 12 months stint in an Audi VW Dealership.
Would it be difficult to get into a Toyota Dealership or Jaguar Dealership near Benidorm. I saw the Toyota one - looks pretty well set up.
I will be looking to learn the language over the coming years. hoping this will help.
Otherwise - whats the chances of finding a job in any dealer or any independent garage in benidorm area - im looking for a radius of 30km maximum of benidorm.

Any info would be greatly recieved.

much thanks - christian

Mucho Gracias

poolboy

hi & welcome. Although unemployment in Spain is c 20% & rising I am pretty sure I saw a job vacancy advertised for a motor mechanic in one of the free papers. I don't keep them but if you search on costa blanca news, euro weekly, inland trader websites if it is still on you may be lucky. As these are english papers the job would have been in an english business.

Getting somewhere to live is easy, no worries, it's the job that's the hard part.

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Casa Santo Estevo

How much Spanish can you speak/write or understand? I would have thought that working for a main dealer your language skills need to be top notch to talk to the other works order parts even talk to the customers at times.

jojojojojo

I guess you have to turn it around and think how would a spanish mechanic with limited english language skills cope with working as a mechanic in a British dealership - does it matter that you'll be dealing with LHD as opposed to RHD?

There are British independent garages and workshops around, but I suspect they're struggling??!!?

You need to come over and have a good look round, network, meet people and get a feel

Jo xxx

littlelambfound

Hi Mechanic1974,
"Would it be difficult to get into a Toyota Dealership or Jaguar Dealership near Benidorm."
Just send them an Email....and all will be revealed.

Mechanic1974

Ok - i will ellaborate a little further.

We have a handful of local friends there. we have been back about 3 times since 2005. We love the place.
My plan is to stay in my local toyota dealer for the next 7 to 8 years, - this will build up my knowledge of this particular brand. This will therefore add to my experienced portfolio of factory training together with Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, MAzda, and Audi.
I have started to self teach myself spanish now, ready for the newyear when i will enrole on a spanish course. Over 8 years of travelling back and forth to Benidorm i hope to build up a mental map of the surrounding areas also, for living, and jobs etc. Also - hopefully finding more info on how to get out there and live - ie sort out all the red tape , etc etc.
So - coming in here is the first step of my research. Over 7 - 8 years i would estimate that the job market, will be steadily on the increase, the recession will be on the later half of its climb out of depression.
It does not matter if i work on LHD, or RHD vehicles. What i was hoping for is - someone to say - "yes - i found it ok to get into toyota dealer / jaguar dealer / vauxhall dealer etc - if i spoke the lingo - because i have done it "

Its just great to talk to others in here too. Its very handy to read of what mistakes people have made too - even the harshest of comments are of value to me.

So why 8 yrs u may ask ? - well - i have 3 children in school - so i want to make sure they finish their education here in the UK, and are on the way to a skilled apprentiship or job ladder of some sort before we leave. i want my wife and i only to have each other to worry about when we go to spain, rather than having dependants to worry about. - if we fail when we are out there - then - our children wont lose out - just us. - so worst case is we come back to uk with tail between our legs - looking for work locally at home again.

anyways - thank you all for your replies so far.

mucho gracias - ( its a start ) - christian

poolboy

hi again & sorry for hijacking the thread but it is semi related, I am looking at changing my car next year & was set on a Nissan Note, maybe still am, however I looked at the JD Power research & combined with how many I see in the street in Spain, may now go for a Yaris d4d. Yaris came 2nd I think vs Note's 15th.

Are they really that reliable? the resale asking prices here are good so I suspect the owners know they are. I am after the current model, 08 or 09, not bothered about the spec but must have air con & be ultra reliable.

If I bought an 09, would I get 10 years & 200k km out of it with just routine servicing? do they really get 70 mpg if I drive like a pensioner?

Thanks in advance.

Mechanic1974

No probs - i recommend Yaris - will reply via private message with more info.

Casa Santo Estevo

It is good to plan that far in front, But you should keep an eye on things as they will change in the inverting years.

Hopefully the 7 or 8 years will fly by.

Mechanic1974

Thanks Casa

Im hoping i should be able to keep eye on whats going on over the 8 yr period - with no hurry - can ask lots of questions, which i know will lead to more questions. Have to start chucking all the stuff i dont need round here now - lol - im a bit of a collector of usefull junk. So 8 yrs should help with that lol !

I was checking on town Relleu - shows about 12 miles from Benidorm - but thats as the crow flies - i see its in the Sierras - would it take longer than 30 mins to commute from this town to Benidorm. - I ask because there are some nice houses there for good rent money - but then im thinking thats because where its situated in mountains.

cheers again

cricketman

"Mucho gracias" shows you've got a looong way to go

Seriously, you have a very tough task ahead of you even if you have 7-8 years to learn Spanish and do research
1. You dont have Spanish mechanics qualifications
2. You dont know anyone in the Spanish motortrade
3. There are a lack of jobs anyway even for people who are trained and are fluent in Spanish

However, if you really want it then sure, work towards it. It will be tough, but very rewarding if you succeed.

There are a couple of posters (Rotor is one I think) who have a mechanics/car business in Spain. Maybe they can give you some tips

Good luck!

Mechanic1974

Yes i see what you are saying. Nothing comes for free. You have to put the work in to get something back.

I thought it would be hard to get into a Spanish garage dealers. Probably same as anything else in life - not just what you know - but WHO you know.

If im honest - i cant see me getting straight into a dealer, or maybe straight into a garage. However - no point in giving up before i start either.
I want to give it a go when the kids are secure here in UK, - we have a strong close family network which can look after them whilst we try and make a go of it in Spain. If i fail - then - i havent sacrificed my kids lives, and dreams for it. Its all down to me and my wife. Give it our all - and if it looks like its not working out - well - least i can say i tried, and i tried my best !
8 years - should be plenty to learn the lingo with college course and regular visits dont u think ? plus face book to spanish friends ?

anyways - thanks for the advice - and the good luck.

I hope i can reply in many years to come - and tell you - i managed to make it work.

Best regards

cricketman

Well that depends, I know British people who have been "learning" Spanish for ten years and can still only say enough to order a meal.

It is difficult to learn a language when you are not in the country itself. And I guess Benidorm isnt the ideal environment to learn Spanish as there is so much English around.

Still, it is down to you. The best thing is to do your language courses, and when in Spain, go to places Spanish people go to and listen to Spanish radio, watch Spanish TV etc. Then you will get used to it and have to learn it to get by. But it will take years.

Learning a language properly is a lot of hard work. I'd say it is as difficult as getting a university degree, and you dont have the advantage of 3 years full time work and lots of support from teachers. But people have done it and it can be done!

Mechanic1974

Thanks for the support Cricketman.

Usually we go down the front to Daytona rock and Guiness bar , front restaraunts, old town tapas, bars. Its where our spanish speaking friends are, and we would like to speak more to them in the same language. not often we are in English town.
I agree with you - its very hard to pick the lingo up when we live in an english speaking world every day. my plan is - if me and my wife do a course - we can then attempt to speak to one another at home in spanish. with out that chance to converse - i think - we would fail. add to that - we speak online to a handful of spanish friends, so slowly we could begin to creep in the spanish, plus more frequent short visits over the next 8 years - im hoping we can pull it off.

wish me all the luck u have cricketman lol ! - im gonna need it !

catch ya later

Mechanic1974

hi jojo

Same name as my wife !
Thanks for you comment. I have been reading through a lot of the other spanish threads. I can see now - spain in general is at rock bottom same as the rest of us. ALthough - far worse than the UK. We still have our £1 which is just holding its value. The euro even tho it is at breaking point with Ireland on verge of collapse with Spain close behind - its holding up just about, but at the cost of Spanish Nations jobs.

If i could get a job there now - it would be for near enough same money - if jobs were available. but 5 yr ago - i would need a job in spain that earns nearly twice most earn in spain to earn what i get here in uk.
It would nt really matter if i could stay in spain, only time it would matter would be when i wanna fly to UK - and the Euro value would only buy me 65p for my 1 Euro. Thats the price i woud pay for living in the sun i suppose.

Trouble is - i wont be coming out now - which is good because there are no jobs ! - but also bad in future - because i believe everything is a cycle of life and finances. - the jobs will slowly build again. but - when that happens - the euro will devalue further - because the same will be happening in the UK - jobs increasing, business building, stirling increases in value. so i would get less money in spain, but maybe better life.
What i need really is - for the UK to fold at some point and join the euro currency. then it would not matter where i worked ! Investors would hate it but we all have our own agendas lol.

how have u managed jojo ? - how long u been out there - what have u experienced ? - what do u foresee ?

best regards - mecanico !