Leaving the Army in early 2013 and considering going to UTI for the diesel program. My GI will pay for it, and ill get living money etc. Im planning on doing the diesel/auto program and after that getting my certified on Cummins engines which is another 12 weeks after the 69 weeks. Anyone else been to UTI? Anyone have opinions about UTI? I have heard great things about their program. Just want some input before I take the plunge.. Thanks guys!!!

I did Diesel/ Industrial and then the Cummins program in Phoenix.

The ONLY way it makes sense is if you have somebody paying for it, ie. GI bill. It's expensive, and not really worth anything. It's taught to the lowest common denominator, which is some dude that was in the bottom 25% of your high school class. Half the instructors have heads firmly implanted in their buttocks and are worked for 16 hours a day, so what you cover on any one subject may or may not take you to the "borderline proficient" category that is the best case scenario coming out of the place. Most guys come out not able to pass ASE tests; if you are going to make a serious go being an auto tech, make sure you get ASE certifications. Those are much more valuable than a UTI diploma.

There's a sizable veteran population there and they have a pretty good time. If the GI Bill's paying for it, it makes sense.

For the money I spent, I could've paid in-state tuition for a 4-year degree somewhere. After graduating I had about a dozen job interviews where the name "UTI" raised a red flag with the interviewer and I had to try to explain why I wasn't like the other UnTrained Idiots that he had hired in the past. I started getting looked at more seriously when I removed mention of "UTI" from my resume.

well... kind of sounds like it would be just a waste of my time if go.. i thought it would be a respectable school..but it sounds like crap to you. Im trying to better myself, and get a better paying job in the civilian life to support my wife and two kids. ill keep my optionis open. thanks for your input

In general, any paying mechanics job will give you better training and experience (and money in the meanwhile) than UTI, and any bachelor's degree will be infinitely more respectable and you'll be able to go to a college without the fascism.

wyotech was the same kind of joke. i wish i had never gone, then i wouldn't have these ridiculous school loans. not to mention never being able to find a job using my degree. if you want to be a mechanic find a shop and work your way up from the bottom.

Alot of negative reviews..something to think about

From what I've heard, Wyotech, Lincoln, UTI and other big franchise type schools are all crap. I went to a community college and had great results, (5 ASE's while on course). And it was an 1/8th of the price of Lincoln. The best thing is I got a job at the local Caterpillar dealership because they are a business partner with the school. And a few of the other guys from my class got jobs with other business partners also. Go look into your local CC program and see what you get. I've found that the classes are smaller, and they instructors are there because they actually want to teach, not because they have to. Good luck.

I got a buddy that went to wyotech in pa, came back after graduation had a job within 2 weeks at a major hauler for miller coors brewery that's 5 min. from home.


Strokin' Away

Been thinking about trying UTI but after seeing this not really sure I want to try them...

Pennyslvania college of technology hands down best mechanic program diesel collision automotive you name it im just look in to it if you really want to get an education let me no what you think

thank you for your service in school now enrolling ocs USMC

stroke out

There are all types of technical colleges out there for half the price of UTI. I noticed you wanted to work for Cummins..... While I was a heavy equipment and truck mechanic at a construction company for a good while I interviewed some of the people who came from schools like UTI, Lincoln Tech etc... the best interview I ever had was stumped with one question.."how long would you say it would take you to do a clutch job job on this mack?" the mack was an older model super liner we used for a haul truck..;the response I got was "4 hours"...... I laughed and the interview ended. The ones that applied from a tech school in waco tx were great workers and very teachable. Those are also the ones we would send to different schools with cummins cat etc. If you go to those state type tech schools and get a degree in diesel mechanics then get on with cumminscat, etc... they will send you to their schools free of charge to get you specific certifications.... and all the ase certifications you can pick up along the way will only help those chances.

Best wishes, and thanks for what you do

So how long does it take to do a clutch job on an older Mack?

I'd say "I don't know, I'd have to ask the service writer."

I'd guess 8 hours plus extra if it's rusty or not readily obvious how to unbolt the transmission from the chassis. But I really have no idea.

Which mack? The ones that have the trans as part of the motor support, take longer....they wont teach that in college





On a side not, we hired a college graduate.....so far, hes well....slow.

Fastest mechanic I'd ever seen was a meth addict. Only had teeth on one side of his mouth, ridiculously paranoid, went between fevers and cold chills every few minutes...

I watched him change a clutch in a Volkswagen in an hour one time. He had the car up on a lift, he attacked it with an air hammer and impact, cursing at the top of his lungs the entire tire, whenever he took anything off he'd throw it on the ground, whenever he was done with a tool he'd hurl it at the wall, swearing and grunting... When it was time he just reached up and King Kong'd the transmission out of the vehicle and heaved it onto the ground, cracked the concrete...

I was amazed. A miracle anything ever worked after he touched it, but God I was amazed.

As far as the exact year and model number.... brother I will be honest with you, it was to long ago to say and be right about it. I can tell you it was, I am thinking mid to late 80's mack super liner. The place I worked had a half azz trans jack that we would have to block with wood to use. The problem with the older macks.... and probably some of the newer ones was clearance. We had to move a bunch of crap outta the way to slide the tranny out of there. If we had all the parts we needed in the shop, it was usually a group effort. Most of the time myself (Field Mechanic at the time) the other field mechanic as well as the sop mechanic would tag team total clutch jobs and you could still figure the better part of a full day.... then we started at 6 in the morning and usually had to stop to get parts or one of us would have to pull off that job for a while and go handle something in the field, so we would usually be buttoning up the clutch somewhere around 3-with no one leaving and parts there, or later if it was a busy day running down parts and handling other calls

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Nothing like a methed out mechanic on a mission!! LOL thats the best I have heard in a while!!!