What tire dealerships pay their workers and executives has probably been a topic of conversation in boardrooms and around shop water coolers for many years. In its year-end survey of dealers, TIRE BUSINESS attempted to gauge salary ranges for top dealership executives, store managers, service managers, automotive service and alignment technicians, and tire service workers.
Results were based on averages for each category, though some ranges were quite disparate. For example, one company listed the top-end salary for a tire buster as the same as the low-range pay for its CEO.
Top executive salaries ranged from a low of $10,000, to a high of $250,000 to $300,000 annually; the average salary was $60,527.
Salaries for store managers averaged $34,000, and ranged from $12,000 to $16,000 on the bottom, to $50,000 to $75,000 at the top income bracket.
Service managers, according to the survey, receive an average $28,305. One dealership reported the lowest figure-$15,000-while another pays those employees $80,000.
Auto service technician salaries averaged $27,956, ranging from the $50,000 to $80,000 one dealership reported it pays its techs, to the $14,000 to $20,000 another pays.
Rounding out the results, alignment technician salaries ranged from a low of $15,000 to $20,000 annually, to a high of $45,000. Their average salary of $26,714 closely followed service technicians.
The highest reported salary range for a ``tire buster'' was $28,000 to $35,000; the lowest range was $8,000 to $10,000. The average in this pay category was $16,928.