Successful automotive repair still requires technicians who have a combination of tactile skills, patience and a knack for details.
Modern technology may help a diagnostician pinpoint a failed component on a vehicle, but the boss still needs a talented technician with nimble fingers, an eye for detail and a surgeon's steadiness to replace that bad part correctly on the first try.
Always keep an eye out for an automotive repair person having the skills of a surgeon, then do your best to recruit that technician and keep him or her on your team.
The value of manual skills was apparent during my earliest auto repair jobs back in the late 1960s. Not only is the same true today, but it also will be in the future.
The reason is that working quarters on many modern vehicles have become tighter and tighter. Overall, physically smaller vehicles aggravate the problem.
The removal and reinstallation (R&R) of failed parts often suggests that serviceability was not a priority in the overall design of the vehicle.
What's more, the R&R procedure spelled out in some repair manuals may be woefully inadequate. If so, then the worker with agile hands, sharp eyes and keen automotive intuition is the one who solves an R&R puzzle.
Sometimes, traits such as nimble fingers and attention to detail seem to be overshadowed by the focus on modern marvels such as the Internet, wireless communication, etc. But these advancements cannot and will not solve the physical challenge of poor accessibility that occurs on many vehicles.