ASE marks 50 years boosting auto service excellence

LEESBURG, Va. — Fifty years ago the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (ASE) was created to remedy the sullied reputation of vehicle repair shops. Today, its goal is to promote the expertise of repair technicians who work on increasingly complex vehicles.

From its initial 1972 offering of four tests to 57 today, the non-profit ASE is considered the certification body of the vehicle repair industry, bestowing technician certifications in the areas of automobile, medium-heavy truck, transit and school buses, collision repair, parts and military.

There are approximately 250,000 ASE-certified professionals working in car dealerships, independent shops, collision repair shops, auto parts stores, fleets, schools and colleges throughout the country, the ASE said.

"Overall the industry perception, I believe, of ASE is positive and that we provide a value for our industry," Trish Serratore, ASE's senior vice president communications, told Tire Business.

"What we're trying to do with ASE is help shops understand the whole 'inspire to retire' continuum," she said, which involves enticing people to start, and continue, working in vehicle repair with internships, apprenticeships, training and certifications.

She said shop owners are the ASE's best ambassadors when they display the ASE logo on their shop windows and websites, and hang technicians' ASE certificates on the waiting room walls.

She said displays of certification instills consumer confidence in the technicians and the repair business.

"We were created by the industry for the industry. We're maintained by the industry. We represent the industry," she said, encouraging shop owners to "take advantage of us."

"We're there for you. Showcase the fact that you employ ASE-certified technicians. Tell us if you don't like something or you want something different or you think you need a new test. We want to be your credentialer. …The industry has suffered so many years from a bad reputation, having ASE is one way to combat that and we want to be sure we do that for them," she said.

"Back in the late '60s there were a lot of issues with auto repair. The cars weren't made great, they were breaking down and they weren't getting fixed," Serratore said.

"And there was consumer concern about 'I can't get my car fixed.' And there were actual Senate hearings about how do we handle this issue with car repair?"

Studies at the time determined that it wasn't malicious fraud, but lack of training, best practices and access to repair technology that created the crisis in auto repair.

The fear of government intervention prompted the National Automobile Dealers Association and the former Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association to create an industry-run licensing body, she said.

"They found out one way to measure the competency of an individual doing a repair was through standardized tests. And so ASE was born out of that decision," Serratore said.

To earn ASE certification, technicians must complete a minimum of two years of qualified work experience and pass a computer-based test for each certification. They need to retest every five years to keep their certifications current.

The exams focus on knowledge of job-related skills. The tests are not easy to pass. According to the ASE, usually only two out of every three test takers pass on their first attempt.

Technicians can also earn Master Technician certification by passing a series of tests for a particular focus. Technicians certified in tests A1 through A8 become Master Automobile Technicians, while those who pass tests T2 through T8 earn Master Medium/Heavy Truck Technician status.

Even Master Technicians have to maintain their status by retesting for all their individual certifications every five years.

As of Spring 2021 there were:

• 182,513 certified automobile technicians;
• 16,300 certified service consultants;
• 23,254 certified maintenance/light repair technicians;
• 34,376 certified advanced engine performance specialists;
• 32,396 certified medium/heavy truck technicians; and
• 2,508 certified truck equipment installation and repair technicians.

Among the master certifications, there are 58,334 master automobile technicians and 10,623 master medium/heavy truck technicians.

The ASA also provides accredited programs in high schools and colleges. Currently there are about 44,247 students who hold ASE entry-level certification, the association said.

The ASE founders encouraged manufacturers and aftermarket companies to participate in the development of the accreditations.

They enlisted ETS, which creates assessment exams such as the GRE (graduate record examinations), and created four tests on automobile maintenance. About 14,000 individuals took the tests that first year.

"We were one of the first occupational testing programs to come out at that point. Each year we added a different test or broke them out, until today we have 12 different test series and more than 54 individual tests," Serratore said.

"We're one of the few industry associations that have mutual support and agreement with our aftermarket, our OEs, our dealers and our independent guys. So everybody comes to the table, they take their hats off, they put their ASE hats on and we go about making sure that the service professional is credentialed. And that's good for car owners and businesses."

ASE operates as a non-profit organization and it receives no funding from the government, except for an occasional grant for a particular activity, Serratore said. The association is supported by test fees and registration fees. Its education foundation receives money from direct donations.

ASE has a staff of 43, the bulk of which are involved in test development and customer service. The board of governors has 29 members, who represent all sectors of the industry, to serve in an advisory capacity. Fourteen of those members also serve on the board of directors in a fiduciary capacity.

Smaller niche organizations have sought ASE's help in developing certification tests, such as for transit buses and military vehicles.

Serratore said she was not aware of similar ASE certification programs in other countries, although the U.S.-based organization does offer tests in Canada.

ASE facilitates all of the test question writing but it's actually the industry that writes the questions, according to Serratore.

ASE culls information and advice from subject-matter experts, tech representatives and working technicians to create a working template of what a technician needs to know to accomplish a service job.

After agreed upon and unbiased questions are created (a pool of 200 for each test), they undergo a pretesting phase to ensure there is no gender or language bias, and identify each question for difficulty level so the test has a curve. Each question is reviewed for how many people answered correctly — if a question does poorly, ASE will pull that question and review it with the experts to make changes.

From start to finish, it takes about 18-24 months to create a new test, Serratore said.

The newest test, on ADAS maintenance skills, is taking longer to create due to the complicated nature of the technology and interruptions during the COVID pandemic.

For this test, due to debut mid-year, ASE is creating a composite vehicle diagram for the test taker to refer to when answering questions. The composite vehicle ensures the vehicle isn't biased toward a particular vehicle maker, she said.

After a test is delivered, ASE hosts another workshop of experts to determine if changes or updates are needed to address technology changes.

ASE reviews basic tests every three years to make sure they are up to date on technology advances. Advanced-level tests are reviewed every year because technology is changing faster at this level, she said.

Serratore said ASE's biggest challenge is making sure the tests challenge the technician and is relevant to the technician.

"We're trying to meet what the industry needs and be responsive to the credentials that our business owners require for their service professionals," she said, noting that credentials for hybrids and electric vehicles is gaining interest.

"I think one of the challenges of being 50 years old is you are a mature organization. So you have several generations that have come up and may not be familiar with you," Serratore said.

"We certainly don't have everybody certified that we would like. We continue to work with our partners to move in that direction.

"There is the perception that 'I don't need to be certified. I know how to fix cars.' That's great and you probably do. The point here is that having that certification and having that credential elevates you. It takes you up to that next level and provides a value-added to your customers. We continue to encourage the industry to support that," Serratore said.

There has been static growth in the number of master technician certifications in recent years, according to Serratore, due to the prevalence of maintenance work versus repairs in the shop.

"There's not as much of an emphasis on becoming a master tech as there was years ago when you had to be the guy who did it all when a vehicle came in. However, cars are so much more complicated now that if you don't know all the systems, it's challenging.

"So I don't think we'll lose our master techs, we might not need to have as many of them as we have today for the industry. But we'll still have master techs. And it's important because those are the guys who provide that mentorship in the shop when you have a new guy come in," she said.

The overall pursuit of technician certification is boosted if the employer pays for the employee's testing fees, Serratore said, noting that half of the tests taken are paid by employers. She said she did not know if the other half includes employers who offer reimbursement when the employee passes the test.

She said employer support, through direct fee payment or reimbursement, "is enormous" in encouraging technicians to pursue certification.

By mid-year ASE plans to introduce an ADAS certification test with five to six sections covering such skills as calibration of cameras and sensors.

"We're trying to look out ahead and see where is the industry going to be and how can we help meet them there," Serratore said.

"We want to be sure we are using the best testing technology, we want to be sure we're offering innovative, up-to-date and easy-to-use testing technology. I think that's important for us to look forward."

The ASE's goal is to try to make its services user-friendly — as an example, tests graduated a few years ago from fill-in-the-bubble paper forms to computer-based testing; be aware of international industry requests (the ASE periodically gets requests to offer tests in other countries); and to be pro-active in its certification offerings.

The ASE Education Foundation works on developing the next generation of vehicle technicians through accreditation training in high schools and community colleges with the goal that the students enter the job market with entry-level skills.

There are about 2,300 accredited programs nationwide — about 1,800 in high schools and the balance in post-secondary schools — covering auto, truck and collision accreditations.

While older techs may question the need for certification, the newest-generation coming into the workforce are enthusiastic about it, according to Serratore.

"Young people, they've grown up getting trophies, so they're all into it," she said.

"That's where the industry could get involved. If shop owners got involved with their schools, we would not have a technician shortage. There would be people to come into work in your business if you got involved in schools," she added.