My son is preparing to graduate high school and plans to forgo college in favor of opportunities as a mechanic. We’ve talked at length about the cost of quality tools and how debt can affect him, especially early in his career. Sonic Tools has its finger on the pulse of the problem and has announced its Sonic Pathway Program as a solution for both automotive techs and their employers.
Sonic Pathway Program: The Path
The concept driving the program is to help new automotive techs prevent overbuying tools right out of trade school. Instead, they take three distinct steps as their skills improve and their tool needs expand.
Pro Tip: Sonic Tools packs their tool sets in foam drawer organizers that make it simple to see what tools are out and when you have everything put away at the end of the day.
Step 1 includes the Sonic Tools S12 XD Toolbox and 255-piece basic tool set. This gives techs a toolbox with room for expansion and the hand tools they need to get started. This foundational set is $4500.
Step 2 adds 201 additional tools techs need at an intermediate level, building up to Sonic’s 456-piece set. This upgrade is $1750.
Step 3 then brings in another 216 tools to make a complete 672-piece tool set appropriate for advanced mechanics. The final upgrade runs $3250.
By the time your set is complete, it’s a $9500 investment. But instead of buying everything at once, you add tools when you need them in way that intentionally grows with your skills and responsibilities.
Sonic Pathway Program: The Benefits
At first glance, the most obvious benefit to Sonic’s program is that since you’re not buying all your tools at once, you’re going into less debt and paying less interest. If you’re buying your own tools, that’s a great benefit along with Sonic’s more affordable pricing compared to the tool trucks. However, there’s more to the plan.
Dealerships and shops often pay signing bonuses to attract talent and help new techs purchase tools. Like many businesses, retaining those employees can be challenging.
Instead of the traditional bonus method, the business pays for the tools instead of paying a sign-on bonus. The tech doesn’t take on any debt, the business doesn’t buy everything all at once, and there’s a greater sense of loyalty to help keep quality loyalty. Plus, the business shows a depreciable capital equipment purhcase instead of payroll expense on their corporate taxes.
Additional Benefits
- Tools ship quickly
- Lifetime tool warranty with fast, web-based form submission using your phone
- Techs aren’t losing time browsing the tool truck and listening to sales pitches
Final Thoughts
Considering one of the benefits of going into the trades is to avoid the debt of a college education, it seems natural to help keep our new trade school graduates from taking on a load of debt as they start their career. With the shortage of automotive techs and the struggle of retaining quality employees, it’s great to see the Sonic Pathway Program create incentives that benefit both techs and their employers. It’s a concept that manufacturers serving other trades should keep a close eye on.
