Smog technician vs mechanical detailer

The differences between smog technicians and mechanical detailers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 1-2 years to become both a smog technician and a mechanical detailer. Additionally, a mechanical detailer has an average salary of $41,030, which is higher than the $39,758 average annual salary of a smog technician.

The top three skills for a smog technician include diagnosis, customer vehicles and customer service. The most important skills for a mechanical detailer are customer vehicles, CAD, and solidworks.

Smog technician vs mechanical detailer overview

	Smog Technician	Mechanical Detailer
Yearly salary	$39,758	$41,030
Hourly rate	$19.11	$19.73
Growth rate	9%	1%
Number of jobs	63,758	24,721
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 32%	High School Diploma, 40%
Average age	38	40
Years of experience	2	2

Smog technician vs mechanical detailer salary

Smog technicians and mechanical detailers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Smog Technician	Mechanical Detailer
Average salary	$39,758	$41,030
Salary range	Between $28,000 And $56,000	Between $30,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between smog technician and mechanical detailer education

There are a few differences between a smog technician and a mechanical detailer in terms of educational background:

	Smog Technician	Mechanical Detailer
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 32%	High School Diploma, 40%
Most common major	Automotive Technology	Drafting And Design
Most common college	-	-

Smog technician vs mechanical detailer demographics

Here are the differences between smog technicians' and mechanical detailers' demographics:

	Smog Technician	Mechanical Detailer
Average age	38	40
Gender ratio	Male, 95.7% Female, 4.3%	Male, 91.7% Female, 8.3%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 17.5% Asian, 12.3% White, 56.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.1%	Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 4.3% Hispanic or Latino, 18.7% Asian, 5.1% White, 61.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage	8%	2%

Differences between smog technician and mechanical detailer duties and responsibilities

Smog technician example responsibilities.

Manage daily repair activities for high-volume Honda repair facility.
Perform routine maintenance and advance diagnosis on customer cars.
Work with AutoCAD, set up designs and sending information to vinyl printer sending to plotter.
Certify Pass/Fail vehicles, and perform diagnosis and repair for failing vehicles to meet the minimum requirement for air pollution.
Repair Chrysler LLC vehicles with manufacture support diagnostic information and factory service procedures in a fast pace shop environment.
Repair Chrysler LLC vehicles with manufacture support diagnostic information and factory service procedures in a fast pace shop environment.

Mechanical detailer example responsibilities.

Manage document collation for field distribution of MEP plans to shop and field.
Heat treat of metal.operate CNC lathes, CNC mills, CNC grinders.
Do mostly foreign and domestic cars, SUV and commercial diesel truck.
Maintain equipment, rebuild spindles, install motors, gearboxes, perform preventative maintenance.
Provide professional automobile detailing services with a variety of cleaning techniques and products to ensure the desired level of superior cleanliness.
Operate and troubleshoot production line machinery and computers.

Smog technician vs mechanical detailer skills

Common smog technician skills

Diagnosis, 45%
Customer Vehicles, 15%
Customer Service, 15%
R, 7%
Oil Changes, 4%
ASE, 3%

Common mechanical detailer skills

Customer Vehicles, 18%
CAD, 17%
Solidworks, 13%
Shop Drawings, 12%
HVAC, 9%
Plumbing, 8%

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Smog Technician vs Mechanical Detailer

Updated January 8, 2025

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