May 20, 2026
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Written by:
David Boyes
An undertrained technician can cost a shop more than you might think. Productivity, repair quality, team morale, and retention can all take a hit when technicians do not have the right support behind them.
The hard part is that the cost is not always obvious right away. It may start with slower repairs, more questions during the day, repeat mistakes, or extra pressure on the people who have to step in and help.
In this blog, we’ll break down what it really means for a technician to be undertrained, where those costs show up, how to spot the signs, and what shops can do to fix the problem before it grows.
When people hear “undertrained,” they may picture a brand-new technician. But, that isn't always the case. Undertrained just means a technician needs more training and support to be quicker and more productive in their role.
A technician can be undertrained even if they have years of experience. They may be strong in certain areas but have knowledge gaps in others, like
Those gaps do not always mean a technician is undertrained across the board. More often, it means there are specific parts of the job where they need more support, more practice, or more up-to-date knowledge.
A technician may be doing plenty of things well, but still struggle when the work calls for a skill they have not fully developed yet. The goal is to understand where that technician needs more development so training can be more focused and useful.
The cost of undertraining is easy to miss because it usually does not show up as one big problem. More often, it appears as a pattern of small slowdowns, repeated questions, missed details, and avoidable mistakes.
A job takes longer than it should. A senior tech gets pulled away to help. A service advisor has to go back and ask for more information.
None of those may seem huge on their own. But together, these moments can have a negative effect on the shop.
When a technician is not fully trained for the work in front of them, the job usually takes longer. They may spend more time looking for answers, second-guessing the next step, waiting for help, or rechecking work because they are not confident in the process.
That slows down more than one repair, and it can end up affecting:
When technicians are missing key training, even routine tasks can become less efficient than they need to be. The work may still get done, but it can take more time, create more interruptions, and make the day harder to keep on track.
Undertraining can lead to comebacks when a technician is not fully comfortable with a certain system, repair, or diagnostic process yet. They may handle the main concern, but miss a related issue, follow-up check, or detail that would have helped catch the problem before the vehicle left the shop.
Repeat repairs can start to happen as a result. The job may look finished at first, but if the technician has not had enough training in that specific area, something important may get overlooked during diagnosis, verification, or documentation.
Not every comeback points to undertraining. Some vehicle issues are tricky, even for experienced techs. But when the same types of repairs keep coming back, it is worth looking at whether the technician needs more training or support in that area.
In many shops, senior technicians and managers can become the safety net for everything.
They answer questions, check work, solve problems, explain procedures, and step in when someone gets stuck. Some of that is normal. Experienced people should help guide the team.
The issue is when they become the default solution for every training gap. When undertrained technicians rely too heavily on senior team members, they may feel like they have to hover to keep work moving.
Training should not remove the need for guidance. Good guidance and support still matters. But stronger training systems can reduce constant interruptions and give technicians a better knowledge foundation so they don't immediately need to seek one-on-one help.
Read More: Creating Accountability Without Micromanagement Through Training
Customers may never see the training problem directly, but they often feel the results.
If a repair takes longer than expected, the customer feels it. If communication is unclear, the customer feels it. If a vehicle has to come back for the same issue, the customer definitely feels it.
Technician training connects directly to the customer experience because the quality of the work affects everything that happens after the vehicle enters the shop.
When technicians are more consistent, the shop is usually better able to provide clear timelines, stronger recommendations, and more reliable results.
When training is inconsistent, customers may experience:
A shop can have friendly people, good intentions, and a strong customer service mindset. But if the repair process feels inconsistent, customers may still lose trust.
Undertraining can also affect retention.
Technicians who do not have the right training support may become frustrated. They may feel overwhelmed by tasks they are not ready for, avoid certain work because they do not feel confident, or feel like they are being corrected without getting the development they need to improve.
That can wear people down over time.
A technician who is struggling does not always need more pressure. Often, they need training support that gives them:
Training gives technicians a better sense of progress. It helps them understand what they already do well, where they need to grow, and how they can build toward more responsibility.
That matters for retention because people are more likely to stay in a shop where they can keep developing instead of feeling stuck.
Read More: Keys to Retaining Your Best Technicians
The good news is that undertraining can be fixed without rebuilding the entire way your shop operates. It usually starts with making training more consistent, more practical, and easier to connect to the work technicians are already doing every day.
Before a shop can fix undertraining, it needs to understand where the gaps actually are. “We need more training” is a start, but it is too broad to be useful on its own.
The better move is to look for patterns. Maybe certain repairs lead to more questions. Maybe comebacks are tied to the same type of job. Maybe documentation issues keep repeating, or managers are correcting the same steps again and again.
The more specific the shop can get, the more useful the training becomes. A general training plan may help a little, but a targeted plan gives technicians support where they actually need it.
Training works better when it connects to the real work technicians are doing in the shop.
If training feels separate from the job, it is easier to ignore or forget. But when it reinforces the procedures, systems, and situations technicians deal with every day, it becomes more useful.
That is why short, consistent training can be so effective. It gives technicians a way to keep learning without pulling them too far away from production.
It also helps reinforce information over time instead of trying to cover too much all at once.
Technicians need to know what is expected before they can be held accountable for it.
If the standard is unclear, correction becomes the main form of training. That is not ideal. Nobody wants to learn only by being told what they did wrong after the fact.
Clear standards help technicians understand what good work looks like from the start.
This is especially important when onboarding new hires or helping technicians move into more advanced work. They need a clear picture of what success looks like in their role.
When standards are clear, accountability becomes easier because the team is not guessing.
One-time training usually is not enough. A technician may understand something during a training session, but if they do not use that skill right away, parts of it can fade. That is normal. Learning takes repetition.
Daily training can make a real difference. Short, consistent lessons help technicians revisit important concepts in smaller pieces, instead of trying to absorb everything at once. A few minutes a day can reinforce the details they need to remember, connect training back to the work they are already doing, and keep key skills from getting pushed aside during busy weeks.
Read More: How Daily Training Can Boost Your Shop in Just Minutes a Day
Shops also need visibility into the training progress.
If there is no easy way to see who has completed training, who is improving, or where gaps remain, managers are left to guess. That can make accountability harder and push managers back into constant follow-up mode.
Tracking training helps managers support the team. They can see where technicians are progressing, where someone may need more help, and which areas need more focus across the shop.
This kind of visibility also makes training more productive. Instead of saying, “You need to get better,” a manager can point to a specific skill, task, or training area and help the technician work on it.
Read More: How to Use Data to Improve Technician Training Programs
The true cost of an undertrained technician is not just the time it takes to finish one repair. It can affect productivity, repair quality, comebacks, manager involvement, senior tech availability, and the team’s overall confidence.
The good news is that shops can address a lot of this with steadier, more practical training. Start by looking at where technicians are getting stuck. Then, connect training to the work they handle every day, reinforce it over time, and track progress so managers can see where more help is needed.
When training is consistent, the shop is not always reacting to the same problems after they happen. Technicians have a clearer path to build skills, managers have better visibility into where gaps exist, and the team is better prepared to do the work well the first time.
Today’s Class helps shops give their teams practical, ongoing training that fits into the day-to-day flow of the shop. If you are ready to strengthen your team’s skills and make training easier to manage, reach out to the Today’s Class team to get started.
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