Finding a trusted South Carolina auto mechanic or technician can be harder than you think, and not just in this state.Industry experts are saying there is a nationwide shortage and there aren’t enough people choosing to work under the hood.Greenville Technical College has the largest automotive technician program in South Carolina. It gives students the opportunity to get hands-on, in an industry that needs help. “You definitely have to take your time and follow the steps and procedures going through stuff. When you try to skip things and move around, you end up making even more problems that you’ll have to fix later on,” student Zachary Elmore said.However, they are becoming harder to find.According to the National Automobile Dealers Association, the auto mechanic industry is losing 76,000 mechanics a year, and technical colleges across the country are only graduating 39,000 students.Experts say it’s because many are retiring, but some leave because the technology has become so advanced that mechanics can’t keep up. “Just inside the car nowadays people have heated seats, air condition seats, blind spot monitoring, ADAS. It’s amazing just how much is in a modern car these days,” Automotive Technology Department Head Trent Hulehan said. Students like Elmore hope to fill that need through Greenville Technical College’s automotive technician program.”I’ve always been kind of a puzzler, take it apart, put it back together, and make sure it’s working properly,” Elmore said.He also sees it as carrying the torch that old gearheads have left behind “When I’m working on a car or focused on a problem or something, my son he’s five years old, he’ll come up and try to help. ‘What’s this this part do? How does this work?’ And, that gives me inspiration that there are going to be more up and coming after me as well,” Elmore said.If you are interested in learning more about Greenville Tech’s programs, click here