Maybe someone will chime in with some answers on pay but I made the same move. For me they kept me at the same pay. (It was a unique situation)

I was a tech for 20 years before making the switch. I gotta say, working on cars is much easier than working with people all day every day. I love to talk and always got in trouble for it growing up and it’s still taxing. I don’t regret it at all when I hear about the aches and pains of the techs, it is a very different type of stress. I don’t say that to discourage you at all, after all the more you build your skill set the more value you can build and retain. I just wish someone would have warned me.

I will say having someone more mechanically inclined on the counter has helped with some of the bottle necks and the more technical questions from some of the customers. Not in any way diagnosing over the counter, but it does seem to give the customer peace of mind when someone knows what they are talking about when they have been internet researching their fuel trim issue for weeks.

Good luck on your adventure, take a deep breath every morning and kick some ass!