I am not going to purport to know everything there is to know about cars, but I get by. And my message here is not to stereotype all male mechanics into the column of, "Damn you dumb Neanderthals!" because I know there are some mechanics out there who live in the 21st century and treat us girls just as intelligently as they do our male counterparts. I knew one once, a very long time ago. He was terrific! Unfortunately, a very long time ago is now 20+ years later and my fond memories of him are quickly fading. So I'd like for you to come with me now for a drive down "my" memory lane and feel the pain of consistently bumping into the road signs that read, "Dumb Girls Must Yield".
To help you understand how I came to know "just a little" about cars I need to tell you about my very first car and all the wondrous moments we shared. I just got my drivers license a few months prior to my parents making a trip down to the East Coast. I had very little money to spend on a car but am luckily related to an Uncle who takes beaters, fixes them up, and then resells them for a small profit. My parents surprised me by bringing me back one of these fixed up beaters, a nine-year old Ford Taurus. I was ecstatic! The body was in great condition, it turned on, and moved. What more could I ask for? I soon learned what more I could have asked for was a car that didn't end up in the shop every 4-6 weeks, but still. I had a car. I was now independently mobile!
This car ended up teaching me a lot. It taught me about balding tires and the dangers of winter driving, which in turn taught me how to correctly steer a car out of a skid, all the while learning to ignore distractions around me like the happy laughter of drunk friends sitting in the back seat screaming, "Wheeeeeee!". It taught me about radiators and the value of having a jug of water with you at all times in case it springs yet another leak whilst you're too far away from civilization to get it fixed. It taught me about alternators, batteries, axles and brakes, it taught of hoses, more hoses, the engine and lakes. And no, I didn't use the word lake just because it rhymes with brake. It's actually the thing I wanted most times to drive my car into.
I am however, grateful for the experience!
So for all those parents who are contemplating purchasing a shiny, brand new car for their young son or daughter in the coming months, please take note! It may come with a more animated thank you, and definitely fewer problems, however it will not come with the value of education that an older car can provide which can prove to be invaluable in their later years. To prove my point, let me tell you a story about an ex of mine, who although he was well into his 40's, obviously did not learn the necessary basics. He was planning on trading in his old but high-end Infinity SUV for a newer Ford model SUV. We visited the Ford dealership together and I sat quietly but aware as he negotiated a great deal with the sales rep. We left, but he was still unsure of whether or not he wanted to "lower" his standards and move into a North American SUV (not that I blame him being one who has owned nothing but North American cars). A few weeks later he came in excited exclaiming, "I got the Ford! I went back and negotiated a much better deal and got thousands off the price so I had to go for it!". I looked at the contract he signed and noticed he just purchased the 4-cylinder model whereas his original quote was for a 6-cylinder model. Yep, that was some great deal! Another brain numbing experience with him was the time he came to my house and I noticed one of the tires on his Mustang was very low. I pointed it out to him at which point he looked blankly at me and asked, "What do I do?" Knowing he was a CAA member I suggested he call them. He then asked, "Well, what will they do?" so I explained they will either put his spare tire on for him so he can take the damaged tire to the shop, or perhaps they might be able to patch up the damaged tire on the fly. His response (and I write this while still groaning), "But, I don't even know if I have a spare tire". I then proceeded to open his trunk and show him how magically the carpet pulls up to reveal his spare.
OK! Sorry for the detour! Now back to my original story.
The second car I owned was a Pontiac Sunfire that I purchased new. There are so many great things about new cars but what I ended up appreciating the most was the free roadside assistance during my warranty period. Trust me, it came in handy! When the car was about a month old I had parked it on the street since we had company using our driveway. Later that night, when I went to pull my car in, I couldn't get the car to push into gear. The gear shift was stuck and that baby wasn't moving. So I called the roadside assistance people and within an hour a tow truck arrived. The tow truck driver (who was also obviously a wanna-be mechanic) tried to start the car himself. But before he tried anything he looked at me and said, "You know you have to have your foot on the brake before you can shift gears, right?" Ummm, really? So, he tried and tried and tried some more convinced it was nothing but "dumb girl" syndrome. After about 20 minutes he finally gave up and towed the car into my driveway. The next morning he came back and towed it (and me) to my dealership. I went in and began explaining to the nice male mechanic behind the desk what was happening and it should have come as no surprise to me that the first thing he said was, "So, you know you have to have your foot on the brake to shift gears, right?" Again ummmm, really? So then he tried and tried and tried some more and also after about 20 minutes gave up and signed it in for service. Lucky for me they realized what it was and it was an easy fix. A clip underneath the gear shift had snapped off. I had my car back that day.
Another new car I owned had an issue where during major rainstorms the signals would suddenly stop working, usually when I needed them the most. This would not happen in any other weather conditions, but it is obviously important to have proper working signals during bad weather. I took the car in and after explaining the issue to the not-so-nice man behind the counter he looked at me, and in a very condescending voice said, "I've never heard of this and it doesn't seem possible, Miss". He checked my car and of course, the signals were working properly. I reiterated my problem and explained that of course it was working fine, the car is not currently driving through a rainstorm. So he told me I needed to bring the car back when it was experiencing the problem. So I asked, "And if I get into an accident while I'm driving my car here in a rainstorm and my signals stop working, can I hold you personally responsible for the cost of fixing the damage?" He then quickly decided to try a hose to mimic the problem, and sure enough the signals stopped working. Another easy fix, apparently there was a defective fuse.
My last story honestly could have happened to anyone but it's worth a mention. I had a slow leak in one of my tires so when I brought it in for an oil change I asked them to check the tire. Keep in mind that I have had a number of bolts & nails stuck in my tires, and have had one tire explode due to them, so checking my tires has become a normal habit for me. Yes, I own a tire gauge and I am female. The oil change and tire check seemed to be taking a lot longer than normal. After a couple of hours one of the mechanics came and sat down beside me and said, "So we found a small tear in the tire you were complaining about which should really get fixed". I asked, "Is there a nail in the tire" to which he responded, "No Miss, but even a small leak like this can be dangerous and I'd really suggest you have us fix it now". My tires were 4 years old and in need of replacement so I decided instead of paying the $65 to have the small hole fixed I would leave it until the weekend when I could shop for new tires. He seemed to understand and said I could go to the payment counter and pick up my keys. However, when I took out my credit card to pay the bill for my oil change the bill was well over $100.00. I asked the lady, "What are you charging me for?" and apparently it was for my oil change and the tire patch. They had fixed the tire before getting my OK and I guess were trying to fix their error by lying to me. Sigh! I left only paying for my oil change, of course.
You may now be asking, 'Why do you think this has anything to do with you being female?" Well, remember that ex I told you about, who knew nothing about cars? Amazingly, whenever he would take his car in they spoke to him in their language, never a condescending word was spoken and whenever I took him with me to the garage, they would always look at him while talking about my car. It just seems way too obvious to me that these mechanics have a well formed and unjustified prejudice about us girls and our knowledge of cars.
Of course, this is just my observation. It may just be because I'm a dumb girl.
But I don't think so.
To help you understand how I came to know "just a little" about cars I need to tell you about my very first car and all the wondrous moments we shared. I just got my drivers license a few months prior to my parents making a trip down to the East Coast. I had very little money to spend on a car but am luckily related to an Uncle who takes beaters, fixes them up, and then resells them for a small profit. My parents surprised me by bringing me back one of these fixed up beaters, a nine-year old Ford Taurus. I was ecstatic! The body was in great condition, it turned on, and moved. What more could I ask for? I soon learned what more I could have asked for was a car that didn't end up in the shop every 4-6 weeks, but still. I had a car. I was now independently mobile!
This car ended up teaching me a lot. It taught me about balding tires and the dangers of winter driving, which in turn taught me how to correctly steer a car out of a skid, all the while learning to ignore distractions around me like the happy laughter of drunk friends sitting in the back seat screaming, "Wheeeeeee!". It taught me about radiators and the value of having a jug of water with you at all times in case it springs yet another leak whilst you're too far away from civilization to get it fixed. It taught me about alternators, batteries, axles and brakes, it taught of hoses, more hoses, the engine and lakes. And no, I didn't use the word lake just because it rhymes with brake. It's actually the thing I wanted most times to drive my car into.
I am however, grateful for the experience!
So for all those parents who are contemplating purchasing a shiny, brand new car for their young son or daughter in the coming months, please take note! It may come with a more animated thank you, and definitely fewer problems, however it will not come with the value of education that an older car can provide which can prove to be invaluable in their later years. To prove my point, let me tell you a story about an ex of mine, who although he was well into his 40's, obviously did not learn the necessary basics. He was planning on trading in his old but high-end Infinity SUV for a newer Ford model SUV. We visited the Ford dealership together and I sat quietly but aware as he negotiated a great deal with the sales rep. We left, but he was still unsure of whether or not he wanted to "lower" his standards and move into a North American SUV (not that I blame him being one who has owned nothing but North American cars). A few weeks later he came in excited exclaiming, "I got the Ford! I went back and negotiated a much better deal and got thousands off the price so I had to go for it!". I looked at the contract he signed and noticed he just purchased the 4-cylinder model whereas his original quote was for a 6-cylinder model. Yep, that was some great deal! Another brain numbing experience with him was the time he came to my house and I noticed one of the tires on his Mustang was very low. I pointed it out to him at which point he looked blankly at me and asked, "What do I do?" Knowing he was a CAA member I suggested he call them. He then asked, "Well, what will they do?" so I explained they will either put his spare tire on for him so he can take the damaged tire to the shop, or perhaps they might be able to patch up the damaged tire on the fly. His response (and I write this while still groaning), "But, I don't even know if I have a spare tire". I then proceeded to open his trunk and show him how magically the carpet pulls up to reveal his spare.
OK! Sorry for the detour! Now back to my original story.
The second car I owned was a Pontiac Sunfire that I purchased new. There are so many great things about new cars but what I ended up appreciating the most was the free roadside assistance during my warranty period. Trust me, it came in handy! When the car was about a month old I had parked it on the street since we had company using our driveway. Later that night, when I went to pull my car in, I couldn't get the car to push into gear. The gear shift was stuck and that baby wasn't moving. So I called the roadside assistance people and within an hour a tow truck arrived. The tow truck driver (who was also obviously a wanna-be mechanic) tried to start the car himself. But before he tried anything he looked at me and said, "You know you have to have your foot on the brake before you can shift gears, right?" Ummm, really? So, he tried and tried and tried some more convinced it was nothing but "dumb girl" syndrome. After about 20 minutes he finally gave up and towed the car into my driveway. The next morning he came back and towed it (and me) to my dealership. I went in and began explaining to the nice male mechanic behind the desk what was happening and it should have come as no surprise to me that the first thing he said was, "So, you know you have to have your foot on the brake to shift gears, right?" Again ummmm, really? So then he tried and tried and tried some more and also after about 20 minutes gave up and signed it in for service. Lucky for me they realized what it was and it was an easy fix. A clip underneath the gear shift had snapped off. I had my car back that day.
Another new car I owned had an issue where during major rainstorms the signals would suddenly stop working, usually when I needed them the most. This would not happen in any other weather conditions, but it is obviously important to have proper working signals during bad weather. I took the car in and after explaining the issue to the not-so-nice man behind the counter he looked at me, and in a very condescending voice said, "I've never heard of this and it doesn't seem possible, Miss". He checked my car and of course, the signals were working properly. I reiterated my problem and explained that of course it was working fine, the car is not currently driving through a rainstorm. So he told me I needed to bring the car back when it was experiencing the problem. So I asked, "And if I get into an accident while I'm driving my car here in a rainstorm and my signals stop working, can I hold you personally responsible for the cost of fixing the damage?" He then quickly decided to try a hose to mimic the problem, and sure enough the signals stopped working. Another easy fix, apparently there was a defective fuse.
My last story honestly could have happened to anyone but it's worth a mention. I had a slow leak in one of my tires so when I brought it in for an oil change I asked them to check the tire. Keep in mind that I have had a number of bolts & nails stuck in my tires, and have had one tire explode due to them, so checking my tires has become a normal habit for me. Yes, I own a tire gauge and I am female. The oil change and tire check seemed to be taking a lot longer than normal. After a couple of hours one of the mechanics came and sat down beside me and said, "So we found a small tear in the tire you were complaining about which should really get fixed". I asked, "Is there a nail in the tire" to which he responded, "No Miss, but even a small leak like this can be dangerous and I'd really suggest you have us fix it now". My tires were 4 years old and in need of replacement so I decided instead of paying the $65 to have the small hole fixed I would leave it until the weekend when I could shop for new tires. He seemed to understand and said I could go to the payment counter and pick up my keys. However, when I took out my credit card to pay the bill for my oil change the bill was well over $100.00. I asked the lady, "What are you charging me for?" and apparently it was for my oil change and the tire patch. They had fixed the tire before getting my OK and I guess were trying to fix their error by lying to me. Sigh! I left only paying for my oil change, of course.
You may now be asking, 'Why do you think this has anything to do with you being female?" Well, remember that ex I told you about, who knew nothing about cars? Amazingly, whenever he would take his car in they spoke to him in their language, never a condescending word was spoken and whenever I took him with me to the garage, they would always look at him while talking about my car. It just seems way too obvious to me that these mechanics have a well formed and unjustified prejudice about us girls and our knowledge of cars.
Of course, this is just my observation. It may just be because I'm a dumb girl.
But I don't think so.