How is car repair a feminist issue?

Think about the last time you took your car to the shop? You did take it yourself didn’t you? Or did you do like I use to and talk my male partner into going?  Well either way it’s significant. If you went yourself think about your thoughts before, during, and after the visit. If you had someone else do it for you, think about why. Was it truly a scheduling need or other legitimate issue or was it simply because car repair is a guy thing?

Going to the car repair shop alone?

Were you apprehensive? Did you do any research before going? Did you think about taking someone with you? Did you flash back to every bad car experience you've ever had? Did you worry that getting your car fixed would financially ruin you?

My recent visit to the car repair shop had me asking all these questions and more PLUS it caused me to have all sorts of negative feelings.

The up side is, it made me realize that car repair is one of those everyday issues that feminists should rally around and come up with solutions for so that all the angest experienced by women around car repairs can be alleviated and that energy put to better use.

The advice I want to share here is ...

Ask questions BEFORE you turn over the keys to your car. Knowing specifically what to ask will require a bit of research but at the least make sure you know the cost of them just hooking your car up to the OBD-II diagnostic system. There's some variation in the “hourly” charge for the diagonistic and some shops only charge a single fee.

I also see now that it's not helpful to tell the mechanic about every cough and grunt the car is making. I knew going in that I was not paying to have the gas gauge fixed but I mentioned it. It cost me $79.90 to find out that it would cost $800 to repair.

Today repair shops basically work piecemeal. You tell them one trouble, they hook the car up to find out what to repair, repeat. Cars built since the mid 1990s are very different from the ones built before.

Feminist Alert: if you have an uncle, brother, boyfriend, neighbor, etc who wants to give you car advice make sure they've done some current research and had some recent hands-on experiment.

Can you fix your own damn car?

Remember Mona Lisa Vito, Marisa Tomei's character, in the 1992 movie My Cousin Vinny? Well, only female mechanics need to know that sort of detailed information. But there are some minor things that everyone who owns a car should know how to do to it.

Even if you never actually do the following things you should at least have the option of being able to in a pinch.

1. replace fuel filter
2. replace brake pads
3. replace spark plugs
4. repair windshield
5. power steering flush
6. transmission fluid replacement

Learn more about these car repairs at Green Planet. Oh, and learn how to replace a flat tire.

Personally, I feel empowered just knowing that these are things any able-bodied adult or sound mind could accomplish (if they were so inclined :-)

Girlfriend, take a class in car repair!

Firestone has a Car Care Academy that's really basic. Plus, check out your local adult learning center. Here in Louisville the wife of the local Jaguar dealership use to hold yearly women's car workshops.

If you can't find one locally think about organizing one. My insurance company, Kentucky Farm Bureau has even held classes before – I need to call them.

I've never seen a female mechanic in any of the shops I've been in but I'm going to hunt one down. Why? I want to support their nontraditional choice of work. I want to more easily be able to imagine myself and my daughter and nieces doing that kind of work – if only as a hobby or money-saving option. I love to learn new things and I actually think it'll be easier to ask a female mechanic some “totally new to this” questions. Have you ever tried to get a male relative to teach you something?