Since the invention of the automobile, motoring has always been considered something of a masculine business.  Admittedly, motorists in the early days had to be pretty adventurous sorts to master the numerous procedures involved in starting and driving one of the new-fangled automobiles.  Just to start the engine involved a long-winded ritual of having to turn the petrol on, prime the carburettor, set the choke,  throttle and timing advance/retard, switching on thebattery to power the ignition trembler coils and finally, a strong arm was needed to swing the starting handle until it chugged into life.

Once running, you’d constantly need to be adjusting things just to keep it from stalling. Driving the car was equally difficult in that gears would have no synchromesh (crunching inevitable),  steering impossibly heavy and brakes requiring a heavy press to bring it to a halt. Naturally, the responsibility of driving and running the motor car fell to the man of the house. Likewise, if (and when) it broke down, it would be the man who had to try and fix it by the roadside, with the woman’s only involvement to perhaps donate her stockings to fashion a temporary fanbelt!

Of course, as soon as women became regular motorists, men would just have to accept that they were no longer so special and so began making jokes about ‘women drivers’ in order to make them feel better about themselves. With cars now more user-friendly, even a dainty little lass could easily operate the controls and with a handy choke knob on which to hang her handbag, and a little mirror on the visor to check makeup, the car became a truly feminine place.

Fifty years later and with over 15 million female drivers in the UK, even the most die-hard chauvinist would have to admit that women are now their equals when it comes to motoring.  Car manufacturers have long since realised that they’d ignored the needs of the female buyer for years and have updated dealerships and trained sales staff to cater for them. It was only 10 years ago that I remember looking for a new car ith my parents whilst the salesman ignored any questions that my mother asked and directed the answers to my father and I. Female car sales staff were a rare sight in most dealerships and so naturally, many women were reluctant to subject themselves to the humiliation of the traditional salesman’s rituals.

Nowadays, with certain cars particularly popular with the ladies (yes BMW, your Mini is a prime example), no franchised dealership can be without a female salesperson that understands the different buying requirements of the discerning girl. Whilst many men are still only concerned with how fast it’ll get to 60 MPH and how many horsepower it has (for pub boasting), women often have different reasons for choosing one vehicle over another.

Still, one thing about all cars is that at some time in their life, they’ll need servicing, repairing or (after 3 years old) an MOT test and it’s in our business that the need to become ‘female friendly’ has never been greater. Women have traditionally been an easy target for unscrupulous companies to overcharge and/or charge for things that aren’t necessary. Although some women still give the impression that ‘they’re just a girl’ and so aren’t interested in what their cars need, many are very demanding and want to know exactly what they’re spending their money on.  In many cases, they’ll ask more questions than the men do and I’m always happy to answer their queries, on many occasions even drawing little pictures of fetching the old oily bits and demonstrating how they work.

Unfortunately, cars and driving are one of the biggest causes or arguments between couples and I for one can barely complete a car journey with my wife without a driving-related argument of some sort. Where couples share a car, one will inevitably blame the other if anything should go wrong with it or break. When a car fails the MOT on say, a buckled wheel, it’ll almost certainly be the man that says, “my wife must’ve done that - she’s always driving up kerbs”.  In most cases, the lady isn’t there to defend herself so they’ll have to have the argument at home! Sometimes, a lady presenting her car for MOT that fails will telephone her husband or partner to let him know whilst still in reception. This too often ends in raised voices and whispered threats into their mobile as the man probably blames her for the fact that the car has failed. It’s far more likely to be the fact that he didn’t bother to check the tyres or lights first, but she’ll still get the blame.

From my point of view, the worst arguments are often saved for afterwards when the woman has to take the car away for repairs as ‘my husband said he’ll fix it’. I generally provide a quote for any repairs, just so the customer can decide if the cost of paying us is worth as much as the subsequent argument when the car is bought back for retest with her husband’s handiwork somewhat less than satisfactory. With the best will in the world, not all men are great car mechanics and whilst it might seem awfully masculine to offer to fix the car, it does them no favours when the CV boot they’d spend hours fixing on the driveway in the dark has already fallen-off the driveshaft by the time it gets to us. Maybe it’s the headlamp bulb they fitted upside down, causing another failure on an incorrect beam pattern or maybe when attempting to change the brake pads they twisted the brake hose so it rubs on the tyre causing another failure. Either way, the goodwill and moneysaving they’d foolishly hoped for has evaporated by the time they’re told to take the car away and get it fixed properly! That’s not to mention the almighty row that’ll take place back home.

To try and prevent such arguments, when the customer is phoning her husband of partner and trying to explain what it’s failed on and how to fix it, I ask if they’d like me to speak to them, man to man. I’ll ask them if they consider themselves to be a confident mechanic and try and paint a grim picture of them struggling on the floor in the cold and dark, a feeble torch gripped between chattering teeth whilst trying to position a greasy lump of cold metal back into place. What would take us 45 minutes in a warm and well-lit workshop on a ramp could be 3 hours of misery, bruised hands and another MOT failure, just to save £45.00 + VAT.

With divorce settlements costing a fortune these days, I know what I’d rather choose!

We’re proud to be a ‘female friendly’ garage and are menbers of the popular Foxychoice network. Take a look at http://www.foxyladydrivers.com/foxyblog/?tag=swiftest-aldershot

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