Heres what my wife did one day. Calls me at the shop from her job. “Hey hun, my tire is flat”. I said, “ok, I’ll come down there and change it” She said, “Well, I’m going to take it down the street to a tire shop”. I said, “You’re going to drive it on a flat, is there any air in it at all”? She said, “Well, the TOP part is full”. I dropped the phone from laughing so hard.
transman
My wife is medically trained and has emergency response and paramedic training. However, she is not technically focused, so after we were married I persuaded her to take the “powderpuff mechanics course” at the local YWCA. That term would be politically incorrect now. One lady in the class had an expensive Oldsmobile and when the teacher asked why the various students were taking the course, she voluteered:
“My son asked to borrow he Olds, and shortly came back into the house saying the oil light was on. I told him not to worry; it’s been on all month!” Her husband then INSISTED she take the course.
The course also focused on how cars work, and what can go wrong, and what to do about it, such as stop the car, turn it off, and call for help. It has really paid off, since the course also included basic things to check and keep an eye on. She even learned to start those balky 4 barrel Chevies when the choke would stay closed, simply by sticking her comb in to prop it open.
The AAA and other clubs still run these courses, I believe, although the YWCA may have discontinued them.
It’s just her.
None of my women.
My wife simply calls me, dad or friends if needed. no freak out, not end of world.
She arrives home once and states "there’s something wrong with the transmission I think, it doesn’t ‘go’ quite right."
She had driven five miles on a flat right rear tire.
Not the end of the world.
My daughter attempts to fix by herself ( she knows basic maintainence. plugs, filters, tires, door panels, belts, hoses etc) then just casually calls me, husband or friends. She once had a flat just outside of ALbuquerque and began the flat changing herself without a worry in the world. State cop pulls over ( thank you mr. state cop ) to see if she needs help. she say’s all is well but he remains and assists a little anyway.
Not the end of the world.
Roommate gets off the side of dirt/mud rez road. It has snowed, road has been driven on by others, sun is down now and so are temps. 99 Mitsubishi Galant off to one side can’t grip to get back up to road area.
2 Girls IN HEELS tromp through snow covered scrub brush to gather brush and sticks for traction. Car is on the way in an hour or so. She only tells me of this off road excursion when she gets home three hours later as she’s washing the boots.
Not the end of the world.
Transman, that is an absolute classic! That one brought a tear or two to my eyes I was laughing so hard.
About a dozen years ago my wife ruined a tire on one of our cars and that set of tires was only a couple of months old.
She came in one evening from work and asked me run an errand. I jumped in her car and felt myself tilting a bit towards the passenger side. Looking around I saw the right rear corner of the car was low and discovered after getting out the right rear tire was almost flat. The tire gauge showed about 14 PSI. (nail)
The sidewall was rubbed completely out of that tire and when I asked why in the world she drove it 40 miles home like that she gave me this, “well, how am I supposed to know it’s almost flat”.
How about sluggish running, wallowing, and a sagging right rear.
Or the time she drove to TX to visit our daughter and called me the next day to tell me the car was overheating. (not severely)
When did it start overheating?
About 30 miles from the house.
So why did you continue to drive it another 400 miles to TX?
Well, I thought it would be ok.
Jeez.
Some of you folks are making huge generalizations without much evidence, so I might as well add my own prejudice. If any of you have worked for women before, I have found that they expect perfection, period. (Not to mention the num I worked for that expected poverty, obedience, and chastity). So if they buy a car, especially a new or newer one, they don’t expect it to fail. If it does, it is a cataclismic event that takes in the manufacturer, the dealer, banker, and anyone else a part of the whole event. No amount of explaining the circumstances, preventive actions, and acceptable engineered failure rates will do. Failure is not acceptable. Plus no one likes to be stranded and vulnerable.
Why is it the end of the world when a womans car breaks down?
It just seems that way to you because you are sexist.
Not only are you judging a group by the actions of a few, you are assuming all women are the same.
Maybe your wife knows how much of a sexist you are and she is pretending to be needy to exploit your weakness.
Yah, it’s not her , it’s HIM.
She’s so smart as to know just which buttons to push, aka; she’s playing him.
This is why they make saner decisions over men.
Hee, hee.
Oh, wait a minute, you were serious. That is one of the modern myths. But, though we have someone below throwing around the word “sexist” at anything negative said about women probably no one will throw it your direction because your sexism is directed towards men, right?
Simple facts are that three times as often as men, women decide they made a wrong decision when they married whom they married, one of the most important decisions a human being will ever make, and file for divorce. Doesn’t really sound like saner decision making to me. But, if you want to believe they make better decisions, that sure is your right.
You are probably right, Whitey. There is a lot of sexism in the world today, and 90% of it is directed towards men. Turn on the TV, or pick up a newspaper or magazine, and see which sex is judged entirely by the actions of a few.
Or, better yet, ask a single dad why his daughter NEVER has her girl friends to visit.
If you have a daughter, was she ever allowed to visit a girl in the primary custody of her dad?
Just asking.
The truth is, most (not all, as I said earlier) women do not relate to mechanical things as most (not all) men do.
Thirty-five years ago, I bought my wife a Zenith record player. When she wanted to play a record, she would stand there, looking confused, and our little five year old daughter would say, “I’ll do it, Mommy.” And, she would set up the various things needed for that size record, and it would play.
Fast forward 13 years. Same girl grown up now wanted to play a record, on essentially the same machine. She stood there, confused, no idea how to play that record.
The truth is, most (not all, as I said earlier)women do not relate to mechanical tings as most (not all) men do.
Fortunately, there are some women who relate to mechanical things. I bought a Chevrolet Uplander and the dealer assigned me to a female service writer. She was not only very attractive, but also very knowledgeable. The Uplander had a rather bumpy feel in the steering, so I took it in to the service department. My service writer knew what the problem was right away. She said that it was a problem with the intermediate steering shaft. She then went on to explain that this shaft worked much like the rotator cuff in a person. My wife had just had rotator cuff surgery, so I decided to reverse the roles and play the dumb man role. I explained that my wife had just had the rotator cuff surgery, but had driven the Uplander before her surgery. “Is this problem contagious and did my wife’s driving the Uplander cause this problem?” I asked. She practically rolled on the floor laughing. At any rate, it really was great to work with a well-informed service writer.
How long have you been married? If not long, go talk to your Dad or an uncle. If a long time, go talk to your Dad or an uncle. Do yourself a huge favor by (a) insuring that everything on the car is A+, (b) keeping her advised of things you have done or intend to do and © doing (a) and (b) with a positive attitude that tells her you care about her safety. That’s a favor to you because she will, in turn, find 101 ways to show her concern for you. You could also spend some time showing her how to check things on the car, how to recognize problems and what to do when problems come up.
Gotta love them though. When I met my wife, she was driving a 96 Grand Voyager. I kid you not, I could not keep hub caps on the right side of the van. I call her froggy the curb hopper. She rarely misses a curb. I built the transmission on that van once and made the mistake of using a Chrysler torque converter in it. Converter clutch came apart, trashed the cooler which in turn fried the trans. We ended up getting rid of it and I bought her a 06 Trailblazer LT Of course she tore up those tires on the right side. She told me she wanted “Rims” on it and that the rims would keep her from hitting curbs. Yea, Right…
transman
Wow, the ‘women’ angle now.
My original addition to this discussion addresses the ‘‘end of the world’’ angle.
My wife has so little car concept that she doesn’t even put in her own gas.
But that’s just her.
It is not the ‘end of the world’ come break down time.
My daughter is her own mechanic whenever possible yet she knows when to throw in the towel. It is not the end of the world.
My son can’t open the hood.
Still not the end of the world.
But the girls in my life do take exception to that “WOMEN” bit.
Any any ONE of them could easily whup his butt. And after they read this, every one of them will. 
I have noticed that Costco, who pay their employees well, have more female employees in the tire department than male. The last 3 times I bought tires I was looked after by very competent female staff. The last time even the tech who mounted the tries was a lady in coveralls.
It’s not just about cars. Then there are things that never bother women. When I remember them I’ll be sure to keep it secret.
irlandes, you can’t be serious. 90%???
Just look at salary statistics. Women still don’t average the same pay as men, and are underrepresented in upper management. Perhaps 90% of the sexism in your life is directed at you, but that doesn’t make it the reality everywhere.
There’s a huge gap between men and women when discussing car problems and it’s not being sexist at all.
Take a job at an automotive service counter for about 5-10 years and it will become pretty apparent.
The gendet part I have no trouble believing, but the part about Costco paying tire busters well? that one is a stretch.
I was comparing Costco pay with that at Walmart and other department stores.
How about 5 or ten days? (I really wanted to say hours).
I have never in 35+ years in the auto repair business ever met a female auto mechanic,not even an incompetent one. I never saw one at any of the ASE test nights I attended, and maybe one showed up twice for class at college. Why haven’t I run across one in my carrer?