Real womans car maintenance

As a female motorist, I've had more than my share of patronising and sugar coating when it comes to keeping my car on the road.

Wether its insurance, MOT or buying oil, its seems theres no end of men who think they know it all.

Most women arent apron sporting, nail filing bimbos anymore, and since independance crosses all walks of life, it follows that car maintenance isnt just a mans job anymore.

Wether you're a woman who takes pleasure in polishing, fixing, and looking after her car, or a woman who'd rather not get oil under her nails, having a few simple tips on hand prevents alot of problems and stress.

Wether you car is simply a convenient way of getting from A to B, or a full on classic show car you tour the country with, the most useful thing you can do with it is get to know it.

Were not saying take it out for moonlit drives on the beach, something as simple as reading the manual is enough. It tells you all the basics about your car such as where all the controls are, how much fuel you can put into it at once, what kind of fuel it uses, ideal tyre pressures, fuses, oil type. Things which can be really boring until you need to know them.

Most manuals have places in the back for notes and extra info. Dont ignore this space, there are a number of useful things you should write down here.

• Fuel consumption
  This changes according to your driving style and the condition of your car.Did you know that the average boyracer uses twice as much fuel per mile as an older person driving the same car sensibly.
  To figure out mpg (miles per gallon), fill your tank and set your trip counter to zero or mark down the mileage at the time of fill up. Also make note of the number of gallons it took to fill the tank. Do not add gas until you reach empty. Then divide the miles driven by the gallons of gas and you have your average mpg.
• How empty's empty?
  Once you get your car out into the country and realise your running on empty, you'll realise how inportant it is to know how far those fumes are gonna take you
  In order to estimate how much further you can drive once the fuel indicator reaches the empty mark, subtract the number of gallons of gas you put in from your manufacturers handbood gas tank capacity.
  So, for instance, say your tank's capacity is 15.5 gallons and you put in 12.5 at fill up. You still have three gallons of gas in your tank, once the fuel indicator shows empty. Multiply this three gallons by your average mpg and you will know how many more miles you can drive before you will run out of gas completely.

Your log book will also tell you when you need to change the oil, filters, plugs and certain other bits and pieces on your cars engine.

This should be a regular service, and if you have an older car, that isnt under warranty, it really is simple enough to do yourself. Just get hold of a Service manual for the car (Haynes are good and readily available).

If you're not up for getting your hands dirty, get recomendations from people who own the same car as you and take your car in.

Theres no need to use anything other than the products suggested in the handbook, and indeed, it can have a bad effect on the car (I know that mine wont run on certain brands of oil, or spark plugs) Make sure you check the manual before you take the car in, and if they push you to upgrade on anything, just remember that there is no real reson no matter what they tell you.

If a garage suggests any other replacement parts, ask to see the offending part before its replaced. Its something that would be obvious in any other situation, but for some reason, people forget with cars. Ask what it does.

This will give you clues as to wether it needs replacing or not. I remeber being stung on the price of an entire suspension system, for the sake of a missing part that wasnt really necessary. If you cant decide, then take time to assess the situation. Read the manual for specifics on a part, and ask yourself wether you were having problems before the car went in.

Tyres are the stability factor, in a bad situation, they could save your life. Not only are bad tyres an MOT failure, but the fine for badly worn tyres in this country, is more per tyre than the cost of 4 good new tyres. Unfortunately, this is an area where women are taken advantage of. The best defence against pushy salesmen is to know the tyre sizes you need. This is writen in the manual and on the tyres which are on your car. The only real reason to change then is for looks

Altogether, the best defence against pushy salesman and mechanics is knowlege. You dont have to be a qualified mechanic, simply make sure they know you're aware of the facts.