Boom in motor savvy females as women increasingly take on their own vehicle maintenance.
New research puts paid to the stereotypical image of beleaguered man wearily working through vehicle checks before a long journey, as 60% of women say they are more likely to be carrying out vehicle checks on their own motor rather than ask their husband or brother.
The figures, from vehicle leasing firm OSV revealed single ladies are doing it for themselves as 24% said they learnt to carry out the basic vehicle maintenance after a split.
Beyond regular servicing the family car needs some tlc for worry-free motoring. The simple routine checks that used to be ‘one for the boys’ are often being undertaken by women.
Results revealed that 54% of women said they didn’t know how to check their tyre pressure five years ago and more than 72% said prior to divorce/separation they would have known nothing about car maintenance. A further 19% say they can change a tyre without a boyfriend, brother or Dad present to assist, whereas they wouldn’t have been able to in previous years
More than 63% of males surveyed thought their partners wouldn’t be able to check water levels yet over three quarters (78%) of women say they regularly check it and know how to top it up if needed.
Even though there are the dashboard warning lights for oil, water, etc both men and women felt safer doing the checks personally from time to time.
This new evidence of females’ ever increasing repertoire of practical skills comes as the number of men confident of their practical skills, is in decline. Research carried out found that more than half of men surveyed are unable to jump start a car and a whopping 34% say they wouldn’t attempt to change a tyre.
A small percentage of men even admitted to asking a partner to check the oil levels for them (9%).
Over a third (34%) of women claim they could find the lever to open their car bonnet faster than their partner would be able to.
The most important things you can do to reduce the risk of breakdown is to get your car serviced, to keep worries at bay in the intervening months women say they carry out the following eight regular checks.
Top 8 vehicle maintenance chores carried out by women on their vehicles:
- Oil level checks
- Tyre pressure checks
- Water level checks
- Screenwash checks
- Regular windscreen damage checks
- Tool kit checklist
- Traction control
- Bald tyre signs check
OSV spokesman Andrew Kirkley said: “Motor maintenance is no longer just a man’s domain with more women getting under the bonnet and having a go at checking oil and topping up the windscreen wipe. It comes as no surprise that as women are increasingly spending more on their motors, they want to learn skills that will potentially save them money.”
The most common answer among women when asked why they had undertaken to do their car checks was, ‘it was the only way to get it done.’ While four in ten said they wanted to stop asking their brothers, fathers and male friends for assistance, ten percent said they learnt the new skills to maintain the condition of their car so it would hold it’s value for potential resale at a later date.