MotorsFeature: car maintenance Car maintenance, long presumed the territory of the male driver, is attracting increasing numbers of women, writes Caroline Madden
Arriving on the first night of a car maintenance course last year, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that at least half of my classmates were female.
Admittedly there were a few housewives with a lot of time on their hands, who had signed up for the class simply because they had already completed the interior design, Spanish, computer and creative writing evening classes run in the college, and this was the only course left.
But the remainder were young drivers who relied on their cars for independence and were keen to learn how to maintain and repair their prized possession.
Some were there purely out of interest, others hoped to save money on servicing their car, and a few simply wanted to gain more confidence so that they wouldn't be intimidated when going to a garage. One woman had broken down in rush-hour traffic that morning and was determined to know what to do if it ever happened again.
Over the weeks we shared car repair stories, and it was clear that everyone was putting their learning into practice - one person realised her timing belt needed to be replaced, another succeeded in changing some spark plugs, someone else changed her oil, and so it continued.
It turns out that the microcosm of that car maintenance class reflected an emerging trend in the wider motoring world - more and more Irish women are taking a hands-on approach when it comes to their cars. Banish those outdated images of the damsel in distress batting her eyelashes at the nearest male whenever she gets into a spot of car trouble - women are getting their hands dirty, and sorting it out themselves.
"It's just a stereotype that women don't get involved in their cars," says Mark Leech of MicksGarage, an Irish online car parts and accessories shop. "We're not seeing that. What we are seeing is that more and more women are coming online and sourcing the products themselves."
Roughly 40 per cent of MicksGarage customers are women, and they commonly order small parts such as wiper blades, bulbs and replacement mirror glass, and fit these parts themselves.
"But also there's a growing trend of women coming online and ordering bigger products and getting them delivered to their garage," says Leech. "They often just pay for the labour.
"I think the whole female DIY culture has definitely crossed over into the auto area," he continues. "There's a whole female sector out there that are actively taking more interest in their cars."
The option of shopping online has created a new female clientele for car parts that didn't exist in the past, and he suggests that this reflects the fact that traditionally women might not have felt completely comfortable walking into a garage, particularly if they didn't have much knowledge about their car.
Thomas Brosnan of AA Ireland agrees that women are beginning to take more control from a motoring point of view.
"Traditionally, if you had the one-car household, invariably it was the man that drove the vehicle," he says.
"Now the norm is two cars per household, so you have an increase in women driving their own vehicles."
THIS HAS LED TO A greater focus among women on carrying out basic maintenance and repair themselves, rather than leaving it to the man of the house to do.
Brosnan says that courses are good, because they "take away the sheer mystery" of car maintenance.
"You don't have to become an expert," he says. Even just from the point of view of calling for roadside assistance, it's a great help to have the knowledge and terminology to be able to explain what the problem is with the car, even if you can't fix it yourself, he says.
Leech adds that the shift in the behaviour of female drivers can only be partly explained by the NCT requirement to keep their cars in good shape.
"It is also probably down to the increasing independence of the Irish female motorist."
CASE STUDY: Fionnuala Feeley
Fionnuala Feeley wouldn't dream of getting someone else to carry out the basic maintenance of her Audi A3.
"If it's something small you might as well get on with it," she says. "I wouldn't be intimidated [going to a garage]. It would be the convenience factor."
She sources car parts such as wiper blades and bulbs on MicksGarage.ie and fits them herself. And before any long journey, it has become second nature to her to check the oil and tyre pressure, and she would have no problem changing a tyre.
She has also saved money by sourcing larger car parts online, such as brake pads, before getting them fitted in a garage. "I've always found it to be cheaper," she says.
Would she encourage other women to shop around for parts and carry out routine maintenance themselves? "I would," she says. "I'd tell them that there's loads they can do themselves, without having to go to the hassle of going to the garage and trying to get a slot and hanging around."