Tag Archives: car maintenance

women drivers

Ladies evening in Dunstable

Changing Wheel_thurlownunnWe’re often asked about courses for women who want to know how to DIY re car maintenance so here’s a good one for ladies in Dunstable this time. These are not sales occasions, more community evenings with women’s road safety at the top of the agenda.

We’ve all felt uneasy at times, hearing about others being approached by a stranger in a deserted car park late at night or breaking down by the side of the road and having another car pull up alongside…

Fortunately these situations are few and far between, but they do happen and we all need to know what to do to avoid becoming a victim should it ever be our turn.

Vauxhall retailer Thurlow Nunn in High Street South, Dunstable, in Bedfordshire, is organising a free ‘Women in the Driving Seat’ evening on Wednesday, November 18.

Practical instruction on personal awareness and self-protection, basic car care and maintenance for beginners and self-help will be top of the agenda. Advice will also be given on reducing the risks women face when driving for work or socially, including dealing with so-called ‘road rage’ in other drivers.

Personal safety

The increase in road traffic in the UK – up by 50 per cent in the last two decades – is an important factor and this is set to rise by an alarming 100 per cent in the next 20 years, predict motoring experts. In a survey of more than 3,000 UK motorists by YouGov for an insurance company, it was revealed that nearly 1 in 10 (9%) have been threatened with physical violence and over half (56%) of drivers questioned agreed that road users are generally less courteous than five years ago.

Even more alarming was the revelation that over a fifth (21%) of road rage sufferers have argued with another motorist because of road rage, while 36% admitted it makes them drive more aggressively. Almost one in ten (8%) said they’ve followed another driver as a result.

“Personal safety and security are imperative for everyone, particularly women, today. The menace of aggressive, inconsiderate driving on our roads seems to be increasing at the moment and we believe that all it takes is a little care and consideration to avoid situations which can escalate into the kinds of tragic incidents we have all heard about recently,” said Ivan Pletersky, general manager of Thurlow Nunn Dunstable.

“We want everybody to enjoy their independence and freedom and be able to travel safely and confidently on our roads. We hope that by highlighting the risks facing women drivers, it will provide them with a wealth of information and practical advice,” he added.

Tackling road rage

In addition to car safety, the psychology behind car confidence will be explored by ex-Police Chief Inspector and human behaviour specialist Vic Botterill, with practical advice on safe driving and combating the hazards of modern driving, including so-called ‘road rage’, which members of the audience can join in with. Advice will also be given about the frequent causes of aggressive, dangerous driving and ‘motorway madness’, with the audience encouraged to share their own experiences and how they could have been avoided.

But the course is not designed to encourage motorists to take the law into their own hands emphasised Ivan: “Our Women in the Driving Seat evening is free to anyone who wishes to steer clear of trouble or be able to deal with their own, personal ‘road rage’.” he explained.

Self defence role play

During the event, volunteers from the audience will be invited to take part in self defence role-play by self protection specialist and head of the Realistic Self Defence Organisation, Andy Williams. They will be shown how to beat the bullies behind the wheel and, if diplomacy fails, how everyday objects to hand such as car keys, pens and possibly deodorant sprays can come in very handy.

Representatives from the Dunstable branch of the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) will also be there to discuss their organisation’s various advanced driving courses with interested visitors. And there will be a representative from FOXY too.

Few vehicles come equipped with full tool-kits nowadays, so Thurlow Nunn’s service technicians will also offer visitors practical hands-on instruction on dealing with roadside emergencies, routine car maintenance and car safety checks. The evening is free and all will be encouraged to roll up their sleeves and ‘have a go’ themselves under the guidance of expert motor technicians, promises the dealership. Gloves will be provided for hygiene purposes.

Anybody interested in attending the free Women in the Driving Seat event at Thurlow Nunn on Wednesday, November 18 can telephone Ivan Pletersky on 01582 575944 or e-mail: ivanpletersky@thurlownunn.co.uk to reserve places.

car dealerships

Role play helps women deal with road rage

I’m sure it’s not just me that has felt uneasy being out and about on my own at times. Coping with unwarranted road rage, worrying about footsteps behind you in an empty road or breaking down in an off-the-beaten track area when another motorist pulls in behind you… They could all be innocent situations but what would you do if they weren’t?

Kentish Vauxhall car dealership Hidsons, at its 30 London Road, Rainham, Gillingham address, is tackling these big issues and more in its free ‘Women in the Driving Seat’ evening on Thursday, 23 August 2012.

The evening programme includes three main topics and promises to be a fun and informative evening.

Driving confidence

The psychology behind driving confidence is explored by ex-Police Chief Inspector and human behaviour specialist Vic Botterill, including practical advice given in a lighthearted yet memorable fashion about safe driving and combating the hazards of ‘road rage’.

The audience is encouraged to share their own experiences to do with aggressive, dangerous driving and ‘motorway madness.’

Self defence role play

Volunteers from the audience are invited to take part in role-play situations by self defence specialist Grant Hicks.

Everyone will be shown ways to beat the bullies behind the wheel and, if diplomacy fails, how they can legally use everyday objects normally found about one’s person for personal self-protection and to ensure a rapid escape from a would-be attacker.

Essential car maintenance

Not many vehicles are equipped with full tool-kits nowadays, so Hidsons’ service technicians offer practical hands-on instruction about dealing with roadside emergencies, routine car maintenance and car safety checks.

The evening is free and all will be encouraged to roll up their sleeves and ‘have a go’ themselves under the guidance of expert motor technicians, promises the dealership. Gloves are provided of course!

“Personal safety and security are imperative for everyone, particularly women today. The menace of aggressive, inconsiderate driving on our roads seems to be increasing at the moment and we believe that all it takes is a little care and consideration to avoid situations which can escalate into the kinds of tragic incidents we have all heard about recently,” said Vanessa West, sales manager of Hidsons.

Anybody interested in attending the free Women in the Driving Seat event at Hidsons Vauxhall on Thursday, August 23 can call Maralyn Gorringe on 01992 503129 or email her via maralyn@avfcommunications.eclipse.co.uk to reserve places.

We recommend this and hope to be there on the night.

FOXY

garage services, women drivers

Do women DIY car maintenance?

Female car drivers don’t DIY car maintenance as often as men according to research by Autoquake.com.

Which could be because the research is carried out by men (only having a laugh guys…), women are more honest in our survey responses (although this does us no credit), because our foxy feller does all this for us or because we are members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club and get free seasonal car checks and associated services carried out by female friendly garage professionals. Sounds plausible to me.

And because women are FOXY by nature of course, as in female, feisty and fussy that is.

Here’s the survey detail if you’re interested.

  • More than one-in-ten female drivers (12%) never check their car’s oil level whereas just under 8% of men admit to this
  • Twice as many women (14%) as men (7%) admit to never checking their tyre pressures while almost one-in-five say they never check the tread-depth. (If true, there’s no excuse here girls – join the Club and we’ll explain why this is really serious and how to stay safer in future)
  • Women drivers are also more likely than men to pay someone else to carry out basic maintenance for them
  • Just over 14% of women pay to have coolant levels checked compared with 5% of men
  • A staggering 9% of women pay someone else to check their washer fluid level compared to 3% of men

And apparently drivers in Northern Ireland are more diligent about all this than we in the South East.

Moi? FOXY, female, feisty and fussy, living in the South East? I get my husband to do my car maintenance for me but I wouldn’t dream of paying him. Not sure if there was a survey category for that!

FOXY

More than 5 million motorists are driving dangerous cars says Britannia Rescue (2010)

garage services, women drivers

Female fog factor re garage choices

Car maintenance, including MOTs, car repairs and all aspects of their routine servicing is a £9bn sector of the UK motor industry which is dominated by independent players. The older the car the more likely it is maintained where overheads are less and prices therefore lower.

Understandably the battle for this valuable business is intense because car dealerships have been used to maintaining most new and nearly new cars within their warranty and, in the light of fewer garage services following fewer new car sales in 2008/9/10 they will be looking to replace this lost garage income by finding new customers to look after, those driving older cars who would otherwise use independent garages…

This has become more interesting following new EU rules concerning the repair and maintenance of cars which came into effect on 1 June 2010. The intention was to benefit motorists by making it easier for independent garages to get access to technical support from car manufacturers – who had previously been known to encourage women (and men) drivers to have their cars maintained, serviced and repaired by their franchised dealerships whilst within warranty. This often resulted in the customer paying more than she could have done because typical franchised hourly rates are higher than in most independent garages.

If you end up paying more than you need to, without having been given a choice, you do feel ripped off and you may well complain about this which may have something to do with the level of complaints about dealership services (on a par when I last looked with independent garages…).

So all in all, anything that gives the customer more choice of value for money and quality garage Who is best to repair your car?services is a good thing?

Yes, of course but I believe there is still a grey area here from the female motorist’s point of view…

On the one hand car manufacturers can no longer make a warranty conditional on having oil changed or other services carried out in authorised garages. That’s the good news.

But car manufacturers can still ‘request’ repairs that are covered by the warranty and to be paid for by the manufacturer be carried out within the authorised manufacturer’s network.

Of course this is understandable as it is in the best interest of manufacturers that their franchised dealers do well in this area. I THINK this means that all oil and routine car services can now be carried out where the customer wants the work done but that when there is a necessary repair (examples invited to help me understand some circumstances here) and the manufacturer is clearly liable, that the manufacturer should be able to ‘dictate’ where the work is done.

But who is to define what happens if the manufacturer ‘requests’ an authorised repairer which isn’t as convenient for the customer as another? Isn’t the word ‘dictate’ a more honest representation of what is likely to be the case?

And isn’t it also likely that dealerships have a vested interest in muddying the waters here a tad by suggesting to female motorists (who are likely to be confused here) that the definition of ‘repairs’ within a warranty period includes servicing to maintain that warranty. This would be an easy message to convey even though the easiest way is for them to compete with independent garages would be on the basis of

  • ATA qualifications
  • high customer service levels/facilities
  • female friendly garage standards (FOXY Choice plug but definitely relevant here)

I’d also like to know who in the UK motor industry is responsible for telling women drivers about this change to their car servicing rights?

And how are we expected to find out? I haven’t read anything about this in the sort of publications I read 😉 although if it was titled ‘Block Exemption’ (its catchy EU nom de plume) I wouldn’t read on any further…

FOXY

Find out about genuinely good and female friendly garages for your MOT, car servicing and repair work.

female friendly, garage services, women drivers

Female friendly garages appeal to women drivers

Kwik Fit research has been used to suggest that economic worries have led to an additional 1.6 million motorists servicing their own cars over the past year (this was a sample of 2000 remember).

Over a third (35%) of car owners, including a few women drivers perhaps, now say they carry out a service themselves. The lion share ie 69% of motorists, including a lot of foxy lady drivers we are sure, confessed that don’t feel confident in servicing their own car. This is probably a good thing I’d have thought.

But, according to Kwik Fit, as many as 2.5 million cars on our roads today have not been serviced last year (this was a research sample of 2000 motorists remember; not sure if it helps to extrapolate into millions here…) which is to do with the recession and motorists wanting to save money.

Spelling out the blindingly obvious here, we are told that as cars have become increasingly sophisticated, needing computerised engine management systems, the confidence of (mostly male I presume) motorists to ‘self-service’ their cars has fallen dramatically. Gosh.

And their research tells them that motorists driving cars that are over 11 years old are considerably more likely to [think they can] DIY a service (because they can get at the engine no doubt) than those driving cars under two years old. Needless to say, many women drivers still think, incorrectly as it happens, that they need to take their car to a main dealership to maintain its warranty.

If nothing more, this research confirms what FOXY knows already about many women drivers based on anecdotal evidence inside the Club; it also acts as an important reminder for all of us that

  • cars that aren’t maintained regularly or serviced properly aren’t as safe as those that are
  • unsafe cars are less reliable and more accident prone
  • cars that cause accidents and are then be seen to be poorly maintained ie unsafe can invalidate insurance claims
  • much worse, anyone who runs a poorly maintained/badly serviced car could kill a passenger, other driver or pedestrian – what price economy then?
  • few motorists are good enough at DIY car maintenance
  • many dodgy garages don’t service cars well enough (which is the REAL elephant in the room here, hence the resistance of so many women to dread going to garages)
  • the industry needs to work harder to communicate servicing prices – this needn’t be expensive, in fact surely it’s better to charge less and see more motorists that might need genuine work done afterwards?
  • that the MOT is but a safety snapshot on the day – it is never an alternative to regular maintenance and servicing
  • that members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club can claim free quarterly car fitness checks from a network of female friendly garages across the UK.

FOXY

PS: Thank you for reminding me that the garage industry needs to get its marketing act together for women drivers in particular.

Find out about free car fitness checks for women drivers who are members of FOXY Lady Drivers Club.