My first car was a 1971 Pinto. Since a mechanic cost more than the car, and since the engine was so incredibly simple, I learned how to work on it, and learned more about fixing cars than I ever did by reading about it. And no, it never burst into flames, though I didn't have to worry about anyone tailgating me...
My mom insisted that me and my three sisters all needed to know how to pump our own gas, change our own tires with regular car-issued jacks and crossbars, change out the oil and radiator fluid, and for me, at least, to learn how to pop the clutch while in heels (since I was the only one who preferred a stick shift over automatic). Being female meant that we could be at risk if our cars were ever stuck alongside even the busiest road.
Plus having a few boyfriends who were car idiots (really, had one that had the cahones to call me to change a flat tire since he had no clue how to do it - and I was stupid enough to agree).
In the ensuing years (decades
), I had no patience to deal with mechanics and dealerships that assumed that because I lacked a measurable amount of testosterone, that I also lacked any mechanical skills (yet reference above about idiot ex-boyfriend), and in the few years that we have been living here along the Tx/Mx border, finding a decent mechanic at all is nearly impossible. I've learned to weld a cat converter on our 4Runner, changed the water pump on our old BMW 323, and learned how to rebuild the brake calipers. I'm not afraid to get dirty, and thankfully, my husband doesn't have 'problems' that his wife is more of a car buff than he is.
I'm more of a CarChick than my husband is a CarGuy, and even when it came time for him to get his dream car, a '69 Camaro RS/SS, it was me that found the car, negotiated a price, and when the car came here, I was the one literally crawling around the massive engine bay to help with tuning. I had almost restored a '70 Datsun 240Z on my own until health issues and finances forced me to sell her, though not before I taught myself how to rewire that car, as well as tune the carbs. Love the smell of a carbureated engine.
Now that I hopefully am thisclose to becoming an official XF owner, I realize that I will need to upgrade my car-learning to include computer tech, since compared to my trio of fairly geriatric cars, a XF looks positively Star Trekish to me.
