When a front tyre of Rosie Parsons’ BMW kept deflating and she discovered a nail in the tread, she assumed the repair would be simple. Accordingly, Parsons, 42, who runs her own photography business, carefully researched garages near her home in Exeter to fix the problem.
“I have a friend who runs a garage but it was a long way to go for something that I assumed would be a quick fix,” she recalls. So, a garage around the corner from her house which had five-star reviews on Google seemed like the perfect solution – especially as it specialised in tyres.
When she arrived, however: “They examined my tyre and told me I needed a complete replacement and they’d have to order one in.” Smelling a rat, Parsons took her car to another garage, one recommended by her mother, “and they said they could fix my tyre for £30. I’ve had no problems since.
“I think they [the first garage] saw me arrive on my own and thought ‘She doesn’t know anything about cars so we can say what we want’. And they were right.” Now, says Parsons, a single mother of four children, she is preparing to get her windscreen replaced and her car serviced. “I know it’s going to be expensive and I’m really scared to take it anywhere. They could quote me anything they want.”
A mechanic tried to convince Rosie Parsons to pay for a new tyre – even though only £30’s worth of repairs were necessary – Rosie Parsons Photography
A matter of trust
Parsons is not the only woman who feels on the back foot when it comes to all things car. Recent research carried out by the car tech company Carly found that only 23 per cent of women fully trust a garage to be fair and correct, and that half of the 1,000 women it surveyed felt they had been mis-sold or deceived about the necessity of repairs at some point.
Jemma Arbon is one of them. When the tyres on her car started wearing badly, she went to have two replaced; the tyre fitter recommended a garage she should go to immediately for a camber test. She dutifully did so and an hour later was told her car was ready to go. The garage printer was out of ink, they said, so they couldn’t print Arbon a certificate: “But they had realigned my wheels and I paid the £65 fee.”
A week later, a tyre burst on the way home with all of her children aboard. Arbon returned to the tyre shop, where one of the mechanics told her the vehicle was unroadworthy and shouldn’t be driven. “I booked it into the closest garage that could see us that day. On inspection this new garage said that whoever had touched it last had broken a key part of the bushings and something suspension-related,” Arbon recalls.
“They had soldered it back up; the mechanic said it was recent as the soldering was still clean. Basically, the garage hadn’t done the camber test and instead had broken parts.”
Arbon returned, but the garage would only refund her half her money. “I really think it was because I was female – and I was also massively out of my comfort zone and didn’t know what to challenge. When they said the printer wasn’t working I thought that was ok. But the garage I ended up at told me that the certificate is part of the deal of getting the work done.”
A mechanic caused further damage to Jemma Arbon’s car, but still refused to give her a full refund – Geoff Pugh
Lacking in confidence
The problem, says Erin Baker, editorial director at Autotrader, is that when it comes to women and cars, whether buying or getting them repaired, there is “mistrust throughout the entire industry and always has been”. It’s playing out right now, adds Baker, with the move to electric vehicles – 63 per cent of women say they don’t have the confidence to buy one, compared with 47 per cent of men, according to a recent report produced by Autotrader called No Driver Left Behind.
“For over a century, women have had a poor relationship with cars,” the report points out. “With the exception of two noticeable periods on either side of the World Wars, when women… successfully took to the racetrack, drove commercial vehicles and enjoyed tinkering under the bonnet, cars have remained largely both the passion and profession of men.
“Men have historically designed, engineered, manufactured, marketed, advertised, sold, bought, driven, written and read about cars. Women have been excluded, ignored, patronised and mansplained to by brands, marketing and the industry, almost to the point of total alienation.”
Today, however, 49 per cent of driving licence holders are women; in my family, I drive our car more regularly and for more miles per year than my husband. And yet still he deals with the servicing, MOT requirements and any other car-related admin – much as is the case with many of my peers. And where women are the majority consumer in society in general, that doesn’t extend to car-buying – 50 per cent of us actively dislike the thought; 70 per cent of us don’t trust car dealerships (41 per cent of us choose our next car based entirely on peer or family/friends recommendations) and 43 per cent of us don’t trust car brands.
Lucy Denyer: Though I do most of the driving in our house, I still leave servicing, MOT requirements and any other car-related admin to my husband – Andrew Crowley
Knowledge is key
When we don’t engage with buying the damn things, it’s hardly surprising that we don’t feel that confident when they go wrong either. As Baker points out, unlike men, we don’t watch YouTube videos about cars or read reviews of the latest models – we’re more likely to zone in on what a car looks like or how comfortable it is than the details of what, exactly, is going on under the bonnet. Women, says Baker, “want the knowledge and need the knowledge, but want it to be presented to them in a way that they enjoy”.
Not entirely our fault, then. But what about when it comes to taking our cars to a garage? It doesn’t help that of the female 20 per cent of the automotive industry in the UK, the majority work in marketing, HR, PR and design, rather than as mechanics.
“Typical technician roles [in the auto industry] are around 14 per cent [women],” admits Lindsey Mitchell, director of development, quality and compliance at the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI), the professional body for the auto industry. “Look to vehicle sales and customer service and that creeps up to around 24 to 25 per cent. There’s definitely not a balance.”
The industry is trying its hardest, however – the IMI’s aim is to professionalise the sector and have companies sign up to its professional standards, which include a code of conduct. “There are huge stereotypes,” admits Mitchell, “but they’re not always true.”
Should there be a law against it?
Should there be – as Carly’s research suggests – a new law to penalise sexist mechanics? Both Mitchell and Baker are adamant that’s unnecessary. Car repairs are already covered under consumer care legislation that is binding for any retail experience, points out Baker – and, as Mitchell says, you can always complain to the motor ombudsman, which is there to protect people from discrimination and unethical behaviour.
“The only way to raise public confidence in the sector is to raise inconsistent standards,” she says. “With an industry [like the auto industry] that isn’t licensed to practice [i.e. anyone can set up a garage], it’s difficult to get a consistent approach.”
Just because we’re women, meanwhile, doesn’t mean we have to remain clueless and helpless – or turn bad service into a gender debate. “Don’t let your male partner take the car in, because we need more women to be driving this experience, and we can’t change it if we’re not taking part,” advises Baker.
When you get there, don’t be afraid to ask questions – the auto industry is guilty of using far too much jargon and assuming too much knowledge but, says Baker, “there’s no such thing as a stupid question – if you don’t understand what’s being said to you, say so and ask for them to explain it differently”. Obviously, the same applies to men who might also be lacking in confidence when it comes to cars.
Do your research too – engage with car reviews, however boring you might find them, and try and understand your vehicle. After all, it’s one of the biggest purchases you’ll ever make. Carly has recently developed a Repair Costs AI tool that allows drivers to estimate what’s wrong with their car and get a cost prediction for the repairs – a good starting point if your vehicle’s on the blink. Far better to turn up with a bit of prior research under your belt than completely ignorant of what’s wrong.
And if you don’t like the diagnosis, remember that, like Parsons, you can take your car elsewhere. Who needs a new law when you can vote with your feet?
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