VILLAGE OF MINOA – A recent workshop at Scotty’s Automotive in Minoa that was tailored to women covered some need-to-know car basics and relayed a number of useful tips.
On Aug. 12, manager of the repair shop at 520 N. Central Ave. Lance Scott and Bill Rapp Subaru service technician Emily DelFavero joined together to lead a series of demonstrations and answer any and all questions that came their way.
The two went through the steps for jumpstarting a car, checking your car’s oil, checking the tire pressure, changing a flat tire, and replacing windshield wiper blades.
Every attendee also received a flat-head screwdriver from the presenters as well as a free yoga ticket and tea and cookies courtesy of event partner Spill the Tea Café.
One participant was picked as the winner of a car care basket.
During the workshop in the auto shop’s side parking area, Scott recommended using an accurate digital gauge rather than eyeing it oneself to make sure the tires of a car are inflated properly, or else another device that shows the “ballpark” for the amount of air they contain. Along those lines, DelFavero added that there is such a thing as putting too much air in the tires.
“When you’re driving down the road and you see those cars that have blown-out tires, it’s usually because of underinflation or overinflation,” she said.
When it comes to swapping out an automobile’s wipers, Scott said to make sure you’re purchasing vehicle-specific wiper blades that match with the adapter you have, while DelFavero said that even if you’re just in need of front wipers, you should buy rear wipers as well just to keep in the trunk in case those ever need replacing too.
If someone needs to jack their car up, remove a flat tire, and put on a spare, Scott advised the attendees to always do so on the flattest surface they can find because he’s seen people’s cars fall off a jack before.
“Don’t do it on your driveway if it’s on an angle either, because it could go downhill quick, literally,” he said.
DelFavero said a torque wrench is a worthwhile investment that comes in handy when tightening lug nuts, and she let the attendees try cranking one of those tools righty tighty themselves until they felt a click.
The purpose of the evening event was to help make women feel less intimidated and more comfortable within the traditionally “male-dominated” field of auto repair and also more confident and less overwhelmed in the event a problem arises with their vehicle at an inconvenient time, such as their car not starting.
DelFavero said car maintenance can be a dirty, oily business, but that doesn’t mean it should only be reserved for men. She said there’s also a perception that taking care of cars requires a tremendous amount of strength, but she said it more so has to do with ergonomics; case in point: during the workshop, she lifted a tire utilizing her lower body strength instead of her upper body strength.
Both technicians also recommended going through with a trusted mechanic what’s due at a certain mileage, what every tune-up includes and what every line item on the eventual quote means, and what further work can be expected to come up down the road.
“There’s a lot of upselling and services that people don’t generally understand, so when they bring their car in and they need something done, they get that quote at the end of the day and they may not understand all of it, and they may not trust their mechanic entirely because of that,” DelFavero said. “That’s what makes me happy to come in and explain what to look for.”
Having seen how much interest the non-judgmental, interactive Aug. 12 workshop generated, Scott said his shop can plan to hold additional informative workshops in the future to go over snow tires, things teenage drivers should take into account, what to look for in a used car, and what the underside of a car looks like.
DelFavero said she’s happy to impart her automobile knowledge to anyone and everyone because people put hefty sums of money into their vehicles and we rely on our cars to get us home, get us to work, and get us from point A to point B.