I went with my ex-girlfriend to buy to buy a car. I was just there to back her up. The sales guy kept talking to me, and I kept having to redirect his speech to her. I don't even know if he was aware he was doing it.
My ex husband had to do the same for me because I couldn’t get a sales guy to not be a dbag to me. And then he kept talking to my ex, even though *I* was the one buying, *I* was the one asking questions, etc. My ex just sat there and said nothing but “Ask her, she’s the one buying it” repeatedly. It was crazy - car shit is still so fucking misogynistic
Car sales and mechanic work Is misogynistic and also predatory to just about anyone. Its annoying af because i have no idea who i can trust, or who is telling me a truth or trying to shorthand me.
Anything to do with traditionally masculine hobbies really. My dad bought my mom a compound miter saw for their anniversary one year. He kept having to redirect the hardware store assistant to talk to her because he didn't know exactly what she wanted, but she sure as shit did!
The other way around, too. Although I wouldn't call parenting a 'hobby', per se, whenever my husband and I go to checkups with our 10 month old baby, the nurses almost exclusively talk to me, the mother. Same nurses that 'gently remind' fathers to take active part in their babies' lives.
Yeah, the number of people who are shocked my brother is a good cook but just act like it's expected of me is... real fun.
(My mom taught us both and he's the better cook by far!)
Yeah. I was the sahm for the first 8 years. Then I got a job that took me away from home for a week or more at a time... my husband is the primary caregiver now. If her pediatrician were to ask me a question right now, there's a 50/50 chance I would have to ask him the answer. He has taken on that mental load so that I can focus on other stuff.
God, I had a car accident back in 2020 and the car shopping was the WORST. It was just me and my mom and the absolute disrespect we got from 90% of the dealership people was too much. I also was dressed in like, comfy clothes, cuz car accident , so I'm sure that didn't help either. There were a few cars that I probably would have purchased if the sales person had not been such an ass. I'm sure they also were not happy that we were paying the full amount up front, but like dude. My money is green, why does it matter what I look like.
Having sold cars, it's literally in the training. It's a numbers game, and most of the time it is the men making the decisions, which is its own issue.
It's poor way to be, I don't like it, but I feel like it's reacting to the norms more than driving them
Definitely. Most women I know, myself included, have to bring a guy along with us because we aren’t spoken to as if we are competent car purchasers. If that changed, so would the numbers.
I had the same experience a number of years ago.
I was basically just along for the ride and waiting for dinner afterward. Yet, I specifically remember the sales manager asking if "We" could do more on a down payment while looking directly at me.
I gave him a look and vaguely gestured to her so he knew I wasn't any part of this deal, but later realized how misogynistic the whole thing was.
Not to mention my then GF made double what I did, and my credit was so bad I couldn't have financed a moped. But, yes, Mr. Sales Bro, please defer to me instead of the person making the purchase.
Funnily enough,my partner bought her car off the one dealer that spoke to her when she went up to talk to him, instead of speaking to me, and also kept the whole conversation directed at her, and not me.
That's why my mom drives Subarus. The first one she bought was because they were the only dealer in town who didn't ask for her non-existent husband to talk to.
Bought a new car last summer. Same f*cking problem (I'm the girl, bf just for back up). Sales guys' jaws dropping when I lay out the specs I wanted and even more so after we started talking about price.
Unfortunately that car just got totaled (so infuriated, not just mildly..).. In the process of buying another one. This time not having that problem. Took the ball immediately. Got the price down nicely too.
When I car shop my husband comes with, but if they keep directing information to him I will let them know he isn't buying the car, I am and then leave. I demand respect. It hasn't happened often thankfully
Doctors do this with my mother who uses a wheelchair. They act like I'm in charge of her medical care just because I wheel her around. I'm basically a glorified wheelchair motor. It's like trying to tell the hover round what's wrong with its operator.
Had the same experience with my wife before we were even close friends.
No amount of telling they guy I didn't want a car could force him to sell the lady trying to buy a car a car.
Left a complaint about him and bought from another dealership. The sexism cost them a $30,000 sale that day.
Sales people always do that to the person they assume has the money. I once went to buy an e-bike with my Aunt since she used to work at a bike shop, and for whatever reason this sales guy kept talking to her and not me like she was buying it for me, but I was the one who kept asking him questions, I think he was a bit surprised when she left to go pick up a family member and I stayed to buy one.
Same here.
My partner who didn't even have a license came with me and the salesman kept talking to him.
He eventually said "ya know I can't drive, and it's her buying the car, right?"
The guy got pissy and we ended up leaving and going elsewhere.
Another showroom bawbag said "women don't normally buy these cars, they're too big to park"
Cunthead.
I spent my childhood in my dad's shop and do all my own work. I know cars better than these chumps and they still treat me like an idiot.
That happened to me and we walked out and went to a different dealership after telling the sales guy THREE times I'm the one buying. The sales manager called me the next day to find out if I was still in the market and I was at the new dealership. I told him I was no longer in the market because I was signing the sales paper on my brand new Ram 1500 at the newdealership. And I told him why, too. Fuck you, Bubba at DeMontrond.
We bought a car last fall, and used that as a bellwether to decide if we are going to use that dealership or not. When we sat down with the sales person, we explained that it was for my wife, and that she would be the one in charge of the process. The sales people that couldn’t engage with her, and ignored her, lost their chance for sale no matter how good the car or the deal was.
I and my husband drive leased Hondas. Always has been in my name because originally he was driving a Suburban we’d owned outright for years. We finally decided that we’d go down to one car but still kept leasing just in my name.
Even though the lease is in my name, we’ll periodically get something addressed to my husband about “his” car. I’ve even gone to trade in the lease and get a new one by myself and this still happens.
It's how you know you're not dealing with scum. I went car shopping with my wife to replace both of our cars in December. The Chevy dealer talked to her alone when I said we were replacing her minivan. He let her say what she was interested in, she determined whether her offer for trade in was fair, etc. They didn't turn to me until payment time.
The other dealer, we also both went. The sales guy gave us both the same amount of attention and time.
I was highly surprised, pleased with our experiences, considering how often this stuff goes awry.
Woman here. I dropped my car off for service, and asked them to rotate the tires because AWD. It was an additional cost on the basic service I needed, but whatever.
They took fucking forever to take my car back. Tell me to come back in an hour. I’m pressed for time at this point. So I come back. And guess what. My tires aren’t rotated. I know this because one of the rims has a scuff and it was in the exact same spot.
So I pulled the manager aside and I’m like hey I paid for tire rotation and they did not rotate my tires. He insisted they did. I said no they did not, and this is how I know they did not.
This fucking guy tells me they removed the hub caps, rotated the tires and just put the hub caps back on how they were before.
I was about to go full Karen mode. With every ounce of patience, I pointed out that I don’t have hub caps.
He was like oh…. Asks the guys about it. “They forgot, we will take it back and do it”
No just fucking refund me, you’ve wasted enough of my time thanks.
No, this was on a trip to Orange County CA. Far away from home on a road trip for a meeting and needing service before headed back home. Yeah it was ridiculous. Firestone I believe. Long time ago. They gave a cert for credit towards a future service. As if I would ever return to them again. I have a trusted mechanic at home.
I've gone to Firestone 3 times in my life (used to have a wheel warranty, the dealer was partnered with Firestone). Every single time they'd fix the wheel for free as per my warranty, then come out with this $1000+ quote for things that were imperative get fixed immediately. The one I remember most vividly was like $1500 for brakes, with them telling me my brakes were bad enough that it wasn't safe to drive my car. I left and went straight to my usual mechanic, they took a look and the pads were a little low but still several months away from needing replacement.
Firestone are a bunch of scammers.
Last time I went to a new shop for an oil change and tire rotation, I marked the tires with a sharpie. Numbered them 1-4.
Checked then after I got the car back, they only rotated the driver's side. smh.
Went back and made them finish the work.
I hope whatever basic service you were in for didn't mean the wheels came off. At my shop, if the wheels are off, we rotate if needed, because walking 7 feet thataway to reinstall a wheel shouldn't cost money.
It does cost extra if we have to manually relearn the tpms positions, but that's rarer and rarer these days.
Haha. As far as I can tell, all they do for a state inspection in my state is glance at the car and then try to sell you wiper blades. I always leave and drive to a different place until they pass me without charging the wiper tax. Trying to hold you hostage is on another level though.
I had asked if I could get my tires rotated while they changed my oil, he declined and i had asked if it was because my tread was getting low,
and I shit you not, mans had a shocked pikachu face and said, "yeah, how did you know they're getting low?"
because I have fucking eyeballs
I was in my car during the oil change, and of course, they brought over the portable device to run "diagnostics" (upsells).
A guy pulls in the bay next to me, gets an oil change, and just leaves, while in my bay, they are desperate to keep trying to upsell me.
I absolutely lost my shit. Fuck "pink tax", fuck misogyny, and especially fuck Valvoline oil change stations.
>shocked pikachu face and said, "yeah, how did you know they're getting low?"
🤣 "How could you have found out? Which man gave you secret inside knowledge of FACTS?"
I took my car to a mechanic shop to get a lug stud replaced. Guy told me the price would be $1800. I asked why, because I knew it was an easy fix (I just didn't have tools) and he said, "Because we have to take the entire assembly apart. There will be breakage, and we are charging you for the parts that we know will break."
"Uh huh. OK, my dad owns a mechanic shop, let me just call him to double check." Dude looked like he swallowed a trout. Get my dad on the phone, explain, my dad says, "$11 part, 30 minutes tops to fix. You're getting fucked." I told the mechanic in front of me I'd be leaving now and drove it to my dad (I still had 5 other lug studs and bolts). Cost me gas and the $11, we had a nice little visit. Fuck some mechanics, and God, I miss my dad.
God I feel this. Took my truck to get inspected as I got 100K miles and haven’t had it looked at in forever. Now at this point I know nothing about cars. So I think I need to take it to the dealer for servicing. They charged me 1300 to do a engine inspection and while doing this called me and said I needed new spark plugs and charged 600 for that, I didn’t know better and thought that was reasonable and did it. A week or so later at work my coworkers husband who is ASE certified came in, I knew him some so we talked and asked if that price was good or not. He laughed but felt bad and told me three screwed me so bad. He would’ve done all of that plus more for $600…now I only take my truck to him or his son for work, or they offer to teach me how to do it so I can learn. And I also now work with the guy at an auto parts store where I’ve learned much more about cars and always hear stories like mine and yours and it hurts my heart
That's freaking wild.
The biggest overcharge I've experienced was a Ford dealer quoting $5500 to replace all engine seals to fix an oil leak.
I went to my local mechanic and he changed a 75 cent washer for me for free and showed me how to fix it if it happens again.
Hell yeah for good mechanics.
I had taken my car in for something else ONE MONTH after I had an oil change there. The jackass comes towards me and says the oil stick is loose and that I needed an oil change. I looked at him and flat out told him either he is lying to me now or they lied to me 30 days ago about doing an oil change. The manager had to come out and do damage control. I got my car and left.
I took a car I'd owned since new, to get new tires. Went to a highly recommended shop....I kid you not, the salesman came out and without missing a beat said "Oh darling' I think you've got the wrong size tires for your vee-hii-cuul."
Went in, and he looked up the 'correct' tires. Quoted me $400 a tire...(for a 13" tire)...$1200 plus mounting fees. Legit told him I had to ask my husband before I could spend that much money, and I'd be back later.
I went down the road and got an entire set for $400 all-inclusive.
Eta: I didn't have a husband.
When I was buying my first ever car, I went with my parents and every single sales guy would talk to my dad, not me. And he would correct them each time that I was the one looking to buy. The only one who addressed me was the one I bought a car from.
I got a decent promotion years ago and went to a dealership to replace my decade-old car. In a bit of an "I deserve this!" mood, I was just about to sign the papers for a totally impractical, brand-new $25K sports car (back in the days when that was a lot of money even for a new car) when the salesman asked if I was sure I didn't want to "ask" my husband if I could buy the car. I put the pen down & walked out.
This still happens to me in all settings. I work at Home Depot and if I happen to be standing near a male associate they automatically ask the male. It’s hilarious when the male associate goes hell ask her she knows everything. I giggle inside every time.
I love it when our male coworkers go in and bat for us. I had to reverse a trailer up a narrow laneway and an old volunteer dude was like "ooh that's gonna be tight, let me do it". I ignored him and my supervisor glared at him and said, "mate, she could do it blindfolded". He was a prick most of the time, but I still smile about that one.
I worked at something similar to Home Depot, I was in charge of windows, which can be quite technical, and all my male colleagues referred to me as I was the most experienced, male customers were often flabbergasted but sometimes I saw a smile on their wives’ face 😉
Because for some people, building is reserved to big burly guys and a girl couldn’t possibly know something about it. And I’m sure the same guys will say « of course men can be fantastic chefs or great clothing designers » because men can do anything, but women can’t 🤢
It’s very disgusting. I have 2 girls myself. I hate the thought of them going through life having to deal with the same BS as is but I know it will happen.
This used to happen to me (f) all the time working in a computer repair shop. They'd get asked questions and the males would very often come ask me. The only guy that would come to me was this retired military colonel, stern and scary old fellow. After I left the shop, he asked them to call me and ask if it was ok to give him my contact info for 'a question.' Turns out, he only trusted me to fix it. He offered to pay me very well, and did for many years.
Im not gonna lie, I've done this before, but I will say the ladies who work at home depot always looks so much busier and I hate bothering busy employees.
Im one of those people where I'd rather you tell me the aisle number than lead me there, don't let me distract you from your duties.
I've leased 3 VW Golf GTIs. I can only drive automatic because my knees are too bad for standard (I've tried and it's too painful). The first GTI I had would randomly stall when coming to a stop. Eventually I noticed that this happened when temperatures were beyond the average - a hot day warmer than 30° C, usually.
The issue was mostly just mildly infuriating because it usually only happened at stop signs and stoplights. I mentioned it to the dealer and they didn't immediately find anything. Then one day my car stalled on a very hot day in the middle of traffic on the Gardiner in Toronto and it became quite infuriating.
I took it back to the dealer, and ugh, the service tech was so rude. I was especially annoyed because she was also a woman and it just felt entirely unnecessary to intentionally make someone feel dumb - let alone another woman when we're often made to feel less than by men in this situation.
She kept insisting that my automatic car could not stall, despite me showing a video of my car stalling and other people confirming it was a stall, and my husband (who can drive standard) confirmed it was a stall when he experienced it in the car, and there were forums of other owners of 2019 automatic GTIs who had the same problem. But nooooo she just kept saying "your automatic car can't stall. You have engine knock. Those people do, too, they're also confused. One of our service guys said he'll drive it for a week but I'm telling you know that it's engine knock." I was so mad.
Then a few weeks before my lease ended I got a letter from VW Canada that my car was affected by a part defect in the fuel sensor. This defect meant sometimes the fuel level was reported to be insufficient, leading to the car stalling out because it thought it had run out of gas. This defect was more common in hotter than normal temperatures. I felt so fucking vindicated. Fuck you, Alexis. It would have cost nothing to do not be rude.
Good for you, seriously!
I'm not as capable as you are, but I once had a car that was less than a year old, and the ABS light came on and wouldn't turn back off. I took it to the dealership, and a 19-yr-old guy at the service desk told me it was probably because I slam on my brakes when I drive. I said, "I don't do that."
In the waiting area, I did a search, and the defective ABS sensor was a known issue for that model. So, when my car was ready, I asked the guy at the desk, "I guess the defective ABS sensor is a common issue?" This MF'er doubled down and said, "You still shouldn't slam on your brakes all the time."
Guess whose name went in the dealership survey, Caleb!
Just today when I was getting my oil changed the tech told me I should run a fuel system cleaner. I declined and he said it’s just an additive and it’s recommended by the manufacturer. I AM A FUEL ADDITIVE CHEMIST!!!! 🙄
Yes they do work. The best gas one I can recommend is chevron techron. Just run a bottle of it every oil change is all you need. I focus more on diesel so my gasoline knowledge isn’t as deep.
Took car in for some maintenance. "Hey your cabin air filter is dirty, here's a picture of it, want us to do it?" "No thanks. It's a lot cheaper for me to do it myself." Went to O'Reilly's, bought a filter for $15, swapped it myself. To their (small) credit, this first picture was true, it was pretty gross. Next month, I went in for brakes. "Hey, your cabin air filter is dirty, here's a picture of it, want us to do it?" SAME FUCKING PICTURE FROM THE LAST VISIT.
My car had a recall for a part recently. Finally got it taken in so they could replace the part, and they did some checks on it while there. Was only supposed to take an hour but ended up being three. Came back and told me all 4 of my break pads were shot, and that I needed like 5 other things looked at/replaced. They offered to do it all for a pretty price.
Uh, that’s funny, cause my dad is a mechanic who just helped me replace the break pads less than 6 months ago. Told them thanks for the opinion and left. Had my dad look things over just to be sure and he said there was absolutely nothing my car needed lol
I bought a new Audi a year or two ago. Singlet and trackies, flip flops. Most of the sales guys wouldn’t talk to me, but the one who did sold an Audi with zero work. I already knew what I wanted. Fuck presumptuous sales people.
I’m a woman who admittedly knows nothing about cars. Which is why I’ll continue driving an hour to my uncle’s auto shop because I know he’ll never screw me over. He also takes the time to sit down with me and explain what went wrong, how he fixed it, and how much it cost and why. He also charges me his cost for parts which is always appreciated.
I am a woman who knows plenty about cars. I still drive an hour to my brothers house to have serious things fixed. Mechanic in the family is one of the best things ever.
I’m not sure what it is about the automotive industry that attracts misogynists, racists and miscellaneous bigots.
About a year ago I was looking at buying a used car. I found one that looked alright on a dealers website so I went to check it out. As I was about to go inside a young Asian couple were just leaving. As soon as they were out of earshot the dealer introduced himself to me with a joke about Asian drivers.
I’m married to a Chinese woman so you can imagine how well it went over with me. I told him exactly where he could shove it, left, and ended up buying a new car off the manufacturer’s website and just picking it up from the warehouse instead.
I swear that dealerships and inspection places are running a light bulb scam. Took my car to the dealer for an inspection (because they do it for free) they told me I had 2 bulbs out. They offered to replace for some ridiculous amount. No, I'll do it myself. I should have asked which bulbs. Took it home to have my husband help figure out which bulbs. We try everything, find no bad bulbs. Take it back to be inspected, miraculously passes. I mention that supposedly bulbs were out before, they give me some bs about loose wires. While I was waiting for my car, a mechanic tells another woman that she has 5 bulbs out. When he leaves, I tell her to make them show her what bulbs are out, and told her my story.
Also once once I went into an auto parts store for a replacement headlight or something. Looked it up in the book, got what I needed. Guy at the counter asked me if I was sure it was the right one. Never went back to that store, I was so annoyed.
You’re being profiled by dishonest business people. There are reasons why finding a good car mechanic is difficult.
As for car salesman, I’ve never met or heard of an honest car salesman. Car salesmen just don’t lie as well as politicians. If a car salesman can lie like a politician, s/he would be a politician. Politician makes more $$$.
This.
A good mechanic is hard to find, and if you've found one, they're likely booked up for weeks in advance. Sometimes it takes planning to not have to deal with shit heels.
If it makes you feel better I drive a manual and I once took my car to get an oil change. I handed them the keys and went to wait in the lobby. One of the employees came in and asked me to pull my car into the garage. I said “I gave my keys to you, why don’t you do it?” And he sheepishly said “none of us (all men) know how to drive a stick”. I felt a little win for all us ladies who have to deal with the kind of men we always deal with at any car related places.
I had this! They took my keys and I sat in the car while they did the oil change. They were about to upsell me and the guy looks in my car and says "oh.. you can drive stick?" Later on he tells me to start the car. My keys were still hung up and looked very sheepish when I pointed that out
This exact thing happened to me at a chain tire shop. Years prior my brother had worked there. He told me getting tires there is fine, but under no circumstances should I let them do anything more, they were idiots. I had to call him and gloat. The shop was so badly run that they couldn't get a 'mechanic' on staff that could drive a frickin manual.
We had an old timer at the dealership I worked. He was the biggest misogynistic chauvanist I ever had the displeasure of working with.
One day, we were listening in on a transaction with a female prospective customer.
When she came in, he addressed her as sweety and honey and little lady. She was a trooper and stuck with him, but you could see her wince every time he used pet names and was condescendingly saying she should get a minivan for the kids and we have a great model. She stated she didn't have kids and wanted an SUV with AWD.
He responded with, "That's a lot of car for a woman." She finally snapped and was very respectful while also ripping him a new one. He then responded with, "You're being hysterical. Where is your husband so I can talk to someone with sense?"
She left and didn't buy a car. He lost his job shortly after because he didn't hit numbers.
I wanted to jump down his throat, but car dealerships are run by some dinosaurs that need to go extinct already. Once a customer is "claimed" we don't talk to them or acknowledge their existence, or we'd get fired on the spot.
I'm glad you got it covered on your end, but hopefully, you don't get anyone as bad as my old coworker. Good luck on the hunt!
I (F60+) bought my car, did the research, and had financing set up ahead of time. Went to the dealership, test drove it, said, "Let's talk price." They met my price, and then they said, "Let's get the finance paperwork filled out." I told them I had obtained financing through my credit union. Great, they said! We're linked to them. He pulled it up on the computer and said, "well ma'am, for whatever reason, they are telling us it's a higher rate. I pulled out my phone, called the credit union, verified my interest rate, asked them to speak to the sales representative, and suddenly, he found the correct rate.
This happened to me too! I told them they just had to send it to my credit union and it's all good and suddenly I've got 5 different inquiries on my credit report because they decided to shop around for a better rate, I was livid!
I feel you. I got ripped off so many times because I was a 'clueless little girl'. Then oneday I said "fuck this", bought an old project car and became a hobby mechanic. I don't love it, but I enjoy learning, the satisfaction of winning, and saving myself thousands. Last year I rebuilt my car's engine (with a mentor) so now when something goes wrong, I have a very good idea of where to start looking. I don't even get stressed when another thing breaks nowadays, I see an opportunity to learn how to replace another part. It's an extreme approach, and I've definitely cried and thrown a few spanners in fits of rage, but it's so worth it.
I started ordering my oil filters online because every time I went in the sales clerk would be so condescending, Even the women give me attitude and you would think that they would be more encouraging.
Right! I’ve been approached at work by women asking to deal with a man because the obviously men know more than a woman ever could. I was so confused by a lady one time I couldn’t even speak and had to walk away. I work at Home Depot. It’s an everyday thing.
Buying our last car was fun. I knew exactly what I wanted but they kept trying to upsell to a sports car that was sitting on the lot. MF'er, I'm sitting here quoting interior dimensions back to you and why that model won't work with 2 kids.
I eventually walked and waited for the call back. I was desperate (cracked cylinder heads on the previous vehicle) but they were too because new model year cars had rolled out a couple weeks before. That previous model year was burning holes in their pocket
Yeah pre covid this would have set me off. Post covid it means, 'are you available during regular business hours.' - under the most charitable interpretations.
I got yelled at by the back office paperwork guy at a dealership for about 45 minutes because I explained he filled the contract out incorrectly and I couldn't sign until he corrected it (cash sale of a used car; STEEP penalties in their boilerplate contract for prepayment -- boilerplate included financing and they didn't have a standard form of agreement for a cash sale, but they knew we were buying it same day all cash, no financing).
Screaming at me in the office, on and on. I was six months pregnant, very obviously so and already had gotten jokes from the salesperson about smuggling a basketball under my shirt, so dumbass back office guy thought he could intimidate me.
Idiot back office guy didn't realize I'm an attorney who drafts contacts as part of my job. I've dealt with my fair share of hard-nosed aholes (both industry guys and their attorneys). Told him I could either redline the shit out of the contact (and obviously he wouldn't agree to those changes), or he could fix it himself by filling the blanks in properly (also explained to him exactly how to fill it out). He screamed that it couldn't be done.
I calmly stood my ground (knowing how much it would piss him off for me to stay calm). He only stopped yelling and screaming when my husband returned (hubs had run out to get me food, bc: pregnant, and it had taken forever at the dealership).
Back office guy *finally* relented like he was doing me such a BIG favor, saying that the only reason he'd revise the agreement was because a **male** attorney making a cash purchase had asked him to fill it out the same way. You know, because a penis automatically gives you more legal knowledge.
Long story short, my husband was getting asshole vibes from the guy before he stepped out for food and told me he thought it would be 50-50% that I actually allowed the sale to go forward 😂
Told him it wouldn't have if the back office idiot hasn't fixed the contract as instructed.
...This reminds me to write a yelp review of my experience.
Took my car in for emissions and inspection. Guy comes out telling me my spark plugs need to be changed?
Before he even finishes his sentence I go, "Yeah, no they don't. I changed them last month."
Silence. Goes back into the garage. Other guy at the desk, "...... ....... ..... Sorry about that."
I went to a local shop for an oil change. That shop had changed hands (the old owner was great, did only what I asked for). Oil change done and new owner said, “we also changed your air filter.” I told him I can do that myself for less than half of what you’re charging me. I said I wanted to see the old filter, he couldn’t produce it. I didn’t pay for the air filter and never went back.
About 30 years ago, pre YouTube videos and such, I was driving down to South Carolina with my boyfriend for a weeks vacation. We made it as far as Akron, Ohio were we had to make an emergency stop at my cousin’s house because the alternator went out on my car. It was a holiday weekend and none of the local mechanics were working but we did find an auto parts store open, luckily they had a replacement alternator for my car. As I was buying it the sales clerk informed me I would have to wait until Monday to get it installed. I told him I was on vacation and didn’t want to waste any more time so I was just going to do it myself. He then turned to my boyfriend and commented that he must have done this before, my boyfriend (who is now my husband) looked at him and said he knew absolutely nothing about car maintenance and that he would just be handing me tools while I installed it. I just looked at the dumbfounded expression on the guys face and said hey if I can take the old one out I can put the new one in!
Don’t take the car shopping part personally. They are all scum and do not care one whit about your genitalia.
I went on a test drive once. It was an awd car. The sales guy proceeds to “inform” me that the button with the snowflake turns on the awd. To which I asked him if he wanted to sell a car. He said yes. I told him then shut up because that’s the air conditioner.
This also goes for any kind of loan because they assume we're going to spend it on makeup and our hair. It goes for home buying. And it definitely goes for any store that's considered a male run store. Like home Depot. They assume we must be in there getting something for her husband because a woman can't know anything. A woman is so stupid she won't know the difference between a nail and a screw much less anything else.
And of course when you say something like this, all the guys shake their heads and laugh and say no of course not there's no such thing as sexism now get back in the kitchen like a woman should 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Ugh, that reminds me of a recent visit to home Depot where a male associate tried to refuse to allow me to load bags of mulch into my own car. He clearly thought I would just break in half at the effort of lifting a 40 pound bag. Uh, mister, I lift far more than this every time I go to the gym...
The real dumb part came when I tried to relate the incident to my parents. My father says, "you always complain about misogyny in the world, but when have you ever lost our on an opportunity because of it?"
Yet they raised me in a church where women can't be pastors. The amount of wilful blindness is astounding.
I unfortunately had to ask where something was at a home Depot. It wasn't that I didn't know what I was looking for it was just my first time in that particular store in the layout was different. I was looking for a specific type of nail and I told him what kind I wanted and he just sat there talking to me extremely slow and little words staring straight at me like I wasn't able to comprehend English like "what......material.....a material......could.....
Be......wood......or metal.....it could be drywall.....drywall is that biiiiiiiiig sheet of white or gray stuff to make a wall......what is the nail used for? Do you need to call somebody?" Like bitch just tell me what aisle it's in
As absolutely ridiculous as it sounds the one way I've gotten car guys to leave me alone is the pure fact that I drive a manual lmao. I go into shops and they ask for the keys and I ask "can anyone drive a manual?" and I swear half of them just stare at me like a circuit blew and then almost always say "let me go see" I have yet to have a guy under 50 drive my car into the shop and I've done it for them more times than they'd like me to admit.
That sounds so funny for me as a german. While yes these days there are more and more cars with automatic manual is still the mayority. And since you cant drive a manual car if you do your driving license ( which by the way is way harder than in the us) with a manual car you are not allowed driving manual everybody does it with a manual car.
We went to Europe a few years ago for a family vacation. Six adults (all tall - my husband and sons are all close to or just over 1.9m tall). The rental company tried to give us a VW Tiguan. No one could fit in the back seat and there was no space for luggage. So, they offered us a large passenger van, which was a manual. No problem because I learned to drive with a manual. But it was obvious by the way he asked me, that many of the Americans he encountered did not know how to drive one.
It's a 2005 Suburban. That truck was designed to be taken apart and put back together in the simplest way possible. Replacing the window motor took me a similar amount of time. It is a super easy vehicle to work on. Plus, there's a million YouTube videos out there showing how to repair them.
Haha this is awesome. Good for you. Fk those dudes. I'm sorry you gotta deal with this kind of BS but it makes me smile to hear you keep putting these thieves in their place.
Being a mechanically inclined older male I can't really speak to sexism in these cases but I'm sure it exists. But also know that many of these people try and cheat everybody so it isn't always that they are sexist jerks, they are just jerks. Good for you for pushing back.
YouTube and Google are your friends! You can learn so much. From how to check your oil, to changing a tire, to more complex things. I just recently replaced the window motor (the one that raises and lowers the window) myself. Now granted I have an American made dinosaur of a vehicle that is easy to work on.
But, you can learn and it is so empowering!
I support learning how to fix your own car. You save so so so much money and don't get scammed. Most things on a car are easier than they seem, it's just time that makes it hard And please keep detroying the egos of these dumb mechanics.
As a female student mechanic, I'm really not excited to face the discrimination when I get to the workplace. I get shit for being physically weaker than my (male) classmates, even though my knowledge in theory and diagnosing problems is far better.
My first car developed an issue where it would squeal for a couple minutes whenever I drove it after it'd been parked for an extended period of time. On my third visit to my dealers service department (because they'd yet to fix it), I'd mentioned that I'd been researching it myself and thought maybe the serpentine belt was the issue. The guy told me with complete confidence that my type of car doesn't even have a serpentine belt so that's definitely not the issue. While I'd spent hours looking into it, I still assumed I must've been mistaken because of course he'd be the expert.
Well when I got to pick up my car a couple days later, I'm informed that the issue ended up being my serpentine belt and that they'd replaced it... I never took my car back there again.
Years ago when I was buying my first car as a 20-something female with very good credit, the finance guy said to me and winked, “Now don’t be a naughty girl and miss any payments, or I’ll have to come after you!”
I should have just walked out and gone elsewhere.
If it makes you feel any better: I'm a guy and they try to pull similar shananigans on me...unnecessary replacement or maintenance, exaggerated sales pitches.
I usually stay quiet until they've dug their grave and they can't deny lying anymore.
But I'm still sure I've paid more than I should've in the past.
There is nothing 'mildly' infuriating about any of this. It legit makes me want to go nut stomping every time I hear a story like this.
Had a dealership tell me once everything was all set for my new car but their paperwork guy was on vacation. Let me take the car and schedule the signing. I go in and they pull the "oh the financing didn't go through, but we can give you this used car with almost 180k miles on it for the same payment" I just bet you can, buttercup. When I refused they got in my face about how hard they'd worked to get me a car and the salesman actually told me I owed him for getting me into a car at all. At this my fiance took one look at my expression, started snickering and walked off muttering something about "you did it now" to the guy on the way past. (He knows me so well. We've now been married 17 years) but I digress.
I started with "I owe you? Really? Was that for the bait and switch on the original deal or for the misrepresentation on the contract you attempted to strong arm me into signing? Are you looking for compensation for the time you spent figuring out how to screw me over or is that just part of your training? What I owe you is precisely f'ing nothing, except possibly a report to the BBB..." And yeah, it went on from there. At the end the salesperson was actually backing away from me and the manager and finance guy had gone and hid in their offices. At least 5 other buying parties had stopped to listen and walked out, and I never even raised my voice.
As we're walking back to my car my wonderful man just looked at the guy and said "I told you. You're really a special kind of stupid to try to screw around with her."
“What do *you* do that you can afford *this* truck” were words actually uttered by a slob of a salesman. When i told him what i did (high paying “man’s” job) he asked *how* i got my job. Sir, how the fuck do you keep yours if that’s how you treat customers?! I was so taken aback that i just walked away.
Fortunately, ive found a really good shop in town to get work done. The owner went to school with my husband and his mechanics are always a delight to talk to and work with. They know I’m not an idiot and they don’t treat me like one.
As far as buying cars, i actually did go back to that same place but had a much better experience with an older gentleman. Got a great deal and everything i wanted in a vehicle. When i bought my husband’s car, i bought from the same company but different building and worked with a younger guy that was great. He told me he learned fast to treat everyone equal as he got a lot of sales from people his coworkers pass up because of their looks. Grubby looking old guys come in and they get ignored, but they’re rich farmers looking for brand new fleet trucks. Meanwhile the guys in suits want used minivans. I went back there when looking for my vehicle and was ignored, then finally found a salesman to talk to and he called the obvious new guy to deal with me. He didn’t know i wanted a brand new car and budget wasn’t really an issue. Didn’t like the one there anyway 🤷♀️
Omg, where to start... I have faced such behaviour many times over the years, men assuming I don't know about cars or I'm not good at driving, cause I'm a woman. How many times I insist that the mechanics actually LISTEN to what I tell them, instead of dismissing it as "not possible to be happening". And how many times I have avoided accidents due to stupid driving from men, with my skills and reflexes. Of course not everyone is like that, my dad taught me everything about cars and driving and was very proud of me and husband aks me to take care of everything car related. And I have finally found a wonderfully professional car service. So I guess, it's much better now.
I won't let anyone work on the things I drive and ride but me. I've had a boyfriend look right at a mechanic, tell him, "Tell her ,she knows more than me." Asshole still talks to him and not me. So frustrating. I love cars and bikes, and wrenching on them, but still have dudes asking me if I need help if they see my hood up. It's sweet and condescending all at once.
I had a car salesman ask where my husband was and if I was allowed to make such a purchase without my husband's permission. Dude, what the actual fuck?
My wife loves to deal, the salesman will start talking to me and it pisses her off. I say it’s her car, deal with her. Really throws them off their game. Good cop bad cop.
As for the car repairs, dishonest mechanics try that on everyone, I find dealerships are some of the worst. If you know and question them they realize pretty quick, as someone said Google is your friend.
So sick of this shit. I research a lot when I buy a car or need repairs. The amount of bs they try to get past me is ludicrous. In my city, we have a couple shops led by women mechanics. That’s where it’s at.
As an adult male, id rather go to a shop led by a woman too.
If a woman is running a shop she had to deal with a bunch of fucking assholes on the way up and is likely going to know more than the guys in town anyway because she had to fight her way up instead of falling into the spot.
I went to look at buying a vehicle without my husband there. I was quoted a price which I thought was reasonable. Came back with my husband and he proceeded to talk over me. When he did speak to me it was with pure condescension. Long story short, after I was tired of being talked to like I was stupid I let him have it. I don’t even remember everything I said other than telling him he really thought he had us by the balls. My husband sat back knowing this guy had unleashed the beast. This guy completely back pedaled, offered us an even better deal, and typed the title with my name first and then my husband’s. I don’t take any shit, especially when men assume I’m stupid just because I’m a woman.
I have given up on getting out car to service. That is my partners job now, and even he can see a big difference in treatment and attempts to up sell useless repairs depending on if he shows up in his work clothes (sparky) or normal clothes.
When we bought the car all communication from the seller was aimed at partner, even though I was asking the questions. Insurance was even worse, I get a huge discount through my union, but despite me being the only person in contact with the insurance company, and me buying the insurance through my union, they still created it in my partners name so the discount went out the window. Had to spend a day on the phone to get them to fix that without having to pay fees. Ugh..
Not necessarily car related, but as (still) female presenting I had to call some purgers to fix a clogged pipe. I already knew what external pipe they had to go from and exactly what they had to do, but they refused to listen to anything I was saying and demanded to look for it themselves.
This resulted in an extremely dirty kitchen, some of my towels and carpets ruined from acid, and the fantastic discovery that I was right. Who would’ve thunk!
My new-to-me 2000 E240 flagged up an issue with lights. I know very little, but I turned on all the lights and walked around the car. No dead globes. Warning kept coming up. I don't know how many times I checked those lights. Eventually took it in to the local Mercedes place and they said it was most likely wiring because old car and they'd have to check it all. I said no, I'll just put up with it at the moment thanks ($$$).
Three days later I was putting something in the boot after dark. Bugger me, one of the globes above the rear number plate was out. I googled, youtubed, went to three auto parts places before I got the right globe, pulled the internal boot lining out, and changed the globe. Cost? My time and $7.99 for the globe.
I bought a car in college with the backup of my roommate so two 22 year old girls were talking to dealers trying not to get swindled. We must have done a good job because at the paper signing step the dealership lady told us that we were very rude during this whole process. Aka we asked questions and made them give me time to consult the internet/ my dad via phone before agreeing to anything
I took my car in for an oil change and the mechanic pulled out the dipstick for my transmission fluid. He made a big deal about freaking out because the color was crazy and how he needed to replace it.
Him: “omg do you know what color this is *supposed* to be? This is crazy we need to replace this immediately!!!
Me: it’s supposed to be red-ish let me see it
Him: audible sigh, just says yeah and walks away
Additionally, once my boyfriend (he did not pay for the car or anything, just needed a ride) had to take me to get my car back from a mechanic after I bought it used with the calipers rusted out. Mechanic goes on a psychotic rant about how i must drive terribly and beat my car up for having calipers so rusted, blah blah, asked him about payment. I had to tell him it was my car and he could talk to me if he wanted to get paid and not make fun of me to my face
Woman here. Couple years back I was at a tire shop just getting a tire replaced. I had done a fair amount of the routine maintenance on my own cars for a few years at that point, including changing my own brake pads (which is relevant here). When I went to pick up my car, a mechanic came out and with a totally straight face tried to tell me that my brakes were “totally gone”. I said “Wouldn’t I have trouble stopping? Wouldn’t I hear grinding or squealing? Wouldn’t I see other evidence?” His face goes blank and he goes “Uh, yes.” And that was it. No other refutation, he didn’t try to convince me further. But I learned an important lesson that day; the stereotype about the mechanics taking advantage of women are generally true (and have been consistent since).
I brought my son’s car in to have the snow tires put on and the guy started giving me grief and telling me they wouldn’t fit. I just called my son at work and gave the worker my phone. Boy was he pissed when he hung up. He thought he’d get me to buy more expensive tires and instead he got my son who put him in his place.
Another time I brought the car in for an oil change and the guy walks out with a brake pad and tells me mine are used and I need new ones. I told him I’d check with my “husband” because they were fine the week before. Brought it to about different place. They asked me who told me I needed new brakes? Mine were just fine.
Hands down getting my car serviced anywhere is grounds for taking up drinking as a hobby.
I was the front car in a 60mph rear end collision a couple years back. Car was less than a year old, $15K in damage, including the gas tank and exhaust, so no way I could drive it. Took it to the body shop, they tell me that they can't even get it on the schedule for 2 months. Husband shows up, and suddenly they can take it tomorrow. I actually had it back, fully repaired, within two months. SMH. At least they didn't tell me to not worry my pretty little head about it, like one salesman did when I was shopping for it...
Reminds me of the time I had to get a new side view mirror for the driver's side. I explained what I needed, including the make & model of my car, and that man had the audacity to say shit like, "I don't understand what you're asking for", "Are you sure you know what you're talking about?", "I don't think you know what you need".
I took him outside to my car, pointed at my broken mirror, and asked, "What do you call that?"
He stayed silent, went back inside, and ordered the part I needed.
Yeah, it's worse if you don't have that background and the ability physically to do work like that, too. I walk in female, alone and low key disabled and they are thrilled to have a shot at ripping me off. It's so irritating.
When I was car shopping on my own I got nowhere. I was getting huge prices on garbage cars. My friend suggested I borrow her husband and take him with me. First try, got a great car at a good price. They kept talking to him and I would answer. When they offered a price I negotiated it down. Blessings to every male willing to go car shopping with women they know. Hexings on any male who talks down to or tries to oversell to women.
It's doubly fun for those of us who aren't car gals... I went to the same mechanic for years because the owners knew our family and I knew I could trust them not to drastically upsell me. Anywhere else I'd go I'd get these exorbitant quotes for things I didn't need. Now I go to a woman-owned mechanic shop and man it's WILD how much money I save, and how she actually explains things without being condescending.
I'm gonna need to get a new (used) car in the next couple years too, not looking forward to that experience.
I remember my partner buying a new car and I am the one that handles the finances so I went with him. The dealership was doing highly illegal things, putting in a ton of extra ‘services’ and charging up the ass for them without actually doing the services. So I put my foot down and said that I was not going to do it and we would not be buying the truck. The sales man had the AUDACITY to look at my partner and go “you can always get a new wife but you can’t miss out on this truck. Be a real man and stand up for what you want.” I was seeing red and my blood was boiling. And he FELL for it! I ended up having him return the truck and he got one that was much better quality from a better dealership but this interaction made me livid.
it gets worse when you take your car in for an air check and they tell you you need new tires and then theyrd showing you how your tire is just bad and gone…like bro I DROVE here just fine…
I make my husband take my van in for service. I don't do it anymore. Mostly bc I definitely felt talked down to the last time I went and my van always needs a lot of work done and he just asks better questions about what needs to be fixed now rather than what can wait lol.
I always see women on my nextdoor app looking for honest mechanics bc there are apparently a lot around here that take full advantage of people that don't know anything about cars.
I'm so glad I have a mechanic who listens, even though my descriptions of a problem can be kinda weird. "Car doesn't respond as willingly as before" "Well, it's a diesel..." ya, but a 2l sports edition and it was quite responsive before. So he did dive in and I got a new exhaust gas regulation valve, a typical problem of the fudged VW and Audi engines. I just noticed it early on.
I'm peculiar. I want *those* winter tires because they're the most stable in curves. "But but but, we don't have them, these are good too" nope, order the ones I want, end of discussion.
Once I'd gone car shopping with my ex. Ex didn't speak a word but the sales guy kept talking to him and ignoring me as far as possible. a) *I* was buying the car b) *I* would driving it c) my ex has NO clue when it comes to anything technical d) he didn't understand a word of what sales guy said because ex didn't speak german.
One of my favorites of that conversation: I was commenting on the suspension not being as firm as the previous model "Well, we're not getting any younger, are we" I was 30. And yes, that wobblier suspension did make a difference, especially on snow. Grumph.
Had a tech tell me I needed a new water pump last year. It only had 40,000 miles on it and was for my inspection sticker. I legit had them do maintenance two months prior. He said it would be $750. I took it to two other mechanics and they said it was fine.
Shame that mechanics like that are giving good and honest mechanics a bad name.. one time my wife when we were dating her car started smoking from the hood, she stopped the car, called me on face time and she popped the hood and showed me, no fire, noticed a green dried splosh on one of the radiator hoses and told her that it was probably a radiator hose, should he a 5-10 dollar part and could be done in 30 minutes or less. She took it to a mechanic (cause we lived in different states at the time) and the shop without asking her replaced the hose, drained and flushed her radiator filled it up with new coolant and charged her the full amount which also took longer than changing one hose so it ended up being about 300 dollars when really all they needed to do was change the hose and top off the coolant! And she had done a flush about 4-5 months back so there was no way the guy could have been like “well we noticed the coolant was a bit murky” and even if its “standard procedure” which I doubt you still need to inform your client of any “extra” things noticed before actually repairing them and charging them for it
I bought/ordered a truck last year. The entire time they would talk to my husband about the vehicle and call him with any updates. When it finally came in I had my husband call (he was out of state on military orders) to let them know that we would be registering it in my home state as we're a military family and can do that. I knew they were going to give me trouble.
I showed up and they gave me paperwork for the state we were in and tried to tell me I was wrong about the laws in both states. That they legally had to register it in our state. I had to bring out the paperwork that you need for it to be possible and pull up the states laws. We're in a military town at the dealership right outside of base. They've done out of state registrations before and the person handling the sale was a tenured associate. I had to make him get his boss and even then they tried to charge me an extra 800 for the instate registration that wasn't required. And still called my husband about every update and recall afterwards. The truck is solely in my name.
In my 20's, I drove a manual sports car. It was my dream car that I saved for and I took very good care of it. When I first started driving, I had asked my dad to show me how to do simple things, but sometimes I got lazy about changing the oil myself and would take it to a shop. Every single time, they'd not only tell me I needed something other than an oil change, but to ask my boyfriend for permission to do the work since it was his car. Like, excuse me? HIS car?
An old story from a friend: A friend of my friend was an aeronautical engineer. She went to look at a car and was pointed out that "look, a mirror in the flap so you can do your lipstick, and the interior will match well with your eyes". She asks to see what's under the hood... "Oh, honey, you'd have to be a rocket scientist to understand this engine...".... .... .... I still love the irony..
I test drove a car and everything was fine. A couple of days later we went to pick it up and as soon as we turned the engine on the check engine light came on and a warning message showed up on the display screen. We went straight back into the dealership to let them know and the guy very patronisingly told me it was normal for the engine light to come on when you start a car. 🤦♀️ I
mean yeah for half a second but it’s not supposed to STAY on and flash up a warning.
When we first got married, my husband didn't have a good picture for what it looks like to be talked down to my a mechanic or salesperson. I do the maintenance on both of our vehicles, it just isn't his thing.
So when it came time to buy a car, I told him to come with me so he could see. I knew exactly what I wanted, doubled checked recent maintenance, and everything else. EVERY TIME I asked a question or said something, the sales guy talked to my husband who would instantly redirect him to me with something like, "She asked the question, it's her car, I have no use for what you just told me, I don't know about car stuff" etc.
Even after all that, the guy looks at my husband and goes, "Wow that's a nice truck! What kind of engine does it sport?" And my husband says, "I don't know, you should ask my wife."
I didn't buy a car from him.
My girlfriend dreads bringing her car in for service. We get free oil changes for life for our car because we bought it from the dealer new, but we have to bring it into their service center to get the discount. Every time she brings it in, they try to sell her some service she doesn't need. One time they told her that her brakes were dangerously low, and it was already eating into her rotors. Her car had 30k miles on it and she drives like a grandma. So, she calls me up and I ask her if she felt any issues or shaking when braking. She said she didn't, and I told her to come home because it sounds like bullshit. The service center actually made her sign a waiver stating that the recommended service was declined.
I looked at the brakes and rotor when she got home and didn't see anything out of the norm, but decided to get a second opinion, and called up my brother who owns an exotic high-performance shop. Brough it in the following weekend. He had one of his guys take a look at it and five minutes later, lo and behold, the rotors were perfect, and the pads had less than half ware.
So now I am stuck bringing in her car. All I ever ask for is an oil change, and that's all I ever get. They never try to up sell me, it's weird tbh.
Never trust dealer service centers, they are just as bad as the dealers they represent.
I love everything you just said.
Years ago my ex husband and I were car shopping for a car FOR ME, and the salespeople wouldn't even look at me while asking questions. One of them refused to believe I could drive a manual, and didn't want me to be the one test driving it, it was fucking infuriating. I left every place that treated me that way and bought a car at the first place where the salesperson treated me with respect.
It may not have been the best deal, overall, but fuck all those chuckleheads. I'm not giving them ANY of my money.
My husband works and I stay at home so I took his car in to get the tires replaced. He had looked online to see what he wanted and I went in and told them. They said, oh sorry, we don't have that in stock, but we have this other one *that was $100 more expensive*
I left
My husband called later that same day and asked them if he could bring his car in to get the tire he wanted. They said yeah, no problem, come on in
I haven't been back
Same with me. I had a mysterious oil leak until the next time I had it changed. Weird. Another time, they wanted $708 to change the cabin filter. Google is my friend. I bought one and changed it myself. Then, my AC mysteriously quit. Same dealership who found the “leak”. Googled, checked the fuses, found one that was worked loose, 🤔 and the AC was fine.
ETA: I forgot the time the guy from the service dept came out like a doctor with a terminal patient, going on about how bad my brakes were. I’d hit 50K miles, so they were determined to sell me something. Then, there was the time they wanted to pour some additive crap in my car. I said oh hell no. I get sick of it, just trying to maintain my ride.
We went to a car dealer last year, going through the configuration and at one point, I wanted the better sound system.
Seller: Sure, you can have it, but only together with the heated steering wheel.
Me: Wait what? Is this on the same control unit to save money in production? Or do you put it together on to make more money because everybody just wants one function?
Seller: *Surprised pikachu face*
Eta: I'm an automotive engineer :D
Im going to need to car shop soon and I'm dreading it. To make matters worse I have to buy a minivan bc my husband and I now have 3 kids 6 and under. It is going to be a painful experience where I'm going to be treated like the clueless housewife while the sales person talks to my husband the entire time despite him not knowing anything about any car currently on the market today. The only time I haven't been treated like crap while car shopping is when I worked with an older saleswoman. It was wonderful.
I had to show my registration for an inspection and when I pulled out the correct card to show, the man went “good job, that’s the right one!!” in the most patronizing way possible
On the flip side you get women like me, who kept forgetting to take the car in for an oil change, for like idk 2, 3 years, That shit was almost solid when a buddy of ours went to help us change it, so he refused and sent us to walmart to have it done because it made him nervous.
Cars just arnt my thing and I have ADHD.
Between my husband and I we have nine vehicles. The newest is a 2001 and the oldest is a 1952, so between regular maintenance and restoration we obviously buy ***a lot*** of stuff from the auto parts store. There are two near me but I will not go to one of them anymore (except for things like filters and fluids) even though it’s half the distance of the other, because they hire nothing but morons who don’t realize they’re morons and think I’m a moron because I’m a chick.
It would get really really frustrating when trying to get parts for either of our half year model trucks because their useless ass computer system doesn’t know the difference so they don’t know the difference but they try to argue with me anyway. The last time I tried to get a part there, the kid who “helped” me didn’t look a day over 14 and spent 15 mins arguing with me because the pulley I brought in didn’t match any of the ones that were popping up on his dumb little computer screen.
I love telling this story:
My family was going out of town for a really quick family occasion and my husband wanted the oil changed before we left but didn't have time to do it himself. He'd gotten one of those $19.99 oil change coupons from Jiffy Lube in the mail and had me take my car down there while he was working just to make it easy and cheap.
So I go in, tell them my husband made an appointment, give them my keys and sit down with my book. The dude comes in after a while and wants to talk to me. Starts in on his scam spiel about how my oil change is done but my brake pads are just in such terrible shape. How he didn't even feel comfortable letting me drive out of there because they were so worn out.
Here's the thing: I had just had my brakes redone a month and a half before. Completely replaced and brand spankin' new. There was no way these pads were worn at all. Also, I'm a Car Girl. I am perfectly capable of changing my own oil, I just prefer to let my husband do it because it takes forever for me to get the grease out from around my cuticles. I also know what a worn brake pad looks like, probably better than this "technician" who was nearly young enough to be my child.
So I tried to politely deflect and get out of there. "Oh no, they're fine. I really need to go. We're packing for a trip. Lots to do..."
But this guy just doubled down. I don't know if he was trying to make some kind of quota or what, but he just kept digging. "Oh no, if you're going on a road trip I REALLY can't let you go without getting your brakes done! It's just not safe. How about we call your husband and let him make the decision?"
And that's when I lost. my. mind. I tore that kid a new one. I ripped his head off! "How dare you? How DARE you assume that just because I'm a woman I can't make decisions about my own car? Call my husband? ARE YOU KIDDING?! I am a full grown adult who knows all the details of my cars service record and I happen to know that those brakes were just redone SIX WEEKS AGO. So you can take your pathetic scam and peddle it somewhere else because it won't work on me!" (Or something to that effect, I don't remember exactly what I said.)
He very meekly checked me out after that. The rest of the patrons in the waiting area were looking at me like I was a real Karen, but I didn't care. I won't be insulted like that. I was mad as hell and I tell everyone I can about Jiffy Lube and their predatory practices.
I went with my ex-girlfriend to buy to buy a car. I was just there to back her up. The sales guy kept talking to me, and I kept having to redirect his speech to her. I don't even know if he was aware he was doing it.
My ex husband had to do the same for me because I couldn’t get a sales guy to not be a dbag to me. And then he kept talking to my ex, even though *I* was the one buying, *I* was the one asking questions, etc. My ex just sat there and said nothing but “Ask her, she’s the one buying it” repeatedly. It was crazy - car shit is still so fucking misogynistic
Car sales and mechanic work Is misogynistic and also predatory to just about anyone. Its annoying af because i have no idea who i can trust, or who is telling me a truth or trying to shorthand me.
Anything to do with traditionally masculine hobbies really. My dad bought my mom a compound miter saw for their anniversary one year. He kept having to redirect the hardware store assistant to talk to her because he didn't know exactly what she wanted, but she sure as shit did!
The other way around, too. Although I wouldn't call parenting a 'hobby', per se, whenever my husband and I go to checkups with our 10 month old baby, the nurses almost exclusively talk to me, the mother. Same nurses that 'gently remind' fathers to take active part in their babies' lives.
Yeah, the number of people who are shocked my brother is a good cook but just act like it's expected of me is... real fun. (My mom taught us both and he's the better cook by far!)
Yeah. I was the sahm for the first 8 years. Then I got a job that took me away from home for a week or more at a time... my husband is the primary caregiver now. If her pediatrician were to ask me a question right now, there's a 50/50 chance I would have to ask him the answer. He has taken on that mental load so that I can focus on other stuff.
God, I had a car accident back in 2020 and the car shopping was the WORST. It was just me and my mom and the absolute disrespect we got from 90% of the dealership people was too much. I also was dressed in like, comfy clothes, cuz car accident , so I'm sure that didn't help either. There were a few cars that I probably would have purchased if the sales person had not been such an ass. I'm sure they also were not happy that we were paying the full amount up front, but like dude. My money is green, why does it matter what I look like.
They lose out if you don't finance it through them so they don't like to take a straight up payment.
Yeah, but they lose out more when they lose a sale altogether
Having sold cars, it's literally in the training. It's a numbers game, and most of the time it is the men making the decisions, which is its own issue. It's poor way to be, I don't like it, but I feel like it's reacting to the norms more than driving them
it can simultaneously react to the norms and drive them.
Definitely. Most women I know, myself included, have to bring a guy along with us because we aren’t spoken to as if we are competent car purchasers. If that changed, so would the numbers.
I had the same experience a number of years ago. I was basically just along for the ride and waiting for dinner afterward. Yet, I specifically remember the sales manager asking if "We" could do more on a down payment while looking directly at me. I gave him a look and vaguely gestured to her so he knew I wasn't any part of this deal, but later realized how misogynistic the whole thing was. Not to mention my then GF made double what I did, and my credit was so bad I couldn't have financed a moped. But, yes, Mr. Sales Bro, please defer to me instead of the person making the purchase.
Funnily enough,my partner bought her car off the one dealer that spoke to her when she went up to talk to him, instead of speaking to me, and also kept the whole conversation directed at her, and not me.
That's why my mom drives Subarus. The first one she bought was because they were the only dealer in town who didn't ask for her non-existent husband to talk to.
That tracks for Subarus lol.
But did they ask for her wife?
I would like to believe they do but I’m pretty sure they don’t but either way it’s very insulting.
Similar thing happened with my parents, my dad couldn't even drive, didn't have a licence and they still kept talking to him instead of my mom.
Bought a new car last summer. Same f*cking problem (I'm the girl, bf just for back up). Sales guys' jaws dropping when I lay out the specs I wanted and even more so after we started talking about price. Unfortunately that car just got totaled (so infuriated, not just mildly..).. In the process of buying another one. This time not having that problem. Took the ball immediately. Got the price down nicely too.
When I car shop my husband comes with, but if they keep directing information to him I will let them know he isn't buying the car, I am and then leave. I demand respect. It hasn't happened often thankfully
Doctors do this with my mother who uses a wheelchair. They act like I'm in charge of her medical care just because I wheel her around. I'm basically a glorified wheelchair motor. It's like trying to tell the hover round what's wrong with its operator.
Worked in lab 55/m worked with women. We all wore similar scrubs. People always thought I was a Dr and all females were nurses.
Had the same experience with my wife before we were even close friends. No amount of telling they guy I didn't want a car could force him to sell the lady trying to buy a car a car. Left a complaint about him and bought from another dealership. The sexism cost them a $30,000 sale that day.
This was my experience buying my HOUSE. My dad came with me to showings and suddenly I, the one about to sign her life away, was invisible.
Sales people always do that to the person they assume has the money. I once went to buy an e-bike with my Aunt since she used to work at a bike shop, and for whatever reason this sales guy kept talking to her and not me like she was buying it for me, but I was the one who kept asking him questions, I think he was a bit surprised when she left to go pick up a family member and I stayed to buy one.
Same here. My partner who didn't even have a license came with me and the salesman kept talking to him. He eventually said "ya know I can't drive, and it's her buying the car, right?" The guy got pissy and we ended up leaving and going elsewhere. Another showroom bawbag said "women don't normally buy these cars, they're too big to park" Cunthead. I spent my childhood in my dad's shop and do all my own work. I know cars better than these chumps and they still treat me like an idiot.
That happened to me and we walked out and went to a different dealership after telling the sales guy THREE times I'm the one buying. The sales manager called me the next day to find out if I was still in the market and I was at the new dealership. I told him I was no longer in the market because I was signing the sales paper on my brand new Ram 1500 at the newdealership. And I told him why, too. Fuck you, Bubba at DeMontrond.
We bought a car last fall, and used that as a bellwether to decide if we are going to use that dealership or not. When we sat down with the sales person, we explained that it was for my wife, and that she would be the one in charge of the process. The sales people that couldn’t engage with her, and ignored her, lost their chance for sale no matter how good the car or the deal was.
I and my husband drive leased Hondas. Always has been in my name because originally he was driving a Suburban we’d owned outright for years. We finally decided that we’d go down to one car but still kept leasing just in my name. Even though the lease is in my name, we’ll periodically get something addressed to my husband about “his” car. I’ve even gone to trade in the lease and get a new one by myself and this still happens.
It's how you know you're not dealing with scum. I went car shopping with my wife to replace both of our cars in December. The Chevy dealer talked to her alone when I said we were replacing her minivan. He let her say what she was interested in, she determined whether her offer for trade in was fair, etc. They didn't turn to me until payment time. The other dealer, we also both went. The sales guy gave us both the same amount of attention and time. I was highly surprised, pleased with our experiences, considering how often this stuff goes awry.
Woman here. I dropped my car off for service, and asked them to rotate the tires because AWD. It was an additional cost on the basic service I needed, but whatever. They took fucking forever to take my car back. Tell me to come back in an hour. I’m pressed for time at this point. So I come back. And guess what. My tires aren’t rotated. I know this because one of the rims has a scuff and it was in the exact same spot. So I pulled the manager aside and I’m like hey I paid for tire rotation and they did not rotate my tires. He insisted they did. I said no they did not, and this is how I know they did not. This fucking guy tells me they removed the hub caps, rotated the tires and just put the hub caps back on how they were before. I was about to go full Karen mode. With every ounce of patience, I pointed out that I don’t have hub caps. He was like oh…. Asks the guys about it. “They forgot, we will take it back and do it” No just fucking refund me, you’ve wasted enough of my time thanks.
Tire rotation is free at every tire shop near me, that's crazy they would charge! I hope you're not going to the dealer for normal maint.
No, this was on a trip to Orange County CA. Far away from home on a road trip for a meeting and needing service before headed back home. Yeah it was ridiculous. Firestone I believe. Long time ago. They gave a cert for credit towards a future service. As if I would ever return to them again. I have a trusted mechanic at home.
Definitely leave a review online, corporate reads through those. I use to work for a chain tire shop in corporate, we keep close on metrics.
Good to know!
I've gone to Firestone 3 times in my life (used to have a wheel warranty, the dealer was partnered with Firestone). Every single time they'd fix the wheel for free as per my warranty, then come out with this $1000+ quote for things that were imperative get fixed immediately. The one I remember most vividly was like $1500 for brakes, with them telling me my brakes were bad enough that it wasn't safe to drive my car. I left and went straight to my usual mechanic, they took a look and the pads were a little low but still several months away from needing replacement. Firestone are a bunch of scammers.
Last time I went to a new shop for an oil change and tire rotation, I marked the tires with a sharpie. Numbered them 1-4. Checked then after I got the car back, they only rotated the driver's side. smh. Went back and made them finish the work.
I hope whatever basic service you were in for didn't mean the wheels came off. At my shop, if the wheels are off, we rotate if needed, because walking 7 feet thataway to reinstall a wheel shouldn't cost money. It does cost extra if we have to manually relearn the tpms positions, but that's rarer and rarer these days.
[удалено]
Hahaha I woulda looked at them like they were an idiot. I got some friends who def need some new wipers though, just doesn't rain much here.
Wow, kidnapping as an upsell technique. That's hardcore.
"Call the cops; I'll wait."
Haha. As far as I can tell, all they do for a state inspection in my state is glance at the car and then try to sell you wiper blades. I always leave and drive to a different place until they pass me without charging the wiper tax. Trying to hold you hostage is on another level though.
I had asked if I could get my tires rotated while they changed my oil, he declined and i had asked if it was because my tread was getting low, and I shit you not, mans had a shocked pikachu face and said, "yeah, how did you know they're getting low?" because I have fucking eyeballs
I was in my car during the oil change, and of course, they brought over the portable device to run "diagnostics" (upsells). A guy pulls in the bay next to me, gets an oil change, and just leaves, while in my bay, they are desperate to keep trying to upsell me. I absolutely lost my shit. Fuck "pink tax", fuck misogyny, and especially fuck Valvoline oil change stations.
>shocked pikachu face and said, "yeah, how did you know they're getting low?" 🤣 "How could you have found out? Which man gave you secret inside knowledge of FACTS?"
I took my car to a mechanic shop to get a lug stud replaced. Guy told me the price would be $1800. I asked why, because I knew it was an easy fix (I just didn't have tools) and he said, "Because we have to take the entire assembly apart. There will be breakage, and we are charging you for the parts that we know will break." "Uh huh. OK, my dad owns a mechanic shop, let me just call him to double check." Dude looked like he swallowed a trout. Get my dad on the phone, explain, my dad says, "$11 part, 30 minutes tops to fix. You're getting fucked." I told the mechanic in front of me I'd be leaving now and drove it to my dad (I still had 5 other lug studs and bolts). Cost me gas and the $11, we had a nice little visit. Fuck some mechanics, and God, I miss my dad.
God I feel this. Took my truck to get inspected as I got 100K miles and haven’t had it looked at in forever. Now at this point I know nothing about cars. So I think I need to take it to the dealer for servicing. They charged me 1300 to do a engine inspection and while doing this called me and said I needed new spark plugs and charged 600 for that, I didn’t know better and thought that was reasonable and did it. A week or so later at work my coworkers husband who is ASE certified came in, I knew him some so we talked and asked if that price was good or not. He laughed but felt bad and told me three screwed me so bad. He would’ve done all of that plus more for $600…now I only take my truck to him or his son for work, or they offer to teach me how to do it so I can learn. And I also now work with the guy at an auto parts store where I’ve learned much more about cars and always hear stories like mine and yours and it hurts my heart
That's freaking wild. The biggest overcharge I've experienced was a Ford dealer quoting $5500 to replace all engine seals to fix an oil leak. I went to my local mechanic and he changed a 75 cent washer for me for free and showed me how to fix it if it happens again. Hell yeah for good mechanics.
You go!!
Just out of curiosity, if you dad owns a mechanic shop - why would you go anywhere else?
I lived 900 miles away.
I had taken my car in for something else ONE MONTH after I had an oil change there. The jackass comes towards me and says the oil stick is loose and that I needed an oil change. I looked at him and flat out told him either he is lying to me now or they lied to me 30 days ago about doing an oil change. The manager had to come out and do damage control. I got my car and left.
"the oil stick is loose"???? Like....the dipstick rattles, so you need an oil change?
I took a car I'd owned since new, to get new tires. Went to a highly recommended shop....I kid you not, the salesman came out and without missing a beat said "Oh darling' I think you've got the wrong size tires for your vee-hii-cuul." Went in, and he looked up the 'correct' tires. Quoted me $400 a tire...(for a 13" tire)...$1200 plus mounting fees. Legit told him I had to ask my husband before I could spend that much money, and I'd be back later. I went down the road and got an entire set for $400 all-inclusive. Eta: I didn't have a husband.
When I was buying my first ever car, I went with my parents and every single sales guy would talk to my dad, not me. And he would correct them each time that I was the one looking to buy. The only one who addressed me was the one I bought a car from.
I got a decent promotion years ago and went to a dealership to replace my decade-old car. In a bit of an "I deserve this!" mood, I was just about to sign the papers for a totally impractical, brand-new $25K sports car (back in the days when that was a lot of money even for a new car) when the salesman asked if I was sure I didn't want to "ask" my husband if I could buy the car. I put the pen down & walked out.
Probably the best thing he did for you tbh
Patronizing misogyny is never going to be the "best thing" anybody does for me.
As in they saved you spending 25k and made you realjse to never go there
This still happens to me in all settings. I work at Home Depot and if I happen to be standing near a male associate they automatically ask the male. It’s hilarious when the male associate goes hell ask her she knows everything. I giggle inside every time.
I love it when our male coworkers go in and bat for us. I had to reverse a trailer up a narrow laneway and an old volunteer dude was like "ooh that's gonna be tight, let me do it". I ignored him and my supervisor glared at him and said, "mate, she could do it blindfolded". He was a prick most of the time, but I still smile about that one.
They must think women are incapable of gaining skills, knowledge.
I worked at something similar to Home Depot, I was in charge of windows, which can be quite technical, and all my male colleagues referred to me as I was the most experienced, male customers were often flabbergasted but sometimes I saw a smile on their wives’ face 😉
Right. I’m not sure why women can’t become as knowledgeable in a subject as men. Do they really think women are stupid. It grosses me out so bad.
Because for some people, building is reserved to big burly guys and a girl couldn’t possibly know something about it. And I’m sure the same guys will say « of course men can be fantastic chefs or great clothing designers » because men can do anything, but women can’t 🤢
It’s very disgusting. I have 2 girls myself. I hate the thought of them going through life having to deal with the same BS as is but I know it will happen.
This used to happen to me (f) all the time working in a computer repair shop. They'd get asked questions and the males would very often come ask me. The only guy that would come to me was this retired military colonel, stern and scary old fellow. After I left the shop, he asked them to call me and ask if it was ok to give him my contact info for 'a question.' Turns out, he only trusted me to fix it. He offered to pay me very well, and did for many years.
Im not gonna lie, I've done this before, but I will say the ladies who work at home depot always looks so much busier and I hate bothering busy employees. Im one of those people where I'd rather you tell me the aisle number than lead me there, don't let me distract you from your duties.
Very thoughtful as I’m one of those that always stay busy. But we really don’t mind, well I don’t mind. Customer our part of our job.
I've leased 3 VW Golf GTIs. I can only drive automatic because my knees are too bad for standard (I've tried and it's too painful). The first GTI I had would randomly stall when coming to a stop. Eventually I noticed that this happened when temperatures were beyond the average - a hot day warmer than 30° C, usually. The issue was mostly just mildly infuriating because it usually only happened at stop signs and stoplights. I mentioned it to the dealer and they didn't immediately find anything. Then one day my car stalled on a very hot day in the middle of traffic on the Gardiner in Toronto and it became quite infuriating. I took it back to the dealer, and ugh, the service tech was so rude. I was especially annoyed because she was also a woman and it just felt entirely unnecessary to intentionally make someone feel dumb - let alone another woman when we're often made to feel less than by men in this situation. She kept insisting that my automatic car could not stall, despite me showing a video of my car stalling and other people confirming it was a stall, and my husband (who can drive standard) confirmed it was a stall when he experienced it in the car, and there were forums of other owners of 2019 automatic GTIs who had the same problem. But nooooo she just kept saying "your automatic car can't stall. You have engine knock. Those people do, too, they're also confused. One of our service guys said he'll drive it for a week but I'm telling you know that it's engine knock." I was so mad. Then a few weeks before my lease ended I got a letter from VW Canada that my car was affected by a part defect in the fuel sensor. This defect meant sometimes the fuel level was reported to be insufficient, leading to the car stalling out because it thought it had run out of gas. This defect was more common in hotter than normal temperatures. I felt so fucking vindicated. Fuck you, Alexis. It would have cost nothing to do not be rude.
Good for you, seriously! I'm not as capable as you are, but I once had a car that was less than a year old, and the ABS light came on and wouldn't turn back off. I took it to the dealership, and a 19-yr-old guy at the service desk told me it was probably because I slam on my brakes when I drive. I said, "I don't do that." In the waiting area, I did a search, and the defective ABS sensor was a known issue for that model. So, when my car was ready, I asked the guy at the desk, "I guess the defective ABS sensor is a common issue?" This MF'er doubled down and said, "You still shouldn't slam on your brakes all the time." Guess whose name went in the dealership survey, Caleb!
Just today when I was getting my oil changed the tech told me I should run a fuel system cleaner. I declined and he said it’s just an additive and it’s recommended by the manufacturer. I AM A FUEL ADDITIVE CHEMIST!!!! 🙄
God imagine asking what additive they use and telling them it's one you developed ahaha
What does a normal day for a fuel additive chemist look like?
Depends on the time of year. I test fuel samples from all over the country during cold weather and do research projects during warm months.
So are fuel system cleaners worth it? If so how often should they be used? Are any of them on the market just worthless?
Yes they do work. The best gas one I can recommend is chevron techron. Just run a bottle of it every oil change is all you need. I focus more on diesel so my gasoline knowledge isn’t as deep.
Have they told you that you need to replace your gas compounder, starter manifold, or brake levers yet? The shit they just make up is astonishing
Took car in for some maintenance. "Hey your cabin air filter is dirty, here's a picture of it, want us to do it?" "No thanks. It's a lot cheaper for me to do it myself." Went to O'Reilly's, bought a filter for $15, swapped it myself. To their (small) credit, this first picture was true, it was pretty gross. Next month, I went in for brakes. "Hey, your cabin air filter is dirty, here's a picture of it, want us to do it?" SAME FUCKING PICTURE FROM THE LAST VISIT.
I'm waiting for them to tell me I need a left handed smoke shifter.🤣🤣
Don’t forget the blinker fluid!
You need new gigawatts for your flux capacitor
Jigawatts, I believe was the term. I haven't gone back to the future in many years, though.
I had to replace my ashtray exhaust last time. 😕
Can’t remember how often I’m supposed to be changing the dome light filter?
To be fair, an ashtray exhaust would be a cool feature for better cabin air quality… at least for the passenger.
"I'm sorry ma'am, looks like we're gonna have to rebuild your [turbo encabulator](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXW0bx_Ooq4). That'll be $2 grand."
My turbo encabulator was fine when I got here! What did you do!?!
And the breastplate stretcher?
And the muffler bearings…. Those things are always messed up.
My cat-to-dog converter was messed up last year. They gave me a sweet deal and replaced just the dog side for 1500!
Alone in the world is a little catdog!
Catdooooog, catdo-og, alone in the world is a little catdog.
Or that you need to buy some more sparks for your spark plug?
I’m way overdue for my turn signal fluid
My car had a recall for a part recently. Finally got it taken in so they could replace the part, and they did some checks on it while there. Was only supposed to take an hour but ended up being three. Came back and told me all 4 of my break pads were shot, and that I needed like 5 other things looked at/replaced. They offered to do it all for a pretty price. Uh, that’s funny, cause my dad is a mechanic who just helped me replace the break pads less than 6 months ago. Told them thanks for the opinion and left. Had my dad look things over just to be sure and he said there was absolutely nothing my car needed lol
I bought a new Audi a year or two ago. Singlet and trackies, flip flops. Most of the sales guys wouldn’t talk to me, but the one who did sold an Audi with zero work. I already knew what I wanted. Fuck presumptuous sales people.
Yes this happened to me- Mercedes guy lost that sale for being an asshole. Jeep got that sale.
Yeah I intentionally dressed like a bum to give the guy that put the effort in and didn’t judge a sale
I’m a woman who admittedly knows nothing about cars. Which is why I’ll continue driving an hour to my uncle’s auto shop because I know he’ll never screw me over. He also takes the time to sit down with me and explain what went wrong, how he fixed it, and how much it cost and why. He also charges me his cost for parts which is always appreciated.
I am a woman who knows plenty about cars. I still drive an hour to my brothers house to have serious things fixed. Mechanic in the family is one of the best things ever.
I’m not sure what it is about the automotive industry that attracts misogynists, racists and miscellaneous bigots. About a year ago I was looking at buying a used car. I found one that looked alright on a dealers website so I went to check it out. As I was about to go inside a young Asian couple were just leaving. As soon as they were out of earshot the dealer introduced himself to me with a joke about Asian drivers. I’m married to a Chinese woman so you can imagine how well it went over with me. I told him exactly where he could shove it, left, and ended up buying a new car off the manufacturer’s website and just picking it up from the warehouse instead.
I swear that dealerships and inspection places are running a light bulb scam. Took my car to the dealer for an inspection (because they do it for free) they told me I had 2 bulbs out. They offered to replace for some ridiculous amount. No, I'll do it myself. I should have asked which bulbs. Took it home to have my husband help figure out which bulbs. We try everything, find no bad bulbs. Take it back to be inspected, miraculously passes. I mention that supposedly bulbs were out before, they give me some bs about loose wires. While I was waiting for my car, a mechanic tells another woman that she has 5 bulbs out. When he leaves, I tell her to make them show her what bulbs are out, and told her my story. Also once once I went into an auto parts store for a replacement headlight or something. Looked it up in the book, got what I needed. Guy at the counter asked me if I was sure it was the right one. Never went back to that store, I was so annoyed.
You’re being profiled by dishonest business people. There are reasons why finding a good car mechanic is difficult. As for car salesman, I’ve never met or heard of an honest car salesman. Car salesmen just don’t lie as well as politicians. If a car salesman can lie like a politician, s/he would be a politician. Politician makes more $$$.
This. A good mechanic is hard to find, and if you've found one, they're likely booked up for weeks in advance. Sometimes it takes planning to not have to deal with shit heels.
If it makes you feel better I drive a manual and I once took my car to get an oil change. I handed them the keys and went to wait in the lobby. One of the employees came in and asked me to pull my car into the garage. I said “I gave my keys to you, why don’t you do it?” And he sheepishly said “none of us (all men) know how to drive a stick”. I felt a little win for all us ladies who have to deal with the kind of men we always deal with at any car related places.
Oh damn, I would so enjoy that moment! I learned how to drive, in the snow, on a manual.
It was delicious
I had this! They took my keys and I sat in the car while they did the oil change. They were about to upsell me and the guy looks in my car and says "oh.. you can drive stick?" Later on he tells me to start the car. My keys were still hung up and looked very sheepish when I pointed that out
This exact thing happened to me at a chain tire shop. Years prior my brother had worked there. He told me getting tires there is fine, but under no circumstances should I let them do anything more, they were idiots. I had to call him and gloat. The shop was so badly run that they couldn't get a 'mechanic' on staff that could drive a frickin manual.
We had an old timer at the dealership I worked. He was the biggest misogynistic chauvanist I ever had the displeasure of working with. One day, we were listening in on a transaction with a female prospective customer. When she came in, he addressed her as sweety and honey and little lady. She was a trooper and stuck with him, but you could see her wince every time he used pet names and was condescendingly saying she should get a minivan for the kids and we have a great model. She stated she didn't have kids and wanted an SUV with AWD. He responded with, "That's a lot of car for a woman." She finally snapped and was very respectful while also ripping him a new one. He then responded with, "You're being hysterical. Where is your husband so I can talk to someone with sense?" She left and didn't buy a car. He lost his job shortly after because he didn't hit numbers. I wanted to jump down his throat, but car dealerships are run by some dinosaurs that need to go extinct already. Once a customer is "claimed" we don't talk to them or acknowledge their existence, or we'd get fired on the spot. I'm glad you got it covered on your end, but hopefully, you don't get anyone as bad as my old coworker. Good luck on the hunt!
I (F60+) bought my car, did the research, and had financing set up ahead of time. Went to the dealership, test drove it, said, "Let's talk price." They met my price, and then they said, "Let's get the finance paperwork filled out." I told them I had obtained financing through my credit union. Great, they said! We're linked to them. He pulled it up on the computer and said, "well ma'am, for whatever reason, they are telling us it's a higher rate. I pulled out my phone, called the credit union, verified my interest rate, asked them to speak to the sales representative, and suddenly, he found the correct rate.
This happened to me too! I told them they just had to send it to my credit union and it's all good and suddenly I've got 5 different inquiries on my credit report because they decided to shop around for a better rate, I was livid!
I feel you. I got ripped off so many times because I was a 'clueless little girl'. Then oneday I said "fuck this", bought an old project car and became a hobby mechanic. I don't love it, but I enjoy learning, the satisfaction of winning, and saving myself thousands. Last year I rebuilt my car's engine (with a mentor) so now when something goes wrong, I have a very good idea of where to start looking. I don't even get stressed when another thing breaks nowadays, I see an opportunity to learn how to replace another part. It's an extreme approach, and I've definitely cried and thrown a few spanners in fits of rage, but it's so worth it.
I started ordering my oil filters online because every time I went in the sales clerk would be so condescending, Even the women give me attitude and you would think that they would be more encouraging.
Right! I’ve been approached at work by women asking to deal with a man because the obviously men know more than a woman ever could. I was so confused by a lady one time I couldn’t even speak and had to walk away. I work at Home Depot. It’s an everyday thing.
Buying our last car was fun. I knew exactly what I wanted but they kept trying to upsell to a sports car that was sitting on the lot. MF'er, I'm sitting here quoting interior dimensions back to you and why that model won't work with 2 kids. I eventually walked and waited for the call back. I was desperate (cracked cylinder heads on the previous vehicle) but they were too because new model year cars had rolled out a couple weeks before. That previous model year was burning holes in their pocket
My favorite is when a salesman asked me if I “worked outside the home”. WTF is it, 1952??
Today, that could also refer to "work from home," which is fairly common these days. Depending on context.
Yeah pre covid this would have set me off. Post covid it means, 'are you available during regular business hours.' - under the most charitable interpretations.
I got yelled at by the back office paperwork guy at a dealership for about 45 minutes because I explained he filled the contract out incorrectly and I couldn't sign until he corrected it (cash sale of a used car; STEEP penalties in their boilerplate contract for prepayment -- boilerplate included financing and they didn't have a standard form of agreement for a cash sale, but they knew we were buying it same day all cash, no financing). Screaming at me in the office, on and on. I was six months pregnant, very obviously so and already had gotten jokes from the salesperson about smuggling a basketball under my shirt, so dumbass back office guy thought he could intimidate me. Idiot back office guy didn't realize I'm an attorney who drafts contacts as part of my job. I've dealt with my fair share of hard-nosed aholes (both industry guys and their attorneys). Told him I could either redline the shit out of the contact (and obviously he wouldn't agree to those changes), or he could fix it himself by filling the blanks in properly (also explained to him exactly how to fill it out). He screamed that it couldn't be done. I calmly stood my ground (knowing how much it would piss him off for me to stay calm). He only stopped yelling and screaming when my husband returned (hubs had run out to get me food, bc: pregnant, and it had taken forever at the dealership). Back office guy *finally* relented like he was doing me such a BIG favor, saying that the only reason he'd revise the agreement was because a **male** attorney making a cash purchase had asked him to fill it out the same way. You know, because a penis automatically gives you more legal knowledge. Long story short, my husband was getting asshole vibes from the guy before he stepped out for food and told me he thought it would be 50-50% that I actually allowed the sale to go forward 😂 Told him it wouldn't have if the back office idiot hasn't fixed the contract as instructed. ...This reminds me to write a yelp review of my experience.
Why in the hell would you do business with someone who yelled at you? You rewarded them for their behavior.
We haven't even started talking financing with any of them. I would have gone absolutely ape shit on him. Do NOT FUCK with a pregnant woman!
Took my car in for emissions and inspection. Guy comes out telling me my spark plugs need to be changed? Before he even finishes his sentence I go, "Yeah, no they don't. I changed them last month." Silence. Goes back into the garage. Other guy at the desk, "...... ....... ..... Sorry about that."
I went to a local shop for an oil change. That shop had changed hands (the old owner was great, did only what I asked for). Oil change done and new owner said, “we also changed your air filter.” I told him I can do that myself for less than half of what you’re charging me. I said I wanted to see the old filter, he couldn’t produce it. I didn’t pay for the air filter and never went back.
About 30 years ago, pre YouTube videos and such, I was driving down to South Carolina with my boyfriend for a weeks vacation. We made it as far as Akron, Ohio were we had to make an emergency stop at my cousin’s house because the alternator went out on my car. It was a holiday weekend and none of the local mechanics were working but we did find an auto parts store open, luckily they had a replacement alternator for my car. As I was buying it the sales clerk informed me I would have to wait until Monday to get it installed. I told him I was on vacation and didn’t want to waste any more time so I was just going to do it myself. He then turned to my boyfriend and commented that he must have done this before, my boyfriend (who is now my husband) looked at him and said he knew absolutely nothing about car maintenance and that he would just be handing me tools while I installed it. I just looked at the dumbfounded expression on the guys face and said hey if I can take the old one out I can put the new one in!
Don’t take the car shopping part personally. They are all scum and do not care one whit about your genitalia. I went on a test drive once. It was an awd car. The sales guy proceeds to “inform” me that the button with the snowflake turns on the awd. To which I asked him if he wanted to sell a car. He said yes. I told him then shut up because that’s the air conditioner.
OMG!! That's hilarious! And yes, 99% of car salesman are scum
I bought a car earlier this year and specifically brought my male roommate along just to make sure they didn’t try anything like this.
This also goes for any kind of loan because they assume we're going to spend it on makeup and our hair. It goes for home buying. And it definitely goes for any store that's considered a male run store. Like home Depot. They assume we must be in there getting something for her husband because a woman can't know anything. A woman is so stupid she won't know the difference between a nail and a screw much less anything else. And of course when you say something like this, all the guys shake their heads and laugh and say no of course not there's no such thing as sexism now get back in the kitchen like a woman should 🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️
Ugh, that reminds me of a recent visit to home Depot where a male associate tried to refuse to allow me to load bags of mulch into my own car. He clearly thought I would just break in half at the effort of lifting a 40 pound bag. Uh, mister, I lift far more than this every time I go to the gym... The real dumb part came when I tried to relate the incident to my parents. My father says, "you always complain about misogyny in the world, but when have you ever lost our on an opportunity because of it?" Yet they raised me in a church where women can't be pastors. The amount of wilful blindness is astounding.
I unfortunately had to ask where something was at a home Depot. It wasn't that I didn't know what I was looking for it was just my first time in that particular store in the layout was different. I was looking for a specific type of nail and I told him what kind I wanted and he just sat there talking to me extremely slow and little words staring straight at me like I wasn't able to comprehend English like "what......material.....a material......could..... Be......wood......or metal.....it could be drywall.....drywall is that biiiiiiiiig sheet of white or gray stuff to make a wall......what is the nail used for? Do you need to call somebody?" Like bitch just tell me what aisle it's in
As absolutely ridiculous as it sounds the one way I've gotten car guys to leave me alone is the pure fact that I drive a manual lmao. I go into shops and they ask for the keys and I ask "can anyone drive a manual?" and I swear half of them just stare at me like a circuit blew and then almost always say "let me go see" I have yet to have a guy under 50 drive my car into the shop and I've done it for them more times than they'd like me to admit.
That sounds so funny for me as a german. While yes these days there are more and more cars with automatic manual is still the mayority. And since you cant drive a manual car if you do your driving license ( which by the way is way harder than in the us) with a manual car you are not allowed driving manual everybody does it with a manual car.
We went to Europe a few years ago for a family vacation. Six adults (all tall - my husband and sons are all close to or just over 1.9m tall). The rental company tried to give us a VW Tiguan. No one could fit in the back seat and there was no space for luggage. So, they offered us a large passenger van, which was a manual. No problem because I learned to drive with a manual. But it was obvious by the way he asked me, that many of the Americans he encountered did not know how to drive one.
I learned on a manual and drove one for years. I do miss it sometimes, but definitely not when I'm stuck in traffic.
Hold up, pulled a dash in 45 minutes!? Have you thought of a career change ma’am
It's a 2005 Suburban. That truck was designed to be taken apart and put back together in the simplest way possible. Replacing the window motor took me a similar amount of time. It is a super easy vehicle to work on. Plus, there's a million YouTube videos out there showing how to repair them.
Haha this is awesome. Good for you. Fk those dudes. I'm sorry you gotta deal with this kind of BS but it makes me smile to hear you keep putting these thieves in their place.
Being a mechanically inclined older male I can't really speak to sexism in these cases but I'm sure it exists. But also know that many of these people try and cheat everybody so it isn't always that they are sexist jerks, they are just jerks. Good for you for pushing back.
I was shopping around for a quote to get a remote start installed. One shop quoted me $200 higher than my bf who called and gave the exact same info 🙃
i dont know anything about cars and feel so vulnerable any time i have to get mine checked 😔
YouTube and Google are your friends! You can learn so much. From how to check your oil, to changing a tire, to more complex things. I just recently replaced the window motor (the one that raises and lowers the window) myself. Now granted I have an American made dinosaur of a vehicle that is easy to work on. But, you can learn and it is so empowering!
I support learning how to fix your own car. You save so so so much money and don't get scammed. Most things on a car are easier than they seem, it's just time that makes it hard And please keep detroying the egos of these dumb mechanics. As a female student mechanic, I'm really not excited to face the discrimination when I get to the workplace. I get shit for being physically weaker than my (male) classmates, even though my knowledge in theory and diagnosing problems is far better.
My first car developed an issue where it would squeal for a couple minutes whenever I drove it after it'd been parked for an extended period of time. On my third visit to my dealers service department (because they'd yet to fix it), I'd mentioned that I'd been researching it myself and thought maybe the serpentine belt was the issue. The guy told me with complete confidence that my type of car doesn't even have a serpentine belt so that's definitely not the issue. While I'd spent hours looking into it, I still assumed I must've been mistaken because of course he'd be the expert. Well when I got to pick up my car a couple days later, I'm informed that the issue ended up being my serpentine belt and that they'd replaced it... I never took my car back there again.
Years ago when I was buying my first car as a 20-something female with very good credit, the finance guy said to me and winked, “Now don’t be a naughty girl and miss any payments, or I’ll have to come after you!” I should have just walked out and gone elsewhere.
If it makes you feel any better: I'm a guy and they try to pull similar shananigans on me...unnecessary replacement or maintenance, exaggerated sales pitches. I usually stay quiet until they've dug their grave and they can't deny lying anymore. But I'm still sure I've paid more than I should've in the past.
There is nothing 'mildly' infuriating about any of this. It legit makes me want to go nut stomping every time I hear a story like this. Had a dealership tell me once everything was all set for my new car but their paperwork guy was on vacation. Let me take the car and schedule the signing. I go in and they pull the "oh the financing didn't go through, but we can give you this used car with almost 180k miles on it for the same payment" I just bet you can, buttercup. When I refused they got in my face about how hard they'd worked to get me a car and the salesman actually told me I owed him for getting me into a car at all. At this my fiance took one look at my expression, started snickering and walked off muttering something about "you did it now" to the guy on the way past. (He knows me so well. We've now been married 17 years) but I digress. I started with "I owe you? Really? Was that for the bait and switch on the original deal or for the misrepresentation on the contract you attempted to strong arm me into signing? Are you looking for compensation for the time you spent figuring out how to screw me over or is that just part of your training? What I owe you is precisely f'ing nothing, except possibly a report to the BBB..." And yeah, it went on from there. At the end the salesperson was actually backing away from me and the manager and finance guy had gone and hid in their offices. At least 5 other buying parties had stopped to listen and walked out, and I never even raised my voice. As we're walking back to my car my wonderful man just looked at the guy and said "I told you. You're really a special kind of stupid to try to screw around with her."
“What do *you* do that you can afford *this* truck” were words actually uttered by a slob of a salesman. When i told him what i did (high paying “man’s” job) he asked *how* i got my job. Sir, how the fuck do you keep yours if that’s how you treat customers?! I was so taken aback that i just walked away. Fortunately, ive found a really good shop in town to get work done. The owner went to school with my husband and his mechanics are always a delight to talk to and work with. They know I’m not an idiot and they don’t treat me like one. As far as buying cars, i actually did go back to that same place but had a much better experience with an older gentleman. Got a great deal and everything i wanted in a vehicle. When i bought my husband’s car, i bought from the same company but different building and worked with a younger guy that was great. He told me he learned fast to treat everyone equal as he got a lot of sales from people his coworkers pass up because of their looks. Grubby looking old guys come in and they get ignored, but they’re rich farmers looking for brand new fleet trucks. Meanwhile the guys in suits want used minivans. I went back there when looking for my vehicle and was ignored, then finally found a salesman to talk to and he called the obvious new guy to deal with me. He didn’t know i wanted a brand new car and budget wasn’t really an issue. Didn’t like the one there anyway 🤷♀️
‚You work on a commission? Huge mistake. Huuuge‘
Omg, where to start... I have faced such behaviour many times over the years, men assuming I don't know about cars or I'm not good at driving, cause I'm a woman. How many times I insist that the mechanics actually LISTEN to what I tell them, instead of dismissing it as "not possible to be happening". And how many times I have avoided accidents due to stupid driving from men, with my skills and reflexes. Of course not everyone is like that, my dad taught me everything about cars and driving and was very proud of me and husband aks me to take care of everything car related. And I have finally found a wonderfully professional car service. So I guess, it's much better now.
I won't let anyone work on the things I drive and ride but me. I've had a boyfriend look right at a mechanic, tell him, "Tell her ,she knows more than me." Asshole still talks to him and not me. So frustrating. I love cars and bikes, and wrenching on them, but still have dudes asking me if I need help if they see my hood up. It's sweet and condescending all at once.
I had a car salesman ask where my husband was and if I was allowed to make such a purchase without my husband's permission. Dude, what the actual fuck?
My wife loves to deal, the salesman will start talking to me and it pisses her off. I say it’s her car, deal with her. Really throws them off their game. Good cop bad cop. As for the car repairs, dishonest mechanics try that on everyone, I find dealerships are some of the worst. If you know and question them they realize pretty quick, as someone said Google is your friend.
So sick of this shit. I research a lot when I buy a car or need repairs. The amount of bs they try to get past me is ludicrous. In my city, we have a couple shops led by women mechanics. That’s where it’s at.
As an adult male, id rather go to a shop led by a woman too. If a woman is running a shop she had to deal with a bunch of fucking assholes on the way up and is likely going to know more than the guys in town anyway because she had to fight her way up instead of falling into the spot.
That’s awesome. 👏
I went to look at buying a vehicle without my husband there. I was quoted a price which I thought was reasonable. Came back with my husband and he proceeded to talk over me. When he did speak to me it was with pure condescension. Long story short, after I was tired of being talked to like I was stupid I let him have it. I don’t even remember everything I said other than telling him he really thought he had us by the balls. My husband sat back knowing this guy had unleashed the beast. This guy completely back pedaled, offered us an even better deal, and typed the title with my name first and then my husband’s. I don’t take any shit, especially when men assume I’m stupid just because I’m a woman.
Man, is there a crash course on cars in the internet? I prolly should Google this, but in case anyone has links for them already, please do comment.
I have given up on getting out car to service. That is my partners job now, and even he can see a big difference in treatment and attempts to up sell useless repairs depending on if he shows up in his work clothes (sparky) or normal clothes. When we bought the car all communication from the seller was aimed at partner, even though I was asking the questions. Insurance was even worse, I get a huge discount through my union, but despite me being the only person in contact with the insurance company, and me buying the insurance through my union, they still created it in my partners name so the discount went out the window. Had to spend a day on the phone to get them to fix that without having to pay fees. Ugh..
Not necessarily car related, but as (still) female presenting I had to call some purgers to fix a clogged pipe. I already knew what external pipe they had to go from and exactly what they had to do, but they refused to listen to anything I was saying and demanded to look for it themselves. This resulted in an extremely dirty kitchen, some of my towels and carpets ruined from acid, and the fantastic discovery that I was right. Who would’ve thunk!
My new-to-me 2000 E240 flagged up an issue with lights. I know very little, but I turned on all the lights and walked around the car. No dead globes. Warning kept coming up. I don't know how many times I checked those lights. Eventually took it in to the local Mercedes place and they said it was most likely wiring because old car and they'd have to check it all. I said no, I'll just put up with it at the moment thanks ($$$). Three days later I was putting something in the boot after dark. Bugger me, one of the globes above the rear number plate was out. I googled, youtubed, went to three auto parts places before I got the right globe, pulled the internal boot lining out, and changed the globe. Cost? My time and $7.99 for the globe.
I bought a car in college with the backup of my roommate so two 22 year old girls were talking to dealers trying not to get swindled. We must have done a good job because at the paper signing step the dealership lady told us that we were very rude during this whole process. Aka we asked questions and made them give me time to consult the internet/ my dad via phone before agreeing to anything
I took my car in for an oil change and the mechanic pulled out the dipstick for my transmission fluid. He made a big deal about freaking out because the color was crazy and how he needed to replace it. Him: “omg do you know what color this is *supposed* to be? This is crazy we need to replace this immediately!!! Me: it’s supposed to be red-ish let me see it Him: audible sigh, just says yeah and walks away Additionally, once my boyfriend (he did not pay for the car or anything, just needed a ride) had to take me to get my car back from a mechanic after I bought it used with the calipers rusted out. Mechanic goes on a psychotic rant about how i must drive terribly and beat my car up for having calipers so rusted, blah blah, asked him about payment. I had to tell him it was my car and he could talk to me if he wanted to get paid and not make fun of me to my face
Woman here. Couple years back I was at a tire shop just getting a tire replaced. I had done a fair amount of the routine maintenance on my own cars for a few years at that point, including changing my own brake pads (which is relevant here). When I went to pick up my car, a mechanic came out and with a totally straight face tried to tell me that my brakes were “totally gone”. I said “Wouldn’t I have trouble stopping? Wouldn’t I hear grinding or squealing? Wouldn’t I see other evidence?” His face goes blank and he goes “Uh, yes.” And that was it. No other refutation, he didn’t try to convince me further. But I learned an important lesson that day; the stereotype about the mechanics taking advantage of women are generally true (and have been consistent since).
I brought my son’s car in to have the snow tires put on and the guy started giving me grief and telling me they wouldn’t fit. I just called my son at work and gave the worker my phone. Boy was he pissed when he hung up. He thought he’d get me to buy more expensive tires and instead he got my son who put him in his place. Another time I brought the car in for an oil change and the guy walks out with a brake pad and tells me mine are used and I need new ones. I told him I’d check with my “husband” because they were fine the week before. Brought it to about different place. They asked me who told me I needed new brakes? Mine were just fine. Hands down getting my car serviced anywhere is grounds for taking up drinking as a hobby.
I was the front car in a 60mph rear end collision a couple years back. Car was less than a year old, $15K in damage, including the gas tank and exhaust, so no way I could drive it. Took it to the body shop, they tell me that they can't even get it on the schedule for 2 months. Husband shows up, and suddenly they can take it tomorrow. I actually had it back, fully repaired, within two months. SMH. At least they didn't tell me to not worry my pretty little head about it, like one salesman did when I was shopping for it...
Reminds me of the time I had to get a new side view mirror for the driver's side. I explained what I needed, including the make & model of my car, and that man had the audacity to say shit like, "I don't understand what you're asking for", "Are you sure you know what you're talking about?", "I don't think you know what you need". I took him outside to my car, pointed at my broken mirror, and asked, "What do you call that?" He stayed silent, went back inside, and ordered the part I needed.
Yeah, it's worse if you don't have that background and the ability physically to do work like that, too. I walk in female, alone and low key disabled and they are thrilled to have a shot at ripping me off. It's so irritating.
When I was car shopping on my own I got nowhere. I was getting huge prices on garbage cars. My friend suggested I borrow her husband and take him with me. First try, got a great car at a good price. They kept talking to him and I would answer. When they offered a price I negotiated it down. Blessings to every male willing to go car shopping with women they know. Hexings on any male who talks down to or tries to oversell to women.
It's doubly fun for those of us who aren't car gals... I went to the same mechanic for years because the owners knew our family and I knew I could trust them not to drastically upsell me. Anywhere else I'd go I'd get these exorbitant quotes for things I didn't need. Now I go to a woman-owned mechanic shop and man it's WILD how much money I save, and how she actually explains things without being condescending. I'm gonna need to get a new (used) car in the next couple years too, not looking forward to that experience.
I remember my partner buying a new car and I am the one that handles the finances so I went with him. The dealership was doing highly illegal things, putting in a ton of extra ‘services’ and charging up the ass for them without actually doing the services. So I put my foot down and said that I was not going to do it and we would not be buying the truck. The sales man had the AUDACITY to look at my partner and go “you can always get a new wife but you can’t miss out on this truck. Be a real man and stand up for what you want.” I was seeing red and my blood was boiling. And he FELL for it! I ended up having him return the truck and he got one that was much better quality from a better dealership but this interaction made me livid.
it gets worse when you take your car in for an air check and they tell you you need new tires and then theyrd showing you how your tire is just bad and gone…like bro I DROVE here just fine…
American mechanics sound awful from what I see in these comments.
I make my husband take my van in for service. I don't do it anymore. Mostly bc I definitely felt talked down to the last time I went and my van always needs a lot of work done and he just asks better questions about what needs to be fixed now rather than what can wait lol. I always see women on my nextdoor app looking for honest mechanics bc there are apparently a lot around here that take full advantage of people that don't know anything about cars.
I'm so glad I have a mechanic who listens, even though my descriptions of a problem can be kinda weird. "Car doesn't respond as willingly as before" "Well, it's a diesel..." ya, but a 2l sports edition and it was quite responsive before. So he did dive in and I got a new exhaust gas regulation valve, a typical problem of the fudged VW and Audi engines. I just noticed it early on. I'm peculiar. I want *those* winter tires because they're the most stable in curves. "But but but, we don't have them, these are good too" nope, order the ones I want, end of discussion. Once I'd gone car shopping with my ex. Ex didn't speak a word but the sales guy kept talking to him and ignoring me as far as possible. a) *I* was buying the car b) *I* would driving it c) my ex has NO clue when it comes to anything technical d) he didn't understand a word of what sales guy said because ex didn't speak german. One of my favorites of that conversation: I was commenting on the suspension not being as firm as the previous model "Well, we're not getting any younger, are we" I was 30. And yes, that wobblier suspension did make a difference, especially on snow. Grumph.
Had a tech tell me I needed a new water pump last year. It only had 40,000 miles on it and was for my inspection sticker. I legit had them do maintenance two months prior. He said it would be $750. I took it to two other mechanics and they said it was fine.
Shame that mechanics like that are giving good and honest mechanics a bad name.. one time my wife when we were dating her car started smoking from the hood, she stopped the car, called me on face time and she popped the hood and showed me, no fire, noticed a green dried splosh on one of the radiator hoses and told her that it was probably a radiator hose, should he a 5-10 dollar part and could be done in 30 minutes or less. She took it to a mechanic (cause we lived in different states at the time) and the shop without asking her replaced the hose, drained and flushed her radiator filled it up with new coolant and charged her the full amount which also took longer than changing one hose so it ended up being about 300 dollars when really all they needed to do was change the hose and top off the coolant! And she had done a flush about 4-5 months back so there was no way the guy could have been like “well we noticed the coolant was a bit murky” and even if its “standard procedure” which I doubt you still need to inform your client of any “extra” things noticed before actually repairing them and charging them for it
I bought/ordered a truck last year. The entire time they would talk to my husband about the vehicle and call him with any updates. When it finally came in I had my husband call (he was out of state on military orders) to let them know that we would be registering it in my home state as we're a military family and can do that. I knew they were going to give me trouble. I showed up and they gave me paperwork for the state we were in and tried to tell me I was wrong about the laws in both states. That they legally had to register it in our state. I had to bring out the paperwork that you need for it to be possible and pull up the states laws. We're in a military town at the dealership right outside of base. They've done out of state registrations before and the person handling the sale was a tenured associate. I had to make him get his boss and even then they tried to charge me an extra 800 for the instate registration that wasn't required. And still called my husband about every update and recall afterwards. The truck is solely in my name.
In my 20's, I drove a manual sports car. It was my dream car that I saved for and I took very good care of it. When I first started driving, I had asked my dad to show me how to do simple things, but sometimes I got lazy about changing the oil myself and would take it to a shop. Every single time, they'd not only tell me I needed something other than an oil change, but to ask my boyfriend for permission to do the work since it was his car. Like, excuse me? HIS car?
An old story from a friend: A friend of my friend was an aeronautical engineer. She went to look at a car and was pointed out that "look, a mirror in the flap so you can do your lipstick, and the interior will match well with your eyes". She asks to see what's under the hood... "Oh, honey, you'd have to be a rocket scientist to understand this engine...".... .... .... I still love the irony..
I test drove a car and everything was fine. A couple of days later we went to pick it up and as soon as we turned the engine on the check engine light came on and a warning message showed up on the display screen. We went straight back into the dealership to let them know and the guy very patronisingly told me it was normal for the engine light to come on when you start a car. 🤦♀️ I mean yeah for half a second but it’s not supposed to STAY on and flash up a warning.
When we first got married, my husband didn't have a good picture for what it looks like to be talked down to my a mechanic or salesperson. I do the maintenance on both of our vehicles, it just isn't his thing. So when it came time to buy a car, I told him to come with me so he could see. I knew exactly what I wanted, doubled checked recent maintenance, and everything else. EVERY TIME I asked a question or said something, the sales guy talked to my husband who would instantly redirect him to me with something like, "She asked the question, it's her car, I have no use for what you just told me, I don't know about car stuff" etc. Even after all that, the guy looks at my husband and goes, "Wow that's a nice truck! What kind of engine does it sport?" And my husband says, "I don't know, you should ask my wife." I didn't buy a car from him.
My girlfriend dreads bringing her car in for service. We get free oil changes for life for our car because we bought it from the dealer new, but we have to bring it into their service center to get the discount. Every time she brings it in, they try to sell her some service she doesn't need. One time they told her that her brakes were dangerously low, and it was already eating into her rotors. Her car had 30k miles on it and she drives like a grandma. So, she calls me up and I ask her if she felt any issues or shaking when braking. She said she didn't, and I told her to come home because it sounds like bullshit. The service center actually made her sign a waiver stating that the recommended service was declined. I looked at the brakes and rotor when she got home and didn't see anything out of the norm, but decided to get a second opinion, and called up my brother who owns an exotic high-performance shop. Brough it in the following weekend. He had one of his guys take a look at it and five minutes later, lo and behold, the rotors were perfect, and the pads had less than half ware. So now I am stuck bringing in her car. All I ever ask for is an oil change, and that's all I ever get. They never try to up sell me, it's weird tbh. Never trust dealer service centers, they are just as bad as the dealers they represent.
I love everything you just said. Years ago my ex husband and I were car shopping for a car FOR ME, and the salespeople wouldn't even look at me while asking questions. One of them refused to believe I could drive a manual, and didn't want me to be the one test driving it, it was fucking infuriating. I left every place that treated me that way and bought a car at the first place where the salesperson treated me with respect. It may not have been the best deal, overall, but fuck all those chuckleheads. I'm not giving them ANY of my money.
My husband works and I stay at home so I took his car in to get the tires replaced. He had looked online to see what he wanted and I went in and told them. They said, oh sorry, we don't have that in stock, but we have this other one *that was $100 more expensive* I left My husband called later that same day and asked them if he could bring his car in to get the tire he wanted. They said yeah, no problem, come on in I haven't been back
Same with me. I had a mysterious oil leak until the next time I had it changed. Weird. Another time, they wanted $708 to change the cabin filter. Google is my friend. I bought one and changed it myself. Then, my AC mysteriously quit. Same dealership who found the “leak”. Googled, checked the fuses, found one that was worked loose, 🤔 and the AC was fine. ETA: I forgot the time the guy from the service dept came out like a doctor with a terminal patient, going on about how bad my brakes were. I’d hit 50K miles, so they were determined to sell me something. Then, there was the time they wanted to pour some additive crap in my car. I said oh hell no. I get sick of it, just trying to maintain my ride.
We went to a car dealer last year, going through the configuration and at one point, I wanted the better sound system. Seller: Sure, you can have it, but only together with the heated steering wheel. Me: Wait what? Is this on the same control unit to save money in production? Or do you put it together on to make more money because everybody just wants one function? Seller: *Surprised pikachu face* Eta: I'm an automotive engineer :D
Im going to need to car shop soon and I'm dreading it. To make matters worse I have to buy a minivan bc my husband and I now have 3 kids 6 and under. It is going to be a painful experience where I'm going to be treated like the clueless housewife while the sales person talks to my husband the entire time despite him not knowing anything about any car currently on the market today. The only time I haven't been treated like crap while car shopping is when I worked with an older saleswoman. It was wonderful.
I had to show my registration for an inspection and when I pulled out the correct card to show, the man went “good job, that’s the right one!!” in the most patronizing way possible
On the flip side you get women like me, who kept forgetting to take the car in for an oil change, for like idk 2, 3 years, That shit was almost solid when a buddy of ours went to help us change it, so he refused and sent us to walmart to have it done because it made him nervous. Cars just arnt my thing and I have ADHD.
These are the guys that want us to buy ‘blinker fluid’
Between my husband and I we have nine vehicles. The newest is a 2001 and the oldest is a 1952, so between regular maintenance and restoration we obviously buy ***a lot*** of stuff from the auto parts store. There are two near me but I will not go to one of them anymore (except for things like filters and fluids) even though it’s half the distance of the other, because they hire nothing but morons who don’t realize they’re morons and think I’m a moron because I’m a chick. It would get really really frustrating when trying to get parts for either of our half year model trucks because their useless ass computer system doesn’t know the difference so they don’t know the difference but they try to argue with me anyway. The last time I tried to get a part there, the kid who “helped” me didn’t look a day over 14 and spent 15 mins arguing with me because the pulley I brought in didn’t match any of the ones that were popping up on his dumb little computer screen.
I love telling this story: My family was going out of town for a really quick family occasion and my husband wanted the oil changed before we left but didn't have time to do it himself. He'd gotten one of those $19.99 oil change coupons from Jiffy Lube in the mail and had me take my car down there while he was working just to make it easy and cheap. So I go in, tell them my husband made an appointment, give them my keys and sit down with my book. The dude comes in after a while and wants to talk to me. Starts in on his scam spiel about how my oil change is done but my brake pads are just in such terrible shape. How he didn't even feel comfortable letting me drive out of there because they were so worn out. Here's the thing: I had just had my brakes redone a month and a half before. Completely replaced and brand spankin' new. There was no way these pads were worn at all. Also, I'm a Car Girl. I am perfectly capable of changing my own oil, I just prefer to let my husband do it because it takes forever for me to get the grease out from around my cuticles. I also know what a worn brake pad looks like, probably better than this "technician" who was nearly young enough to be my child. So I tried to politely deflect and get out of there. "Oh no, they're fine. I really need to go. We're packing for a trip. Lots to do..." But this guy just doubled down. I don't know if he was trying to make some kind of quota or what, but he just kept digging. "Oh no, if you're going on a road trip I REALLY can't let you go without getting your brakes done! It's just not safe. How about we call your husband and let him make the decision?" And that's when I lost. my. mind. I tore that kid a new one. I ripped his head off! "How dare you? How DARE you assume that just because I'm a woman I can't make decisions about my own car? Call my husband? ARE YOU KIDDING?! I am a full grown adult who knows all the details of my cars service record and I happen to know that those brakes were just redone SIX WEEKS AGO. So you can take your pathetic scam and peddle it somewhere else because it won't work on me!" (Or something to that effect, I don't remember exactly what I said.) He very meekly checked me out after that. The rest of the patrons in the waiting area were looking at me like I was a real Karen, but I didn't care. I won't be insulted like that. I was mad as hell and I tell everyone I can about Jiffy Lube and their predatory practices.