so my gf was driving home from 115 miles away for a work event in Salisbury MD this evening and about five minutes after she left, she calls me frantically saying smoke is coming out from under the hood. 5 minute diagnosis, steam, car overheating. she had the presence of mind to pull over and stop immediately (hotttt). I had her restart with the heater on and it wouldn't cool off.

so we called AAA and got her towed to a local honda dealer (car is a civic) whose service dept was open til 8. turns out the radiator was busted from a rock or something and they were out. but there was an autozone with one for $100.

So they quoted her parts and $220 or something in labor and she called me to tell me what the dilly was. I told her since the guys offered to do the work beyond closing and were helping her out, to buy them beer.

she said they were stoked to get the beer and fixed up her car super fast and as the guy was writing up her bill, he said "I took a hundred bucks off cuz nobody ever bought us anything before--thanks!" she was so happy.

so that, my friends, is the magic of beer.

 

imagine if she walked in with some weed for them.

 

Man, a case of beer has gotten me back in the circle in construction more than a few times. Screw something up? You're buying the beer.

 

You need to leave a small toolset in the trunk... and talk her through the next radiator/rock episode

Then you can enjoy the beer together instead of giving it to someone else.

 

i ain't making my woman fix my car. I would be afraid of potential damage she could cause based on her complete lack of understanding of mechanical things and tools in general.




but ... Im not against politely hinting that a little mechanical know-how is a good thing. Maybe one of these days Ill give her a quick run-down on some basic things like checking air pressure, how to used a wrench (not too loose or not too tight!), and some basic things to be aware of when operating a used car, since we are not going to be driving new cars any time soon.

 

i wouldn't make her change a radiator... plus, ****, 200 bucks including labor at a dealership is ****** cheap!

 

good luck with that dave....:gay:

 

I taught my g/f how to check her own tire pressure and bought her a gauge. She keeps the gauge in the glove box and never takes it out until i ask her for it. Refuses to check her tire pressure. "I'm a girl, you're supposed to do that for me."
Taught her how to change a tire, yeah right, she'd call AAA before she took the jack out.
Not that I really want her to do anything on her car, because I don't i atleast give her some knowledge on how to do things. Now i need to teach her to tune MS so I can drive and she can tune VE tables the whole trip. Man that would be badass.

 

got mine doin that already. Squirting that is. No I won't post any pics.

 

My wife installed a JRSC on her '91. The only thing I did was pick it up and place it on the mounting bracket (35# is a lot for some women to pick up). I never work on her car unless she is out in the garage helping.

 

My g/f's van leaks oil and coolant. She learned how to check both by herself. I'm supposed to fix the leaks, but it's an Aerostar. I cringe thinking about working on the engine.

I've had a few customers give me stuff at my shop. We don't expect it, but it's awsome when someone gets us a hot chocolate on a winter day or something.

 

i tried to teach her how to tune, but it just didnt make sense to her. The combination of shift+up to move the cells up or down and using the arrows to move the pointer around wasn't too bad, but figuring out what AFR to shoot for was enough to make her give up.

 

Hell even if I could just get her to drive the damn car that would be good enough. She's scared of driving a stick, let alone one with the act hd clutch. Plus she is scared of boost and high rpms.
Here I am wishing she would be into running in the female autocross class so i could actually start talking her into going on the weekends with me. If anything i hoped she would atleast understand the money i put into the car a little more. All in all she's pretty damn good about it all though.

Anyone play any beerpong lately?

 

my wife yells at me when i check hers. I'm pretty sure she thinks I'm going to break it...dunno why she'd think that. :gay:

 

My wife keeps bugging me to teach her stuff...but she needs it in small doses, or she starts losing her enthusiasm.

 

the mechanics also ran a train on her.

 

my g/f was able to check the oil in her rodeo because it leaked often. Now that she has the 300zx however she knows i'll be more than happy to check on it as long as i get to test drive it to make sure nothings wrong

 

Unsupervised, mine's barely capable of operating a gas pump.
Supervised, she enjoys using the cordless drill and air impact gun. Oh, she can also open quarts of oil before she hands them to me.

 

oh god, mine doesnt know how to open the hood....im serious!!!

 

My GF had several run ins with her car breaking down so she asked me to teach her stuff. She can check fluid levels, change the tires, distinguish smells; basically all the stuff you should keep check on in a used car. She could probably change the radiator in her dads 92 cherokee if it ever blows again, since that happened and she had to help her dad change it in the middle of no where.

For the guys with women who are not mechanically inclined, wait until something breaks and they are stranded. They are gonna learn preventative maintenance quick.