“In our first book, Dare to Repair: A Do-It-Herself Guide to Fixing (Almost) Anything in the Home, we encouraged women to step into the world of basic home repairs—the final frontier for women. Or so we thought. br>
That was until we asked our female friends, neighbors, family members, and acquaintances to share with us what repairs and maintenance they’ve done on their own cars. We’re still waiting for an answer.
Why do women put the brakes on when it comes to personally caring for their cars? Well, it’s part bad habit and part irrational fear. The bad habit is from years of relying on an auto club or the man in their life to come to their rescue. The irrational fear is from continually hearing that cars are too complicated to work on. Dare to Repair Your Car will help you overcome your auto-anxiety and turn you from a damsel- in-distress into a do-it-herself diva.
We believe that female car owners can be divided into two categories: (1) women who want to learn how to do basic car care; and (2) women who will never open the hood of a car. That’s why we’ve separated most repairs and maintenance projects into Do-It-Yourself (DIY) and Do-It-for-Me (DIFM) sections, so that no matter which side of the road you’re on regarding car care, you’ll be well informed.
In writing this book, we came to a few roadblocks, one of which was that we’re not mechanics, But we think that was to our advantage because we learned basic car care from scratch. And, to make sure that the information was accurate, as well as simple to understand, we had every section vetted by the top authorities in their fields - from a car manufacturer to associations to government agencies to non-profit organizations.
We encourage you to use Dare to Repair Your Car as a vehicle for
ending auto-ignorance. It’s time that we stop the cycle of taking a backseat to basic car care and instead willingly get behind the wheel of it.
Use this book to teach yourself everything you need to know about your car, and then share your knowledge with everyone in your family. Make it a rule that your teenager can’t get her driver’s license until she learns how to change a flat, check the fluids, and jump-start the battery. Make certain that the tires on your parents’ car are properly inflated. Go over to your sister’s house and teach her how to correctly install her child’s car seat. The knowledge you share with your loved ones will provide them greater safety, and give you greater peace of mind.
So buckle up, it’s going to be a fun ride.”