“It’s no secret that women generally do not understand vehicles — how they operate or how to maintain them.”
Patrice Banks doesn’t intend this statement to be sexist or demeaning to women — just factual. After all, she was once what she calls an “auto airhead” who knew little of how her car functioned other than how to drive it. Banks rarely took control of her car’s maintenance; when mechanics would suggest a service or repair, she would often respond with “either a shrug following an ‘ok’ or a ‘nope, not doing it,’” depending on how she was feeling at the time.
But Banks had a realization: She didn’t want to be ignorant of how her car worked and to be subject to scams from the male-dominated industry of car repair. For 12 years she had worked in a STEM field herself as an engineer for a Fortune 500 company. But at age 31, after taking night classes in automotive technology and earning her credentials, she “traded high heels and an air-conditioned office for boots, Dickies, and grime-covered hands,” beginning her career as an auto mechanic.
She was not content, though, with her own newfound knowledge of vehicle maintenance when so many women nationwide were still in the dark. So, Banks founded Girls Auto Clinic (GAC), which strives to “educate and empower women through cars” and to provide “a mechanic that talks like you and thinks like you.”
In Banks’ hometown of Philadelphia, GAC holds free workshops and lessons for women about the basics of car care, and GAC is often hired by companies and women’s groups. Banks has published a book called the Girls Auto Clinic Glove Box Guide — which, according to one woman’s testimonial, helped her successfully instruct her son over the phone on how to fix his car.
Banks recommends knowing basic information about your car, like the year, make, and model of your vehicle, the pressure that needs to be in your tires, and your maintenance schedule. She also suggests reading your owner’s manual to educate yourself before going to a mechanic for a checkup.
I don’t know much about cars, personally, even after writing this article. I’ve never had much of an interest in cars, either. That’s okay for right now since I won’t be getting my license for almost a year; but, Banks’s initiative has made me realize that I can’t grow into a self-sufficient adult without a basic knowledge of how the things around me — electronics, household appliances, vehicles — function. I can’t rely on calling a mechanic or AAA every time the slightest thing goes wrong.
Pardon me while I go pick up a copy of the Girls Auto Clinic Glove Box Guide.