Women Drivers!!

I see a car as 4 wheels and a key. It needs to get wherever safely and not break down, but I have 3 kids under the age of 6, so I expect the inside to get destroyed. it is what kids do to a car. Mechanical is very important but "looks" don't matter. I mean it isn't like I am trying to pick up a guy by impressing him with my car! I am getting the kids from school!

Well I agree with both of you. I take excellent care of my car re service, oil changes, etc. but I also drive the hell out of it and am not too concerned with minor dings and scratches. So yes, I would probably be one of those moms in the front row at the ball field, but in a very well maintained car!

I don't take care of my car at all - that's why I got married. I'm kidding, but not really. Before I got married, I took good care of my car - scheduled maintenance, kept it clean, etc. When my husband and I were combining households, "Transportation Secretary" was one of the few cabinet posts that he took (I have things like education, treasury, health and human services, etc.). So if it has wheels and/or a motor, it's his job. Given that he works with cars for a living, I'm more than happy to hand over the keys. Other than putting gas in my own car and making sure I have jumper cables (tire changes are what AAA is for) I expect to put no effort whatsoever into maintaining my car. Not that I can't, but it's not my job anymore.

before i met my husband i rarely got my oil changed, but did add it myself when runnign low. the only time i took it in for a tune up was when i had problems with it stalling on me. after i met my husband, he does tuneups when it needs it and everything else pretty much on schedule. my sisters and mother also don't take care of their vehicles. sorry your brother wins on my count :)

Mechanically I take great car of my car. I get oil changes when the sticker tells me to, if a light comes on I take it right in, I never drive on E.
I take it to the car wash when it's dirty and at the end of winter to wash salt off but the interior...well that's my down fall. There's always stuff (not garbage or anything stinky, just stuff) all over my car.

Yes, I take super care of my car and my 16 year old daughter is just as picky about her car, so is hubby.

Our cars are purchased new, are always clean and spotless inside and out. We also park in BFE to avoid dings. We drive Mercedes, mine is SL550, daughter is CLK 350 and hubby is E350

Yes in the event of dings, they are repaired within a couple of days. As far as the cars running, they've never been in the shop other than routine maintainence and that is done on schedule each year.

I always have routine maintenance taken care of as scheduled because I don't want my car breaking down on me, especially with my kids in the car with me. My husband's the one who actually does the oil changes & puts air in the tires, but I'm the one who says it's time to do them and asks if he wants to do the job or take the car in to our mechanic. I keep track of both cars on a Works database & have maintenance jobs pop up on my computer calendar. Then I tell my husband we need to figure out when to get the car in for the maintenance.

I... take care of our van, better than my Husband.
I detail it. The exterior and interior.
Fully.
I take it in for servicing.

When I had my own car before getting married, I always washed/waxed and detailed my ENTIRE car, the interior and exterior.
It was a 10 year old BMW, and still looked new. Because I was meticulous about taking care of it.

Hey!! Yes anytime my car needs fixed right away, I have my husband do it for me. LOL

I take good care of my car mechanically. I must--it's pushing 216k miles and still running great! I am less concerned about minor scratches though. I mean... I have kids. Come on. I have an SUV- do you KNOW how many times I have walked out into the church parking lot only to find my kid and 2 others climbing all over the outside of it?? Here's a clue to the outside condition: my son was in private school and was required to wear his shirt tucked in and a belt. So there are all sorts of little scratch marks around the back of the car where he climbed all over it before I knew what he was doing (he'd do this in the garage before I came out to crank the car in the mornings sometimes even, if he was ready to go and his sister wasn't yet, or I was pouring my travel mug of coffee).

Also, yes we women park in the close in spots. We usually have kids and equipment to transport to and from the event. And it is safer to be close in than further out... not for the car- I'm talking PERSONAL safety.

No offense, but if your brother's idea of "taking good care of" the car is the appearance and outside only--- then I feel really sorry for his girlfriend/wife.

I know the minute something is wrong with my car. Every car has a hum, when you know that you know when it is sick. Doesn't hurt that I used to rebuild engines and refurbish old cars with my brother as a hobby. :)

I drive like a crazy person, I guess you would call me an offensive driver. :p Yeah when I was a soccer mom my car had a fair few dings.

My hubby and I are completely opposite of this. He is obsessive about keeping the cars clean and maintained, but as long as mine starts I am happy.

I take my car in for maintenance on schedule and check the tires and fluids myself in between. Who wants to get stuck on the highway with mechanical problems? But as far as the outside, I don't wash it as often as I should. We live in a dusty area so it doesn't stay clean anyway. And a couple of months ago, I scraped the side of my car backing out of the garage and I'm not going to fix it. My son is learning to drive and now that it's scratched, I'm not as anxious about him dinging it when he practices.

Well, we don't buy brand new cars anymore, so my car was dinged when we bought it. I don't worry so much about the cosmetic stuff, but I do want a car that runs (after all, that is it's sole purpose). I also don't want the inside of my car to be disgusting since that's where I actually have to spend a lot of my time (with two kids to drive around), so I always bring in anything that doesn't belong in there whenever we get home (trash, toys, kids' school papers, etc.) so that it doesn't pile up and become a landfill. My husband's car, on the other hand, is an absolute PIT! I HATE riding in his car because it's completely disgusting all of the time. It really annoys me. He spills things on the seats and doesn't clean it up, so the upholstry is destroyed. The carpets are no better. When I handed over the keys to our SUV to him (when we bought a minivan for me), that car was in great shape, even with two kids riding in it all of the time....now, not so much. He had done this to our last car too (which we sold when we bought the minivan). He knows it bothers me, but the man is just a slob in his car! I would be REALLY mad if he destroyed a brand new car, so I guess I'm glad we buy used. ;-)

Anyway, I suppose your theory holds in our household. I tend to get the car maintained on a much more timely schedule than my husband. I think it's because he doesn't have much time for oil changes and stuff with his job (he hardly even gets lunch most days), so sometimes we switch cars for the day and I'll do the maintenance for him, but it's usually when he tells me that the car is likely to blow up if the oil isn't changed soon. Ugh! Men! LOL!

I am up to date on routine maintenance, and run to the shop when the "check engine" light comes on warning me of impending doom. I am obsessive about my tires and check the air pressure constantly.

My father was obsessive about his girls learning to maintain their cars. When I was in my late teens I actually worked on my own car. But, with cars being more complicated now, I simply don't do it anymore...I have a wonderful Tire Kingdom close to the house for all my routine maintenance.

However, I could care less how much dirt is on it, and it does have a few scratches on it that could easily be buffed out - but, again, I could care less.

It is mechanically sound and I trust it to transport my son and me safely.

Happy Driving

God Bless

I definitely take care of my car on schedule. Always have. Always will. I hate having an unreliable car.

I do not take care of minor dents and scratches, much to my husband's chagrin. I do not have the time to take my car in for every single cosmetic issue that happens to the car. As a mom, I'm in and out of crowded public parking spaces all day, every day and that's what happens. I do try to park further out and that has cut down on some of it...but gosh darn, my car got keyed last week....but my husband some how buffed it out. I might have had that fixed.

Errr....well we had a bad hail storm 1.5 weeks ago and got our rear light busted out. It still has the lense tape on it. Money really dictates how soon things get fixed in our house.

I do however keep it swept out and picked up fairly well. As well as can be with a 2 and 3 year old...and a husband who prefers to drive my car over his :)

Adansmama- HAHAHA. I HATE driving in JoCo. I love going to Overland Park to shop but really dread driving there!

I don't take care of my car. It's usually a PIG stye...just full of stuff from my 3 kids (toys, games, sports stuff, binky's, blankets, jackets, trash), and myself (books, mail, coupons..). It's usually very dirty on the outside and needs a good rub down on the inside. Did I mention that my husband details cars for a living?! lol
I am always always always late getting my oil changed...like 2,000 miles late. I WILL tell my husband if it's making funny noises or if the brakes feel loose, but that's just so we can get our friend over to fix it. I don't EVER take it to the dealership or a mechanic to get it fixed. We have a very good friend who is a mechanic, he tells us what parts to buy and then he fixes it and then my husband details his car. Win win.
Maybe I am not normal, but my car is definetly something that I don't take care of.
L.

i don't think the attitudes of women in johnson county kansas, toward their vehicles, can really be used as a measuring stick (except for you and me, of course!) as to "rational" "logical" or "sensible" in any case! once they get on these roads they are apparently careless, selfish, ignorant, and blind, (*ahem, and it's not JUST the women, either...)...so they must not care too much...!