When women need brake repair (or any other kind of car repair) work done, they can sometimes be taken for a ride. Here are some ways to avoid being treated like you don't know what you're doing, even if you don't.
As a woman,
you may look and feel quite out of place at a brake repair shop. After all, chances are the only people working there are men. Besides that, they're all dirty and greasy, and they know about cars. And then there is you.
This situation seems destined to make you feel uncomfortable upon your arrival, in addition to your understandable chagrin about the reason you need brake repair accomplished in the first place. However, aside from lobbying for Affirmative Action to be taken toward equal amounts of men and women working in garages and requiring shower and clothing-change breaks for the mechanics, those issues are unavoidable.
However, there are some steps you can take to avoid leaving the brake repair shop more uncomfortable -- and more cash-deprived, which tends to add to one's discomfort -- than you felt when you arrived.
1. Dress as if you've looked under the hood of a car before.
Okay, so you don't technically look "under the hood" in order to get to the brakes, but that's beside the point. If you show up in a business suit with a purse to match your pumps and hair and nails that make you look like you just came from the salon, you probably will not be taken seriously. Or, at least, you'll fear that you won't be (especially after reading that you won't be).
Now, you don't have to smear grease across your forehead (although that wouldn't hurt), but go ahead and put on your gardening jeans and painting T-shirt, or at least your boyfriend's baseball cap. And don't freshen your lipstick or perfume before you go.
2. Be armed with intelligent questions, even if you don't know a brake pad from a rotor.
If you at least know that your brakes have pads and calipers, you can ask how the brake pads look or if the rotors are in good shape. At least, then, the service professional might be less likely to try to suggest that you may need your brake shield washer fluid flushed, or something extraneous like that, in case he were so inclined.
3. Be ready to use one of your lifelines, preferably the "phone-a-friend" one.
Even if your friend is as clueless as you are, the service person won't know that. Act as if you're calling a mechanic who's a friend of yours, and tell "him" exactly what the mechanic told you was the problem and the amount he quoted you to get it fixed. After a few "uh-huh's", you can tell the mechanic that your friend told you to check around for better prices. That may score you a deal, in case they had inflated the cost. You might want to actually keep a few numbers of other shops on file, so you can actually check with them before leaving what might actually be the best deal in town.
So, the next time you go to the brake repair shop, be prepared to not only feel more comfortable, but to actually have fun!
