A friend of mine recently said that her car wasn’t running right so she told her husband. He drove it around and decided that there was no problem.
Another friend’s husband told her the same thing when she said her car was making a funny noise. He joked about it being the children in the back seat. It wasn’t such a joke a week later when that same car left him stranded on the side of the road thumbing a ride to work.
Mechanical things should be the husband’s domain but sometimes we wives have to take them into our own hands. We have several options.
The first involves call the repair man and take it in yourself. This one has a few drawbacks that I have experienced. The main problem is that the repair person is usually a man and he has the same reaction as a husband does.
“My car is making a strange noise.”
“Describe it.”
“It’s sort of a cross between a whine and a clunk.”
“Where is it?”
“Right there. I parked in the customer’s slip. Is that okay?”
“Where is the noise?”
“In the car.”
“Where in the car?”
“Somewhere between the front bumper and the back one.”
He goes out to the shop and comes back in a few minutes. “Ma’am, a CD was stuck in the drive along with a piece of used gum. I think I fixed it. That’ll be fifty dollars.”
On the way home the car breaks down and has to be towed.
You can see that there is a communication problem with this method.
The second method is a little more devious. It too has drawbacks.
Step one, open the hood. Step two, take out a part, any part and hide it. Those wire things work pretty well. Step three, innocently say, “Honey, I fixed the car today all by myself. Could you go down to the store and get a quart of milk?” Do this even if there is ample milk in the fridge. Of course the car won’t start and he’ll make several trips to the parts store getting new parts. When he is getting really frustrated, take the part you removed and say, “This part fell off the other day. Does it do anything?”
Now he’ll either be ready to kill you or kiss you, depending on his frustration level and the amount of cleavage you have showing. This only works if you know he has knowledge of what should be under the hood.
The other drawback is if he hasn’t really found the problem then you’ll break down on the way to the hair dresser with no other appointments till three weeks from next Wednesday.
That might be too much of a chance, so instead you might want to try the third option. Listen to the noise. Check online to see what the noise might be. Read how to remove the part and replace it with a new one. Directions are all online and most shops now use these online tools.
This has several pitfalls. The first one is whether you know the difference between a screwdriver and a hammer. If not, try options one, two, or four.
The second one is that once you have the part in your hand, and you go to the parts store, the clerk will hand you almost anything except the right part. You may argue that the muffler will not work for a spark plug, but he will look at your gender and try to sell it to you anyway. If you are ready to go into his parts section that the keep in the back for secrecy, and do battle with the man of the store, go for it. If not try option four.
Option four entails something that we women are better at than men. We smile sweetly at Hubby and say, “It’s okay that you are watching (Whatever sport and whatever team). I’ll take care of the noise in the car.”
Trust me he won’t even notice. Get your handbag, and put on your best smile and negotiating face. You’re going shopping for a new car. Trust me it works. You have a warranty and everything. The car doesn't have a funny noise anymore. You have just solved the problem.
Another friend’s husband told her the same thing when she said her car was making a funny noise. He joked about it being the children in the back seat. It wasn’t such a joke a week later when that same car left him stranded on the side of the road thumbing a ride to work.
Mechanical things should be the husband’s domain but sometimes we wives have to take them into our own hands. We have several options.
The first involves call the repair man and take it in yourself. This one has a few drawbacks that I have experienced. The main problem is that the repair person is usually a man and he has the same reaction as a husband does.
“My car is making a strange noise.”
“Describe it.”
“It’s sort of a cross between a whine and a clunk.”
“Where is it?”
“Right there. I parked in the customer’s slip. Is that okay?”
“Where is the noise?”
“In the car.”
“Where in the car?”
“Somewhere between the front bumper and the back one.”
He goes out to the shop and comes back in a few minutes. “Ma’am, a CD was stuck in the drive along with a piece of used gum. I think I fixed it. That’ll be fifty dollars.”
On the way home the car breaks down and has to be towed.
You can see that there is a communication problem with this method.
The second method is a little more devious. It too has drawbacks.
Step one, open the hood. Step two, take out a part, any part and hide it. Those wire things work pretty well. Step three, innocently say, “Honey, I fixed the car today all by myself. Could you go down to the store and get a quart of milk?” Do this even if there is ample milk in the fridge. Of course the car won’t start and he’ll make several trips to the parts store getting new parts. When he is getting really frustrated, take the part you removed and say, “This part fell off the other day. Does it do anything?”
Now he’ll either be ready to kill you or kiss you, depending on his frustration level and the amount of cleavage you have showing. This only works if you know he has knowledge of what should be under the hood.
The other drawback is if he hasn’t really found the problem then you’ll break down on the way to the hair dresser with no other appointments till three weeks from next Wednesday.
That might be too much of a chance, so instead you might want to try the third option. Listen to the noise. Check online to see what the noise might be. Read how to remove the part and replace it with a new one. Directions are all online and most shops now use these online tools.
This has several pitfalls. The first one is whether you know the difference between a screwdriver and a hammer. If not, try options one, two, or four.
The second one is that once you have the part in your hand, and you go to the parts store, the clerk will hand you almost anything except the right part. You may argue that the muffler will not work for a spark plug, but he will look at your gender and try to sell it to you anyway. If you are ready to go into his parts section that the keep in the back for secrecy, and do battle with the man of the store, go for it. If not try option four.
Option four entails something that we women are better at than men. We smile sweetly at Hubby and say, “It’s okay that you are watching (Whatever sport and whatever team). I’ll take care of the noise in the car.”
Trust me he won’t even notice. Get your handbag, and put on your best smile and negotiating face. You’re going shopping for a new car. Trust me it works. You have a warranty and everything. The car doesn't have a funny noise anymore. You have just solved the problem.