To think women are perfectly capable of driving and parking "big cars"?

[Kingcyrolophosarus]

and to hate the casual sexism from male garage workers

Took car to the garage, patronising young guy " would you like me to reverse that out for you?"
No thanks, I've been driving since you were in nappies mate. I've had this car for 5 years, it belongs to me, not my husband. I know how to look after the engine, I know what tyres it takes, and I can fit those tyres by myself

Car hire guy when I was changing a car( for price reasons) "is it too big for you, can't you park it?"

Tyre garage guy
" ooh these are really expensive" proceeds to quote 30% extra
Er, you really think I don't know how much they cost?
I'll go to a garage that doesn't assume I'm stupid thank you

women - yes

me - not so much

What Winkly said.

I've been driving for 10+ years and cannot reverse park, regardless of vehicle size

I get my FIL to take my car to the garage for MOT etc. I can't reverse for toffee when someone is watching/waiting. I was once asked to drive my car onto the ramp thing, and I actually burst into tears.
So I'm afraid women like me have set the bar quite low for superwomen like you. Sorry.

I'm with you OP. this drives me mad. It is the one place left in my life where I still feel horrendously patronised and inferior by virtue of being a woman. And it makes me SO mad!

YANBU OP. So infuriating.

YANBU - women are (or should be) just as capable as men.

Personally I am crap at driving, but that's not because I'm a woman, it's because I have very little experience and I am a wimp.

I know I should say YANBU and you aren't. I am an excellent driver and I don't get why people find reverse parking so difficult. Even my DH who is good at driving isn't great at it.

But I have seen so many bad women drivers, and many of them in these stupidly big vehicles that they just don't need, in some cases YABU.

YAsooooooooNBU

Same happens to me all the time, I've had men in tesco carpark give me a round of applause for reversing into a space

I once took it to a garage knowing it needed a new back box, DP was with me, the garage owner put the car on the ramp and called DP over to have a look, DP dutifully walked over, had a look and then wondered back to me looking completely bemused he knows nothing about cars I had to point out to the mechanic that it was MY car, DP has never driven it and I already knew the problem which I had told him on the phone, he admitted he had assumed 'my other half' had told me what to say when I rang

YANBU but I am like Trills and got stuck trying to get my asexual mum-mobile away from the garage. The other cars were packed around it and there were vans everywhere so one of the guys had to come and help.

I always park on the outskirts of any car-park and drive forward through a space to another one if possible. Even then, my car looks not so much "parked", as "abandoned"

generalisations of any driving quirk belonging to certain groups of people have come about for a reason - but obviously there are exceptions to every rule.

Garage employees really should keep these observations to themselves though if they want to keep the customers. I learnt at a young age to do my homework before entering a garage (especially kwikfit) so that they didn't overcharge (which 9 times out of 10 they tried to do)

Yanbu, I'm far better at reverse parking than my husband

This is exactly the reason why I get my dad to take my car for the mot, new tyres our anything else.
I also hate going to any diy shops or being in when workmen come round to check something out our price something up because if this very reason. I fucking hate it.
I dont know anything about cars or diy or plumbing our roofs and I would probably be inclined to ask questions if I felt confident enough that I was'nt going to be laughed at or patronised and made to feel like a silly little woman.

I was actually going to do an aibu on this very subject.

Use my garage, they would never be so rude or patronising [grin}

Even though I am crap, I don't want to be patronised.

It's the other half of the "men can't multitask", isn't it?

Society says that men can't multitask, so some men have an excuse to be crap around the house.

Society says that women are bad at driving, so some women don't try as hard as they could - they think that the reason they aren't very good is because women are not good at these things, rather than because they haven't had as much practise.

YANBU.

I hate buying tyres. I was once told that all four need replacing and my tracking needed doing. DH took the car in the next day and they changed the one tyre without fuss.

Personally I would let the garage bloke do it. In my experience garages are packed full of cars and I would have an audience of mechanics. I will be found in the waiting room drinking coffee generally.

if possible I send my Dad anyway.

I can drive anything, including DP's transit. I do like to practice manoevering somewhere quiet until I'm comfortable reversing it etc, every car is different.

I'm amazed at how often people with things like Porsche Cayennes have clearly not bothered to even try to learn how to parallel park, reverse and so on with their tank car. Quite a few men, as well as women.

YANBU - but, on average, men have better spacial awareness than women so they are probably better at manoeuvring cars. They are more dangerous drivers than women because, on average, they take more risks and drive more quickly.

Of course you should not be patronised or overcharged because you're a women.

And last time I let a garage man reverse my car he smashed the rear light cluster, and they took a month to get round to replacing it.

Considering that recently they have manufactured laptops and pens especially for us girlies, maybe they should bring out cars designed for girlies (pink and fluffy with controls that don't chip our nail polish) - then we wouldn't have to worry our pretty little heads about such things :)

I really wish I could say YANBU, but I very much welcome man help when it comes to car stuff.

Sorry!

It does work both ways though. I still remember the look of shock on a salesmans face when I beat him down to a stupid price for the car after he'd suggested DH came to look at it with me.

DH came, kicked the tyres and told me he didn't like the colour :)

I've mostly found the opposite, since getting a "big" car. Garage automatically assumes if I have this car, I can drive it, reverse it, park it, retrieve it from the "top corner" when I collect if after a service etc. I use two garages, and both talk to me about problems etc, describing in amazing depth what, why and where (some of which goes straight over my head).

Rescue services have been surprised when I've had to phone them, that I know what the problem is, and how/if it can be solved at the roadside. I was though, highly miffed at one call centre chap who took my details, wanted to know if my husband was available for him to talk to, copied down what I told him, but when assistance guy arrived and he showed me the notes it was full of "member CLAIMS ..., and question marks re the fault". NB. Husband was not available (and had he had been I would have hit him with the tools that he had left me - he had borrowed part of the tool kit and not returned it, so though I knew what the problem was, I couldn't fix it!), and assistance guy agreed with my diagnosis, and took my instruction when I advised him what and how to fix the problem.

On the other hand, I've noticed that people with smaller cars can seem to panic when I come nose to nose with them on a single track road, and leave it to me to do the manoeuvring to get past them, while they sit there, panicked rabbit in their eyes, holding the steering wheel for grim death!

Oh heck, I look "capable", don't I?