AIBU to think they NEED to teach car maintenance at school?

[MeMyCatsAndMyBooks]

Today my car tyre popped on a piece of metal left in the middle of the road, and I had no idea what to do.
I've been driving since I was 17 and I'm in my 30s and never had an accident touch wood or anything wrong with my tyres.
I instantly panicked as it happened in the middle of a giant hill and knew I couldn't do it there, thankfully a really kind man ran out and helped it be pushed to the side & changed my tyre for me.

I had no idea how to do it, or what a space saver tyre really was! Luckily I got it home driving very slowly & onto my drive and have my breakdown cover coming out next week to change the tyre.
But I just had no idea about any of it. Im aware I sound like a helpless woman, but im usually quite independent but this knocked me for six!

AIBU to think they need to teach car maintenance in school rather than pushing maths (which lets face it isn't anywhere as important) onto students till they turn 18?

It is very physical changing a tyre, DH has done it several times and also changed the caravan tyres, it doesn't look like a job I would easily be able to do so I would call the AA or equivalent or of course, DH😁

The modern car my dd bought last week doesn't have a spare tyre, it has a tin of stuff to fill the tyre until she can get to a garage for a new tyre.

I can't believe you are waiting until next week rather than put the spare on and take it to Kwik fit or local garage for a new one!

This is the most rediculius “schools should teach…” thread that I’ve ever seen, and there have been many!

What else don’t you know how to do because school didn’t teach you? Cut your hair? Make puff pastry? Book a holiday?

It's probably worth getting some Holts tyreweld to keep in the boot, places like Asda and Tesco sell it, it's about £10

Changing a tire isn't hard though.
Mine went and I read the car handbook, used Google and changed it myself.
Took it to my dad after to double check if I'd done it right but if I couldn't go to him I'd go to a garage.

Car wheels are quite heavy and a bit grubby, it's not really a job I would want to do, that is why I have the rescue service or DH to do it.

YABU. Driving is not a mandatory skill/interest, home maintenance is and yet many people live well by paying someone else to do it for them.

If anything, children should be encouraged to use car alternative.

We got a puncture 2 hours from home (and DH). My 12 year old changed the wheel and we were on our way in about 30 mins.

I couldn’t imagine being so utterly beholden to others for something I can do myself. (I also reworded my first house age 20.)

*re-wired

No schools shouldn't teach this. If you own a car, you should learn the basics, either via a friend or parent. If you have neither of these, then YouTube has great videos. You can't expect school to teach every life lesson.

How do you check your oil levels and similar if getting a bit grubby is such sale issue.

Absolutely no way would I change a wheel on my car. Even if I knew how to do it. That's what I pay the RAC for!

Um, no.

Not everyone wants to drive. And if they do they can learn it themselves.

Basic car maintenance is really quite easy. Just learn how to look after your car. So odd that people rely on their husband’s to do basic care of a vehicle.

My friend is an ex mechanical engineer. He doesn't even look under his car bonnet and waits till the screen wash is actually empty and has to buy the expensive stuff at motorway services. And also never checks his tyre pressure. 🙄

No.
They can't even teach the core subjects these days. Classes are massive, discipline is not allowed. Teachers are overworked.

With proper breakdown cover, they'll come out to wherever you are and change it for you.

Plus some machines screw the wheel on with such tightness that you can't get it off easily by yourself, even if you know how to change the tyre.

You could enroll on a car maintenance course. It's certainly not for ridiculously overstretched schools to do.

No.

I'm a teacher and the amount of times I've been told what "should" be on the curriculum is shocking. I usually smile and nod or make non committal noises. Also if I took every suggestion on board I might as well just move the 30 kids into my house and raise them alongside my own children.

The only time I actually bit was when I was at a friend's hen party and a hen was really on one about going to university at 19 and not knowing how to change a duvet a cover and how it should have been taught to her at school. She kept asking me over and over why this wasn't taught at school.

School has a lot to do outside of the traditional subjects these days and rightly so. However some life skills should be taught by parents/guardians. Yes I know some children will not have appropriate support at home and they should be identified and supported by a range of services.

But I'd be pretty miffed if my child came home and precious school time had been spent teaching them how to change a tyre, clean a bathroom, change a duvet etc when these are things we will be teaching our children at home.

PS my dad made me learn how to change a tyre when I was learning to drive but it didn't help me anyway because both times I've had a flat tyre i didn't have the physical strength to loosen the bolts and had to rely on the breakdown service or passe

Actually to be fair to the op car maintenance was taught when I was at school.
However, it was only taught to boys and only those in the lower sets. The same as typing was taught only to girls and only those in the lower sets.
I wish I had done car maintenance, it would have come in handy. Not everybody has parents to help them.
My dcs were taught something like life skills. Dd who is very clever said she found it very useful.

I don't check anything, the car is serviced and if anything needs doing in the interim it would go to the garage, if the oil was low the light would come on and it would mean there was something wrong with it as it would be losing oil. I have got a pump in the boot to check my tyre pressures if the light came on. You would only need to check your oil if you had an old banger and the head gasket had gone or something like that.

If you think it should be a compulsory taught skill surely that should be part of learner lessons and/or part of the driving test somehow.

I'm just picturing taking out my year 11 pshe class to my micra in the staff carpark. I'd have to clean it first!

I don't have a spare tyre, nor do I know how to change one. I had a tyre blow on a motorway and even if I did know how to change one I'd have been too scared to do that on the hard shoulder. I don't mind paying for roadside assistance and I'm not rolling in money.

Even DH who used to do all his own brakes and clutch changing and rebuild engines doesn't even check his oil nowadays

For goodness sake. Schools have enough to get through. You can learn this yourself or you can do what most drivers do and pay a breakdown service. Do you want schools to teach you how to change a lightbulb to or how to wash your windows? I don't know how to change a tyre myself but wouldn't for one second wonder why school hadn't taught me. Schools don't have mechanics or car experts on staff and don't have the time to spare on crap like this.

Why? Secondary school kids can't drive.

Learning car maintenance is down to the individual when they learn to drive. Let's not give our school teachers yet another thing to do!

This one was down to you.

completely agree with poster - yanbu. This is a useful life skill and even if someone doesnt drive they will almost always be a passenger in a car. Schools should teach more life skills and its shocking they dont. And for those that argue that you can pay a mechanic to sort you out or not every student drives so it's not relevant, well the vast majority of students dont go on to need chemistry or history or religious studies in their future life. And you can pay someone to do any of the work related to traditional school subjects if need be. A few more to add to the life skills list: household maintenance, financial management, first aid and self defence.

It’s actually really hard to get wheel nuts off when they’ve been professionally put on

Then they’re far from professional! They should be nipped up then torqued to manufacture’s spec using a torque wrench. If you’re struggling to undo them then they’ve been over tightened by an absolute cowboy. One of the reasons I do most of my own work is so that I know it’s been done properly. Anyone can open a garage and set themselves up as a mechanic with no formal qualifications.