Cars. A Woman's Guide On How To Buy and Maintain your Vehicle. (Part 2 - Picking The Right Car For You)

Did you know that there are over 47 vehicle manufacturers in the United States alone? That doesn't include any motorcycle only manfacturers, ATV's or Scooters. So why are there so many people out there driving cars they don't really like? This section is the basic steps on how to pick out the car that YOU should be driving.

The first peice of advice that I like to give everyone, before they purchase anything, is buy a car that you like, emotionally. That ranges anywhere from looks to the seats. That way, when it breaks down on you, and it will, they all do, otherwise people like me wouldn't be needed, you wont be mad at it, and will trust it, after it's been repaired.

Do your research and know what is out there. Start planning to buy a car a year or more in advance. Pick a size car and look at EVERY car on the market that size. Then look at at size bigger and a size smaller. Look at all of the options that all of those cars can give you. Maybe it's REALLY important to you that you have iPod integration. Or maybe you have to have lighted mirrors. There is a reason that there are so many kinds of cars out there. Everyone wants and needs something different. What works for your neighbor probably wont work for you. Narrow it down to about 5 cars from that point and then go onto the next step.

Now go test drive! Those 5 cars that you have on your list all need to be test drove. Drive them in all engine sizes, with different transmission styles (if you can), and drive them with different options. With the way that cars are made now a days, there's no reason, other than people getting tired of it, or wrecking it, that you cant have a car for 10+ years and over 200,000+ miles. Take someone with you and ask them to take notes for you as you're driving. That way, when you're narrowing down your options, you can make a good pro's and con's list. This process of driving all of your different cars can take a long time. Don't try to get it all done at once or even in a short period of time.

One of the biggest things that I have to remind people, is to have an open mind! American cars are not the oil dripping, gas guzzling monsters anymore, and foriegn cars are not the be all and end all. There's no reason that you should be limiting yourself to one of the other or to one specific brand. There have been some american cars that I'd rather drive than a BMW, depending on the application and what I'm driving them for. And there have been times where all I wanted was a BMW for what I was doing. It all depends on the person and their needs.

Remember, as a general rule that the more expensive the car, the most maintence and repairs are going to be. Make sure that it is something in your budget when you're purchasing the car.  I'll talk about this later, and more in depth, but you can't over maitence a car.  Its something that is very important if you want your vehicle to last.

Cars. A Woman's Guide On How To Buy and Maintain your Vehicle. (Part 1 - Introduction)

Let me start off with a little bit about myself. My name is Ashley, and I am a certified ASE Mechanic. Usually when I say that to other women, I get a "Oh cool!" or and "Oh wow!", and while I appreciate it, I really just picked a career that I loved and I was always good at working with things with my hands, so it made sense. I worked for a very large Ford dealership as a diesel mechanic, a service writer, and as a central dispatcher. They realized that I had more talent than just working on trucks, but that I was pretty good with people and computers as well. Since working there, I've working the transportation/service industry in some capacity the rest of my career. Currently, I am working for a speed shop that sells parts. Too me, it is the pinacle of the car industry. Making things go fast in what I got into for in the first place!

I am not like the standard mechanic though. I went to school, and graduated with high honors with a certificate in Automotive Technology. Transmissions and Drivablity/Diganostics being my strong subjects. My love and passion was Transmission work and my money making ability was in Drivablity/Diagnostic (You know, that irritating check engine light, that always seems to cost you at least $200 every time you take it in. That's Drivablity/Diagnostic work).

When I graduated Tech school, my Mom asked me to write an article for her, on how to work with dealerships and what, in reality, do you need to do to your car and how to not to get dupped, and every time I sat down to write it, it ended up this monster on how to buy a car, how to service it, how to budget for it, and I went "bah, thats not what she wanted", and I would delete it. So, I decided to write a full article, and you can pick and chose which parts you want to read. Now mind you, I am not the be all, and end of how to get things done in a dealership/shop. All of them work different, so there are little tricks to each dealership that there's no way that I would be able to advice you for your home town. That being said, this will be a general guideline, starting at how to pick out the right car for you, to how to buy that car, how to deal with the salesmen, and then how to deal with the service industry and warranty issues after you've purchased the car.

After you've read (and i've written) the entire article, please, feel free to email me with any questions that you have (ashleyjadeing@gmail.com). This article is really targeted towards women that feel like they get taken advantage of by the automotive service industry. Every time my mom or my sister take their cars in, before they buy anything, they call me, because they want to make sure that the mechanic is being honest with them. And while I dont have the ability to go in and double check their diagnosis, I will be able to tell them if what they are saying is plausable or not. That being said, this article isn't meant only for women. I hope men get something out of it as well. The biggest pain in the butt customer, for an honest mechanic (which I am/was), is a know-it-all, man. So please, if you're a man, reading this article, please, take this to heart. A know-it-all man, that thinks he knows better than the mechanic will NOT get the best service. I'll repeat this at some point in the article I am sure, but I wanted to put it out there first. You're more likely to get dupped than a woman who doesn't know anything about her car other than when you put it in P it goes forward.

"I just try to concentrate on concentrating." ~Martina Navratilova

Ok, seriously, thats where I'm at right now. I just wish that I could focus on one thought.

I really want a job working with dogs. Any animal would be ok, but it sure would be nice to do something for a living with dogs. I really think that I'd like to become a police officer, and to be very honest, I think that I'd be pretty good at it, but I'm too old and too fat. The fat part I could work on, but at 25, aren't I too late to start that? I'd really like to be a K9 officer, but from what I understand, it's kind of like going into the millitary. You get to be a grunt until that spot opens up, and then you can slide into it. Blah.

On the topic of being fat. I am working so hard at losing weight and I sure wish that it paid off fast. I'm losing, dont get me wrong, but it seems to happen so freakin slow! I know, i know, the doctors told me the same thing. You didn't put the weight on over night, it's not going to come off over night, but damnit, it sure is a LOT less fun losing it, than it was gaining it. I miss my pastries and my cookies! If anyone local knows of a good trainer that is relativley inexpensive, I'd LOVE to talk to them. Would also be willing to barter work. I can work on cars, i can train dogs, I can work on computers. It just seems like the people's skills that I need never seem to need my skills! lol.

I'd also really like to go back to college and get an actual degree. I know, i know. I have a certificate from a votech school. It's not the same. I worked my ass off my deans list/honors/best of the best certificates from LTI, but it's not the same as a degree. It sure seems like that little piece of paper holds me back from a lot. People wont even consider talking to me if I dont have one. And they dont even care what your degree is in. They just want you to have one. It sure seems like life experience doesn't count for a whole lot now a days. I learned more in the past two years from life experience than I did from my two years in college. There a lot of jobs, that I really think that I'd be good at, that say "need BS" or "need 4 year degree", and I just pass over them, because jobs like that dont even bother calling me in for an interview. It's like I am at the worst possible age to get a job without a degree. I am too young to have experience to compensate for it, and I am too old to go back to school, because i have a family to support. It sucks.

Beyond all that, I am getting sick and it sucks. I really wish that I could curl up on the floor with my dog under my desk (yeah, i love being able to bring my dog into work with me) and snore with her.

Welcome!!

Welcome everyone to my blog! This is going to be about everything going on in mine and my family's life. Hopefully I'm not too boring!