Women who turn to men for car-care advice may not be getting good counsel as often as they think. A national survey sponsored by Jiffy Lube found that while 69 percent of men and 64 percent of women think men know more than women on the subject, their responses to basic car-care questions tell a somewhat different story.
When asked where a vehicle’s proper tire-inflation pressure information is located, 67 percent of men and 45 percent of women said on the tires’ sidewalls. In fact, that’s wrong. “Proper tire pressure is vehicle-specific,” Ferner said. “Tire sidewalls list the maximum pressure recommended by the tire manufacturer. Proper tire pressure information for a vehicle is found on a decal typically in the vehicle’s door jamb or in the vehicle owner’s manual.” Twenty-two percent of women — more than the 16 percent of men — realized the correct tire pressure is not on the tire sidewall, wheel rim or wheel well.
Two-thirds (67 percent) of men and 46 percent of women incorrectly assumed simply switching from conventional engine oil to synthetic oil enables the number of miles between oil changes to be safely extended. “Switching from conventional to synthetic oil is not an automatic license to extend a vehicle’s oil-change interval,” said Ferner. “The vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations and the conditions in which you drive are also important. Most vehicle owners’ manuals list two oil change intervals — one for normal driving and the other for severe driving. If you idle excessively, or often drive in stop-and-go traffic or extreme weather conditions, your vehicle is likely a candidate for the severe service schedule.”
The normal life expectancy for many windshield wiper blades is six to 12 months. While about half of the men and women polled (54 percent and 49 percent) knew this, nearly 40 percent of them (39 percent and 38 percent) answered anywhere from one to five years. “Many drivers don’t think about the condition of their wiper blades until they’re caught in foul weather,” said Ferner. “Checking and replacing them as needed could improve visibility to avoid a very dangerous situation out on the road.”
About half of men and women (50 percent and 48 percent) knew under- inflated tires, a dirty air filter, incorrect wheel alignment, and even a loose gasoline cap can all reduce gas mileage. Independent studies suggest that maintaining proper tire pressure and replacing a clogged air filter can save an average of 10 cents and 29 cents per gallon of gasoline, based on a per-gallon price of $2.90. “Avoiding fast starts and stops, speeding, and excessive idling can also help you get more miles out of every gallon of gasoline,” Ferner said.
Men fared significantly better than women on only a few other car-care questions. Forty-seven percent of men versus 27 percent of women knew cabin air filters clean the air passengers breathe. “Many vehicles on the road today are equipped with cabin air filters that need periodic replacement — and many drivers don’t know it,” said Ferner. “Many vehicle owners’ manuals list how often a cabin air filter should be replaced.”
Seventy eight percent of men versus 56 percent of women knew the primary purpose of antifreeze/coolant was to help control the temperature of a vehicle’s engine. “Antifreeze/coolant also remains liquid in cold temperatures to help protect the engine during extreme-cold starts,” Ferner said. “Servicing your vehicle’s cooling system according to your vehicle manufacturer’s recommendations can really help you avoid costly repairs down the line.”
05/11, 8:11 PM
posted by:
John
THIS IS A LIE! ALL LIES!
Actuall women know far more than men do. That’s why women always ask men for help. It’s their humorous entertainment of the day to laugh at some poor knucklehead having to talk out of his ass. So the next time you see a woman on the street looking for help, don’t be the fool!
05/11, 8:14 PM
posted by:
Scott
I don’t think I agree with that ^
05/11, 8:20 PM
posted by:
sean
I just couldn’t finish reading this survey. I assumed that the questions were going to be bias to JIFFY LUBE’s results, and I am happy to say that I don’t think I am wrong.
We’re all suppose to do A LOT of things, but just don’t.
05/11, 9:10 PM
posted by:
Anonymous
this is bull ****. women can’t even change a tyre with out help
05/11, 10:10 PM
posted by:
Madcapp
I once ran into a woman at a gas station that needed my help because she couldn’t figure out how to put gas in her Volkswagen Cabriolet.
05/11, 11:26 PM
posted by:
Edward
BS!
My roommate (female) once woke me up at 7:30AM telling me that she had a flat tire. She asked me if she was “supposed to call somebody or something.” VERBATIM! After changing her tire, I realized I should have told her, “Yeah. Go look in the phonebook for ‘flat tire repair’.”
05/11, 11:47 PM
posted by:
David
“Yes ma’am, that’ll be $240.00 for changing your alternator fluid. Plus $50.00 for shop supplies, of course.”
05/12, 12:02 AM
posted by:
steve
People as a whole seem to be getting more and more negligent in proper car care.
05/12, 7:49 AM
posted by:
JohnnyBlazE
agreed with steve. i wish i could fix my own car. Things used to be more mech, less tech, and people could do a LOT more DIY car repairs. People are losing these skills quickly… it’s a shame – as a car nut I am disappointed in myself too.
05/12, 8:04 AM
posted by:
TW
For those of us that have laptop computers it would be nice if programs were available that could be “plugged” into our respective cars so we could at least monitor whats going on. There are are many very powerful programs out there availble to us for a variety of things other than cars. Why not automotive programs for the owner also?
05/12, 8:35 AM
posted by:
Madcapp
Goot thinking TW, you’re just 17 years late to the party because the universal management system is called OBD, now in its second generation called OBDII starting in 1996. The third generation is in final development and testing right now. You can get software and a OBD connector for your computer all over the internet. I thought this was a forum for people tho were automotive enthusiasts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Board_Diagnostics
05/12, 8:40 AM
posted by:
JohnnyBlazE
What Madcapp said
05/12, 8:55 AM
posted by:
Madcapp
Oh,its worth mentioning that OBD3, when it arrives, uses telemetry. So your car and every trip you take will be tracked and recorded for the rest of time, you could theoretically be issued speeding tickets in the mail based on recorded data from your vehicle speed sensor, or if you were being chased by the police, they could simply call in your license plate number and shut down your car down by sattelite. Interesting world we live in.
05/12, 10:08 AM
posted by:
A. J. Viggen
Yeah, funny how so many of the “right” answers in this quiz involved buying more of the products and services that Jiffy Lube just happens to sell…
05/12, 2:08 PM
posted by:
JohnnyBlazE
Madcapp – and as with all things technological, there will be workarounds… eventually.
05/12, 5:41 PM
posted by:
Tony Brown
This is a really weird quote
“Antifreeze/coolant also remains liquid in cold temperatures to help protect the engine during extreme-cold starts,� Ferner said.
it doesn’t really help with the extreme cold starts as much as the extreme cold sits.
The only things that help cold starts are some way of getting heat into the engine or some way to get the oil moving prior to cranking. For all the engine knows, on startup, there is no cooling system.
little dissapointed in LLN for lettting that slip, expecialy on a topic about car know-how
kinda funny when you think about it
05/13, 3:27 AM
posted by:
Ben
“When asked where a vehicle’s proper tire-inflation pressure information is located, 67 percent of men and 45 percent of women said on the tires’ sidewalls. In fact, that’s wrong. ”
That’s wrong. Different tires require different pressures. If you run a normal all terrain tire on your truck then the 30psi or so that is on the label on the car may be fine but change to a bias ply swamper and you may be running 15 or even lower psi on the street.
05/16, 5:51 PM
posted by:
Tyson S.
“That’s wrong. Different tires require different pressures. If you run a normal all terrain tire on your truck then the 30psi or so that is on the label on the car may be fine but change to a bias ply swamper and you may be running 15 or even lower psi on the street.”
well there is always exceptions for everything, but for a MAJORITY of all cars, the weight of the car/truck on street tires decifers what the psi should be in the tire.
“THIS IS A LIE! ALL LIES!”
i call a HUGE BS!!! sure, there are quite a few women that know how to change their tire, or even check their oil if they so wanted, but as a majority, women dont know. dont mean to burst your bubble. and if what you say is true, then i’d like you to prove me otherwise.
05/17, 2:15 PM
posted by:
RangeRoverBoy
Inflate to 100psi and go.
Great gas mileage!
The Door sticker only gives you proper inflation for stock tires, they have no idea what we off road maniacs are going to try to mount on the rig.
It took one of my buddies two weeks of adjusting air pressure in 37″ GY M/TR’s to suit his 1993 Range Rover. No factory numbers there, since it came with 205/80r16 (between 28 and 29 inch) tires.