Our entire family learned a lot through this experience.
A couple of years ago, Brandon left work early in his casual office clothing and took his car in to a local mechanic to have an estimate on getting the work done for him. The mechanic did not know Brandon already had diagnosed the problem, knew the cost of the part, and had the knowledge and skill to do the work himself. Between college and work, Brandon simply did not have the time to perform the repair, so he was willing to pay to have it done.
The mechanic came back with an entire list of things that were "wrong" including some parts that had been replaced a month earlier. That told Brandon the man had not even looked hard at his car since the new parts were easy to distinguish. Needless to say, the estimate was very high and included a lot of work that did not need to be done.
Brandon came home and relayed the experience. Clint, in his stained work clothes, took the car to the same mechanic shortly after Brandon had. It was the same car, same list of symptoms, same mechanic. This time, there was only one part that needed to be replaced, and the estimate was very reasonable.
Amanda was outraged at the difference and wondered aloud how much more they would have tried to deceive her because of her gender.
Now you know the reason behind her motivation to learn how to repair her own cars. So, she is giving up her free time and suffering through bad weather and failures to teach herself the skill of auto repair. "I have to drive a car my whole life. I need to know how to care for it."
