Now, where’s that engine?

Does your dad know best when it comes to advice about cars?

A recent survey by tyre retailer ATS Euromaster suggests that one in four motorists, and it doesn’t say how old they are or whether they are male or female drivers, will turn to dad for advice if they have a motoring problem.

Hmmm! Lucky you if you’ve got such a dad.

I remember a time when my dad had taken me and my little sister on a trip to visit our granny in Yeovil. He was going through his hippy phase and had bought a rusty old VW Camper van for his travels.

We just about got to granny’s alright, but when he went to start the van for a day trip it just wouldn’t get going.

I’ll never forget it…Me and my granny stood at the kitchen window – washing up, naturally; we would never spy on dad – and watched as he set about the repairs.

First of all it took him ten minutes to realise the engine was at the back. He had struggled and struggled to get the grill off the front of the van, when he suddenly deduced that there just wasn’t enough room there for an engine anyway.

Yet, once he actually found the engine-bay, it was even funnier watching him attempt to fix it.

It went something like this:

• Stare intently at engine
• Wiggle something vaguely attached to engine
• Stand back, scratch head
• Attempt to start engine
• No sign of life…Repeat steps one to four

This little process went on for nearly fifteen minutes and granny and I had never laughed so hard, but eventually she took pity on my dad and called her neighbour’s son who owned a garage in the village. He fixed the van in less time than it took my dad to wash his hands…and we never spoke of it again.

Ha ha!

So if you’ve got a dad who knows what he’s doing when it comes to car repairs, car insurance, route planning and all things driving related, I suggest you cherish him, because you never know when you’ll need him.  

Labels: car insurance, female drivers