What You Do (and Don’t) Have to Know About Cars

We don’t have to know everything about cars in order to drive them. That doesn’t mean we should remain totally ignorant, though. When we learn to drive, we learn the really basic stuff, like the difference between the gas pedal and the brake pedal, and how and when to use a turn signal, and even things like how to fuel up a car with gasoline, since that’s not something that everyone knows how to do immediately. If we didn’t know those things, it would be pretty hard to drive a car safely and responsibly. But that’s the bare minimum of knowledge we need. There’s other stuff that’s very useful to know about, and then there’s stuff that we probably don’t need to concern ourselves with unless it really interests us anyway.

Know how to change a tire

If you get a flat tire, do you know how to change it? If not, you should try and learn. Ask a friend or family member to show you, and then attempt to do it yourself. It can be a really helpful skill to learn, because if you get stranded on the side of the road with a flat, you may not have the time or energy to wait for a repair service to come out and change the tire for you. Don’t listen to the stereotype about how car repairs are “men’s work.” Women are by no means too weak or feeble to jack up a car and change a tire. Just make sure you’re doing it in a safe place. The shoulder of a busy highway is not ideal, but if you have no choice, make sure your hazard lights are on.

You should also know how to check your car’s oil. Have you ever gone to an oil change place and told your car is “off the stick?” That’s not fancy car repairmen slang; it means your dipstick doesn’t have any oil on it. That’s not good. Checking your dipstick takes just a couple of minutes, but it’s worth a lot as far as peace of mind goes.

Feel free to ask questions when you’re getting your car serviced, too, regardless of if the service is taking place at your dealership or at Bubba’s Repair Shop down the street.

Stuff that’s not as important

Hey, did you know about the perforated tubing that’s used to build some vehicles? You didn’t? Well, you can learn about it if you want, because that stuff can be interesting and is essential to car structure. But you don’t need to be able to talk about it to drive your car. It’s not something they’re going to ask you about the next time to visit the Department of Motor Vehicles to renew your driver’s license.

Similarly, you also don’t need to be able to draw a diagram of your car’s internal combustion engine (unless you’re studying to be an auto mechanic or something). We use a lot of things every day without being able to explain how they work in vivid detail. You don’t have to know how to code to use your laptop, for instance. That doesn’t mean coding or advanced auto repair can’t be useful skills. They’re just not necessary for most people.