Lack of knowledge shows car maintenance gender divide

Women could potentially be putting themselves at risk due to a lack of simple car maintenance knowledge according to new research.

Admiral commissioned YouGov to survey 3,120 drivers for its Admiral Survey of UK Motorists and found that around one in six (17%) women don't know how to change a wheel, check their oil level, their tyre pressure, their tyre tread depths or their coolant levels. That compares to just 1 in 25 men (4%). Men are more than twice as likely as women to know how to change a wheel and one and a half times as likely to know how to check their tyre tread depths.
 
The full comparison of what car maintenance tasks men and women know how to do is as follows:

Men – Women

Change a wheel 78% 34%

Check oil level 91% 76%

Check tyre pressure 91% 67%

Check tyre tread depths 83% 54%

Check coolant level 85% 59%

None of these 4% 17%

Women at both ends of the age scale appear to have the least knowledge, whereas for men, knowledge tends to increase the older they get. Almost a quarter (24%) of women aged 18-24 don't know how to carry out any of the above car maintenance tasks compared to 10% of men the same age. A fifth of women aged 55 and over lack simple car maintenance knowledge compared to just 1% of men the same age.
 
Admiral managing director, Sue Longthorn, commented, "Making sure your car is in a roadworthy condition is vital to it performing as it should do. It's worrying to see that such a number of women, particularly young women, don't know how to carry out simple and essential checks on their vehicles. Tyres without the required level of tread are not only illegal, but also very dangerous, particularly as we move into autumn with leaves falling onto roads."

For more information, visit admiral.com.