Women uncomfortable when dealing with garages

The IMI, the professional body for the UK motor industry, is launching a campaign to give woman clearer guidelines and information about maintaining their cars following a survey that showed that woman are reticent about dealing with motor repair and service garages.

The recent IMI survey, carried out by Vital Research & Statistics, found that women are reluctant to go to a professional technician because of worries about spiralling costs and not knowing what they were being charged for. Worrying for the trade is that 17% of women felt that they had been overcharged in the past.

A quarter of women drivers admit to never having their car serviced by a professional mechanic. They only deal with problems when they show up on their MoT. Added to that, around 70% of women drivers said that they were reluctant to deal with garages because they were not comfortable with the atmosphere and felt unable to ask questions because they lack the expertise to know whether they are being spun a yarn.

The IMI’s campaign will address all of these issues to help women care for their cars by giving them the knowledge to deal confidently with garages. They will also be directed to skilled and trustworthy technicians in their local area through the online IMI Professional Register at www.imiregister.org.uk. This register will be advertised in women’s magazines and on Mumsnet and the adverts will link to a series of videos featuring registered technician, Vicky Kempton, and the BBC’s Formula 1 presenter, Suzi Perry.

IMI Chief Executive, Steve Nash believes that there is a massive knowledge gap between the professional and the customer and, unfortunately, there is no Government protection for when things go wrong. Nash claims that “the IMI Professional Register is the only way consumers can be sure they’re choosing a skilled and trustworthy technician to work on their car.”