cover image Dare to Repair Your Car: A Do-It-Herself Guide to Maintenance, Safety, Minor Fix-Its, and Talking Shop

Dare to Repair Your Car: A Do-It-Herself Guide to Maintenance, Safety, Minor Fix-Its, and Talking Shop

Julie Sussman, Stephanie Glakas-Tenet. Harper Paperbacks, $14.95 (352pp) ISBN 978-0-06-057700-1

Can-do authors Sussman and Glasak-Tenet follow up their best selling Dare to Repair, a home repair manual, with a female-friendly guide to proper care and maintenance for a woman's second home: her car. This comprehensive, smartly written guide urges women to ""take a proactive approach to maintaining your car rather than the typical reactive approach."" Knowing that some readers won't be willing or able to tinker around under the hood, the authors include both do-it-yourself and do-it-for-me solutions. Beginning with the basics (how to read the car manual, how to open the hood) and explaining every system of the car with clear illustrations and understandable, if unavoidably dry, text, the book excels at breaking down common repairs and basic maintenance, such as changing tires, oil and brake fluid. The perfect size to fit in the glove compartment, this easy-to-read primer is for anyone-regardless of gender-looking to cut down on repair bills or feel more at ease when dealing with mechanics.