Melissa Hannan is a mechanic aiming to teach other women about their vehicles. Photo: Screenshot / 1 News / Seven Sharp
Many people don't really know what's going on under the bonnet of their car but learning basic skills like changing oil or a tyre can save both time and money.
Melissa Hannan is a mechanic who is running classes for women and girls keen to learn about their vehicles.
She told First Up she had heard many stories of women being ripped off by mechanics, and didn't see any classes out there for people to learn the basics of car maintenance.
"My friends and flatmates always asked me to check their oil, change their wiper blades, pump up their tyres - so it just made me realise that there's nothing out there to kind of help everyone learn about these basics."
Hannan said she wanted to come up with something "fun and enjoyable" where women would feel comfortable and could come to learn about vehicle maintenance.
"So I've seen ladies' nights at building places like Mitre 10 and that, so I wanted to do something fun for vehicle maintenance."
Many people heavily rely on their cars for everyday commuting so it was important to know how to maintain a car and keep it running, she said.
"Or even if you were to break down on the side of the road and having to change a spare wheel or something like that, that's pretty important," she said.
"So just being able to maintain vehicle [is] just going to make it last."
Female mechanic on empowering women on car maintenance
Asked whether the squeak ever went away by itself, Hannan replied "a little bit of CRC goes a long way sometimes".
Hannan said her interest in cars started when she did a mechanic's class at school and then did work experience at a workshop one day a week while she was still at school.
"After that year my boss approached me and asked me if I wanted to take on an apprenticeship - yeah so that was 16, 17 years ago now, so I've been in the trade for quite a while."
The job suits her well, she said.
"I absolutely love it and I wouldn't change it for anything, I love being hands on and I love getting involved with vehicles.
"I believe that more girls should get involved with trades, whether it be mechanics or panel beating or painting or something along those lines."
Hannan said she is based in Christchurch but was travelling around New Zealand with the classes which have a maximum of eight women per course and last two-and-a-half to three hours.
"So I try to do one town each month and I'll run about two classes in a day if I'm travelling. So I'm off to Auckland this weekend where I'll run two classes on Saturday and then I'm off down to Dunedin where I'll run two classes."
Hannan said she still worked fulltime but was trying to run a couple of classes each month where she taught women the 10 basics of the vehicle which include checking and topping up engine oil, coolant and the fluids under the bonnet, as well as checking the air filter, changing the light bulbs, wiper blades, checking tyre pressures, as well as jacking up and changing a wheel.
"So for them it's just about having the knowledge about their car, the knowledge to kind of go into a workshop and be more confident about it, or just being able to take care of their car.
"There's so many people out there that have never pumped up their tyres, you know you hear so many stories of people have never checked their oil before, so it's just being able to teach them the basics."
Hannan said she has had great feedback from those who participate in her courses.
"I've had ladies who give me gifts, people like to give me a hug before they leave and kind messages, they just walk away feeling so empowered and confident and just that little bit of knowledge really goes a long way."
The course ends with a tyre change competition, she said.
"I do a little time trial time to make it a little bit fun where the ladies get to jack up a car and remove a wheel and it just takes the pressure off them, if they were to break down on the side of a road they've done it before so they know what they're doing."
Everyone who's done the class has done it in under four minutes. "It really shows how quick something like that is."