Cake and cars - both came under the fairer sex's inspection at last night's vehicle seminar. Women of all ages gathered at Taradale Vehicle Testing New Zealand (VTNZ) for a free 90-minute skills session covering basic vehicle maintenance. Station manager Peter Ellis said the first 45 minutes focused on simple quality checkswomen could do before taking their car for a warrant of fitness. This included checking the functioning of lights, window wipers and washers. The group then learnt the "how to's" of a car - including changing a tyre or lightbulb and jump-starting a vehicle. Mr Ellis said the night was aimed at giving women the confidence to fix basic vehicle faults they might not have otherwise attempted. Napier woman Vanessa Rae said the evening was "excellent" and a great learning opportunity. "It wasn't intimidating at all," she said. "We learnt heaps of things, like changing a lightbulb is so simple I couldn't believe it." As well as vehicle maintenance, the 17 women were given tips on what to look for in a good mechanic, something many of them had asked about. Ms Rae said she would "definitely" attend if another information evening was held. The initiative arose after a suggestion from a female customer that the station hold a women's information night. "I was quite surprised at the amount of feedback and how many people inquired and put their names down for it," Mr Ellis said. But the blokes had a lesson to learn at break time, with the women judging a cake competition between Mr Ellis and his supervisor, Charles George. "He made a chocolate one and I did a carrot cake," Mr Ellis said, adding with a laugh that it was a fair skills swap. "They're learning something about cars and they can teach us about cakes." While the competition was a tie-breaker, each woman left at the end of the night with a goodie bag containing pens, a mug, keyring, dustcloth and a $5 warrant discount. Mr Ellis said they would consider holding another information evening in the future. "The ladies mentioned having another one," he said. "There were so many questions and they showed that much interest."
