As long as I’ve been driving, I have been locked in a struggle with my car. My beaters have stalled out, erupted coolant, leaked, squealed and haunted my nightmares. I’ll admit, the ceaseless cycle of break downs broke me down to the point I became apathetic to my car. Right now, on the precipice of replacing my ride, I found an invaluable guide for the road ahead.
Chaya Milchtein’s “Mechanic Shop Femme’s Guide to Car Ownership” helped me reset a decade of bad habits with the education and empowerment to do better. The quick read left me with more insight on my vehicle than I had generated in the past decade. Milchtein, an automotive educator, combines expertise, personal perspectives and plain language into an approachable overview of a car’s life. For those like me, ignorant and almost afraid of their car, and those who have been intentionally dispossessed from car ownership, the book offers friendly guidance.
Milchtein’s journey underpins her advice and advocacy. As a queer child in foster care, her first car was a tool for economic freedom. From there, Milchtein used her experience in automotive repair to help not just people like her, but anyone who could use some roadside guidance. For the past eight years, she has been working as an automotive educator, most recently running a TikTok page with 596.1K followers. She focuses on bringing queer people, women, and other marginalized groups into the fold of car ownership by demystifying the automobile.
Anecdotes from the author and her clients makes the book read more like self-help than automotive manual manual. The narrative framing vulnerably explores the emotions tied up in car ownership along with mechanical specifics. As I learned about my car, it was like I was receiving the affirmation that everyone struggles with their car and that anyone has the power to take car of themselves and their ride. Additionally, the stories also break up a frankly dense collection of information.
The book flows through a vehicle’s lifespan. Milchtein provides advice for every step of the process — how to negotiate as a buyer or seller, defining insurance terms, interviewing a mechanic, maintenance schedules and so much more useful information. Personally, I got a lot out of the explanation of insurance terminology, financing options and maintenance schedules.
Reading this book changed my relationship with my car. I have been wanting to sell my 20-year-old beater for a while now, but now I feel prepared to make it happen and secure a newer vehicle. Maintaining my next car feels infinitely more knowable and less overwhelming. It’s not like I am about to start replacing my own breaks, but I am leaps and bounds more informed than I was before reading the book. I would recommend this to any driver who wants to feel like they are more in control of their time, finances and vehicle.
Milchtein calls out libraries as great places to learn more about your car! Daniel Boone Regional library features a page of these websites. Some favorites include
These resources and more are available to search at the Library, for free. I have been using them while looking for a new car and they have really helped me narrow my search and prepare to negotiate.
