The number of women wary about what lies under the bonnets of their cars appears to be decreasing.
Increased running costs are driving more female motorists to do their own car maintenance, a survey by the RAC shows.
As many as 60% of women drivers said they had carried out at least one basic repair or maintenance task on their vehicle.
More than a quarter (27%) of the women polled said they were confident about doing maintenance work, while 54% said they had carried out regular water and oil level checks.
Around 20% of women check the tyre pressure and tyre treads regularly and 2% describe themselves as "DIY car maintenance experts" - only marginally down on the male figure of 2.5%.
The poll of more than 2,000 drivers showed that 22% of women believe garages "ripped off" unsuspecting motorists, while only 47% of women were willing to send their car straight to the garage if they found a problem.
RAC patrol woman Louise French said: "It's great to see more girls are getting to grips with their cars and taking on repairs and maintenance themselves.
"Doing simple repairs, asking friends or relatives for help or advice, and taking extra care with vehicle maintenance are all now commonplace as drivers look for any way possible to cut the cost of running their cars."
