We will be holding our second Automotive Seminar for Women on May 05, 2012. We are limited to 50 seats, and they are slowly filling up, so if you are interested please do not hesitate to contact Diana with questions or RSVP. The flyer above holds all the important information you may need to refer to.

A Newhall automotive center hosted a free seminar for women Saturday, geared specifically to putting them in the driver’s seat when it comes to car-care knowledge.

“The goal is for women to feel a lot more comfortable about getting their car serviced,” R&S Automotive owner Ed Reinsma said. “There’s no such thing as a stupid question here today.”

Nearly 30 women, ranging from teenagers to senior citizens, attended the six-hour seminar, presented through a joint-partnership by ACDelco, Cal State Auto Parts and R&S Automotive.

Their classroom was the R&S Automotive garage.

“I want to give them peace of mind when dealing with their cars,” Reinsma said. “It’s been a success and I’m going to commit right now to doing this twice a year.”

Along with a free continental breakfast and lunch, the students received a woman’s car care guide that covered vehicle maintenance, defensive driving tips and other helpful hints.

Sandra Crawford, of Saugus, was among the students.

“It’s made me a lot more aware of the need for service,” she said. “There are safety issues I should be concerned about.”

There’s also an economic benefit from the class, as knowledge equates to ensuring a car care customer will save money by getting the repairs they need as opposed to having extra services unwittingly foisted upon them, Crawford said.

“You should have confidence in who you’re taking your car to,” Crawford said. “You need to know what’s really going to be done. For a lot of women, there’s a fear of being taken advantage of,” she said.

A good place for the students to start learning how to take care of their car is to read the owner’s manual, Reinsma said.

“You should definitely look at your owner’s manual because each car is designed differently,” he said.

The seminar featured a Power-Point presentation that covered brakes, safety and repair, fuel management systems, and the latest on California laws governing cell phone and seat belt use.

Christina Herman, of Valencia, brought four people with her to the class, she said.

“This has really opened my eyes to how all the parts of a car interact,” Herman said. “Any person at any age should know about their car.”

-The Signal 01/22/12