Ren Volpe is a rarity: a woman in the male-dominated world of auto repair and a philosophy major turned auto mechanic who, after being unable to find an appropriate text book for the car care class she teaches, wrote her own.
The book does what she set out to have it do: introduce the unknowing to the rights, responsibilities and rigmarole of car ownership. Learning about your car can be fun reading Total Car Care for the Clueless. In fact, even if you know a little something about your car, reading the book can be fun. In a funny, informative, informal style, Volpe teaches about how to deal with the automobile in your life, and some of her comments are as priceless as they are pointed. She says confidently about one of the options a car might have, “If you can parallel park while eating an ice cream cone, you have power steering.” And, after admonishing the reader to learn how to use a jack before the tire goes flat, she adds, “If you are standing on the side of the road reading this, well, it's going to be a trial by fire, isn't it?”
Total Car Care for the Clueless is not the most technical car care manual ever written. In fact, the word “wrench” appears three times in the whole book, twice in the section about changing a flat tire, and once in the “what to carry in your trunk” section. “Screwdriver” is mentioned in the flat-changing section as the device with which to remove the hubcap. That does not stop this from being a good, practical guide to car care. There are simple, step-by-step instructions for checking fluids, dealing with a mechanic, getting the car ready for a long trip and jump-starting; and good sections on dealing with the nasty realities of cars, like road-side breakdowns, accidents and buying and selling.
Total Car Care for the Clueless would be a great gift to slip in the glove box of a son or daughter's first car. It seems written with women in mind, but any driver will find lots of useful information between the covers, not to mention a few laughs. With its whimsical illustrations (supplied by Volpe's husband, Kris Kovick), the book reads and feels more like a tongue-in-cheek travel guide than an auto manual, and it is definitely for auto-repair greenhorns. However, if a greenhorn reads it and sticks by its principles and precautions, his or her car-owning experience will be improved.
-- Sandy Compton
