Men are now as worried as women about being ripped off by dodgy motor maintenance garages, it emerged yesterday.
Traditionally, women have been more intimidated when taking a car in for a service amid fears rogue traders will baffle them with car jargon and charge the earth for the work.
But research found men now suffer the same anxieties due to a lack of knowledge of what goes on beneath the bonnet.
The report also found millions of men struggle to identify where the screen wash is located, how to check the oil and change a light bulb.
Staggeringly one in five blokes said they didn't know how to release the bonnet on their car.
The study was carried out by Unipart Automotive, which polled 2,000 adults in conjunction with National Car Care Week.
Spokesman Stuart Sims said: ''These results are worrying as they suggest many drivers are not checking the roadworthiness of their vehicle.
''The more advanced cars have become the less adept consumers have been at maintaining them.
''Modern vehicles are computerised and many motorists don't tend to tinker with their cars like they did say twenty or thirty years ago.
''Having said that, every car has an engine, brakes and tyres so there are plenty of simple checks that need to be carried out to ensure cars are safe and run efficiently.
It also emerged one in five women could competently change a tyre while three quarters of females could check their oil.
But a third of men who completed the poll also wouldn't know where their jack was or how to top up the car with water.
They also fail to fathom how to correctly check the tyre pressure, change a wheel and replace windscreen wipers.
It also emerged that one in ten men never bother to get their car serviced and a further 12 per cent only get their car serviced when they can afford to.
Two in five respondents said an MOT and servicing was the same thing.
One in ten men said the first thing they would do if they broke down was to ring their wife, 13 per cent said they would panic and 16 per cent said they would ring their dad for help.
More than a third of men (36 per cent) and half of women say they never give their car the 'once over' claiming they're too busy, totally inept or the car is new so it doesn't need it.
Alarmingly 16 per cent of men have driven a car whilst knowing it had bald tyres, compared to only one in ten women.
Tim Ferris, Unipart Car Care Centre Panel chairman added: ''It's alarming that so many motorists, regardless of whether they're male or female, are not carrying out any checks themselves and combining this with no servicing.
''Cars need to be serviced regularly and in accordance with the vehicle manufacturer's schedule to ensure that the vehicle is running safely.
''Car servicing is something that needs to be included in the household budget and should be considered as much of a necessity as paying the gas or electric bills.''
