I don’t know anything about cars.

But I’m willing to learn, which makes me exactly the kind of driver Talena Handley, the founder of Girlie Garage, wants to help. During an afternoon at her house, Handley demonstrated what I need to know about my 2007 Volvo just as she would with a client during a one-on-one session.

With the owner’s manual as our map — something that previously sat untouched in my glove box — I checked my car’s vitals under the hood, jumped on a wrench to loosen the bolts on a tire and I manually jacked up my car.

Girlie Garage is not a mobile mechanic. Rather it offers auto consulting and education so drivers can build confidence and take better care of their car.

By the end, my hands were greasy and I knew more about my car than I did an hour and a half earlier. But, more than anything I left feeling more confident in my ability to take care of my car on my own. Here are three things I learned from my session with Girlie Garage:

Checking the air pressure and wear on your tires are two things any driver can do themselves.

To check how much your tires have worn down, you can see if they’ve gone below a little marker that looks like a spike between the grooves of the tire. Handley showed me how to check my tire pressure using a guide on the inside of the driver-side door and a pocket-sized tool that costs less than a dollar.

But, Handley said people often forget to check the pressure of their spare tire. It’s important to check the condition of your spare tire — especially if it’s been collecting cobwebs like mine — so it’s ready in case of an emergency, she said.

I also learned that it’s best to check your tire pressure when it’s cold, generally in the morning before you’ve driven anywhere.

Handley also recommends checking fluid levels before hitting the road for a long trip and she created a video that shows you how to do this called, How to Prepare for a Road Trip.

In Handley’s experience, one of the most common things she’s encountered other auto mechanics trying to upsell is changing the engine air filter.

These are the “lungs” of your car so to speak, and it is responsible for cleaning the air that runs through your engine. If it gets clogged up or isn’t replaced when it should be, it can cause your car to get less gas mileage, Handley explained.

But, does it actually need to be changed?

She said it should be replaced once a year or once every other year depending on your driving conditions. The exception is if you live somewhere with dusty weather or just went off-roading through the desert — like Handley did recently — then you want to consider changing it more frequently.

She showed me how to check and change my air filter — a task that required no tools. My air filter was clean, but if I needed to replace it myself, she said you can buy air filters from an auto parts store for around $20.

Girlie Garage’s latest video walks you through how to do this on a few different kinds of cars: How to Check your Engine Air Filter

As someone who has worked almost half her life in the auto industry, Handley shared some simple ways to choose a mechanic, whether you’re new to town or on a road trip.

Overall, Handley uses Yelp reviews, how they treat you, and price as combined factors for vetting a mechanic. Plus, it’s a good idea to compare multiple mechanics.

“I would pick three with good reviews in your area and then ask them all the same exact question,” Handley said in her video called “How to Vet a New Mechanic.” In less than two minutes, she runs you through what to look for when picking the best mechanic for what you need.

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