Stephanie Savill is confident she is finally on the road to success after launching Sussex's first women-only motoring club.

The 51-year-old is the brains behind Foxy Lady Drivers' Club which helps its members navigate an industry plagued by unscrupulous men.

For an annual fee of £35 the club offers access to a helpdesk, a network of recommended garages and dealerships and special discounts.

Mother-of-two Stephanie, from Steyning, West Sussex, decided to go into business after being passed over for promotion in her old job in marketing.

First-hand experience of shifty mechanics and dodgy dealers gave her the idea for a motoring organisation aimed specifically at women.

When she investigated the industry she was horrified to find huge variations across the UK in the cost of labour and replacement parts. Women were more likely to be overcharged or treated badly compared to men because it was assumed they knew less about cars.

She discovered every year more than 1.3 million people in the UK complain about shoddy garage services but little was being done about it.

She said: "Most women think I am joking when I tell them the truth about the industry. Few realise the risks they are run using an unknown garage.

"We should be able to rely on garages to keep us and our cars safe but the majority are letting us down. Even ones we would expect to be reliable, like big franchised garages and members of trade associations are occasionally culprits."

It has taken Stephanie three attempts to launch Foxy Lady Driver's Club, having failed previously to win enough support for the scheme in the industry.

Now, with the help of husband Paul, who runs the helpdesk, and a string of garages keen to attract more female custom, she hopes to have a winning formula.

She laughs off concerns about the company's choice of name.

"Some men hear the words 'foxy lady' and imagine scantily-clad women. They don't imagine it could include women like me living a fairly typical family life.

"Fortunately my husband knew foxy also means astute, canny, perceptive and fashionable. By sharing our motoring knowledge, women drivers can steer clear of the bad garages and cherry-pick the best businesses and the latest deals."

Friday, August 5, 2005