A working car is all important

My lack of automobile knowledge is super frustrating to me. It never bothers me more than when I take the car into the shop, and they're like, "oh, this and this and this need to be fixed," and all I can say is, "well, okay." In a situation like today, when I need the car in working order for our drive out to California on Monday, it's not like I can hold out for a second opinion.
But nothing bugs me more than feeling like I've been taken advantage of. Sure, the intake manifold needs to be replaced. But do I really need all the other services? Who knows. But the guy who does know all kinds of things about cars said that I do need them. And while facing a drive across the desert with just me and the kid, I'm in no position to argue with him.
But I hate dealing with dudes and cars. I hate that I'm that girl who doesn't know anything about the car other than how to drive it expertly. And I hate that I need to be the girl who says, "tell me again what's wrong so I can tell my husband." Sure, I made the decision to fix it all, because, what the hell else am I going to do, but at the end of the day, I still feel like I got tricked into something.
It's like paying for a $400 car wash, since that'll be the only difference from this afternoon to tomorrow. Damn it.