I think the ways it's setup does make it sound baity ("we do it every year"). But it's not that uncommon to bring a friend or family member to an MOT in Britain. You've got to leave your car at the garage, usually for a few hours and sometimes much longer. So, it's pretty useful to have a friend pick you up or drive you back to collect your car, to save you the hassle of walking or public transport.

If I turned up to collect my car with my same-age friend, and the mechanic spent the whole time describing the problems he'd found to my friend I'd find it pretty weird. But I don't find it unbelievable that lots of women experience that if they go with a male friend. And I could imagine finding that pretty patronising if I was knowledgeable about cars.