Car Insurance

A Capital One Auto Finance Gender Rules of the Road survey of automotive buying habits shows most women still feel disadvantaged in the car-buying process. The national survey of 1,000 female car buyers found 77 percent plan to bring a man along for their next vehicle purchase - a slight increase from the 75 percent who indicated the same in the Capital One’s 2004 survey.

While 85 percent of women feel they were treated fairly during their most recent car purchase, the study findings suggest women bring men to better manage the financial transaction. Nearly seven of 10 women feel they are at a greater disadvantage than men when buying a car. Seventy percent of women find the financial aspect of the car-buying process the most difficult.

It’s troubling to see that women still do not feel empowered to manage the car-buying process on their own. It’s important that women realize that confidence and purchasing power requires education - not a male companion. Rather than turning to a man for support, women should instead take advantage of the variety of educational resources available to them, said Diana Don Colby, director of financial education at leading financial services company Capital One.

Kelley Blue Book Consumer Advice Editor Joni Gray said there is a distinct link between a woman’s ability to manage the car-buying process with confidence and her level of knowledge about the financial aspects of the transaction.

Managing the car-buying process with confidence means doing your homework, said Gray. Women have become savvier car buyers but they often forget about shopping for financing, which can cost thousands of dollars over the life of the loan.

Auto loans are often overlooked by women car buyers. When asked to rank where they spend the most time researching, auto financing ranked last at 4 percent. Nearly 18 percent of women did not conduct any research on their vehicle purchase whatsoever.

Experts say to treat the car-buying process as three separate negotiations: 1) vehicle price;

2) trade-in value; and

3) financing.

Stay in control of the process - it’s OK to walk away. If it’s not the price or deal you want, be ready to walk away. There is another dealer out there who will be willing to accept your price.

For the Gender Rules of the Road survey, Braun Research conducted 1,003 interviews with females age 18 or older in the United States. Surveys were conducted by telephone from May 10 through May 12. The margin of error for the interview is plus or minus 3.09 percentage points. Interviews were monitored at random.