Men vs Women – sexism in the showroom

Men get a better deal in car showrooms than women, research carried out by What Car? and women’s car buying website evecars.com reveals today. On average, a male mystery shopper was able to secure £544 more of a discount than his female counterpart.

Undercover male and female shoppers were sent to car showrooms up and down the country using the same story to shop for the same cars. The task was to negotiate the biggest discounts on five cars – an Audi A4, a Ford Focus, a Honda CR-V, a Renault Clio and a Vauxhall Zafira. Men got better deals in 55% of the showrooms, while women came out top in only 20%.

Steve Fowler, group editor of What Car?, said: ‘We’re shocked that gender appears to have a bearing on the discount offered in car dealerships. It seems that car dealers see women as an easy touch and don’t feel the need to offer such keen prices as if it was a man sitting in front of them.

‘Discounts can be relatively easy to come by if you’re well prepared before you go shopping. Our Target Price proves that you can save an average of £1454 on a new car – often much more.’

Alex Jenner-Fust, editor of evecars.com, said: ‘This shows just how important it is to research the price you should pay before hitting the showroom, and to be brave about pushing salespeople for a better price. And if you really hate haggling, using an online broker is another way of getting a great deal.'