Men motivated by emotion when it comes to buying a car

A car purchase is more likely to be an emotive one for men, while women are more likely to get their calculators out to work out the overall costs, according to a recent survey of British car owners by Experian, the global information services company.

While the emotional impact of buying a car and concerns about meeting associated costs influence all car owners, the running costs, price, tax bracket and the ability to finance the purchase are more likely to be higher in the decision making process for women than for men. On the other hand, men are more likely than women to place the reliability of a car and the make and model higher. Men are also more likely to be won over by the manufacturer's brand reputation and how the car affects their personal image.

For women, once they have found the right car, they are more likely to hold onto it for a longer period of time (69 per cent of women hold onto their cars for over three years compared to 60 per cent of men). Meanwhile men are more inclined to go for a change within a three year period (39 per cent compared to 29 per cent of women).

Kirk Fletcher, Managing Director of Experian's Automotive division, said: "The older the car, the higher the chance of it having some sort of history that would affect a person's decision to buy it. It is important for women to protect themselves, because they are more likely to buy older cars.

"Men are just as vulnerable if they are more inclined to base their decisions on what the car means to them. Buying a car can be an emotional process, especially if the car buyer has gone through a lot just to find the right one. A lot of people are reluctant to let a potentially ‘perfect match' slip through their fingers, but this is exactly the fixation that fraudsters rely on. All too often we hear about innocent used car buyers, who see a car advertised privately, it appears to be legitimate and they are persuaded into parting with their money only to later find that it had a hidden history. However, they could have quite easily protected themselves by checking out the status of the car through services like Experian's AutoCheck. It's a small price to pay for peace of mind."