CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A study released today by CarGurus, the auto research and shopping site, suggests that when it comes to buying a car, men tend to shop longer and spend more than women. The CarGurus study, which examined gender differences in car-shopping behavior, found the average price of the cars for which male shoppers submitted purchase inquiries was 13% higher than for female shoppers ($17,518 on average for male shoppers vs. $15,485 for female shoppers). Male shoppers also spent on average more time shopping at the site than female shoppers (5.4 average days for male shoppers compared to 4.5 days for female shoppers).

Highlights from the study:

• Price: Male shoppers inquired about cars priced on average 13.1% higher (average price of $17,518) than female shoppers (average price point of $15,485).
• Time Spent Shopping: Men spent on average 5.4 days shopping at www.cargurus.com compared to women’s average 4.5 days.
• Transmission: Male car shoppers were twice as likely to inquire about cars with manual transmissions as were female shoppers.
• Fuel Economy: Male and female shoppers were more closely aligned when it comes to fuel efficiency: the average MPG on cars that female shoppers inquired about was 20.9, while for men it was 19.7.
• Body Style: Men were more likely to inquire about pickup trucks, vans and coupes, while women were more likely than men to inquire about minivans, hatchbacks and crossovers.
• Models: Men showed a greater propensity to shop for high-performance, premium brand cars than women: Models that skewed most heavily to male shoppers included the Ford Shelby GT500, BMW M3, Cadillac CTS-V, Audi S4 and Porsche 911. For female shoppers models including the Volkswagen Beetle, Jeep Compass, Mazda CX-7, Nissan Rogue and Nissan Cube ranked highest among the models that skewed heavily to female shoppers.

Methodology

CarGurus analysts reviewed more than 671,000 consumer inquiries submitted to dealers on specific car listings at www.cargurus.com, comparing those submitted by men to those submitted by women. Average price was calculated based on the list prices for the cars about which shoppers inquired. Average time spent shopping for a car was determined by calculating the number of elapsed days between each consumer’s first shopping and last shopping inquiries. The models that skewed to one gender vs. another were determined by analyzing which models had the greatest percentage of total inquiries from males versus female shoppers.

About CarGurus

CarGurus (www.cargurus.com) is a leading online automotive destination focused on making the car shopping and research experience more transparent for consumers. CarGurus’ free listings search tool analyzes prices on millions of available cars and enables consumers to quickly find the best local deals from the best rated dealerships. Unlike many other listings sites, the search results rankings are unbiased by listings providers. With over 4 million unique visitors a month, CarGurus is one of the top 20 most trafficked auto research sites in the United States.