CINCINNATI—New research shows that men and women are paying different monthly prices for the same exact car.
While conventional wisdom has often thought of women as having less negotiating power than men, a recent analysis of car payments by Swapalease.com shows women often have lower monthly payments on similar vehicles.
“Although monthly payments varied from vehicle to vehicle, women appear to be spending less each month on their cars,” the company said.
Of the data analyzed, men paid more for select popular vehicles in the sedans segments, such as the Toyota Corolla S and Camry LE, where men paid a surprising 17% more than women, and SUVs such as the Ford Explorer XLT and the Chevy Equinox, where men paid 3% more than women.
Women, on average, pay 7% more for their luxury vehicles, such as the Lexus RX350 and the BMW 3 Series 335i (see chart below).
“When it comes to cars and price negotiation, most people probably think that men have the upper hand and ability to drive a lower price,” said Scot Hall, executive vice president of operations at Swapalease.com. “But according to data pulled from the Swapalease.com marketplace, women are actually getting the better deal on many of today’s popular vehicles, lessening the gender gap in shopping for cars.”
Men aren’t just paying more for their cars each month but they are also offering more incentives to potential buyers to take over their lease, Swapalease.com said. On average men are offering $446 dollars as incentives to buy their vehicle, that is 227% more money than women are offering up. Women are offering around $137 dollars as a lease incentive.