Small Cars, Big Savings: ‘Women’s Cars’ Win Out on Car Insurance and MPG

• News
• Published: 18 Dec 2008 in Motoring and Car Insurance

What makes a woman’s car? Avoiding stereotypes such as fluffy dice, pink body-work and a ‘babe-on-board’ sign in the rear windscreen, Confused.com research reckons ‘small’ is the defining characteristic.

The research – based on total car quotes run via Confused.com – showed that nine out of ten women were running quotes on small cars, whereas for men, only half of their top ten insurance queries were on small motors.

Table based on all quotes run over Confused.com from 1-Aug-2007 to 31-Jul-2008 inclusive

In both tables, the top car was a Ford, though men preferred the roomier Focus over the diminutive Ka. Where men really differed from women was with the inclusion of a few high-performance motors, specifically boy-racer faves the Honda Civic Type-R and two versions of the Subaru Impreza: the WX and the Turbo 2000 4WD.

Small Cars Can Save You £££s

The insurance price differences between ‘male’ and female’ cars can be substantial. Car insurance for the Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000 (ranked 10^th for men) would set a 30 year-old Cardiff man employed in local government back £544.62* a year, whereas the Vauxhall Corsa (ranked 10^th for women) would cost his female equivalent just £161.56* to insure: a saving of over £380.

But it’s not just car insurance that can produce big savings. Sticking with the above examples, average fuel economy for the Vauxhall Corsa is around 50 mpg, whereas the Subaru Impreza Turbo 2000 returns 30 mpg at a push. Over a year, that could see the man filling up his macho Subaru with an extra 600 litres of petrol (based on 10k annual mileage), meaning that the woman would save about £675**.

So it looks like women are the savvier when it comes to saving money on the cost of running a car. But whatever car you decide to go for, remember that wallet-conscious drivers should always shop around for car insurance for the best chance of saving money on a great deal.

*Quotes retrieved August 2008. Quoted for: voluntary excess £150; no offences or accidents in last 5 years; 5 years NCB. Data provided by Confused.com.

**Based on average UK petrol price for August 2008

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