Study: Women Are Better At Negotiating Auto Repair Costs Than Men

(Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.)

A study conducted by Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and AutoMD.com, an auto repair website, shows women who don’t seem to know average repair costs will pay more for their vehicle to get serviced than males. However, the study also finds that repair shops are more likely to negotiate with women.
For the study, researchers got male and female volunteers to call auto repair shops to receive quotes on how much it would cost to replace the radiator in a 2003 Toyota Camry. When calling, the volunteers stated that they knew the average price for the repair ($365), said that they expected to pay an inflated price ($510), or stated that they were clueless as to what the repair may cost.
In the end, men who didn’t know the average price of the repair or who said the average price is $365 received the same quote. Those men and women who didn’t have any idea what to the repair should cost were quoted higher prices. Women who knew the average rate were quoted prices similar to what men were quoted, but they received higher quotes than men if they stated the higher price or said they didn't know what the repair should cost.
When both genders tried to negotiate, most auto repair shops weren’t willing to change their prices. However, the researchers found that women were able to negotiate 35 percent of the time, while men were only able to negotiate 25 percent of the time.
The study suggests that you should do your research before getting quotes from auto repair shops. In addition, women should make sure they appear knowledge able about what the repair should cost. For men, researchers said it’s a little easier to get a better price, but they added that men should not hint that they aren’t knowledgeable about repair costs.
You can find the average price for various car repairs in your area by clicking the "Repairs" tab from any of our car reviews.  We have reviews of most cars going back to 2007, so finding repair costs for your car should be easy.