Study reveals big differences in favorite vehicle colors and types among NYC men and women

New York men and women have completely different preferences for car colors and models, according to new research by iSeeCars.com. The study analyzes automobile data from 1.2 million consumer inquiries and 17 million sales to identify local preferences by gender.

The findings reveal men’s favorite car color is beige and women’s is red. For car models, men’s top favorite is the Toyota Camry compared to the women’s favorite Volkswagen Jetta. These findings were part of a national Car Color Preferences by Gender study recently conducted by the automotive data and research company.

“When it comes to car colors, our national results show that men have much stronger preferences than women,” said Phong Ly, iSeeCars.com CEO. “In New York it's a similar case. But local preferences for specific cars are actually even stronger than favorite car colors.”

Car Colors Men Prefer More Than Women in New York

Car Colors Women Prefer More Than Men in New York

Favorite Car Colors in New York

The study also revealed that New York women have more expensive taste than men do when it comes to car colors. “If you compare prices for pre-owned cars in New York, the average price for women’s favorite colors is 3 percent more expensive than men’s favorite colors. The national average for the same price comparison is higher and in the opposite direction, at 22 percent more for men’s favorite colors,” said Ly.

New York men have a stronger preference for more colors than New York women do – six compared to four. The top three favorite colors women prefer more than men are red by 29.3 percent, followed by white (9.1 percent) and black (7.4 percent). Men have a stronger preference than women do for beige cars by 55.4 percent, followed by green (51.3 percent) and brown (40.8 percent). The top-ranked national favorites (yellow and orange for men, teal for women) did not rank in New York because the sample sizes were too low. The average used car price for the colors women prefer is $36,682 compared to $35,556 for the colors men prefer. Average prices for men and women’s national favorite car colors are $18,196 and $14,938, respectively.

Top 5 Favorite Cars in New York

National data shows that men have stronger preferences for coupes, convertibles and pickup trucks, while women prefer wagons, SUVs and minivans. Local preferences for car models are listed below.

New York men like the Toyota Camry 504.0 percent more than New York women do, followed by the BMW 5 Series (473.5 percent) and Toyota Highlander (250.8 percent). The top three cars women are more interested in are the Volkswagen Jetta by 400.2 percent, BMW 3 Series (98.5 percent) and Ford Focus (66.7 percent). The top cars women prefer are only 0.1 percent more expensive. The average used price for women's favorite cars in New York is $33,961 compared to $33,912 for men's favorites.

Cars Men Prefer More Than Women in New York

Cars Women Prefer More Than Men in New York

*Averages are based on local used car prices.

Methodology

iSeeCars.com analyzed data from more than 1.2 million consumer car inquiries on iSeeCars.com between March 2009 and August 2017. It categorized inquiries as coming from male or female consumers based on their first names, and calculated the share of male and female inquires for each color. The difference in share between male and female inquiries was expressed as a percentage of female inquiry share and male inquiry share to calculate male and female bias toward each color, respectively. In addition, the same analysis was repeated for car models. Only data from New York was included in the final analysis. Colors with fewer than 30 total inquiries and models with fewer than 40 total inquiries were excluded from the analysis. iSeeCars.com also analyzed more than 17 million used car sales between September 2016 and August 2017 for used car prices.

About iSeeCars.com

iSeeCars.com is a data-driven car search and research company that helps shoppers find the best car deals by providing key insights and valuable resources, including the iSeeCars VIN Check report and Best Cars Rankings. iSeeCars has saved users over $406 million so far by applying big data analytics powered by over 25 billion (and growing) data points and using proprietary algorithms to objectively analyze, score and rank millions of new cars and used cars.