Top Ten Things Women Like About Cars

What women say they want in a vehicle might surprise you. It surprised us, at least a little, when we asked a wide-ranging group of female car owners to list their ‘top ten’ items of car-buying must-haves. Yes, stowing purses and color made a couple of the lists, and cupholders made just about all lists, but mostly we found that women care about things like good torque, responsive acceleration and tight steering. All things considered, the attributes that women have on their checklist aren’t that different from what many men want…except that neither like minivans!

By Sue Mead Photo credit: Auto Manufacturers, MyRide Staff

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I like clothes hooks in the cargo area so that dry cleaning won't be next to kids; a center console box large enough for a purse; visor mirrors on both sides in the front; good visibility; hooks for purses or jackets on the side of the driver's seat; easy to fold or lift back seats; low lift-over at the rear of a sedan or wagon; fold-flat seats, front to back so you can carry long items without lashing them to the roof; rear cupholders in armrests; light colored but easy-to-clean seat fabrics. (JL)

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The most important attributes for a vehicle are fuel efficiency; air bags all around; visibility (some car designs block ALOT of things around); air conditioning; tight steering and responsive acceleration; ABS; a place for my purse (not the passenger or rear seats); cupholders; rear view defrost; and cruise control. (JR)

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What appeals to me the most is plenty of low-end torque; a serious place for my purse; good tactile feel to all materials; the ‘feel’ of the steering wheel; large buttons and gauges; no navigation (nav systems are a distraction); good seats that are well-bolstered and comfortable; electronic side mirrors; stylish fabric…not leather; and an outlet for my iPod. (KML)

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I want minimum repairs and high gas mileage; all-wheel-drive for all types of weather; vanity mirrors on both visors; a cupholder big enough for chunky mugs; a cell phone charger that works when the car is off; dual moon/sun roof; two trip meters to keep track of gas as well as other odd mileage count; a roof rack that can handle anything from my mountain bike to the couch I found in the dumpster; a good color; easy-to-clean seats and floor so grapes and goldfish crackers are not there forever. (AM)

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What I desire the most is a car with heated seats for my tired back, preferably leather-clad; great air conditioning for hot flashes; duo climate control; automatic adjustable steering wheel with controls on the steering wheel and mirrors with controls; a dead pedal; a very deep center console; rubber-backed coin holders and cup holders; a well-lit makeup mirror; lots of torque; and a car that makes me feel sexy, pretty, and hot! (HR)

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As a woman with children, cupholders are a must…the kind that adjusts to keep spills to a minimum. Also nice are built-in car seats for kids. I need great music, so a complete stereo system with good speakers is a must; a DVD player for the back seats; comfortable seats for driver and all passengers; fabric that cleans up easily from spills; all-wheel-drive or 4WD for the winter roads; good mirrors, a back-up camera; and one more thing that I hate about newer cars is that some have temporary spares; I’d like all cars to have a real tire for a spare! (KG)

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Important to me…safety (impact and handling); the environmental impact of the car; reliability; COLOR; body style (color and body style have to be in the right combination); good visibility all around; steering wheel controls for radio, cruise control, etc.; rear air conditioning; head clearance getting into and out of the vehicle and a front passenger seat with full automatic controls. (CC)

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My number one "thing" would be a good maintenance track record; when it does need a little help, you don't have to take apart half the car to reach a light bulb; I also don't want to drive anything that looks dowdy or frumpy. I wouldn't buy a sports car because that isn't the season of life I'm in, but I will go to great lengths to drive anything other than a minivan. I can't help but be wowed with the details of the car...like lots of cupholders; organizational helps; and the latest technology. (LK)

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Built-in child safety seats; sturdy cupholders with adjustable foam inserts; seats that fold flat into the floor rather than needing to be taken out; inputs for mp3 players and cell phone chargers; headlights that turn off automatically; communication system for emergencies in places without cell service; running boards on SUVs so kids can get in and out by themselves, and portable DVD hook-up capability. Also, leather seats…it’s much easier to keep clean! (KM)

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When I think of designing the perfect vehicle for me, I start with top-notch safety features; excellent reliability; all-wheel-drive or 4WD traction; good visibility in all directions; rear crash avoidance and rear camera; easy ingress and egress for my size, whether in jeans and flip-flops or a dress and high heels; built-in booster seats for children; comfortable seating with heated seats for winter and to coddle bad backs; respectable fuel economy; plentiful stowage and cubbies and an integrated roof rack that doesn’t whistle in the wind. (SM, author)