Career Changes & Children Likely to Prompt Women to Purchase a Car

For women, purchasing a car can often be triggered by major life events, particularly changes in employment and family, according to a recent survey conducted for CarMax, Inc. (NYSE: KMX), the nation’s largest retailer of used cars.

Sixty percent of women surveyed indicated that a change in their career, whether it was a new job (37 percent) or retirement (23 percent), would be most likely to initiate the purchase of a vehicle. However, for women between the ages of 18 and 34, forty-one percent responded more likely to purchase a car when they become pregnant or welcomed another child into the family, a similar percentage as those surveyed who chose “new job” in the same age group.

“Many personal factors affect women shopping for a car,” said Donna Wassel, Southwest region vice president of CarMax. “Changes in family and employment create an opportunity to evaluate your current driving situation. If a car purchase is right for you, shopping at a no-hassle, no-haggle car retailer such as CarMax can make the experience a fun and enjoyable one.”

The following are the results of the recent poll that asked women: Of the following life events, which is most likely to prompt you to purchase a car?




The survey was conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs on behalf of CarMax. The national sample consisted of more than 500 U.S. women, aged 18 and older who were interviewed online August 17 through August 19, 2009.