Capital One's Second Gender Rules of the Road Survey Finds 77 Percent of Women Car Buyers Continue to Bring Man Along to Dealership; Experts Say Knowledge is a Better Companion

While 85 percent of women feel that they were treated fairlyduring their most recent car purchase, the study findings suggest thatwomen are most likely to bring men to make their purchases as a meansto better-manage the financial aspects of the transaction. (Nearlyseven out of 10 women feel they are at a greater disadvantage then menwhen it comes to buying a car.) In fact, 70 percent of women continueto find the financial aspects of the car-buying process the mostdifficult, indicating that their greatest challenge is obtaining agood deal on price.

"It's troubling to see that women still do not feel empowered tomanage the car-buying process on their own. It's important that womenrealize that confidence and purchasing power requires education - nota male companion. Rather than turning to a man for support, womenshould instead take advantage of the variety of educational resourcesavailable to them," said Diana Don Colby, director of financialeducation at leading financial services company Capital One.

Kelley Blue Book Consumer Advice Editor, Joni Gray, indicates thatthere is a distinct link between a woman's ability to manage thecar-buying process with confidence and her level of knowledge aboutthe financial aspects of the transaction.

"Managing the car-buying process with confidence means doing yourhomework: Research each element of the transaction before arriving atthe dealership. The good news is everything you need to know aboutcar-buying is available online today including dealer invoice pricingand the "New Car Blue Book" value - the price that other people arepaying for the same car. But that's just one part of the equation,women also need to shop around for financing - which is also availableonline," said Gray. "Women have become savvier car-buyers, but theyoften forget about shopping for financing, which can cost thousands ofdollars over the life of the loan."

Indeed, the survey shows that auto loans are often overlooked bywomen car buyers. When asked to rank aspects of the purchase that theyspend the most time researching, auto financing ranked last (4percent). Further, nearly 18 percent of women report that they willnot conduct any research on their vehicle purchase whatsoever.

What Can Women Do To Get The Best Deal?

Education is the key to helping ensure that women get the bestpossible deal on a car. Kelley Blue Book and Capital One have compileda set of tips to help give women the knowledge and confidence theyneed to manage the car-buying process on their own - from choosing theright car to finding the right financing - before arriving at thedealer.

-- Learn about vehicle pricing. Use the Internet to research new and used car prices, including dealer invoice pricing, transaction pricing, and the blue book value of your trade-in. Know what you can afford and use those target numbers as a reference point for your pricing negotiations.

-- Research and compare different financing options. There is a range of auto financing options available, including dealer financing, loans from banks and credit unions, and pre-approved no-obligation online loans. Researching your options and finding the lowest rate that you qualify for can save you a substantial amount of money over the life of your loan.

-- Treat the car-buying process as three separate negotiations. Determining the: 1) vehicle price; 2) trade-in value; and 3) financing are three separate transactions, and you should negotiate each separately. This strategy will often help you save money.

-- Read the final contract carefully. Don't sign a contract until you're confident that everything is correct and is stated as it was explained to you. To help familiarize yourself with the general terms and conditions of the contract, consider picking up a blank copy from your local dealer prior to negotiating the final sale.

-- Stay in control of the process - it's OK to walk away. If it's not the price or deal you want, be ready to walk away. There is another dealer out there who will be willing to accept your price.

Capital One's Don Colby added, "Women who arm themselves withinformation before they conduct the purchase can be confident and walkinto the experience aware of what they want, what they can afford, andhow to ask for it - on their own."

Financial Education Help

In an effort to help educate consumers, Capital One offerseasy-to-understand consumer education resources on topics such asbudgeting, establishing and building credit and protection againstidentity theft. Educational materials are free and can be accessed atwww.capitalone.com/financialeducation. Tips to help consumers in theirauto-financing search can also be found atwww.capitaloneautofinance.com.

Survey Methodology

For the Gender Rules of the Road survey, Braun Research wasengaged to conduct 1003 interviews with females age 18 or older acrossthe United States. Surveys were conducted by telephone from May 10through May 12, 2006. The margin of error for the interview is plus orminus 3.09 percentage points. Interviews were monitored at random.

Sampling for this study was conducted using a national probabilitysample of all exchanges and area codes across the United States. Allinterviews were conducted using a computer assisted telephoneinterviewing system. Statistical weights were designed from UnitedStates Census Bureau statistics.

About Capital One

Headquartered in McLean, Virginia, Capital One FinancialCorporation (www.capitalone.com) is a financial holding company, withmore than 316 locations in Texas and Louisiana. Its principalsubsidiaries, Capital One Bank, Capital One, F.S.B., Capital One AutoFinance, Inc., and Capital One, N.A., offer a broad spectrum offinancial products and services to consumers, small businesses andcommercial clients. Capital One's subsidiaries collectively had $47.8billion in deposits and $103.9 billion in managed loans outstanding asof March 31, 2006. Capital One, a Fortune 500 company, trades on theNew York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COF" and is included in theS&P 500 index.

Capital One Auto Finance, Inc., (www.capitaloneautofinance.com) isa full-spectrum auto lender which offers a wide-range of auto financeproducts. Capital One Auto Finance is the nation's third largestindependent auto lender as well as the nation's largest direct mailand online vehicle financing provider with serviced outstandings of$19.8 billion. COAF has a nationwide dealer network of over 20,000dealers while recently becoming the first large-scale vehiclefinancing company to offer its expertise to banks through its AgentBanking Auto Finance program. Capital One Auto Finance is a subsidiaryof Capital One Financial Corporation.