Wednesday, 15 January 2014

Writing Useful Car Reviews For Women

By Marissa Velazquez


Writing informative car reviews for women is no more difficult than writing them for men. There may, however, be a difference in what women are looking for in a review as opposed to men. Many automobile write-ups contain too much technical jargon. It's not that women are any less interested in being informed, we just like to get to the heart of the matter quickly.

Safety and reliability are important considerations. This is especially applicable to Soccer Mom for the school run, but any female who drive her car unaccompanied wants to be assured it is not going to break down and leave her stranded on a dark, deserted highway (apologies to the Eagles). Mothers want to be satisfied that the seat belts are secure and that the rear airbags will be deployed correctly if required.

On the subject of reliability, females want a car that is going to last. Engines, cooling systems and transmissions should last for years. The car should start reliably in cold weather. The electric windows should function and not be a bitch to repair should the mechanism malfunction.

Convenience is an issue. Some car makers fail to put coffee holders in the front seat. How stupid is that. A cold drink can usually be crammed into the side door pocket. We really need a safe and secure place to put the skinny mocha with an extra shot and a squirt of cinnamon syrup. Females also cannot have too much storage space. When we go away, we need separate bags for our shoes, clothing, toiletries and hair styling equipment. This all needs to fit in the trunk.

This can, and should, be accomplished economically. The car needs to have an acceptable sticker price and not cost heaven and earth to run. Also, what is the mpg equivalent of electric cars and hybrids? Tax and insurance are factors, but please keep this simple and spare the lengthy calculations.

All this economy, reliability, safety and convenience need not be at the expense of style. Were you even listening when we told you why we need so much storage space? Find us a zippy cabrio that will make it to 150,000 without falling apart. We will happily pay the premium for insurance, but please try to find somewhere for the seat belt mechanism apart from the roll bar. This is way too expensive to replace.

Women want to know how comfortable a car is going to be. Will their butt go numb over long distances. Environmental controls are nice; dual environmental controls are twice as nice. Let the people in the back seat have a different air con setting to the people in front, if it makes them more comfortable. If a car has four or more seats, mention, honestly, what sizes of four to seven people can be seated comfortably. If there are seven seats but the rear three are a squeeze for grownups, say so.

Writing car reviews for women should be easier than writing them for men. We want plain language and not a lot of abbreviations and jargon. Women want to be able to make the right choice without getting a degree in car mechanics.




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