Nearly twice as many women as men prefer using finance to purchase a car, according to a survey of 200 consumers on behalf of vehicle finance broker Carfinance247.co.uk.

In the past 12 months, 15% of women said they favoured car finance compared to 8% of men.

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Young people were the most likely demographic to take finance, with 19% of respondents aged between 18 and 29 choosing to do so.

The findings differ from a Populus poll on behalf of MainDealerOffers.co.uk which found 47% of men and 40% of women would consider using dealer finance and that men aged 35-44 were the most likely to use dealer finance.

Both polls, however, and a recent third by CBS Outdoor, reported take-up of finance to be far below the number reported each month by the Finance & Leasing Association, which has put finance penetration at well over two-thirds of purchases for the past few months and hit a record high last month.

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A third of those surveyed by Usurv on behalf of Carfinance247.co.uk had bought a car between October 2011 and October 2012. Of those, 69% used cash or savings, 10.5% used motor finance, 10.5% used a bank or other lending organisation, and 10% borrowed from friends and family.

Split by gender, 72% of men and 64% of women used cash.

By earnings, 62% of those using cash take home less than £10,000 a year while 10% of those earning above £40,000 a year used car finance.

A quarter of those questioned planned to buy a car before October 2013, with 24% of women and 16% of men intending to use finance to make the purchase.

Louis Rix, director, Carfinance247.co.uk, who has also argued against the misreporting of high street loans, suggested men may be more comfortable asking friends or family for money or dipping into savings, "or it could simply be the fairer sex know a good deal on car finance when they see one!"

The argument has seen support among captive finance providers such as BMW Financial Services, also pointing out 70% of car purchases are now made by women.

richard.brown@vrlfinancialnews.com