Online Community to Connect Women with 'Female Friendly' Certified Car Dealers

NEW YORK--June 8, 2006--CarsMagazine.com announced today the launch of AskPatty.com, an online community for women to get expert automotive advice to improve their car-buying experience with car dealers. Car dealerships can subscribe to the AskPatty.com online service by becoming a 'female friendly certified dealer.' Women consumers will benefit from the information and expert advice on AskPatty.com and car dealers will benefit by becoming more "female friendly" after completing the AskPatty.com dealer certification program.

"AskPatty.com fills a real need for women and car dealerships to work on improving the car-buying experience of a new or used vehicle. CarMax recently surveyed more than 9,800 women about what was lacking most in their car-buying experience and the results revealed that buying a car continues to remain a hassle for women," said Jody Devere, president of AskPatty.com. "AskPatty.com provides women with the advice and information needed in order to feel empowered and confident when negotiating the purchase of a new or used vehicle."

Dealers that become Ask Patty certified can expect an increase in car sales to women and an improvement in their retention and loyalty ratings from women consumers. Ask Patty certified Dealers will display the AskPatty.com logo on co-branded marketing and advertising campaigns. Additionally, dealers will be able to link their websites to AskPatty.com which will provide a new source of qualified women consumers who consider Ask Patty a trusted brand. AskPatty.com is endorsed by the Women's Automotive Association International (http://www.waai.com).

Car dealerships who subscribe to AskPatty.com will be linked via their website to the AskPatty.com expert automotive advice community for women consumers. Women visitors will have the ability to get car-buying assistance and locate "female friendly" dealerships. The Internet offers an unprecedented opportunity to develop an online relationship with the customer; providing a service like AskPatty.com will help the dealer to foster trust with each female web site visitor, according to Peter Martin, President of CarsMagazine.com.

Ask Patty provides women consumers an opportunity to post questions about car buying, selling, repair and maintenance to a panel of expert automotive women. Ask Patty is a safe online place to share and discuss their car buying experiences. Women can submit posts directly to the Ask Patty automotive advice blog by going to http://www.askpatty.com. The Ask Patty advisory panel of automotive expert women is headed up by Deborah Renshaw -- professional NASCAR driver, and is comprised of women who hold various leadership positions in the automotive industry.

About Ask Patty:

Women purchase half of the vehicles sold in the United States each year, spending over $80 billion. Yet, shopping for and buying a car can be a challenge for women who are first time car buyers or for women who had a bad experience in the past with a car salesman or dealership.

Ask Patty is a safe place for women to get advice on car purchases, maintenance and other automotive related topics. Women can Ask Patty for automotive advice on the Ask Patty "Get Advice" blog; Patty will typically reply back to you the same day. Selected questions and answers will be answered by the panel of automotive women experts for the benefit of all women.