Lee Clayton, 51, who suffered facial injuries, bruising and lacerations, said she feared for her life.
Ms Clayton had just left a friend’s house when two attackers tried to force her from her car at an intersection in Melton.
They tried to wrench her from the driver’s seat and one punched her in the face before they fled.
"I usually have the car doors locked, but this time I didn’t," Ms Clayton told the Herald Sun.
"I stopped at an intersection, and I didn’t see anyone walking down a footpath … and they just came from nowhere.
"They ran at my car and started banging on the windows and undid the driver’s side door and tried to get the car keys out of the ignition.
"When I tried to fight them off one of them punched me, and I’ve got cuts and scratch marks on my arms where they tried to grab me."
The attack happened about 1.20am on Tuesday, just minutes from Ms Clayton’s Melton home.
Last Friday a gang of African youths tried to carjack two vehicles in Carlton. A female driver and her male passenger were showered in glass after the youths threw bricks through car’s windows.
In the other attack, a car was set upon after a man pulled over to answer a mobile phone call.
Ms Clayton said she would think twice about getting behind the wheel late at night again.
"I thought that if they got me out of the car I was in big trouble.
"The police have fingerprinted my car and it’s sitting in my driveway, but I don’t want to go near it, to tell you the truth.
"You’d think you should be safe in your car to come home at any time. But apparently not these days."
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.