Research by used car specialist Network Q has identified a honeymoon period of blissful ownership that lasts an average of nine months when buyers change cars.

At the end of this period, motorists are likely to have stopped referring to their latest car as ‘new’ and will have started to find reasons why they’d like another model. This is a key time for dealers to be in contact with those customers if they want to persuade them to act on those reasons.

“Everyone believes the best part of owning a car is immediately after purchase,” says Richard Hughes, spokesman for Network Q.

“In fact, the honeymoon period lasts for a lot longer than we give credit for and even after it fades, people remain extremely loyal to their cars.”

This is backed up by the fact that 51% of those surveyed say they wouldn’t replace their car unless it was on its last legs, while 38% would do so if they had a significant financial boost.