Seeing a new car on the dealer lot might be love at first sight, but just how long does it take before we lose interest in our car?
LeaseTrader, a sort of divorce court for failed car matchups, wanted to find out. After all, if they could discover the key to a bad lease, they could better market their services to people wanting to get out of one.
It turns out that the first signs of faded car love include parking close to other cars in a lot and letting other people's kids in the backseat. Perhaps LeaseTrader should advertise on shopping carts and backpacks.
While we have no evidence the survey of 2,500 was conducted with any statistical rigor, the results seem to counter popularly held beliefs about how men and women feel about their cars. Sitcom writers, please take note.
Despite the image of the aging jock pining for his faded high school football career and rusty Z28, the survey says that men tend to fall out of love with their cars faster than women. On average, guys get bored with their rides after only four months, while most women are loyal for fourteen months.
Countering another stereotype, nearly 40 percent of women consider the automotive honeymoon over when they start letting their spouses drive, but only three percent of men consider that giving up the driver's seat during a long trip means they've fallen out of car love.
Photo: Flickr/jonrawlinson
