With the UK-wide ban on smoking in public places starting on 1st July, the inside of their cars could become the last refuge for the smoker. Since the ban came into force in Scotland last March, the number of drivers’ resorting to a sneaky puff in their cars rose by 14 percent*.

Comma’s survey found that more than 4 out of every 5 motorists questioned would be put off buying a car that smelled of smoke inside, irrespective of whether they smoked themselves.

Even if they were prepared to purchase a smoky 'motor', buyers will be looking for a hefty discount and vendors could find themselves having to drop their asking price by as much as £700.

A 2004 Channel 5 investigation** in the UK revealed that sellers of houses stinking of cigarettes had to drop their asking price by £16,000 on average, just over eight percent of that year’s average UK house price.

With the average price of a used car currently £7,800***, the same principle would see vendors having to slash £678.60 off their asking price in an attempt to sell the vehicle.

“This shows that the UK’s motoring public is largely behind the ban on smoking,” says Comma’s Mike Bewsey. “The smell of stale smoke, not to mention the stains left by nicotine on car upholsteries, is abhorrent to the vast majority of drivers. Cigarette smokers in Britain may feel hard done by with the ban coming into effect, but if they use their cars as an ashtray, they’re only going to lose out even more!”