Smoking can slash a car’s value

People who smoke in their cars run the risk of losing thousands of pounds when they come to sell or trade in, claims a new study.

According to a Carbuyer survey of 6,000 people, 87% wouldn’t buy a used car that had been smoked in.

Worse still, automotive data specialists at cap-hpi estimate that smoke smells, stains and burn marks can reduce a car’s value by up to £2,000.

That means that collectively, with some 30 million cars and roughly 7.6 million smokers in the UK, smoking could knock as much as £9.6bn off UK secondhand cars.

Carbuyer’s editor, Stuart Milne, said the solution is simple: “With the cost of smoking increasing all the time, lighting up your car is yet another hidden expense.

“Not only does our research show that a car that’s been smoked in will be harder to sell on, but it could also cost you thousands.

“Bearing this in mind, it’s far better to pull over and get out before you light up.”

Getting rid of the after-effects of smoking isn’t just a matter of opening the windows and letting the car air because stale smoke becomes ingrained in a car’s upholstery.

Sometimes necessary to replace the car’s headliner, while in other cases a special “bomb” is required to purge the air-conditioning system.

Even if such drastic treatments aren’t required, a straightforward clean to get rid of the smell can cost £150.

Although smokers are something of a dying breed, roughly 16% of the UK’s adult population still have yet to kick the habit.