So if you want that new car smell, you will need at least £12,595 to bag a Dacia Sandero or a chunky deposit to climb aboard the easy payments train. But it doesn’t have to be like that. In truth, there has been a cost of living crisis for decades, to varying degrees, but all the while Bangernomics has been fighting against it.

There has been a noticeable bangerflation just recently, so a couple of hundred quid won’t get you much with an MOT anymore, but it’s still possible to buy something interesting and useful for less than a new car deposit – if you know where to look. Here are my three top sub-£3000 choices in each category – and a trio for the gamblers among you: