That’s the finding of a new report by CAP Automotive, which surveyed consumers on the 6 most important aspects of their car ownership experience and found that the top five were purchase price, fuel economy, running costs, overall total cost of ownership and service and maintenance costs.

The research found that even practicality, handling and styling are now considered less important than the annual cost of a tax disc.

CAP Automotive’s Nick Flood said: ‘Even we were surprised at these findings because factors like practicality, handling, image and styling have historically been right at the top of the list of reasons for choosing a particular car.

‘It is clear that things are changing in austerity Britain when families are putting practicality behind the cost of taxing the next car they plan to buy.’