Our Laguna had barely shuddered to a halt when a smartly turned out young man called James approached. He asked what we were looking for and whether we’d been to a Motorpoint before (I lied and said no) and he explained the procedure (jot down the reg of any car we might be interested in, come and find him and he’ll get the key).

James pointed us to where the people carriers were parked (mainly Fords, Vauxhalls and Peugeots) and we quickly found a 10-plate S-Max Edge Tdci with 21,000 miles and a £12,599 ticket. James had clearly been watching us because I’d barely fingerprinted the rear screen when he was back to ask whether we wanted the key.

Less than an hour later, I’d part-ex’d the Laguna, signed up to an HP agreement with Black Horse, declined Boomerang, turned down GAP, brushed away the offer of a hands-free kit and parking sensors, accepted a coffee from the in-house cafe, and agreed to collect the S-Max on Wednesday at 12.45.

Qualified, signed, sealed and delivered (there was actually a charge for something strange called ‘delivery’), and around me there were half a dozen customers being similarly treated.

Motorpoint and its numerous staff may well have been trying to reduce their carbon footprint while all this activity was going in inside and outside, but I can’t say it was obvious. What was as clear as a smog-free day was that they were selling cars and finance, and doing that very well.

You may think I’m being unfair to the Ford main dealer suggesting he was more concerned about emissions than sales, but I was the customer out there in his used car lot in the blazing ultra violet and I didn’t buy a car from him.

Mind you, the S-Max wasn’t actually what I wanted. I’d rather have had a Caterham R400 Superlight.