How much SUV can I buy for R5 000 a month?
How much SUV can I buy for R5 000 a month?
By Stuart Johnston
For comparative purposes, AutoTrader’s standard repayment template for this sort of purchasing advice article assumes a 10 per cent deposit on the purchase price, a repayment period of 60 months, and an interest rate on the financed amount of 12 percent.
Blue-chip customers will be able to negotiate an interest rate much closer to the current prime interest rate of 10,25 (some clients can even secure an interest rate of slightly below prime!) but for most buyers, a rate of 12 percent interest on the financed amount is par for the course.
The price ceiling is R245 000
Taking into account that R5 000 monthly repayment rate, we used WesBank’s repayment calculator (easily available online) to work out the ceiling purchase price for SUVs. Using our standard repayment parameters (mentioned above), the ceiling price for a repayment of R5 000 a month is a list price of R245 000.
This limits the new SUV buyer to only a handful of SUVs and some cross-over models. The cheapest of these is the Mahindra KUV100 1.2G80 K4+, an extremely complex name for what is essentially a rather simple, budget-build front-wheel-drive cross-over hatch, and not really an SUV at all. But its price of R149 995 will attract attention.
In the same sort of league configuration-wise, but of a very superior level in all respects is the Suzuki Ignis. Again it’s by no means an SUV, being front-wheel-drive only, but short stints on very rough farm roads satisfied us that the Ignis is a great small car, with its high ground clearance, for those who need to traverse rough roads on the way into town.
The Toyota Etios Cross is priced at just a bit more than the Ignis. Whereas the Ignis’s styling is ultra-chic, the Etios Cross has one of the most visually ill-proportioned “styling kits” on the road. Yet, because it is based on rock-solid Toyota reliability, it is probably a good buy as a cross-over, and re-sale will be good.
The Chery Tiggo is great on really bad roads!
For a vehicle that is really good at bad roads, you should look at the Chery Tiggo 1.6 TXE. The trouble is, it has iffish build quality and extremely vague handling on tar roads, so you should really only consider it if your route to the city is paved with potholes and dongas.
And for a vehicle that fits the template of what SUVs were all about when these devices were first mooted, you should look at the Mahindra Thar 2.5 CRDe, an Indian version of the original Jeep!
The most expensive real SUV in our price league is Renault’s Duster, which in 1.6 Expression form just weighs in at under our budget limit, at R244 900. Whenever we’ve tested a Duster, we have been amazed at just how competent and well-configured this Renault is. It has considerable off-road ability too, in 4X4 form, but unfortunately on our budget, the 4X4 model is about R50 000 too expensive!
Our Top Five SUVs and Cross-Overs at R5 000 a month
- Renault Duster 1.6 Expression (R244 900)
- Suzuki Ignis 1.2 GLX (R189 900)
- Mahindra Thar 2.5 CRde (R219 995)
- Fiat Panda 0.9 TwinAir 4X4 (R242 900)
- Toyota Etios Cross 1.5 XS (R196 200)