Should you buy a Jaecoo J7? The pros and cons

While the J7 surely looks good, should you commit to it for the longterm? These days, getting a divorce is almost easier than getting rid of the wrong car - so this is a pitfall we'd like you to avoid.

To help you with your buying decision, we decided to make a list of the J7's pros and cons. So without further ado, here is our list.

Pros

An interior done right - just look at that screen! This is the Inferno model.

1. It’s a great-looking car; the Land Rover heritage is obvious.
2. Great ride and handling. Lawrence really liked it in his J7 launch report.
3. The interior is sophisticated and well-put together. Ryno also reckons so in his J7 review.
4. The big touchscreen is a real luxury.
5. It’s spacious (even for adults) on row two.
6. It comes almost ridiculously well-equipped with convenience features, outshining even other budget-oriented, high-value cars like Haval's H6 and even the Kia Sportage. Read a running cost comparison here.
7. It is filled with safety assistants and gets a 5-star safety rating from ANCAP, making it great for new drivers.
8. It’s pretty peppy, thanks to its 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol-engine, with 145kW and 290Nm, and quite frugal too, registering around 8 litres per 100 km in the all-wheel drive models, which are heavier than the other two derivatives. 
   
9. Just like its parent company Chery, Jaecoo offers a 1-million km warranty that ensures worry-free ownership.
10. Chery has a massive parts warehouse here in SA that supplies Jaecoo and Omoda parts as well.

Read more about the J7's performance, here.

Cons

All-wheel-drive sounds good on paper, but in the J7's case it's not that useful.

1. It’s a Chinese car with some of the perceived stigma attached.
2. We don’t know what depreciation will be like as the J7 ages - it's simply too new. 
3. There are quite a few less-than-favourable reviews for Chery, Omoda and Jaecoo on social media and Hello Peter.
4. That one-million-km warranty has very specific terms and conditions; for example, the owner must cover the million km within ten years, and the engine warranty only applies to the car's first owner.
5. In-car tech (specifically the Driver Attention Monitor) is oversensitive and irritating to occupants.
6. Gearbox/throttle mapping could be better - the transmission is hesitant to kick down at times and the power delivery is somewhat inconsistent.
7. The steering lacks any real feedback and feels over-assisted.
8. The all-wheel-drive model's off-road prowess isn’t sufficient for any real bundu-bashing and makes the car heavier with no real benefit.
   

Related: Which is the best Jaecoo J7 variant?

Verdict

The list of pros and cons almost evens out, so in the end it will probably come down to how badly you want to own the J7 and if you are willing to accept the risks. We recommend taking the J7 on an extensive test drive, and testing out each and every function to ensure that the J7 is a car that you can live with for the foreseeable future. We also recommend reading the available Omoda Sandton customer reviews.

Chery South Africa reviews can be read here, while there is also dropdown link for specific Chery dealerships across the country.

The only Jaecoo customer reviews on Hello Peter at present are of Hatfield Omoda & Jaecoo Fourways, read them here.

Here's how much repayments will be on a new Jaecoo J7.

ENDS