If you cast your eyes through the latest new car price lists you will notice that the Suzuki Celerio, Renault Kwid and Datsun Go feature at the sharp end when it comes to the lowest purchases prices.
In fact the Celerio 1.0 GA model, along with the entry-level Kwid 1.0 Expression, until recently shared the honours as South Africa’s least-expensive new cars. This changed recently with the late-March 2020 launch of the new Suzuki S-Presso mini-SUV at just R134 900 for the entry model. However, as the national media launch test drives were deferred, due to the pending lock-down for COVID-19, we are not in a position to comment on the new S-Presso as yet.
* Pricing was accurate at the time of writing, but may change without prior notice.
Suzuki Celerio 1.0 GA (R144 900)
This is a small entry-level hatchback with a lot going for it, not least that it is surprisingly roomy for such a small car. Like its competitors here, it is powered by a small 3-cylinder engine. In the case of the Celerio, this displaces 1,0-litres, and the engine is rated at 50 kW, which is par for the course in this league.
Unlike its two competitors here, the Celerio does not offer a free 1-year insurance scheme
Renault Kwid 1.0 Expession (R144 900)
This small car, identically-priced to the Suzuki Celerio, has been the South African sales success story of the past 18 months. Renault has cleverly targeted first-time buyers with the car, making much of the fact that the 1,0-litre 50 kW Kwid comes with one year’s free insurance for private buyers. Easy hire purchase terms for first-time buyers have helped to see the Kwid range average sales in the region of 1 000 units a month, and this is the envy of everyone in the industry.
The fact that the Kwid initially garnered negative reviews from the motoring media in South Africa has not seemed to hurt the car’s sales success at all. It should be mentioned here that since the launch in late 2016, the Kwid has been somewhat improved in numerous areas, in terms of handling and active-and passive-safety features.
Datsun Go 1.2 Mid (R162 300)
Like the Kwid, the 1,2-litre 50 kW Datsun Go initially suffered bad reviews in the motoring media, due largely to poor crash international test results and the fact that the car was offered without airbags or ABS braking. This has been rectified since its late-2014 launch and the latest Go features dual airbags, ABS braking and a revised body shell offering a much more solid build-quality.
Like the Renault Kwid, the Datsun Go also offers a 1-year free insurance package.
Running costs factors
Suzuki Celerio 1.0 GA Renault Kwid 1.0 Expression Datsun Go 1.2 Mid
Price R149 900 R149 00 R162 300
Service plan: no no no
Servicing: 15 000 km 15 000 km 15 000 km
Warranty: 3 years/100 000 km 5 years/100 000 km 6 years/100 km warranty
Tyre sizes: 165/70 R14 165/70 R14 165/70 R14
Fuel usage: 4,7 litres/100 km 4,7 litres/100 km 5,5 litres/100 km
Conclusions
All three of these cars offer very low running costs. Each of them have factors in their favour, which don’t necessarily reflect the sales figures that each of them engender.
The Suzuki is, to our mind, the best-built of all three of these cars. Suzuki’s have an excellent engineering record, and if we were buying one of these cars to last over a long period, we would choose the Suzuki Celerio
However, those 1-year insurance packages play a big part in running costs, considering that insuring one of these cars can cost anything between R650 and R1 000 a month, depending on the owner’s risk profile and specific insurance portfolio. Here both the Datsun and the Renault have a distinct advantage over the Suzuki.
Servicing costs
As for servicing costs, over the longer term, all three of these cars should offer very similar servicing costs. At present, the Kinsey report rates the Datsun Go as having the lowest servicing costs, but both Suzuki and Renault have always shown up very well in past Kinsey reports. All three cars have 15 000 km service intervals.
Fuel economy
Both the Celerio and the Renault claim equal fuel consumption figures here. In our experience Suzuki always comes closest to matching claimed figures, but the Kwid will run it very close. Driving style will be more of a factor here between these three cars, although the Datsun Go is the thirstiest of the three, albeit by a small margin.
Warranty
The Datsun Go has the best warranty of the 3 cars, with the Kwid next best, and then the Suzuki, which lags a bit in this department.
Tyre replacement
All 3 cars have identical tyre sizes, and all three should be extremely light on tyres as power ratings are low and body mass is low on all three cars.
And the winner is…
Thanks to its combination of low purchase price, free insurance for a year, an impressive warranty period and low fuel consumption, the Renault Kwid is the running- costs winner. Next best is the Datsun Go, followed by the Suzuki Celerio. Ironically, if this was a shoot-out on which is the best car overall, we would put that order in reverse, with the Suzuki winning, followed by the Datsun and then the Kwid. In any event, all three should reward you with very low running costs.
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