Death and taxes; the only two things you can be certain of. The taxes levied on our fuel local makes running a car a rather expensive exercise. It's easy to see why ride-hailing services and car-sharing are hot topics at the moment because the cost of owning a car is only getting more expensive. Sadly, South African public transport options are limited and unreliable. Some are downright life-threatening.
Related: Cheapest new cars for sale in South Africa
Cost of ownership plays a large role in what vehicle you should select. It's one of those hidden costs that many don't consider at the time of calculating the monthly instalments. Granted, the majority of new cars sold are done so with a warranty and service plan for taking care of manufacturer faults and ensuring that your selected vehicle doesn't cost all that much to service.
With so many used vehicles on the market in varying conditions, each one with its own service history (or lack thereof), it's tough to say what the cheapest used car is to own and maintain. Thankfully, on the new car side of things, there's a local report that is now known as the AA Kinsey Report. Started in 1990 by Malcolm Kinsey (who, sadly, passed away in 2020), the report fast became the 'go-to' report for many journalists, manufacturers, and Car Of The Year judges. It remains a reliable source of service and repair costs.
Cheapest car to maintain
The 2020 Kinsey report took a look at the various segments and popular new releases and investigated the costs of A) service parts, B) repair parts, and C) crash parts. While these vehicles will still be covered under service plans (where applicable) it still gives you an idea of which make and model is more affordable to own out of plan.
The report looks at the individual parts cost, the combined cost of the three baskets (A + B + C), and the combined parts as a percentage of the vehicle's cost.
City cars and Entry-level
The lowest cost total was awarded to the Renault Kwid 1.0 Expression with a total of R62 990.01 with the lowest cost percentage going to the Ford Figo 1.5 Trend Hatch that scored 29.23%. The Figo was runner up in the combined parts basket price comparison.
Super minis
In the super mini category, it was the Hyundai i10 1.2 Fluid that came out on top with a total of R90 065.64 and the lowest cost percentage was awarded to the Ford Fiesta 1.0T Trend Hatch with a score of 29.90%.
Family Favourites
This segment saw the Toyota Corolla Quest Prestige take top honours with a cost total of R85 031.16 while the lowest cost percentage was scored by the Volkswagen Golf GTI at 20.87% of the vehicle cost.
Compact Crossovers
The popular compact crossover category was dominated by the Mahindra KUV100 NXT that scored a combined total of R81 776.62. On percentage of vehicle cost, the surprising winner was the Citroën C3 Aircross 1.2 Feel with a score of 27.87%. Proof that the French marques are trying hard to repair their reputations.
Crossovers
Another popular segment, the crossover study saw the Toyota Fortuner 2.8 GD-6 Auto take top honours in both the overall combined cost and percentage of purchase price comparison with scores of R100 429.31 and 15.91% respectively.
Executive Crossovers
With high-end brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Land Rover sampled, it was the Volvo XC60 T5 Momentum that came out on top in the total cost study with a total of R242 070.75. The vehicle with the lowest percentage was the Mercedes-Benz GLE at 22.18%.
Double Cabs
A South African favourite, the double cab segment was won by the Ford Ranger 2.0 XLT with a total cost of R79 796.12 and it also claimed the best percentage with 13.86%.
Single Cabs
If you're looking for a workhorse, this category is for you and it's the Nissan NP200 that shone through with a total of R42 529.48. The percentage game was won by the Nissan NP300 which scored 16.609% of the overall vehicle price for its parts.
Executive Saloons
In this evergreen segment, it was a surprising result from the Alfa Romeo Giulia 2.0T Super. It scored a total of R86 570.17 for the combined parts basket. It held on to take the percentage battle as well with an astounding 12.54% to make it the clear winner on both fronts.
