Which Datsun Go+ trim holds its value better?
Following a substantial model range improvement at the end of 2018, the Datsun Go+ has, like its 5-seater Go sibling, turned into one of the better new budget-beaters out there. This made us wonder how well this 7-seater mini-MPV retains its value in the used-car market, so we ran the numbers to see which Datsun Go+ trim holds its value better.
To find out, we rounded up all the 2019-model Go+ examples listed on AutoTrader, and compared their averaged current market values to what they cost when new. This determined their value retention percentages after two years, and ensures that we only consider the updated Go+, because 2019 was the first full model year that featured only the improved, current model.
Seeing as we’re looking at initial (short-term from new) depreciation, we’ve placed a mileage cap of 40 000 km on these 2019-model cars. This corresponds with the upper range of industry-average yearly mileages, and should discount many of the high-mileage fleet vehicles already circulating in the marketplace. The updated range launched with two trim levels, but a third (with a CVT) was added about a year later, but we’ll discount it for the purposes of this article.
Related: Get more details about the updated (2019) Datsun Go and Go+ range in this launch report.
2019 Datsun Go+ 1.2 Mid
New Price: R 169 500
Current Market Value: R 141 940
Value Retained: 83.7%
The entry-level Go+ still maintained a fairly impressive 83.7% of its new-car value after two years. It’s not an exceptional performance on this front, but it’s better than many other budget cars, which tend to drop a lot more of their value in their first few years.
Of particular interest is the fact that we had a very small selection of base-spec Go+ cars within our mileage cap on site (only 3 at the time of writing), but quite a few more with higher mileages. Some of them are heading for the 100 000 km mark already, indicating that it’s a popular choice for fleet buyers, and that the Go+ seems to be quite durable.
2019 Datsun Go+ 1.2 Lux
New Price: R 180 800
Current Market Value: R 159 900
Value retained: 88.4%
If the base-trim Go+ performs well in value retention, the high-trim variant performs even better at 88.4%. Once again, the selection of low-mileage (less than 40 000 km) Go+ Lux examples on site is rather slim, with higher-mileage cars in much more plentiful supply. This trim level’s stronger resistance to depreciation (compared to the base derivative) indicates that buyers are prepared to pay a premium for nicer trimmings in their budget cars, especially if the pricier version is still quite affordable...
* Pricing was accurate at the time of writing, but may change without any prior notice.
Verdict
There are two trends that emerge from this evaluation, with the one leading to the other. The first is that fleet buyers and long-distance drivers have really warmed to this budget-focused people-carrier, which in turn helps the Datsun Go+ to retain a surprising percentage of its new-car value. It’s good to know that new-car buyers are giving a worthy contender the attention it deserves.
Related: The 7 cheapest new 7-seaters on our market.
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Shop for new and used Datsun Go+ (7-seater) cars for sale here.
Shop for new and used Datsun Go (5-seater) cars for sale here.