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Is this the cheapest car to rent in SA?

Cape Town - Tempest Car Hire has added 200 Chery QQ3 hatchbacks to its fleet. At R145 a day, the company claims the QQ3 is the most affordable rental car in SA.

The new cars, the first time Tempest has purchased Cherys, are located at "all major airports in SA", reports the car hire company.

THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD

Before you book a trip behind the wheel of a QQ3, it's important to note its performance figures, especially fuel consumption and emissions.

The sub-compact QQ3 coincided with the local introduction of Chery to SA in 2008. The entry-level units used by Tempest are powered by a 0.8-litre three-cylinder, mated to a five-speed manual, capable of 38kW/70Nm.

Fuel consumption is rated at a claimed 6.3 litres/100km with emissions of 156g/km. The entry-level QQ3 has neither airbags nor ABS.

Click here to view the QQ3's fuel consumption and emissions, then click on environmental performance.

Lydall said that the Chery QQ3 was evaluated by Tempest's technical team and it complied "with the company’s set of stringent pre-purchase criteria".

PASS ON SAVINGS

Martin Lydall, Tempest chief commercial officer, said: “The major driving factors in choosing the QQ3 were that the cars themselves are well-priced, have good specifications in terms of comfort, air-conditioning, CD player, and the replacement parts are reasonable to. This allows Tempest to pass on savings to the customers.

“The rental industry is very quick to react and we expect our competitors to try and match our offer, but we are pleased that we have been able to lead the way in lowering rental costs and provide best in the market prices once again,”

He adds that: "Early customer feedback is positive."

The next phase in the introduction of the Chery QQ3s to the Tempest rental fleet will be a lucky draw competition in which one a renter of a Chery QQ3 will win one of these cars. This competition will run over three months, from September to November 2015.

ENDURANCE TEST

According to Chery: "Among the projects undertaken by Chery SA since its arrival in South Africa has been the setting of SA speed and endurance records at the Gerotek test track west of Pretoria by entry-level Chery QQ3 cars, with 800cc and 1100cc engines.

"The five cars used for the attempt and driven by 20 professional drivers and journalists covered a total of 33 351km."

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