SA's cheapest cars to service and repair revealed...

UPDATE: We've included the full list of vehicles per category at the end of the article.

Cape Town - Do you drive a Toyota Corolla Quest, a Citroen Cactus, a Toyota Fortuner, Tata Xenon, Nissan NP200 or a Peugeot 208? 

Well, if you do you’ll be happy to know that according to the latest Kinsey Report you own one of the cheapest vehicles in its class locally to service or repair. But if you possess a Spark or a Sonic, an Elantra, Ecosport or X5, a Navara or an Amarok... perhaps not so much so.

The report, annually compiled by veteran journalist Malcolm Kinsey, this year covers 69 vehicles divided up into nine categories, and compares the prices of 34 common parts needed in servicing, repairs and crashes.

Rising cost of vehicle parts

According to Kinsey there has been increases in the cost of the 2016 basket of 34 parts, some quite astounding, such as wheel rims which in some cases are now over R20 000 each, and doors in excess of R15 000.

He also notes that a replacement for cars fitted with “intelligent lights” may cost between R30 000 to R45 000 and states that increases were steepest in the crash parts category, while service and repair parts have remained more affordable.

All prices in the study were sourced in July 2016, almost exclusively from dealers in Durban and surrounding areas.

Kinsey admits the report may be of lesser importance to those who own new vehicles still covered by service or maintenance plans, but it should be of interest, and possibly dismay, to buyers/owners of used vehicles where repair and servicing costs are relevant.

Excess, write-offs, claims...

He adds that accident and crash parts are a valid concern for all vehicle owners and warns against aluminium clad vehicles, stating they are very expensive to repair with doors, headlights and rims adding up to an alarming amount – affecting excess, write off points etc. 

He also stresses that it pays to shop around if you are costing your own vehicle parts. Manufacturers only recommend a selling price – they don’t enforce it – so prices can vary.

READ: Mechanic woes - Car parts switching a reality in SA

He also warns against alternative parts, stating this can be a minefield and that buying such parts could prove a great deal more expensive than buying the real deal.

The categories

Kinsey’s nine categories include three for crossovers and SUV’s due to these vehicles’ popularity, covering the greatest number of “similar” vehicles, from fairly basic to high end luxury. 

1. Entry level and city cars
This spans cars priced from just under R120 000 – from the Datsun Go to the Ford Figo hatch at close on R174 000.

The results mirror those of last year – with the Datsun again the winner – at R43 193 ( last year R37 631) for its parts basket, followed by the Nissan Micra with R55 071 (R44 479) and VW Polo Vivo with R56 968 (R49 805).  

Service costs are lowest for the Datsun Go with the Chevrolet Spark next best but the Chev suffers greatly from comparatively high crash parts prices.

Repair parts prices are best for the Go and Micra and the Go scores top points ahead of the VW Polo for crash parts.

2. Superminis 
In this category prices vary from around R163 000 for the Renault Sandero to R243 300 for the VW Polo. 

Surprisingly, the Peugeot 208 with a basket price of R79 690 (R67 463) pips last year’s winner, the Renault Sandero (overall cost of R83 783 versus last year’s R65 517), defying the notion that parts for French cars are expensive.

The VW Polo 1.2 TSi comes in in third with a basket price of R90 161 (R82 583 last year), but the Sandero has the most competitive service parts basket at R3 016 followed by the Polo at R3 279. 

Repair parts leaders are the Polo and Chevrolet Sonic, very much on a par at R14 500 and R14700 respectively, while the 208 with R58 781 leads the Sandero (R61 631) and the rest in the crash parts section. Chevrolet again falls down on crash parts prices.

READ: What it’s like being a woman in the motoring industry

3. Family cars
The Toyota Corolla Quest is the least expensive in this class at R199 400 and prices increase up to the VW Golf 7 at R329 900. Based on their respective sales two similar cars, the Quest (600 a month) and Corolla Prestige (800 per month), are both included, but the inclusion of the

Honda Jazz (a supermini) can be questioned...  

The Toyota pair head this highly competitive class, the Quest this year with the cheaper parts basket at R72 659 (R69 446) versus the R76 267 (R67 078) for the Prestige. In a surprise third position is the Mazda3 at R97343 (down from R133 327 last year).

The Golf 7 is the cheapest to service at R3 968, followed by Chevrolet Cruze at R4 361. In terms of repairs the Mazda3 is tops with a repair basket at R13 272 or the Jazz at R13 520.
The Toyotas are the least costly for crash parts, with the Quest’s basket coming in at R50168 and the Prestige at R54 744. According to Kinsey some brands are very expensive in this section – with prices close to or over R100 000 for the 17 crash parts. 

4. Compact crossovers
With all of them costing in the region of R250 000, the Toyota Avanza is the most affordable at R232 900, with the Ford Ecosport the most expensive at R268 900.

The Citroën Cactus is first in this category with a small increase from 2015 with a parts basket price of R87 422 (versus R 86 706), displacing the Avanza at R90 060 (R67 786) with the

Renault Duster retaining third position with a basket of R91 609 (R79 693). 

Yet the Duster (another French car) has substantially lower servicing costs than the rest at R2 748 with the Avanza second with R4 072. However the Avanza is most economical when it comes to repair costs (R13 146) followed by the Cactus (R15 977).

In the event of a crash the Cactus and Ecosport will be the least damaging to your basket – at R66 422 and R68 802 respectively.

Click here for the full report.

5. Sport Utility Vehicles
Ranging in price from R362 900 (Toyota RAV) to R533 100 (Chev Trailblazer) these are for many the vehicle of choice in South Africa. The Toyota Fortuner takes top spot again with a total parts basket price of R91 250 (R77 413).

The Trailblazer is second at R98 574 – a price reduction from 2015 (R109 801) while the new Hyundai Tucson, with a basket of R114 721, is third.

The Mitsubishi ASX has the least expensive service basket at R3 152 (but is the most expensive overall) followed by the Nissan X-Trail at R3 996. 

Chev and Hyundai are ahead for servicing parts – the Trailblazer at R8 729 and the Tucson at R9 288. 

The Toyota Fortuner (R74 410) has the most modest crash basket, followed by the Trailblazer (R84 403) and the Ford Kuga at R91 752.

6. Executive SUVs
These luxury SUV’s prices range from R743 858 for the Range Rover Evoque to R968 104 for the BMW X5. 

The less expensive Toyota Prado model, with a parts basket of R156 851 (against R173 713 for last year’s more expensive model) this year displaces the Volvo XC90 with a basket of R179 563 (versus R164 508 in 2015).

Third this year, one place higher than last year, is the Range Rover Evoque with a complete basket of R228 823 (R180 247). Service parts are least expensive for the XC90 at R5 143 against the Evoque’s R6 516.

Volvo also is best in the repair section at R12 813, followed by the Prado (R12 978) but the Toyota is in a class of its own when it comes to crash parts prices –R136 293 compared with R161 606 for the Volvo, and all the others, according to Kinsey, coming in at over R200 000...

7. Double Cabs
Prices in this class vary from R264 995 for the Tata Xenon to R519 200 for the VW Amarok. 
Tata again has the most economical parts basket – R67 623 (R58 527) – while the Toyota Hilux is second with R76 274 (R85 986), with the GWM Steed taking third with a basket price of R92 355 (R89 437).

In the servicing section the GWM is lowest at R2 291, substantially ahead of the Ford Ranger at R4 405 and the Xenon (R4 811).

In the repair section the Amarok has the best figures (R8 270), but being an automatic, this does include prices for a clutch, pressure plate and flywheel. For a manual version the price would increase by about R15 000. Second behind the Amarok is the GWM with a repair basket of R13 214.

Tata leads the crash parts total with R46 732 with the locally built Hilux not far behind at R48 761.

8. Single Cabs
From two small workhorses – the Nissan NP 200 (R157 900) and the Chev Utility, prices range up to R298 800 for the VW Amarok 2.0. 

The NP200, Chev Ute and the Nissan NP300 slot into the podium places, the Ute splitting the Nissans with basket costs of R43 967 (R47 026), R54 347 (R59 096) and R58 134 (R49 314) respectively.

The two Nissans, having been on the market for an extended period, and being locally built, also have the lowest servicing costs – the NP200 at R1 992 and the NP300 at R2 189. 
The Chev Ute (R6 606) and the Isuzu KB250 (R7 738) are most cost efficient for repair parts, while crash repairs amount to R31 756 for the NP200 and R35 497 for the Isuzu.

9. Executive sedans
Prices for these full-house exec models range from R458 996 for the Volvo S60 TR to R743 600 for the Jaguar XE 2.0.

Interestingly, the locally built BMW 3-Series has lost its first place for best overall basket to the imported Volvo S60. 

The S60 parts basket is R113 822 this year (R141 197) and the BMW R134 630 (R106 194) while the Jaguar XE 200, at R154 748 (R189 537) is third.
The Volvo is the most economical to service (R4 656), ahead of the Mercedes-Benz C200 at R5 596. 

Repairs are also least expensive for the Volvo (R8 527), followed by the BMW (R9 191) and the same applies pertaining crash parts – R100 822 for the Volvo and R118 486 for the BMW (against a whopping R178 740 for the Audi A4 and R198 325 for the Lexus ES250.

Click here for the full report.

Results:
City cars/Entry level:
1. Datsun GO 1.2 Lux 
2. Nissan Micra 1.2 Visia+
3. VW Polo 1.4 Trendline
4. Toyota Etios 1.5 XS
5. VW Move UP 1.0 3-door
6. Honda Brio 1.2 Comfort
7. Suzuki Swift 1.2 GL
8. Hyundai i10 1.1 Motion
9. Kia Picanto 1.0 LS
10. Ford Figo 1.5 Trend
11. Chevrolet Spark 1.2 L

Super mini:
1. Peugeot 208 1.2 Active
2. Renault Sandero Turbo Dynamique
3. VW Polo 1.2 TSI Comfortline
4. Renault Clio Turbo Dynamique
5. Ford Fiesta 1.0T Trend
6. Toyota Yaris 1.0 XS 5-door
7. Kia Rio 1.4 
8. Chevrolet Sonic 1.6

Family cars:
1. Toyota Corolla 1.6 Quest
2. Toyota Corolla 1.6 Prestige
3. Mazda3 1.6 Dynamic
4. Honda Jazz 1.5 Elegance
5. Opel Astra 1.0T Essentia
6. VW Golf 7 1.4 TSI Comfortline
7. Chevrolet Cruze 1.4T LS
8. Ford Focus 1.5T Trend
9. Hyundai Elantra 1.6 Premium

Compact Crossovers:
1. Citroen Cactus 1.2 Feel
2. Toyota Avanza 1.5 SX
3. Renault Duster 1.6 Dynamique
4. Ford Ecosport 1.0T Trend

SUV
1. Toyota Fortuner 2.8 GD6 auto
2. Chevrolet Trailblazer 2.8D LTZ auto
3. Hyundai Tucson 2.0 Premium auto
4. Toyota RAV4 2.0 GX auto
5. Kia Sportage 2.0 CRD auto
6. Ford Kuga 1.5T Trend
7. Nissan X-Trail 1.6 DCI X'E
8. Jeep Renegade 1.4 LT. Limited
9. Honda CRV 2.0 Comfort
10. Mitsubishi ASX 2.0 GLX

Executive SUV:
1. Toyota Prado 3.0 DT TX
2. Volvo XC90 D4 Momentum
3. Range Rover Evoque SD SE4
4. VW Touareg V6 TDI Luxury
5. Mercedes-Benz GLE250 
6. Audi Q7 3.0 TDI Quattro
7. BMW X5 xDrive 3.0 D 

Double cabs:
1. Tata Xenon 2.2 XT Evolve
2. Toyota Hilux 2.8 GD6 Raider
3. GWM Steed 6 VGT Xscape
4. Ford Ranger 2.2 Highrider XL
5. Isuzu KB300 D-Teq LX
6. VW Amarok 2.0 Bi TDI Highline
7. Nissan Navara 2.5 DCI LÊ

Single cabs:
1. Nissan NP200 1.6i
2. Chevrolet Utility 1.4 Spaza
3. Nissan NP300 2.0
4. Toyota Hilux 2.4 GD6
5. Isuzu KB250
6. Ford Ranger 2.2 D
7. VW Amarok 2.0 TDI

Executive sedans:
1. Volvo S60 T4 Momentum
2. BMW 320i
3. Jaguar XE 2.0D Prestige
4. Mercedes-Benz C200 auto
5. Audi A4 2.0 TDI auto
6. Lexus ES250