Hey carbonitas
As the title suggests, we are in the market for a brand new second hand as we have our first born coming this year, and ye olde 2012 i20 has done her duty well, but she needs to find a young couple and will not take kindly to diapers and being spit up on.
So, like most mindless consumers, we're looking at a crossover even though a sedan is likely cheaper and holds just as much space.
Now, pricing is in the 300-350, maybe 380K range. With a trade in of the i20 and a deposit, it gives us around 200-240K loan.
Now the ranty bits: WTF is up with car prices? I'm watching reviews. cars.co.za and ignition and carmag etc etc, and the prices they show between 2019 and 2022 are basically not even in the same ballpark.
A t-cross released in 2021 is now, as a second hand vehicle, worth more than it sold for brand new. Not sure if this is a blip on the stupid end of the "hurr durr, SA can afford a crossover for 500K, so let's sell it for that!"
So, anyway, ranty bits over.
Just to get it out the way. we're not looking at going haval or cherry since when I have test driven them, their engines appear a lot more thirsty and just not as well rounded. They have nice features, but taken objectively, most times the feature novelty fades, and the engine thirst will nag at me for many years. I know their cost nullifies the extra spend on petrol, but with petrol prices where they are, it will only increase.
The type of driving we do is mostly urban and occasional highway-I work from home, and my wife is a teacher, so the need for a highway cruiser is not really needed, so urban efficiency is something we'll probably score higher on (hence why I Haval and Chery don't quite make the cut here). We also, at a min, want curtain airbags, which excludes the likes of the Suzuki Brezza (which was a contender until seeing no trim has 6 airbags)
So, as a shortlist, we're looking at the VW T-cross, Venue (glide model, as the stupid shits at Hyundai thought making their back seat a bench drop down for fluid or motion was somehow smart for a small family car), Kia Sonet, Suzuki Vitarra (bit bigger, but would be keen to test) and maybe a Toyota Cross. Outliers might be an older Audi Q2 for the right price and milleage.
Having driven the Venue and T-Cross, the T-Cross just feels like a well made car. It just, like, fits well on the road and makes me happy to drive it. The Venue drive is "fine" but the only option is a higher priced Glide model, which goes into T-Cross territory, and then I'd chose the T-Cross still.
So I guess this is an open questions for the carbonite peoples: what crossover car would you get in the 300-380K range and if you did, why did you?
As the title suggests, we are in the market for a brand new second hand as we have our first born coming this year, and ye olde 2012 i20 has done her duty well, but she needs to find a young couple and will not take kindly to diapers and being spit up on.
So, like most mindless consumers, we're looking at a crossover even though a sedan is likely cheaper and holds just as much space.
Now, pricing is in the 300-350, maybe 380K range. With a trade in of the i20 and a deposit, it gives us around 200-240K loan.
Now the ranty bits: WTF is up with car prices? I'm watching reviews. cars.co.za and ignition and carmag etc etc, and the prices they show between 2019 and 2022 are basically not even in the same ballpark.
A t-cross released in 2021 is now, as a second hand vehicle, worth more than it sold for brand new. Not sure if this is a blip on the stupid end of the "hurr durr, SA can afford a crossover for 500K, so let's sell it for that!"
So, anyway, ranty bits over.
Just to get it out the way. we're not looking at going haval or cherry since when I have test driven them, their engines appear a lot more thirsty and just not as well rounded. They have nice features, but taken objectively, most times the feature novelty fades, and the engine thirst will nag at me for many years. I know their cost nullifies the extra spend on petrol, but with petrol prices where they are, it will only increase.
The type of driving we do is mostly urban and occasional highway-I work from home, and my wife is a teacher, so the need for a highway cruiser is not really needed, so urban efficiency is something we'll probably score higher on (hence why I Haval and Chery don't quite make the cut here). We also, at a min, want curtain airbags, which excludes the likes of the Suzuki Brezza (which was a contender until seeing no trim has 6 airbags)
So, as a shortlist, we're looking at the VW T-cross, Venue (glide model, as the stupid shits at Hyundai thought making their back seat a bench drop down for fluid or motion was somehow smart for a small family car), Kia Sonet, Suzuki Vitarra (bit bigger, but would be keen to test) and maybe a Toyota Cross. Outliers might be an older Audi Q2 for the right price and milleage.
Having driven the Venue and T-Cross, the T-Cross just feels like a well made car. It just, like, fits well on the road and makes me happy to drive it. The Venue drive is "fine" but the only option is a higher priced Glide model, which goes into T-Cross territory, and then I'd chose the T-Cross still.
So I guess this is an open questions for the carbonite peoples: what crossover car would you get in the 300-380K range and if you did, why did you?
So like 2020,2021,2022 etc. So new hatchbacks are not required!
