Features / 13 November 2025 / Michael Taylor

Best-selling used cars in South Africa right now – With pricing

The second-hand car market saw solid growth in October 2025 with 36,042 sales.

This is a 3.1% year-on-year and 8.2% month-on-month improvement, indicating strong demand for affordable, pre-owned vehicles, according to new data from AutoTrader.

Continuing its streak as the nation’s favourite used vehicle is the Ford Ranger, which sold 2,025 units last month at an average price of R481,791.

Not too far behind is the Ranger’s rival, the Toyota Hilux, which moved 1,688 examples over the same period.

In third place, we have the first passenger car with the VW Polo Vivo, which overtook the Polo in October with 1,532 sales compared to the latter’s 1,506.

Of course, this was still enough for the Polo to claim fourth place, landing ahead of the Toyota Fortuner in fifth with its 855 purchases.

The rest of the top 10 is unchanged from September, as the Swift sold 730 units while the Toyota Corolla Cross sold 606.

Another bakkie, the Isuzu D-Max, claimed eighth place thanks to 576 customers, and the Toyota Starlet came ninth with 521 units.

This leaves us with the Hyundai Grand i10, which came in 10th place in October with 491 sales.

Taking a more holistic look at the industry, Toyota, VW, and Ford were the three most popular brands with 6,266, 5,209, and 3,641 units, respectively.

Hyundai and Suzuki reported the highest year-on-year increases at 33% and 30%, while Mercedes-Benz and Nissan declined by 12% and 20%.

“The continued strength of South Africa’s used car market reflects both improved consumer confidence and the widening affordability gap between new and pre-owned vehicles,” said AutoTrader CEO George Mienie.

“Even as new car prices climb, used models—particularly popular bakkies and compact hatchbacks – remain the go-to choice for budget-conscious buyers seeking reliability and value.”

“The data suggests that this momentum is likely to carry through to the end of the year.”