Features / 25 May 2022 / Albert du Toit

3 of South Africa’s favourite cars are worth more now than when they were new

The Toyota Fortuner, Toyota Hiace, and VW T-Cross are three of the best-selling vehicles in South Africa, and popular trims of these vehicles are worth more on the used market now than they were last year.

We discovered this by comparing the price of 2021-model-year vehicles when they were new, to the average price of used listings on AutoTrader for these vehicles in 2022.

The cars

The cars that qualify for this comparison were among the best-selling models in their segments in April, and have been on sale since at least 2020.

The vehicles that made the cut were:

Bakkie – Toyota Hilux 2.8GD-6 Double Cab 4×4 Legend Auto
Crossover – VW T-Cross 1.0TSI 85kW Comfortline
Hatchback – Suzuki Swift 1.2 GL Auto
MPV – Toyota Hiace 2.7 Ses-fikile 16-seater
Sedan – VW Polo Sedan 1.6 Comfortline
SUV – Toyota Fortuner 2.4GD-6 Auto

These particular derivatives were the most-popular trim levels for their respective model ranges on AutoTrader in 2022, said the company.

New vehicle depreciation

While new vehicles generally depreciate and become worth less over time, a few lucky owners of everyday models have seen their vehicles appreciate over the past year.

According to WeBuyCars, this is due to car buyers shifting focus to the pre-owned market as new vehicles become increasingly difficult to get a hold of.

Even though most new cars still lose their value when they are bought, it seems they are now doing so slower than before.

The vehicle on this list that lost the most of its value over the past six-odd months is the Hilux, going down by a reasonable 5.71%.

On the other end of the spectrum, VW’s T-Cross gained over 7% in value since the first quarter of 2021, with pre-owned models of this particular specification not only being more expensive on average than when they were new, but also more expensive than new models in 2022.

This might have something to do with the popularity of the body style, as pre-owned crossovers have become almost prohibitively expensive in South Africa more recently, while continuously racking up higher sales figures.

The comparisons below detail the prices of these best-selling cars, according to data provided by AutoTrader.