Cars you can afford in South Africa based on your income

With so many cars available in South Africa, it can be difficult to decide which model is right for you, and more importantly, whether you can afford it.

While paying in cash is the quickest and easiest way to obtain a new vehicle, it’s not an option that is available to the majority of motorists in the country, so most buyers will need to consider a payment plan when choosing their next car.

There are several factors that must be taken into account when determining one’s car-buying budget, such as how long the payment period will be, the interest rate, what deposit you can afford, and whether to opt for a balloon payment.

We can use the following values as a base-line to work out what the monthly payments required to afford a new vehicle are:

Payment term – 60 terms (5 years)
Interest – 10%
Deposit – 10%
Balloon – No balloon payment
Extras – No optional extras

Since financial experts recommend that you do not spend more than 20% of your income on vehicle payments, we can calculate what salary is required to afford a vehicle payment at each price point.

Car price	Minimum monthly payment required	Salary
R200,000	R3,919	R19,595
R300,000	R5,831	R29,155
R400,000	R7,743	R38,715
R500,000	R9,655	R48,275
R600,000	R11,568	R57,840
R700,000	R13,480	R67,400
R800,000	R15,392	R76,960
R900,000	R17,304	R86,520
R1,000,000	R19,217	R96,085