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

The Ford Ranger is still the go-to choice for motorists shopping for second-hand cars in South Africa.

The popular bakkie sold a grand total of 1,946 units in May 2025, securing first place ahead of its rival, the Toyota Hilux.

Of course, the Hilux was a top performer in its own right, moving 1,584 used examples last month.

As far as passenger cars are concerned, the top dog is still the VW Polo Vivo with 1,283 units sold.

This put it just four units ahead of its upmarket sibling, the VW Polo, which found its way into 1,279 new homes in May.

Another unchanged entry is the Toyota Fortuner, as it once again landed in fifth place while holding the title of South Africa’s favourite pre-owned SUV with 765 units.

The rest of the top 10, however, saw a few changes in May, as the Swift moved up to sixth place with 575 purchases.

The Toyota Corolla Cross also saw an improvement, moving from ninth to seventh with 408 customers.

Similarly, the Isuzu D-Max jumped from 10th to eighth place with 476 units, meaning that the last two entries fell down the back of the top 10.

This includes the Mercedes-Benz C-Class – the last luxury model on the list – which came ninth with 476 sales.

The final spot was then taken by the Toyota Starlet, which dropped from sixth place in April with 469 units.

According to AutoTrader, a total of 31,741 used cars were sold in South Africa in May 2025, representing a solid year-on-year (YoY) improvement of 14.9%.

Toyota, VW, and Ford all performed very well with monthly increases of between 8% and 12%, but Suzuki experienced the largest jump in consumer interest of any automaker with a 21% YoY uptick.

Affordable cars in general have seen growing interest while premium badges like the Mercedes C-Class have dropped 19.2% YoY.

Most popular used cars in South Africa

These were the 10 best-selling pre-owned cars in South Africa in May 2025, as listed by AutoTrader.

1. Ford Ranger – 1,946 units

• Average price – R489,761
• Average mileage – 82,749km
• Average age – 5 years

2. Toyota Hilux – 1,584 units

• Average price – R451,377
• Average mileage – 109,951km
• Average age – 6 years

3. VW Polo Vivo – 1,283 units

• Average price – R209,807
• Average mileage – 52,046km
• Average age – 4 years

4. VW Polo – 1,279 units

• Average price – R268,688
• Average mileage – 74,032km
• Average age – 5 years

5. Toyota Fortuner – 765 units

• Average price – R492,579
• Average mileage – 101,625km
• Average age – 6 years

6. Suzuki Swift – 575 units

• Average price – R204,427
• Average mileage – 38,022km
• Average age – 3 years

7. Toyota Corolla Cross – 488 units

• Average price – R394,814
• Average mileage – 26,835km
• Average age – 2 years

8. Isuzu D-Max – 481 units

• Average price – R442,172
• Average mileage – 74,288km
• Average age – 3 years

9. Mercedes-Benz C-Class – 476 units

• Average price – R396,854
• Average mileage – 102,093km
• Average age – 9 years

10. Toyota Starlet – 469 units

• Average price – R240,733
• Average mileage – 33,938km
• Average age – 2 years