The Chinese car brand that will pay you R200,000 for its own car priced at R835,000 three years ago

[Newsfeed]

The Chinese car brand that will pay you R200,000 for its own car priced at R835,000 three years ago

Fewer than 100 units of a vehicle from a top Chinese manufacturer were sold in South Africa, and not even its dealerships seem interested in trading it in.

 

[Zellephant]

yeah, no I’m good thanks - no EV in my near future at this point thank you very much

 

[Bewlen]

GWM Ora 03

 

[Gordon_R]

Can I post this article about depreciation, on every stupid story about how much you can 'save' by driving an EV?

Thread 'R30,000 saved driving an electric car for a year in South Africa'

Sep 11, 2026

R30,000 saved driving an electric car for a year in South Africa

At current electricity and fuel prices in South Africa, electric is always the cheaper option. The precise difference depends on various factors, including how far you drive and where you charge.

• Newsfeed
• Replies: 33
• Forum: Broadband and IT News

 

[FiestaST]

For a change I will refrain & say nothing about this piece.

There is an a-word angle/angel here.

 

[Justanotherguybythesea]

I would buy a used one for R200k though, let the first owner get the biggest chunk of depreciation, like every other vehicle has.

 

[Johand]

I little bit of early adopter tax but it will stabilize in time. I recon if you want to buy an EV now your either need to be a) enthusiast b) do enough km so that car will pay for itself in 3 to 5 years c) drive cars for a very long time (E. G. 8+ years).

But same math as luxury cars. The good news is that second hand EVs might offer good value!

The problem with fast moving tech is that it can obsolete things fast and improve rapidly. I mean even ICE cars will be left in the dust. Or cars can get super expensive and we will all cry we didn't buy when the price was "reasonable".

 

[SauRoNZA]

I would buy a used one for R200k though, let the first owner get the biggest chunk of depreciation, like every other vehicle has.

But that’s the part that makes no sense, if you look at their actua retail price it’s at least double that.

Being a niche product when it launched the hard knock makes sense but not this badly.

 

[Speedster]

I'm definitely not one to defend dealerships (I have a particular dislike/distrust towards them), but this article is dishonest as you get

"The table below compares what GWM Haval offered for our Ora 03 GT compared with the best prices of various secondhand models with more mileage than our car on AutoTrader."

Why are you comparing the dealer price for your car but the best AutoTrader price for the others?

When I sold my Volvo at the end of last year the dealer also offered significantly less than I was able to get from an independent dealer.

Seriously myBB, be better.

 

[SauRoNZA]

I'm definitely not one to defend dealerships (I have a particular dislike/distrust towards them), but this article is dishonest as you get

"The table below compares what GWM Haval offered for our Ora 03 GT compared with the best prices of various secondhand models with more mileage than our car on AutoTrader."

Why are you comparing the dealer price for your car but the best AutoTrader price for the others?

When I sold my Volvo at the end of last year the dealer also offered significantly less than I was able to get from an independent dealer.

Seriously myBB, be better.

Yeah trade-ins are always low compared to the retail price…that’s how they make their money after all.

It’s like saying the cost price of something is lower than it sells for in the shops…no ****.

But, that margin is still way too big. Also doesn’t really take into account the condition of the car.

No surprise WBC turn out to be the good guys, I expect it will be much the same when I want to sell mine.

 

[Hanno Labuschagne]

I'm definitely not one to defend dealerships (I have a particular dislike/distrust towards them), but this article is dishonest as you get

"The table below compares what GWM Haval offered for our Ora 03 GT compared with the best prices of various secondhand models with more mileage than our car on AutoTrader."

Why are you comparing the dealer price for your car but the best AutoTrader price for the others?

When I sold my Volvo at the end of last year the dealer also offered significantly less than I was able to get from an independent dealer.

Seriously myBB, be better.

The comparison is not for the best Autotrader price. If I did that, the Ora 03 GT selected would have been over R600,000. It was for the vehicles most comparable in terms of mileage and age. In most cases, it was the cheapest option on Autotrader for each model.

 

[SauRoNZA]

The comparison is not for the best Autotrader price. If I did that, the Ora 03 GT selected would have been over R600,000. It was for the vehicles most comparable in terms of mileage and age. In most cases, it was the cheapest option on Autotrader for each model.

But that’s still comparing trade-in to retail.

This will always be way off for any brand of car and hardly unique here.

Now if you got the trade-in prices of those models it would be a different thing entirely, but I do feel they would still be a lot higher because yeah the Ora3 was a bit of a bomb.

 

[chickenbeef]

This article screams sensationalism and feels like crossing ethical boundaries by weaponizing your platform to vent a personal grievance. I say this because I also saw your original post on LinkedIn where you tagged a rival Chinese brand to try and put pressure on on them to step in.

The initial buyer/dealer took the knock for depreciation and you got the car for under R500k yet you continue referencing the original retail price of the car (R835k) in the article as if you took the initial R385k loss.

Dropping from R500,000 to ~R350,000 over 18 months and 24,000 km seems pretty standard (around 30%). The Ora O3 was overpriced when it launched anyway that's why the sales numbers were so low, they'll even struggle to resell it now.

You just bought the wrong car at the wrong time.

 

[Hanno Labuschagne]

This article screams sensationalism and feels like crossing ethical boundaries by weaponizing your platform to vent a personal grievance. I say this because I also saw your original post on LinkedIn where you tagged a rival Chinese brand to try and put pressure on on them to step in.

The initial buyer/dealer took the knock for depreciation and you got the car for under R500k yet you continue referencing the original retail price of the car (R835k) in the article as if you took the initial R385k loss.

Dropping from R500,000 to ~R350,000 over 18 months and 24,000 km seems pretty standard (around 30%). The Ora O3 was overpriced when it launched anyway that's why the sales numbers were so low, they'll even struggle to resell it now.

You just bought the wrong car at the wrong time.

I did reference the R350,000 WeBuyCars offer, which is more than reasonable. I've found a private buyer willing to pay R400,000.

The dealer would probably have priced it somewhere between those two figures, which is one of the issues

We can have differing views on whether it may be acceptable for a car manufacturer to offer 24% of the original retail value of the vehicle or around 40% of what we paid for it, even with five years remaining on its warranty and service plan.

My biggest issue was not the offer in any case, it was the fact that I had to go to three different GWM dealers before one was willing to even put forward a price. With the first two, we would have traded them in for another one of the brand's own vehicles.

The salesman at the same dealer called the trade-in offer laughable. Rare as they may be, these are still really decent cars with excellent kit even at half-a-million rand compared to the rest of the market.

This is not about forcing GWM's hand, I don't expect them to even wink at this, nor do I expect any special treatment from whoever I buy a car from in the future.

I may be sharing a personal story, but the point is not to get a better deal, the point is to give other people a fair warning about buying into niche brands, even if they may be owned by established manufacturers.

 

[thestaggy]

Yeah trade-ins are always low compared to the retail price…that’s how they make their money after all.

It’s like saying the cost price of something is lower than it sells for in the shops…no ****.

But, that margin is still way too big. Also doesn’t really take into account the condition of the car.

No surprise WBC turn out to be the good guys, I expect it will be much the same when I want to sell mine.

When I replaced my car last year, the salesman told me to not trade it in with them, rather try and sell it privately or approach We Buy Cars because I would get more for it.

I did and I ended up getting R12,000 more than the likely best trade in offer. I was even surprised at the amount I got.

 

[system32]

Just use the batteries in you Solar PV Home System.
Sell the rest in the scrap yard.

 

[chickenbeef]

I did reference the R350,000 WeBuyCars offer, which is more than reasonable. I've found a private buyer willing to pay R400,000.

The dealer would probably have priced it somewhere between those two figures, which is one of the issues

We can have differing views on whether it may be acceptable for a car manufacturer to offer 24% of the original retail value of the vehicle or around 40% of what we paid for it, even with five years remaining on its warranty and service plan.

My biggest issue was not the offer in any case, it was the fact that I had to go to three different GWM dealers before one was willing to even put forward a price. With the first two, we would have traded them in for another one of the brand's own vehicles.

The salesman at the same dealer called the trade-in offer laughable. Rare as they may be, these are still really decent cars with excellent kit even at half-a-million rand compared to the rest of the market.

This is not about forcing GWM's hand, I don't expect them to even wink at this, nor do I expect any special treatment from whoever I buy a car from in the future.

I may be sharing a personal story, but the point is not to get a better deal, the point is to give other people a fair warning about buying into niche brands, even if they may be owned by established manufacturers.

Okay, sure, the R200k offer is really just a go-away offer. They know you'll never accept it and they also know it's going to sit on the showroom floor for months.

Trade-ins are for convenience, if you care about maximising your return a private sale has always been better regardless of the vehicle brand.

 

[Splinter]

I did reference the R350,000 WeBuyCars offer, which is more than reasonable. I've found a private buyer willing to pay R400,000.

The dealer would probably have priced it somewhere between those two figures, which is one of the issues

We can have differing views on whether it may be acceptable for a car manufacturer to offer 24% of the original retail value of the vehicle or around 40% of what we paid for it, even with five years remaining on its warranty and service plan.

My biggest issue was not the offer in any case, it was the fact that I had to go to three different GWM dealers before one was willing to even put forward a price. With the first two, we would have traded them in for another one of the brand's own vehicles.

The salesman at the same dealer called the trade-in offer laughable. Rare as they may be, these are still really decent cars with excellent kit even at half-a-million rand compared to the rest of the market.

This is not about forcing GWM's hand, I don't expect them to even wink at this, nor do I expect any special treatment from whoever I buy a car from in the future.

I may be sharing a personal story, but the point is not to get a better deal, the point is to give other people a fair warning about buying into niche brands, even if they may be owned by established manufacturers.

Hang on - you are comparing a dealerships price to buy from you, with SELLING prices of other vehicles? If so, that is indeed dishonest reporting, as stated elsewhere.

What would the dealership sell the car for???

 

[Speedster]

The comparison is not for the best Autotrader price. If I did that, the Ora 03 GT selected would have been over R600,000. It was for the vehicles most comparable in terms of mileage and age. In most cases, it was the cheapest option on Autotrader for each model.

But you're comparing those prices to the dealer trade price for the Ora. It's comparing apples to pears. By your own article you received a significantly higher offer from WBC, implying the expected sale value (which is what you're using for the other vehicles) is about double the number you've chosen.

 

[chickenbeef]

A new 2026 Ora GT is R630k now BTW. Take the R400k offer and run.