rudivs
Active Member
So this is probably not a typical comparison, but it's what I've come down to. We are looking for a replacement for our Ford Ka (so we're looking at entry level cars), but we require that it must at a minimum have aircon, abs and dual airbags. Fuel consumption is also something we used to weed out some of the cars that were in the running.
Hyundai have a special running at the moment, which make their cars cheaper right at the moment, and I can get an i20 with between 24,000 and 30,000 on the clock for around R135,000. Looking at carfind.co.za, that's a pretty decent price. I can also get a VW up! with 4,000 on the clock for R132,000. I know that the up! is usually a lot cheaper than the i20, but the extra 20000 km is about a year's driving. Also, in the UK at least, the up! is supposed to have one of the lowest depreciation rates around.
Assuming I purchase a maintenance plan, and then sell the car at 90,000km, my cost calculator (see link below) estimates that the up! will actually be cheaper by about R380 per month, mostly because of the extra year I'd get out of the low mileage up!.
Having taken both for a test drive, the extra space and comfort features in the i20 are obviously quite nice, but I also felt that the up! has very solid driving controls (steering, pedals, gears, etc.). That said, I thought the aircon on the up! was pretty dismal, and the radio was very basic compared with the i20. Most of the time it'll just be a town runaround, so the long distance comfort which the i20 would have is less of a factor.
Are there other things I should be considering here which would make this an obvious decision? Have I missed something in my TCO calculator? I know Polos have a reputation for being stolen often, so would the up! also be frequently stolen? Anyone been driving an up! for a while and have an opinion about how the long term ownership experience is?
Hyundai have a special running at the moment, which make their cars cheaper right at the moment, and I can get an i20 with between 24,000 and 30,000 on the clock for around R135,000. Looking at carfind.co.za, that's a pretty decent price. I can also get a VW up! with 4,000 on the clock for R132,000. I know that the up! is usually a lot cheaper than the i20, but the extra 20000 km is about a year's driving. Also, in the UK at least, the up! is supposed to have one of the lowest depreciation rates around.
Assuming I purchase a maintenance plan, and then sell the car at 90,000km, my cost calculator (see link below) estimates that the up! will actually be cheaper by about R380 per month, mostly because of the extra year I'd get out of the low mileage up!.
Having taken both for a test drive, the extra space and comfort features in the i20 are obviously quite nice, but I also felt that the up! has very solid driving controls (steering, pedals, gears, etc.). That said, I thought the aircon on the up! was pretty dismal, and the radio was very basic compared with the i20. Most of the time it'll just be a town runaround, so the long distance comfort which the i20 would have is less of a factor.
Are there other things I should be considering here which would make this an obvious decision? Have I missed something in my TCO calculator? I know Polos have a reputation for being stolen often, so would the up! also be frequently stolen? Anyone been driving an up! for a while and have an opinion about how the long term ownership experience is?
Last edited:
