I'm in the market for a small SUV/cross over. I currently drive a Honda Ballade 1.5 CVT. The Honda is a fantastic car that I have been driving for the past 5 years but the low driving position together with my bad back is not a good combo. I also feel that it is time for a change just to keep life interesting. My colleagues make fun of the Ballade and calls it the "Uber car" and refer to me as the "taxi driver". It was an older gentleman's car that I bought when he traded it in and he adorned all the bumpers with rubber anti-bump / scratch protection that has been bolted to the bumpers. At age 47, I am over most of my mid-life crisis and while it does not bother me, you would expect the car to be parked at a retirement village rather than in front of a middle aged semi-petrol head's house. Max budget is around R300k.
I have had a decent look at the Nissan Magnite, Toyota Urban Cruiser, Suzuki Brezza (the Toyota and Suzuki are the exact same car, just a different badge), Kia Sonet, VW T-Cross, Hyundai Venue and Honda WR-V and also the new Fit although it is not a crossover per definition.
The car will be used for commuting to work / gym / shopping / driving my son around (when my wife is at work) etc. My wife has 2019 Honda CRV 2.0 that is our main "going-away" car so my requirements are for something smaller that can still carry 4 people and school bags / equipment / shopping etc.
My investigation has resulted in the following assessments:
- Nissan Magnite: My wife's one colleague just bought one. It has 1,0L turbo 3 cylinder engine. It looks well designed if a bit sparse on the inside for my liking. My wife drove a Qashqai for 5 years and we always battled with servicing as the closest Nissan dealer is 5 suburbs away from where we stay.
- Toyota Urban Cruiser: A neighbour has one and another of my wife's colleagues owns one. Uglier than the Brezza in my opinion and a Suzuki with a Toyota badge.
- Suzuki Brezza: I think Suzuki makes good small cars. Worth a look. My wife does not like the design though.
- VW T-Cross: There must be about 5 of them in 3 blocks where I live. Overpriced for what you get IMO. I owned a Jetta Cli and Golf GTi in the 90's and early 2000's and I was a typical boy racer back then - I loved fast cars and even faster girls. I'm not a VW fan though.
- Honda WRV: Honda makes some of the most reliable engines around but the fit and finish of the lower priced models are pretty average these days. The WRV is manual only with a 1.2 non-turbo engine the same one used in the 1.2 Jazz models. Honda's 1.2L engine is a bit underpowered IMO.
- Honda Fit: I love the Jazz. I bought my FIL the 1.5L version a few years ago. Fantastic little car. The Fit's design, especially the front is a step backwards IMO. The inside is also very sparse with a very low dashboard. It does provide excellent visibility but sitting behind the steering wheel you get the impression it was designed for the 70+ age group. The magic seats are still there and is still a fantastic invention from Honda.
- Kia Sonet: I drove a Kia Picanto for 4 years, the 1.2L second generation version. I bought it brand new for R120k as a little city run-around. It was the most fun little car I ever owned. It was nippy as hell and you could park it anywhere. I sold it after a Jeep attempted to do a parallel park behind my Picanto, got the angle wrong and dented the back door and back fender quite badly. The Sonet's are all but sold out in SA. If you can find one at independent dealers, they add R50k to the list price and people still seem to buy them. I was told by the dealer that the next batch that will arrive in Feb is already basically sold out. It has a 1.5L engine with CVT box.
- Hyundai Venue: Also has the 1.0T engine. The design reminds me of a hippo - wide hips and narrow shoulders. I loved the Moomin cartoons when I was young. The Venue looks like Moomin to me.
My critical criteria are quite simple, high-ish driving position that makes getting into the car easy and you don't have to crawl out, comfortable seating, good aircon, solid warranty, auto gearbox and preferably Apple CarPlay. I use Maps/Waze a lot and stream music/listen to audiobooks so the Carplay interface makes life much easier when you don't have to constantly grab your phone. Oh and reverse camera - I can't live without that any more.
My current Ballade is the executive model with leather seats and keyless access / go. The leather is nice but gets very hot in summer and I don't have small kids that make mess in the car that will leave stains on fabric. As for keyless access / go - I still open/lock the doors using the button on the key fob and pushing a button to start the engine vs turning a key is a first world topic for debate. I find no benefit in pushing a button vs turning a key. I am quite fond of the CVT gearbox (yes, there must be something wrong with me). Both my Ballade and my wife's CRV has a CVT gearbox. They are super smooth and seem to work well with my driving style.
So I narrowed the list down and took the Brezza and Sonet for a test drive.
- Brezza GLX AT: The 1.5L engine makes 77Kw. Strangely enough it is paired to a 4 speed auto box with a manual side mounted overdrive button on the gear stick - I can't remember when last I saw something like that. If overdrive is off, it limits the box to 3 gears. You can also shift the lever down and limit it to 2 gears or even only 1. The 77Kw feels okay but the auto box's gear changes are very noticeable. The dashboard is hard plastic with an odd dotted indentation design and the layout is a bit old-school. The speedo and rev counter are manual clocks with only the trip meter being digital. You can change the dashboard backlight colour though to a few different combo's of the RGB spectrum. Driving position is fine and the Brezza has climate control and keyless go. While it does have CarPlay, it is wired and the screen's resolution is very low. The infotainment system has a basic block-like design for options/settings - it looks a bit dated. Ride is quite soft but a bit bumpy. There is no horizontal grab handle to close the door and you have to use the diagonal mounted one which feels a bit odd - kind of like an old bakkie or truck. The indicator stalk is also on the right side and I am used to it being mounted on the left. Strange as it is Japanese. I would have thought Honda and Suzuki would have the same stalk selector config. The turn circle is a bit larger than my Ballade. I had to use 2 manoeuvres to get into a parking spot the Ballade would only have used needed a single turn. The Internet claims that there is a facelift / redesign coming in June 2022. It looks good - kind of like the girl next door. If she is the only one who wants to give you any attention, you will take it. The demo model was a burnt orange type colour with a black roof - quite an attention grabbing colour combo.
- Sonet EX CVT: It looks funky as hell. Kind of remind me of an old short wheelbase Pajero. Whomever designed it did a great job. The demo model was a bright blue with black roof. While the dashboard is a lot of hard plastic, it is smooth and the layout is super modern. The infotainment system has a very modern design, I also believe that it has wireless CarPlay. The speedo is all digital and the numbers are very large and bright - it is very clear and easy to see. Petrol level and temp gauges are also all digital. The 1.5L engine makes 85kW and it feels more peppy than the Suzuki. The CVT is also a lot smoother than the 4 speed auto box of the Brezza. The ride is less bumpy and feels firmer than that of the Brezza. It uses a normal key and only has aircon - so no climate control. The leather covered steering wheel has a flat bottom and looks a bit like that of an RS Audi. Although it does not have steering wheel based paddles, the CVT box can be put into manual mode which allows you to manually shift between pre-set gearing positions. The steering is super light and easy to manouver in the traffic. Only downside I can see is that it only has 2 airbags in the front.
Out of these 2 the Sonet is definitely the winner, at least based on my assessment.
Any other suggestions from the car fundi's ?
