Which compact SUV/hatchback - R350k budget

Mike Hoxbig said:
Told you, Civic RS. If you can get past the CVT, you get Bose, which is way more awesome than anything you get in this price range. Still haven't decided myself if I'm replacing mine, lots of things around the house that needs fixing...
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Also a very nice car. Bizarrely cheap for what it is.

And nothing wrong with the CVT, in fact it’s far better for it.
 
Praemon said:
So I ended up getting the Suzuki Fronx GLX manual. It has everything I wanted in terms of features and safety. I was very close to getting the Chery Tiggo Pro 4 Elite DCT version, but it was quite a bit more expensive (around R50k), and they didn't have a colour I wanted in stock. The Fronx lacks some of the gadgets and style of the Chery, but I felt it was the more sensible purchase.

I took it for a weekend to the Ceres mountains where I had to drive muddy dirt roads with potholes, and it performed really well. The lack of power only really surfaced when the aircon was on, but I never felt it was a major problem. So, happy with the purchase so far.
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Nice car. You still happy with it?

What are your thoughts on the safety issues coming out of Australasia?
 
Lupus said:
That was the Fronx? Daaaamn
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Yup.

ANCAP’s independent testing of the Suzuki Fronx has resulted in the vehicle narrowly reaching the threshold for a one-star ANCAP safety rating, following poor performance in key crash tests and low levels of occupant protection for both adults and children.

In addition to its poor overall crash performance, ANCAP testing identified a serious and separate safety concern, with a rear seatbelt failure occurring during the full width frontal crash test. This component failure has been reported to Australian and New Zealand vehicle safety regulators.
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www.ancap.com.au

CONSUMER ALERT: One-star safety for Suzuki Fronx, testing reveals component failure

ANCAP’s independent testing of the Suzuki Fronx has resulted in the vehicle narrowly reaching the threshold for a one-star ANCAP safety rating, following poor performance in key crash tests and low levels of occupant protection for both adults and children. In addition to its poor overall crash...
www.ancap.com.au
 
Thanks for bringing this to light. Car shows like Buyers Guide, Changecars and Cars.co.za are captured to the manufacturers and never give you an honest review. They always sing the praises of Suzuki.
 
Speedster said:
Nice car. You still happy with it?

What are your thoughts on the safety issues coming out of Australasia?
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Still happy with it, but obviously the new safety concerns are not great. Will wait and see what the eventual outcome is from Suzuki, but not in a rush to change just yet.
 
Raphael123 said:
Thanks for bringing this to light. Car shows like Buyers Guide, Changecars and Cars.co.za are captured to the manufacturers and never give you an honest review. They always sing the praises of Suzuki.
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Journalism is subjective and I'm sure it can be influenced whether knowingly or not due to relationships, but I think it's a stretch to say "they're captured". How many reviews can you point to that were produced after the ANCAP rating that don't highlight the safety issue? You can't expect car reviewers to somehow know whether a car will get a good or bad safety rating in another region in the future - they can only review or provide feedback on the current information they have. Previous rating for the Fronx was 5 stars with ASEAN NCAP (yes, that doesn't carry much weight, but what else are they suppose to go on?) and 4 stars with Japan NCAP (although different spec).
 
Raphael123 said:
Thanks for bringing this to light. Car shows like Buyers Guide, Changecars and Cars.co.za are captured to the manufacturers and never give you an honest review. They always sing the praises of Suzuki.
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It's likely that all of those reviews were written before the December 2025 Aus NCAP test.
 
Raphael123 said:
Thanks for bringing this to light. Car shows like Buyers Guide, Changecars and Cars.co.za are captured to the manufacturers and never give you an honest review. They always sing the praises of Suzuki.
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Most of the SA independent motoring journos on the socials are also the same, lapping up OEM hospitality with the lavish overseas and local trips under the guise of product sampling but we all know it’s to “guide” what they say about a brand. Also, Most SA reviews on NEV’s (EV’s, HEV’s and PHEV’s) are also a joke with not much technical knowledge on things like charging etc and they have no basis for comparison. Aus and UK reviewers are far better sources of info.

On this safety issue with the Fronx, which BTW Australian models get far more safety kit than SA models, it would be interesting to see who really brings this news into their reporting. The Fronx also shares its platform with Baleno and Swift (according to AI) and so it will also be the same on the starlet and Starlet Cross so it could potentially be a huge thing.
 
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