Cars.co.za - Car listings & reviews

Allow the Cars.co.za app to assist you in your vehicle purchasing experience.

This application from South Africa’s favorite automotive website offers you access to:

· More than 75,000 listings for new and used vehicles

· Special deals on cars in South Africa

· Options to sell your vehicle to dealers or privately

· The latest motoring news and reviews

· Consumer awards presented by Cars.co.za

· Notifications for car updates

· Specifications for new cars and tools to compare them

· Calculators for car financing and affordability

· Insurance estimates

Cars.co.za. Let’s discover what inspires you.

Our story:

From zero to Hero in 10 Years

Cars.co.za grew quickly from a start-up company founded in Johannesburg in 2009, to become South Africa’s leading automotive platform, and one of the most respected, recognisable brands in the automotive market. Cars.co.za offers more vehicle listings, greater reach, and the biggest social media following (across all platforms) of any motoring classifieds or media brand in South Africa. We achieved this as bootstrapped business with a purposefully small, dedicated team that shares a vision of empowering consumers and transforming the local motor industry for the better.

he Tech (and fun) at the heart of Cars.co.za

We pride ourselves on being a tech company, first and foremost. Online search has assumed an ever-increasing role in buying behaviour in the past decade, bridging the gap between buyers and retailers. Our rapid growth in this environment is attributed to implementing tech early and effectively in what was a conservative vehicle retail market, as well as investing in measures that helped us to gain optimal online visibility from an early stage. 

Technology and automation will continue to play an increasing role in the vehicle retail business and we are committed to being at the forefront of tech innovation in the motor industry. But, that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun as well!

Cars.co.za❤ Cars️

We love being part of the vibrant South African motor industry. While you don’t have to be a petrolhead to work here, you might very well become one! We even have our own car collection of uniquely South African icons and a dedicated brand for the more passionate car lovers. Called SentiMETAL, it hosts regular Cars & Coffee themed “Gatherings” and has its own online presence, offering not only world-class video content, but also an online store selling automotive-themed items.

Welcome to our home

We maintain a start-up culture and celebrate our employees, who work in a youthful and creative environment. We offer staff members the flexibility to achieve their professional goals and strive for an ideal work-life balance. 

Our head office, in Bedfordview, is home to the majority of our 50+ employees, and has a vibrant feel. We even have an in-house barista and are preparing for the future of mobility, with the installation of our first electric-vehicle charge station in 2020.  

We also have an office in Cape Town, predominantly for our creative/content team and we have recently started offering recruits in certain positions the option of working from the Mother City.

Our people.Our country. Our planet.

As a business we believe we are in a position to make a difference, positively impact the communities we live in, and leave the world a better place for future generations. This is why we have our eco and social endeavours and why the company is committed to investing at least 1% of its annual turnover into “Do Good” projects. We encourage our staff to roll up their sleeves and become active, positively contributing citizens.

Shopping for a luxury double cab? Consider these Chinese options

The double cab bakkie is now a luxury family vehicle. If you’re in the market for one but don’t want to follow the herd, what do the latest Chinese bakkies offer?

South Africans love their luxury double cab bakkies, as evidenced by our pioneering research. But the changing role of the double cab has created new needs for buyers and different solutions for manufacturers.

With double cab bakkies now used as family vehicles, cabin comfort and in-cabin tech are more important than off-road angles and tow ratings. Double cabs need to offer a luxury in-car experience rivalling the best crossovers. And that’s tricky because nearly all crossovers are monocoque vehicles, with the body and frame being one unit, which makes it much easier to package the interior for comfort and space.

Double cab bakkies have a body-on-frame construction. That’s great for toughness and off-road ability. But the body-on-frame construction means compromised cabin space and comfort. For car companies, the challenge is creating double cab models with cabins that offer space and lots of tech. And nobody is better than the Chinese when it comes to in-car tech.

The all-wheel-drive advantage

All-wheel drive traction on tar roads. Not many double cabs offer that.

What’s interesting about the Chinese bakkies is that they mostly feature full-time all-wheel/four-wheel-drive systems. That’s similar to what you get with a Mitsubishi Triton’s Super Select gearbox, or a V6 Amarok/Ranger.

Why does all-wheel drive matter in a double cab bakkie? A proper full-time all-wheel-drive system, rather than a part-time setup, means you can use four-wheel drive on a sealed road surface without causing excessive drivetrain wear.

Where is full-time all-wheel drive really useful? When you are trying to tow a heavy caravan or trailer up a challenging tar mountain pass in pouring rain and need to navigate a very steep, off-camber corner, having torque driving all four wheels is a very big advantage.

So, what do the latest luxury Chinese bakkies on sale offer South African buyers in terms of spec and cabin comfort?

GWM P500 (R799 900 to R999 900)

Big bakkie. Lots of features. Smallish diesel engine.

The first Chinese bakkie to nudge a million at its top-end. And the P500 isn’t just about a big price; it’s about big everything.

Bold design and huge dimensions make it larger than a Hilux or Ranger, with lots of road presence. Double cab bakkies can be driven in busy city traffic, but they are even worse to try and park. The P500 has a surround-view camera system and every sensor you could possibly imagine, but there’s no getting around the fact that it is 120 mm longer than a Hilux…

That size works against it off-road, too. Because the P500 is so long, it has a poor straddle angle and risks significant damage to the lower door sections and rocker panels in rocky terrain. Like many Chinese double cab bakkies, the suspension is biased for highway driving and braking stability. And the P500’s suspension needs a lot of compression damping to prevent brake drive and body roll, because it’s much heavier than other double cabs at 2550 kg. That means a firm ride and limited wheel travel in broken terrain.

The P500 does have good core 4×4 hardware, however. BorgWarner is one of the most respected 4×4 drivetrain suppliers and the P500 uses a BorgWarner low-range transfer case and traction control system, with electrically simulated front and rear differential locks.

Where the P500 excels is its cabin, which is larger than those of the Hilux or Ranger. With excellent seating comfort, even for the rear-seat passengers, who also get electrically adjustable backrests (a rarity in a double cab bakkie). The UX might be a bit over-the-top, like many Chinese vehicle’s digital interfaces, but there’s no absence of tech inside the P500.

Curiously, the P500 is also one of the few bakkies with a sunroof. Which is always quite pointless in South Africa, where a sunroof allows way too much cabin radiation to be useful for most months of the year. Not to mention the long-term maintenance and leakage risks of an electric sunroof.