BAKKIES THE BEST BUY

Your road tests of the MercedesBenz X250d, Subaru Outback 3.6R and the Lexus RX350 EL are very good and I think valuable. I am getting the idea that, lately, you are really giving your opinion on the car model you are testing without favouring a brand. I want your opinion and view, otherwise I can just as well talk to a salesman at the dealership who will also tell me how good his product is. The X250d, for example, is evaluated on its own without taking into consideration that other Mercedes-benzes are, in my view, mostly the best in their segments.

The real point of my letter is, aside from the roads in the Western Cape (as you say), the tar roads in the rest of the country are bad and low-profile tyres are risky. I travel all over the country and it is just not possible to drive a vehicle with 50-series profiles or lower on any roads apart from the motorways in SA.

That’s why, in the last few years, I have just driven proper 4x4s. The rubber on Europeanmade SUVS usually has too low a profile, which is why spacious double-cab bakkies – or proper 4x4 station wagons of Japanese origin – are by far the best.

Reliability will remain a critical factor in our market; in the real-life decision-making process, reliability is becoming more important. BEN VISAGIE Via email [There are many South Africans who agree with you, Ben; bakkies remain among the bestselling vehicles in this country. Then again, SA also regularly features among the top world markets for Mercedes-amg and BMW M cars, so clearly people are enjoying their performance cars, too – editor]