Datsun Go has cheapest parts costs

THE 28th edition of the annual Kinsey Report, which analyses the costs of common replacement parts for new vehicles sold in South Africa, was released this week with Datsun’s budget Go hatch coming in with the cheapest basket for the third year running.

The 2017 survey, compiled by industry expert Malcom Kinsey, included 62 of the market’s most popular vehicles, classified in nine separate categories.

Each vehicle is listed together with prices for common service, maintenance and crash replacement parts, with all components tallied into one “parts basket”. The sum of the parts prices is also listed as a percentage of the vehicle’s retail selling price.

This year’s Kinsey Report also includes a special category for the replacement cost of batteries in eight electric or hybrid vehicles, along with the prices for home chargers where applicable. The full list including details of each replacement part can be viewed at www.kinseyreport. co.za, but here are the top scorers in each category.

CITY CARS:

Datsun’s Go Lux wins the award for the cheapest parts basket among 10 of the country’s most budget-oriented city cars, along with the overall prize. Its basket comes in at R44 372.86, versus R59 283.85 for VW’s 1.4 Polo Vivo in second place and R64 317.14 for Hyundai’s i10 Motion in third.

SUPER MINI:

Volkswagen’s 1.2-litre Polo Comfortline was the cheapest of five superminis with a basket price of R87 991.98. Renault scores second and third with its Sandero Expression (R93 021.61) and Clio Expression (R105 176.22) respectively.

FAMILY FAVOURITES:

Toyota took the Family category for the third year in a row with its 1.6 Corolla Quest coming in at R71 874.94. The regular 1.6 Corolla Prestige (73 519.51) and Nissan’s Almera Acenta (R76 395.03) round out the top three.

COMPACT CROSSOVER:

The Winner here is Mahindra’s new KUV 100 (R81 597.40), followed in second place by the Peugeot 2008 (R90 920). Ford’s EcoSport Trend is just behind in third at R90 943.56.

CROSSOVER:

The Toyota Fortuner 2.8 GD auto wins Kinsey’s crossover category convincingly with a basket price of R84 992.13, versus R115 293.14 for the second placed Rav4 GXC and R117 148.50 for Ford’s Kuga Trend.

EXECUTIVE CROSSOVER: