The average price of a used car in South Africa has come down over the last month, with the latest sales data from classifieds group Autotrader, marking a 0.9% drop in prices.

The group noted that the average listing price for a used vehicle is now R403,003, down from R406,747 in June.

“This drop in average price brings a measure of relief to consumers who face rising prices in just about every other sphere,” said AutoTrader CEO George Mienie.

The sold units came with an average mileage of 72,721km and an 2018 average registration year.

According to Autotrader, used car sales continued to pick up in July with sales growing by 8% month-on-month. A total of 32,090 units were sold, reflecting an increase of 2,434 units over June.

The current value of these used cars sold to date swelled a further 7.3% month-on-month to R12.93 billion, which was also 7.8% higher than July 2022’s cumulative total of R12 billion.

Most popular brands

Toyota, followed by Volkswagen and Ford sold the most used cars in July. Behind them, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Nissan, and Suzuki.

“Interestingly, French carmaker Renault delivered a coup de grâce to KIA, moving up three spots on the most sold list and overtaking the Korean automaker in the ranking,” the group said.

The bakkie model battle continued to play out in July.

Ford’s Ranger led the way as the most sold used model ahead of the Toyota Hilux with the VW Polo and Polo Vivo following in third and fourth.

The usual locally-built protagonists, Toyota Fortuner, Mercedes-Benz C-Class, BMW 3 Series, Ford EcoSport (imported model) Nissan NP200 and Isuzu D-Max completed the top ten ranking.

Among the top-selling used variants, Volkswagen’s locally-built hatchbacks outperformed the homegrown bakkies.

The affordable VW Polo Vivo 1.4 claimed this trophy with sibling VW Polo 1.0TSI in second ahead of the Toyota Hilux 2.8GD-6, Ford Ranger XL and another Hilux variant, the 2.4GD-6.

In July, it was Mercedes-Benz and Nissan that exhibited the biggest gains among the local carmakers with a 14.9% and 14.4% month-on-month growth in sales respectively.

Suzuki however had the largest growth from a non-local manafacturer with a month-on-month growth of 24.3%, Autotrader said.

---

1. Ford Ranger

2. Toyota Hilux

3. VW Polo

4. VW Polo Vivo

5. Toyota Fortuner

6. Mercedes-Benz C-Class

7. BMW 3-Series

8. Ford Ecosport

9. Nissan NP200

10. Isuzu D-Max

---

Read: Things you should know before buying a used car in South Africa