Volkswagen increased its dominance of the Gumtree Pre-Owned Vehicle Awards this year, winning five of the 11 categories after taking three awards in the inaugural competition last year. Only 2016 models with at least six months of depreciation data were considered for this year’s awards, as two-year old vehicles are the most popular models being considered by pre-owned buyers in 2018.
The Gumtree awards seek to recognise and promote the best pre-owned models in the market across 11 categories, based on criteria a buyer may use when evaluating pre-owned cars as well as depreciation and sales figures provided by TransUnion. The important criteria for buyers in this market are: resale value, quality, durability, overall performance and economy and especially outright value for money of various vehicles offered for sale in South Africa.
The winners were selected from a list of 55 finalists made up of the top five vehicles having the most favourable depreciation in each of the 11 categories. These models then underwent further evaluation, including physical road testing. One category – for SUVs costing less than R505 000 – was added for 2018, replacing the previous sports car category, which was considered too niche.
Representative examples of the 55 finalists were sourced and tested by former national motorsport champion Charl Wilken, a director of Wilken Communication Management. After testing he drew up detailed and illustrated information sheets which were sent to a judging panel for voting. The results were audited and verified before being announced.
Members of the 2018 judging panel were: Charl Wilken (Wilken Communication Management), Adam Ford (Ignition TV/Buyers’ Guide), Roger McCleery (Radio Today), Lerato Matebese (Business Day MotorNews), Michele Lupini (Bakkie and Car), Liana Reiners (AutoLive), Zerildi Pieters (Daily Sun), Matthew Kanniah (Blogger), Alan Rosenmeyer (Motormatters), Sean Nurse (AutoDealer), and Mabuyane Kekana (Metro FM).
Volkswagen dominated the hatchback and sedan categories up to R300 000 this year, winning the Budget City Car category with the Take Up!, the Light Hatchback category with the Polo Vivo, the Medium Sedan category with the Jetta, and the Medium Hatchback category with the Golf 1.4TSI. Volkswagen’s fifth winner was the Golf R, which shared top spot in the performance car category under R615 000 with the Audi S3-S-Tronic.
Toyota, Mazda and Audi won two categories each and Jaguar took a sole category win.
As expected Toyota triumphed in the categories for SUVs under R505 000 with the Fortuner and 4×2 Double Cabs under R460 000 with the Hilux.
Mazda won the Cross-over category with the CX3 in quite dominant fashion as it was the only category all 11-judges scored the same vehicle as the winner. Mazda also won the SUVs under R330 000 with its CX5 2.0 Active model.
Audi’s first category winner was the Audi S3 which shared the spoils in the Performance Car category with the Volkswagen Golf R. This was also undoubtedly the closest contested category, as even the third placed BMW 240i was a mere 10-points adrift. In another close duel the Audi A4 2.0TDI S-Tronic narrowly beat the BMW 330D by a mere 2-points to earn Audi’s a second category win.
Jaguar took the award in the category for Luxury SUVs under R700 000 with the very attractively styled F-Pace.
It was interesting to note that three of the 2018 winners were the same models that walked away with the laurels in 2017. They were the Volkswagen Golf 1.4TSI Trendline, Volkswagen Golf R as well as the Mazda CX3 2.0 Individual.
“We were very pleased with the acceptance of the Gumtree pre-owned awards by the public last year and the latest results, which benefit from fine-tuning after last year’s inaugural event and therefore will be of great interest and benefit to buyers in the booming pre-owned market in South Africa,” commented Jeff Osborne, Head of Automotive at Gumtree.
“We see these awards as an overdue recognition of the brands and models which best hold their value while delivering reliable performance with reasonable maintenance costs, particularly as the pre-owned market is currently more than twice the size of the new vehicle market.”
Please feel free to read more about the 55-finalists, especially if you are currently searching for a pre-owned vehicle to purchase. You can follow the link to the Road Test pages.
WINNERS AND RUNNERS-UP
Results of the 2018 Gumtree Auto Pre-Owned Awards:
Budget city car under R130 000: Winner – 2016 Volkswagen Take Up! 1.0 3-door; Runner-up – 2016 Tata Bolt 1.2T XMS 5-door.
Light hatchback under R160 000: Winner – 2016 Volkswagen Polo Vivo 1.4 Trendline; Runner-up – 2016 Toyota Etios 1.5 XS Sprint.
Medium-sized family sedan under R260 000: Winner – 2016 Volkswagen Jetta 1.2TSi Trendline; Runner-up – 2016 Toyota Corolla Sprinter.
Hatchback under R275 000: Winner – 2016 Volkswagen Golf 7 1.4 TSi Trendline; Runner-up – 2016 Volkswagen Polo GP 1.2 TSi Highline.
Cross-overs under R325 000: Winner – Mazda CX3 2.0 Individual (A); Runner-up – Jointly 2016 Honda HRV 1.5 Comfort CVT and 2016 Ford EcoSport 1.5 TDCi Titanium.
SUVs under 330 000: Winner – 2016 Mazda CX5 2.0 Active (A); Runner-up – 2016 Toyota RAV4 2.0 GX.
SUVs under R505 000: Winner – 2016 Toyota Fortuner 2.8 GD-6 RB (A); Runner-up – 2016 Hyundai Tucson 1.6 TGDi Elite DCT.
Medium-sized luxury sedan under R550 000: Winner – 2016 Audi A4 2.0 TDi S-Tronic; Runner-up – 2016 BMW 330D.
Double cab bakkies 4×2 under R460 000: Winner – 2016 Toyota Hilux 2.8 GD-6 Raised Body Raider (A); Runner-up – 2016 Ford Ranger 3.2 TDCi Wildtrak (A).
Performance cars under R615 000: Winner – 2016 Volkswagen Golf 7 R (DSG) jointly with the 2016 Audi S3 S-Tronic; Runner-up – 2016 BMW 240i (A).
Luxury SUVs under R700 000: Winner – 2016 Jaguar F-Pace 2.0 Di 4 AWD Pure; Runner-up – 2016 Mercedes-Benz ML250 (A).
Gumtree is South Africa’s largest classifieds site, attracting over 1.9 million visits to the automotive section in January 2018 and more than 5 million monthly visits to the site overall.
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