The inaugural spare parts pricing guide has been released by the Automobile Association (AA), which details the cost of servicing, repairing, and replacing parts on popular cars in South Africa.
To set up the report, the AA identified a number of common parts which consumers may need to consider over the span of owning a vehicle, and collected pricing for these elements from dealerships in Gauteng.
“The guide covers parts pricing for service parts, maintenance parts, and body repair parts,” said the AA.
In total, 63 vehicles are included in the guide, divided between the following categories
- Entry-level
- Budget
- Compact
- Family SUV
- Executive SUV
- Luxury SUV
- Sport Executive
- Adventure 4×4
- LCV Single Cab
- LCV Leisure Double Cab
- Electric cars
“Electric cars have been assessed as they are critical for the future of mobility. As it is still too early to determine exactly what parts will be needed over the lifetime of the vehicles, a selection of parts is listed for reference purposes,” said the AA.
Repair costs
According to the guide, maintenance parts have the second-lowest costs for all vehicles, noticeably more than service parts, but far below vehicle body parts.
Maintenance parts take into account the prices of the cam belt/timing chain, brake discs, shock absorbers, and fan belt.
Body part prices are how much it would cost to replace a selection of 17 parts on every vehicle, such as a bonnet, taillight, grille, or aircon condenser.
To reach the cost of repairing a vehicle, we added the total prices of maintenance and vehicle body parts, and left out service parts – which consist of air and oil filters, spark and glow plugs, windshield wipers, and brake pads – as these are items that do not necessarily need to be repaired, but rather replaced on a routine basis.
“Buyers often don’t consider the potential lifetime costs of vehicles at the time of purchase, and budgeting for these expenses is critical,” said the AA.
Detailed below are the vehicles in South Africa with the lowest parts basket cost to fully repair.
Entry-level – Datsun Go 1.2 Mid
- Vehicle retail price – R183,900
- Repair cost – R69,077.40
Budget – Ford Figo 1.5 Titanium Hatch
- Vehicle retail price – R255,800
- Repair cost – R49,906.77
Compact Family – Mazda CX-3 2.0 Dynamic Auto
- Vehicle retail price – R398,800
- Repair cost – R120,850.81
Family SUV – Honda CR-V 2.0 Elegance
- Vehicle retail price – R589,700
- Repair cost – R161,205.41
Executive SUV – Alfa Romeo Stelvio 2.0T Super Q4
- Vehicle retail price – R838,822
- Repair cost – R169,671.87
Luxury SUV – Land Rover Defender 110 D300 X-Dynamic HSE
- Vehicle retail price – R1,456,952
- Repair cost – R318,851.16
Sport Executive – Renault Megane RS300 Trophy
- Vehicle retail price – R799,900
- Repair cost – R209,073.39
Adventure 4×4 – Ford Everest 2.0BiT XLT
- Vehicle retail price – R759,400
- Repair cost – R108,950.63
LCV Single Cab – Isuzu D-Max 250C Fleetside
- Vehicle retail price – R347,900
- Repair cost – R72,716.76
LCV Leisure Double Cab – Ford Ranger 2.0SiT XLT FX4
- Vehicle retail price – R704,500
- Repair cost – R90,948.91
Electric cars – Mini Cooper SE
- Vehicle retail price – R686,400
- Repair cost – R205,405.88
Keyword: The cheapest cars to repair in South Africa