Well, the votes have been cast, and the verdict of the 2018 Gumtree Pre-Owned Awards is one of a mixed batch, dominated by the Volkswagen nameplate.
German carmaker, Volkswagen established itself as the king of the second-hand motoring market at the Gumtree Pre-Owned Vehicle Awards this year, winning five of the 11 categories. This comes after the carmaker has raked in three awards in the inaugural competition last year.
The criteria for the Gumtree awards were simple: only 2016 models with at least six months of depreciation data were considered for this year’s awards since two-year-old vehicles are the most popular models considered by pre-owned buyers in 2018.
Pre-owned vehicles were judged based on similar criteria to what a buyer may use when evaluating pre-owned cars as well as depreciation and sales figures provided by TransUnion. The most important considerations for buyers in this market are resale value, quality, durability, overall performance and economy.
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.
The SUVs costing less than R505 000 category was added for 2018, replacing the previous sports car category that was considered to be too niche.
All 55 finalists were sourced, and tested, by former national motorsport champion Charl Wilken. After testing, Wilken drew up detailed and illustrated information sheets which were sent to a judging panel for voting.
Following this, the results were audited and verified before being announced.
Members of the 2018 judging panel included: Charl Wilken (Wilken Communication Management), Adam Ford (Ignition TV/Buyers’ Guide), Roger McCleery (Radio Today), Lerato Matebese (Driven), 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).
The hatchbacks and sedan categories with a budget ceiling of R300,000 were dominated by Volkswagen that won 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 crossover category with the CX-3 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 CX-5 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 narrowly beat the BMW 330d by two points to earn Audi’s 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.”
WINNERS AND RUNNERS-UP
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
Crossovers under R325,000
Winner – Mazda CX3 2.0 Individual
Runners-up – Jointly 2016 Honda HRV 1.5 Comfort CVT and 2016 Ford EcoSport 1.5 TDCi Titanium
SUVs under R330,000
Winner – 2016 Mazda CX5 2.0 Active
Runner-up – 2016 Toyota RAV4 2.0 GX
SUVs under R505,000
Winner – 2016 Toyota Fortuner 2.8 GD-6 RB
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
Runner-up – 2016 Ford Ranger 3.2 TDCi Wildtrak
Performance cars under R615,000
Winners – 2016 Volkswagen Golf 7 R (DSG) jointly with the 2016 Audi S3 S-Tronic
Runner-up – 2016 BMW 240i
Luxury SUVs under R700,000
Winner – 2016 Jaguar F-Pace 2.0 Di 4 AWD Pure
Runner-up – 2016 Mercedes-Benz ML250
Report SUPPLIED | Image © VOLKSWAGEN SOUTH AFRICA
