A lot can go wrong and does go wrong when on a holiday drive in South Africa. It pays to be prepared and have everything you need for the journey. You need to know exactly where you are going and how to get there. How much are the toll costs for the common holiday destinations in South Africa?

Click the link to read the full article on Holiday driving tips in South Africa

The new car specials have been launched for December. These specials, for South Africa, come with great savings but are only valid for one month, with the special ending at the end of December. Here are the new car specials that have been added:

Opel Astra 1.4 Turbo plus - from R3779 per month

2010 Toyota Corolla 1.6 professional from R3865 per month

2011 Suzuki Kuzashi from R295 000

2011 Citroen DS3 150 Turbo High Pressure Sport from R261 900

New car sales throughout the US for many of the major manufacturers are all on the rise and showing strong sales figures. With the global recession now something of a distant memory, the world seems to be getting back into buying new and used cars. Which car manufacturers saw green during the month of May?

Audi cars are always popular, and it’s great to see them having such strong sales. In the US for the month of May, Audi recorded their best ever month of sales. Compared to the previous year there have obviously been massive increases in sales, Audi sales are up this year by 31.4%. The biggest contributers were the Audi Q5, Audi Q7 and Audi A4 which all enjoyed an impressive month of sales.

Mazda cars were not to be outdone with a 35.2% increase in their US sales. The best selling models for Mazda during this period were the Mazda3, the Mazda CX-7 and the Mazda CX-9, which had its best ever month of May.

Toyota cars also squeaked in an increase in month sales compared to 2009. With an overall increase of 6.7% of car sales in the US. Toyota obviously took quite a hit with their recall program to fix defective vehicles, so it was good to see them still doing well.

Volkswagen cars are incredibly popular in South Africa, and their popularity shows no signs of slowing down. They once again dominated the passenger market in South Africa with a 36.3% increase compared to the previous year. Top of the list was the new VW Polo Vivo which sold 2546 units for the month of May. The popularity of the Polo in South Africa has never seemed to slow down. According to Cars.co.za stats, the VW Polo has been the most searched for car for the past few months.

Source: Toyota, VW, Audi, Mazda

While it is obviously impossible to say for sure which cars will be the most popular in a particular year, there is a certain amount of an educated prediction that can be made based on previous years trends. Not only are previous years trends noted but also the trends in overseas countries and noting exactly which cars are the most popular there. Thirdly there is the Gauteng factor, which cars are notoriously popular in the province and which determining unique factors influence new and used car buyers.

Gauteng, what it means to drivers.

Each province in South Africa will have an effect on which cars are being driven on their roads. The influencing factors range from the road congestion, to the number of people and obviously how much money the general public has to spend on their car.

Gauteng is the most densely populated province and yet smallest province in the country, the 2 generally don’t go well together. This means there are a lot of road users, more than the roads can sometimes handle. Luckily with the new highways and roads being built around Johannesburg, the pressure should be somewhat lifted. That said though, consumers looking for a new or used car in Gauteng need to consider that they will be driving on generally congested roads or in worst case scenario, be sitting in bumper to bumper traffic. This is something that drivers going through Rivonia road and those traveling from Johannesburg to Pretoira are all too aware of.

The state of the roads in Guateng as well as where they run through is another factor. Many roads are unfortunately littered with pot-holes and others have a lot of pedestrian activity on them, requiring evasive maneuvers. The size of the roads as well as the size of the parking bays is another determining factor in Gauteng. While many malls have ample sized parking for all car sizes, parking in town and other areas can be a nightmare, where the only available option is to parallel-park. This can create problems for drivers with big cars like the BMW X6 or a Hummer.

With all these issues to consider, which cars will be popular on Gautengs roads in 2010? See the next article to find out which vehicles that Cars.co.za thinks will be dominating the road!

Image source: Volkswagen.

Cars.co.za is proud to announce that the G2 Motor Group has signed on and their cars are now available on Cars.co.za. With 33 Dealerships across the country, the G2 group has a massive amount of stock and you are sure to find the car that you want. Unique to the G2 group is their G2 promise which guarantees that their cars will include:

• 114 Point check
• Mileage verification
• 30 Day exchange plan
• Optional 2 years/unlimited kilometers Warranty
• Full service history
• 24 Month free roadside assistance
• Ownership peace of mind
• Variety of financing packages

As always Cars.co.za aims to provide you, the customer, with the largest and most comprehensive stock of used cars on the internet to ensure you find the particular car you are looking for.

Enter Here to be eligible to win a HP notebook and R1000 eDreams voucher. It’s free so you have nothing to lose. Follow the prompts from the competition information to enter. Winners will be notified by email as well as mentioned on Carsblog. Good luck

As noted in previous articles, the car industry is making an impressive recover from last year’s recession. Sales figures for almost all of the major brands are on the rise since late last year and things don’t seem to be slowing down.

Consumers are having an easier time spending and there is far less fear regarding the economy and the automobile market. This is great news for car dealerships who really had a hard time in 2009 with really low sales figures and little consumer interest.

February’s sales figures continue the upward trend though, and many of the big manufacturers are noting impressive continued increases. The new and used car market seems to have made a complete recovery and the future looks bright, especially for these 3 major brands.

BMW Group increases sales by 14.0 percent in February

The BMW Group once again improved sales volumes substantially in February of this year. A total of 91,758 BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce automobiles were delivered to customers (prev. yr. 80,474) – representing an increase of 14.0%. The figure for the year to the end of February was 173,911 units – 15.3% higher than the previous year (150,893).

Source: BMW

Audi Maintains Strong Sales Growth in February

Mar 8, 2010 – AUDI AG reports worldwide sales of around 75.900 automobiles in February. The sales tally for the month is thus 19.9 percent up on February 2009. For the first two months of the year combined, unit sales by the Ingolstadt-based brand showed a rise of 28.7 percent on the prior-year period.

Source: Audi

Mercedes-Benz Continues Success of Past Months – Sales Up 13 Percent in February

In February, Mercedes-Benz was once again able to continue its momentum of the past months, with sales increasing by 13 percent to 72,100 vehicles (February 2009: 63,600). As a result, the total number of deliveries has risen by 18 percent since the beginning of the year.

Source: Mercedes-Benz

The fact remains that these brands are so big it really takes something huge for their sales to drop. This did happen during 2009 but they have rebounded with force and are once again thriving in the new and used car market. Along with Volkswagen, these 4 German car makers are hugely popular in South Africa and as usual you can find a comprehensive list of their cars at Cars.co.za

Cars.co.za currently has a thriving private car market, with many genuine private car sellers and buyers able to conduct their trade through the site. Unfortunately scam and fraudulent private car sellers are a reality of our times and it is important that potential buyers protect themselves and are vigilant when attempting to purchase a privately sold car.

What Cars.co.za is doing to protect you, the user.

We do have a system in place at Cars.co.za where any private car sellers that attempt to advertise their cars on our site must first go through a screening process, unfortunately some of these scam cars still slip through and make it into onto the database. We are also constantly monitoring our stock and looking for suspicious cars and removing them.

What can you do to notify Cars.co.za of a potential scam car?

If you come across a privately owned car on Cars.co.za that you believe to be from a scam seller, you can notify us in 2 different ways. Firstly you complete a ‘Contact submission’ message under the ‘Contact us’ section. Simply note the car that you believe is a scam car in your message and note the email address that the scam seller is using. Secondly you can contact us via phone on 011 614 5612 and mention the specifics of the car and the details of the seller and we will investigate further.

Things to look out for to identify a scam car

• Be suspicious of cars that seem too good to be true
• Be suspicious if too many features are listed (or all features are listed), i.e. sunroof, ABS etc
• Be suspicious of any car that is substantially cheaper than other cars in the same range.
• Make sure that the telephone contact number provided is genuine; many scam sellers provide a number which does not exist and insist on communicating via email.

Precautions to take to ensure you do not get scammed

Many scam sellers note that their vehicle is in some other part of the country and the vehicle will be shipped once the buyer has paid the deposit. Never deposit any money to anyone before first seeing the car and ensuring that everything about the deal is genuine. Scam sellers rely on buyers depositing money to them under a false pretense that the car will be shipped to them etc.

Another common avenue for scam sellers to try and earn the buyers trust is by mentioning that they are selling the car through E-Bay and providing pictures and awards noting how they are a trusted E-Bay seller. This is a sure sign of a scam and should be avoided at all cost.

Make sure you see the car you are potentially going to buy in person, if the buyer refuses to let you see the car, then there is already too much suspicion and the car should be avoided. Use common sense when looking to buy a private car and be sure to protect yourself against fraud or being scammed.

Conclusion

At Cars.co.za we are constantly working to ensure that the privately sold cars on our website are legit cars and that the buyers are viewing vehicles that exist. We aim to root out all scam cars and car sellers on our website so that your experience using the website is quality, user friendly and safe. If you have any questions or have seen what you believe to be scam cars on our website, please contact us via our “Contact us” from the Cars.co.za homepage.

Bakkies in South Africa

1-tonne trucks or bakkies are extremely popular in South Africa and it doesn’t look they will be going away any time soon. Whether it’s off-road’ing on a farm in the Free State, to sitting in traffic in town or picking up the kids in Sandton, these cars fit the bill and are perfectly suited to the job. This is largely due to the fact that they are so reliable and tough and are adept at maneuvering past potholes and having masses of space to carry a whole family or a herd of sheep on the back.

The other option, for people looking for something a little smaller, and cheaper, are a number of single cab trucks or bakkies. These have similarly proven to be popular among South Africans, especially in the used car market. The prime example is the Opel Corsa Utility, which for its limited size, still packs a big punch. The biggest selling point for these Corsa’s is their cost, you can pick up a used Corsa Utility for around R70 000 – R90 000 with a decent year and mileage.

The current double cab bakkie contenders

The Toyota Hilux double cab bakkie

The Toyota bakkie has been a firm favourite in South Africa, especially in the used car market and has undergone quite a few facelifts over the years. As previously mentioned the bakkie is almost indestructible, a point which was proven by TopGear, a popular BBC car program that attempted a number of tasks to destroy the Toyota which ended with the car being placed atop a building that got demolished. And yet the car still started and could drive, paying testament to the reliability and hardiness that is the Toyota bakkie.

Nissan Hardbody / Navara

The Nissan Hardboy is another equally popular bakkie which, like the Toyota, relies on an image of indestructibility and toughness that will last many years and a number of kilometers on the clock. This is shown by the fact that there are many used Nissan bakkies with a few hundred kilometers on the clock that are still doing the rounds in the used car market.

Mitsubishi Triton

While not as popular as the previous models, the Mitsubishi Triton still provides all the space, reliability and performance that South Africans have come to expect in their bakkies. The price range of used Mitsubishi Bakkies is very similar to the other two brands, and remains competitive within the industry.

The new Volkswagen Amarok

As one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world it was surprising that Volkswagen was not a competitor in the double cab, truck and bakkie market in South Africa for so long. This however has all changed now with the introduction of the Volkswagen Amarok, Volkswagen’s venture into the Bakkie market.

The Amarok will come with 2 diesel engine options, a 120kw 2.0 TDI and a 4 cylinder 90kw TDI. The turbo charged engines boast low fuel consumption stats with the 90kw TDI consuming just 7.6 liters per 100km. There will be 2 variants available, the Trendline and the Highline, with the Highline including far more features and comforts. Another selling point of the Amarok is its space, especially in the interior. It also boasts the widest load space in its class which should be a strong selling point for buyers looking for a load-bearing vehicle.

The Amarok has great looks, and matches the VW front end styling and curves. The Amarok will be available in South Africa later in 2010 and I’m sure it will be a hit. South Africans love pretty much love all the Volkswagen models and the Amarok should be no exception, even in later years when it is doing the rounds in the used car market.

What does this mean for the South African bakkie market?

Plainly put; more competition and more variation, which for all parties involved is a good thing as it keeps prices down and gives buyers more options when looking for a bakkie that suits their exact needs. The Amarok will probably be popular among a younger crowd who still need the space and utility of a large double cab along with good looks, however those buyers who are looking for straight-up quality, reliability and toughness will probably still favour the Toyota.

Carsblog will be here to document all the latest releases of new car models, big developments in the motor industry, first sightings of prototype vehicles and all other bizarre news and information relating to the motor industry world wide.

Not to be left out, the used car market is also shaping up for a big year with Cars.co.za already showing sings of growth and an influx of visitors looking for bargains on used cars.

Best wishes for the new year and be good!