How we estimate

The upgrade tool gives rough, honest estimates. Here's every number we use and where it comes from. Your own costs will differ.

Your current car

• Specs and claimed fuel use for 93 of SA's most common petrol and diesel models (143 engine versions) come from cars.co.za's new-car specs, checked 2026-10-17. Each result links to the exact spec page. For each engine we use the middle-priced version as typical. Models without a published fuel figure are left out.
• We use today's model specs for older years. If your car is an older generation, its real figures may differ.
• Cars no longer sold new (Etios, Figo, Sandero, NP200 and others) and the "Other" option use the median claimed fuel use and price of similar cars on sale today (same type, similar engine). We say so on the result.

Fuel and electricity prices

• 95 petrol: R30.25/L inland, R29.38/L coast. Diesel (0.05% sulphur): R31.95/L inland, R31.08/L coast. Official prices from 2026-10-07 (official statement on gov.za). Diesel prices are wholesale, so the pump price can differ a little.
• We pick coast prices if you're within about 60 km of a coastal city (Cape Town, Durban, Gqeberha, East London, Richards Bay, Mossel Bay, George, Knysna, Saldanha, Port Shepstone); you can change this.
• Home electricity: R3.60/kWh by default. City Power Johannesburg's 2025/26 residential rates run from about R3.06/kWh (first 350 kWh) to about R4.01/kWh (above 500 kWh) before fixed charges (City of Joburg 2025/26 tariffs, GridPulse summary), and NERSA approved a 9.01% average rise in what Eskom charges municipalities from 1 July 2026 (NERSA, 5 March 2026). R3.60 is a round mid-point; your municipality's rate may differ, so change it under Adjust assumptions.
• Charging losses: 10% by default (energy lost between the wall and the battery).
• Public charging: R7.50/kWh by default. Rubicon and GridCars DC fast chargers charge about R7.00–R8.45/kWh and AC chargers about R5.88/kWh (Rubicon; see also AutoTrader). We assume 10% of charging is public if you can charge at home, 50% if you're not sure and 100% if you can't.
• Service costs aren't included unless you enter a yearly difference.

Running cost vs cost to own

Running cost is fuel and electricity only. Cost over 5 years adds the purchase price difference (the new car's price minus what your car, or a similar petrol car, costs new today) and any service difference you enter. We assume no finance and no resale value, and hold today's prices flat. Break-even = price difference ÷ monthly saving. The low/base/high range moves fuel prices −10%/+10% and electricity +15%/−10%.

Real-world fuel use

SA claimed figures come from the lab test in SANS 20101 / UN R101, the older NEDC cycle (CAR magazine). Cars use more on the road: the ICCT found a gap of about 39% for NEDC cars in Europe (2017 data) and about 33% in its 2024 study. We add 30% to every claimed figure, for your car and for the hybrids, plug-ins and EVs alike, so the comparison is fair. Where a plug-in hybrid's battery-empty fuel use isn't published we use our own 6 L/100km estimate, without the extra 30%.

Kilometres a month

If you don't enter your own, we use the RTMC's average kilometres per vehicle in your province, scaled to cars (motorcars averaged 15 458 km a year and bakkies 19 757 km, against 17 275 km for all vehicles: RTMC Road Traffic Report 2006, the latest with a provincial split we could find). That gives about 1 150 km a month in Gauteng and 1 800 km in Mpumalanga. Cars.co.za puts the typical figure higher, at about 21 000 km a year (source), so enter your own if you know it.

Plug-in hybrids and home charging

If you can charge at home, we assume you drive on electricity for most daily trips (80% of the claimed electric range each day, at most 95% of your driving). Can't charge at home: we assume no electric driving at all, leave out fully electric cars and give self-charging hybrids a boost, because they never need a plug. Not sure: we halve the electric share.

Comparison table, features and photos

• Specs (power, torque, 0–100, boot, seats, gearbox, warranty, safety rating) come from cars.co.za spec pages for each version, and our own model data. A dash (–) means we don't know; we never fill gaps with guesses. For your car we use today's model, so an older car may differ. Green ▲ means the new car is better on that line, red ▼ worse.
• "What you gain" lists only features that cars.co.za's spec sheets record: adaptive cruise, lane keeping, blind-spot monitor, 360° and reverse cameras, head-up display, navigation, climate control, keyless entry, rain-sensing wipers, heated and ventilated seats, panoramic roof and electric tailgate. "Not listed" means the spec sheet doesn't mention it. For older or "other" cars we show "not sure". Apple CarPlay/Android Auto, auto emergency braking, wireless charging, screen sizes and vehicle-to-load aren't recorded consistently, so we leave them out.
• Photos are from Wikimedia Commons under free licences (CC BY, CC BY-SA, CC0, public domain), credited under each photo and on the photo credits page. They show the model in general, not the exact version. Cars without a suitable free photo get a drawing marked "image coming".

Home chargers

For plug-in hybrids and EVs we show whether a home charger (wallbox) currently comes with the car. We only use official South African brand websites, offer pages and press releases; never dealer sites. We show "Free home charger" only when the official source says so (with the end date if there is one), and "Not stated, ask the brand" otherwise. Self-charging hybrids don't need one. Offers change often: last checked 2026-10-17, and we re-check every month with the fuel prices.

Budget, matching and the verdict

Unless you set a budget, we look at cars up to 1.35 times what your car costs new today (a similar price class; we don't assume any finance). We only suggest cars with at least as many seats, the same or a bigger body (SUV drivers only see SUVs and crossovers) and, where both are known, a boot at least 85% as big. Bakkie drivers only see electrified bakkies. "Extra cost" = the new car's price minus what your car (or a similar petrol car) costs new today; we show how many months of fuel savings it takes to cover that. We don't estimate what your current car is worth.

Our verdict says "keep your current car (for now)" when there's no match, when the best saving is under R800 a month, when break-even takes more than 6 years (or more than 8 years in the low case), when the low case saves nothing, or when your car is under 6 years old and 5 years of savings would cover less than a quarter of the new car's price. It says "don't upgrade yet" when the car costs more to run or takes over 10 years to break even. We also tell you what would change the answer, such as the petrol price at which the price difference pays back within 5 years.

Compare with a different car: under the matches you can pick any car we list. It gets the same costs and verdict, plus warnings if it's smaller than your car. Even when switching looks good, we remind you that keeping a reliable, paid-off car is usually cheapest.

The short summary

Results may show a one-paragraph summary written by AI (Cloudflare Workers AI). It only sees the numbers on the page, and we reject it if it adds any number that isn't there.

Disclaimer: these are rough estimates for comparison, not a quote. Confirm new-car prices, specs and offers with the brand's official South African website.