These are the cars you can afford to buy with your salary in South Africa

New research by analytics group Lightstone shows the value of the car you can afford based on your monthly salary in South Africa in 2018.
The data is based on current South African vehicle prices and salaries (May 2018), and assumes that people are not going to spend more than 20% of their gross monthly income on financing a car. The calculations also assumes that the cars are financed over five years at an interest rate of prime + 2%.
According to Wesbank, the average value of a new car financed jumped nearly R4,000 over the same period last year, to R300,354 (R296,448) in April.
Based on Lightstone’s reporting, this means you should be earning an average monthly salary between R26,000 and R39,000 a month for a car in this price range.
By contrast, those earning R12,000 a month should be paying around R100,000 for a new car in 2018, while on the other end of the scale those earning R396,000 a month can afford to pay around R3.5 million for a new car in 2018.
The table below shows how much you could spend on a car based on your monthly salary – as well as examples of both new cars in the given price range.
Pricing is based on:
- Assumption that people are not going to spend more than 20% of their gross monthly income on financing a car and not more than 30% on servicing a home loan.
- Assumption of a 0% deposit for both home and car financing (but excluding additional fees incurred during the inception of the loan into the calculation.).
- Assumption that the cars are financed over 5 years at an interest rate of prime + 2%.
Monthly income required | Car | Car price |
---|---|---|
R396 000 | Maserati GranCabrio Sport Special Edition 4.7 AT Cabriolet | R3 557 500 |
R230 000 | Jaguar F-Type 5.0 V8 Supercharged R Coupe AWD MY18 AT | R2 059 100 |
R117 000 | Range Rover Evoque 2.0 Si4 AJ200P Autobiography 177kW AWD MY18 AT | R1 045 200 |
R100 000 | BMW 440i Gran Coupe 8-sp Sports MY17 AT | R896 000 |
R73 000 | Subaru Outback 3.6 RS-ES AWD CVT MY18 | R655 000 |
R63 000 | Audi A4 2.0T FSI Sport S-Tronic MY18 | R565 500 |
R51 000 | Kia Sportage 2.0 AWD AT (2014) | R453 000 |
R48 000 | Mini Cooper Convertible 1.5 MY16 | R423 200 |
R39 000 | Mazda3 2.0 Individual 5-dr MY16 | R341 900 |
R26 000 | Hyundai i20 1.2 Motion 5-dr MY15 | R224 900 |
R20 000 | Toyota Etios 1.5 Xi MY16 | R175 600 |
R12 000 | Geely MK2 1.5 GL 5-dr | R99 900 |
R3.5 million car – Maserati GranCabrio Sport Special Edition 4.7 AT Cabriolet
Needed gross salary: R396 000
R2 million car – Jaguar F-Type 5.0 V8 Supercharged R Coupe AWD MY18 AT
Needed gross salary: R230 000
R1 million car – Range Rover Evoque 2.0 Si4 AJ200P Autobiography 177kW AWD MY18 AT
Needed gross salary: R117 000
R896 000 car – BMW 440i Gran Coupe 8-sp Sports MY17 AT
Needed gross salary: R100 000
R655 000 car – Subaru Outback 3.6 RS-ES AWD CVT MY18
Needed gross salary: R73 000
R565 000 car – Audi A4 2.0T FSI Sport S-Tronic MY18
Needed gross salary: R63 000
R453 000 car – Kia Sportage 2.0 AWD AT (2014)
Needed gross salary: R51 000
R423 200 car – Mini Cooper Convertible 1.5 MY16
Needed gross salary: R48 000
R341 900 car – Mazda3 2.0 Individual 5-dr MY16
Needed gross salary: R39 000
R224 900 car – Hyundai i20 1.2 Motion 5-dr MY15
Needed gross salary: R26 000
R175 600 car – Toyota Etios 1.5 Xi MY16
Needed gross salary: R20 000
R100 000 car – Geely MK2 1.5 GL 5-dr
Needed gross salary: R12 000
Read: Top 10 most popular R1 million luxury SUVs in South Africa