BakkiesSA

Guides

Buying, owning and paying for a bakkie

Written against the live market, not from a brochure. Every price in these guides is checked against what is actually listed for sale in South Africa.

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A white early Ford Bantam with a canopy and FORD across the tailgate, driving up the M1 double-decker highway in Johannesburg

Buying guide · 29 Oct 2026

Buying a used Ford Bantam: what to pay, what to check

Everybody's uncle had a Bantam, and you can still buy one for under R100,000. This is what a used Bantam asks by year, which engine is which, what owners say goes wrong, what to check before you pay, and what an NP200 or Corsa Utility gets you for the same money.

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An orange Ford Ranger Wildtrak double cab on black wheels and all-terrain tyres, parked at a filling station in Cape Town

Buying guide · 08 Oct 2026

Best Bakkie Under R300,000 in South Africa (2026)

R300,000 buys a 2017 double cab with about 170,000 km. R400,000 buys a 2021 with about 119,000 km. Here is what each bakkie gives you for the money, the six worth buying and the ones to walk away from.

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A brown GWM P-Series double cab with a chrome grille and a loaded roof rack, parked on grass at its South African launch with hills behind

Buying guide · 08 Oct 2026

Used GWM P-Series: prices, problems and warranty (SA)

The P-Series gives you a lot of bakkie for the money. This is what a used one asks by year and trim, what has really gone wrong for owners here, why most used ones carry the old five-year warranty, and what to check before you buy.

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A silver Isuzu D-Max V-Cross double cab driving through a muddy puddle on a grassy track, thick green bush behind it

Buying guide · 08 Oct 2026

Isuzu D-Max and KB buying guide: SA prices and problems

The Isuzu is the bakkie a farmer buys twice. This is what a KB or D-Max costs by year and engine on live listings, what Isuzu charges new, what to check before you buy, and how it holds its money against a Ranger and a Hilux.

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A silver BYD Shark 6 double cab throwing a plume of sand as it powers across desert dunes at low sun

Buying guide · 23 Sept 2026

Hybrid and electric bakkies in South Africa: what they cost and what they actually do

South Africa builds the plug-in hybrid Ford Ranger and sells it to the rest of the world. You cannot buy one here. What you can buy is six electrified bakkies, and the numbers on them are not what the adverts say. Toyota's own paperwork shows the 48V Hilux saves a 4x2 buyer nothing. The BYD Shark 6 tows a tonne less than a Hilux and drinks 17 litres per 100 km pulling a caravan. Here is every one of them, with live asking prices.

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A Ford Ranger and a Toyota Hilux double cab parked side by side on a Karoo road at sunset

Buying guide · 17 Sept 2026

Ranger vs Hilux: which double cab should you actually buy in South Africa?

The argument South Africans have at every braai, settled with numbers: like-for-like used asking prices by year and engine, what R300,000 to R700,000 buys on each side, the faults priced in rand, the Toyota tax, theft, insurance, resale and which one to buy.

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A Ford Ranger double cab on a gravel road in South Africa, dust hanging behind it and open veld to the horizon

Buying guide · 16 Sept 2026

Buying a used Ford Ranger: what to check, engine by engine

More South Africans buy a used Ranger than any other bakkie, and most of them are ex-fleet. This is what each engine costs, what goes wrong with it, what the repairs cost in rand, which recalls to check, and how it stacks up against a Hilux for the same money.

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A white Ford Ranger XL single cab on steel wheels with a load of timber, on a dust road at sunset

Buying guide · 07 Sept 2026

Buying an ex-fleet bakkie: what to check before you take the bargain

The cheapest bakkies for sale in South Africa used to belong to a company: a rental firm, a mine, a courier, a municipality or a bank. Some have the best service files in the country. Some were driven by whoever had the keys. This is how to tell them apart, what they ask, what an auction really costs and what the papers must say.

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A Toyota Hilux single cab carrying hay bales along a dirt road through green farmland

Buying guide · 05 Sept 2026

Double cab or single cab: what the price gap actually buys you

A used double cab asks about R180,000 more than a single cab of the same bakkie. Compare the same year, engine and trim and the second row costs R60,000 to R90,000. Here is where the rest of the money goes, what the single cab gives you back, the VAT rule, and which body suits which buyer.

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