Best hatchbacks for university students under R300 000

By Masilo Makola

As the 2017 matriculants enter the last week of holidays until heading off to university, you may be wondering what car you should get for your new journey. Depending on the kind of person you are, you may be drawn to a particular kind of car, but don’t worry for this list will have you covered. This list is by no means exclusive to the cars, these cars just caught our eye.

So, here are the best hatchbacks for university students in no particular order.

Volkswagen polo

The polo has always been one of the best-selling cars in South Africa because of their price and reliability (they are German after all). The car that caught our eye was the highline, with a starting price of R278 000, it offers a modest 81KW of power. It will consume about 5.1 litres of petrol per 100km, which isn’t the best on this list but certainly not bad at all. But if you want to save as much as possible on fuel, you might want to look elsewhere. It has some pretty cool stuff like a system that detects driver fatigue, a tyre pressure monitoring system and hill climb assist. On the other hand, absolute necessities like a rear-view camera and park distance control (alerting you when you are too close to other cars around when parking) will set you back an additional R7000 and if you are about that panoramic sunroof life, yeah, that will cost you R10 000. But if you just opt for the parking aids your polo will be R285 000, which is reasonable for German engineering and good fuel consumption.

Hyundai i20

This is probably the best equipped car on our list, with features such as automatic air conditioning, dual front airbags and rear parking sensors being standard features on the higher end models which go for about R260 000 to R293 000. We recommend the 1.4 models. They even come with a cooled glovebox! That is about the coolest (no pun intended) feature a car this price could have. Gone are the days of having to worrying about water getting too hot on a long journey in your Hyundai. Power from our pick of the models comes in flavours of 74KW or 85KW which is not awful but not great either, especially when you consider that fuel consumption is 6.5L/100km (85KW model) or 7.5L/100km (74KW model). On the upside, Hyundai claims that these models are the quietest in their class while also having the most legroom. That’s a tick for practicality and comfort for these models. They also have a rather generous 7-year powertrain warranty so that could be a significant bonus for the owner. If the fuel is not an issue because your parents are majority shareholders in a gas and oil company then this car would be our pick of the bunch.

Kia Rio

Let’s just get this out of the way, the Rio interior is absolutely wonderful, mesmerising stuff, it is by far the best interior out of these cars in our list. Considering that the interior is where you spend all your time in a car, this is real advantage for the South Korean car company. It is also well-equipped, much like the Hyundai, but doesn’t have the sunroof available as an option. Another aspect where this car shines is that it features Kia’s 5-year unlimited kilometre warranty and their 4-year service plan (most companies give you 2 or 3 years of servicing) This is unfortunately where the good news ends because our pick (the 1.4 Tec) is the most powerful out of all the models in the Rio range and produces 74KW which is not great, considering what is on this list. The fuel consumption treads on similar grounds with the Hyundai i20, with its non-turbocharged engine using 6.4L of petrol per 100km. The cost is about R275 000, which is quite cheap considering the interior and the standard equipment it comes with.

Renault Clio

Our pick from the Clio range is the GT-line, which costs about R265 000 which is the 2^nd cheapest car on the list (R5000 more expensive than the Hyundai range). The levels of equipment aren’t anything spectacular but definitely acceptable, but one notable exclusion is the rear parking sensor. It does have satellite navigation, cruise control, a hands-free card, a sound system optimised for bass heads and ECO mode (a system which tells you how to drive as fuel efficiently as possible). The interior is, unfortunately, rather bland and more akin to a car for the older folk and not for a 19-year old. It does a pretty cool gear lever though. Where this car shines is in the engine department. It is a 1.2l turbocharged unit that is “Formula 1 inspired” according to Renault. Moreover, it will do 5.3L/100km while producing 88KW which is the 2^nd highest power output on this list and only beaten by the next car.

Ford Fiesta

Ford has been winning award after award for their 1 litre engines and our pick sports that very engine, it is manual version the 5-door Titanium. This car is the most powerful car on our list and the most efficient at the same time! It produces 92KW while consuming about 4.3L per 100km. That engine is truly outstanding, but enough about the engine. This car is also well-equipped with features such as an auto stop-start (switching the car off while it is stationary in traffic and automatically starting when you step on the accelerator to drive away), a shift indicator and ECO mode (like the Renault). It even has airbags for your knees! As if when you are about to crash your hands go to cover your knees instead of your face, but hey it’s more protection and that can never be a bad thing. This is the most sensible car for the wallets of university students’ parents, especially when you consider the R267 000 price tag. It does look pretty underwhelming though, inside and out.

This list could also be relevant for those of you searching for your first car since we catered for most people’s needs when it comes to affordable cars.