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| Maria Sharapova helped launched the Porsche Macan, a car that surprised SA’s parts price guru Malcolm Kinsey with its well-priced parts among the 11 Coty finalists. |
FOR South Africa’s automotive parts price guru, Porsche this year
turned up the biggest surprise among the 11 cars nominated for the 2015 Car of
the Year (Coty) title.
Pinetown resident Malcolm Kinsey told Wheels
that compared with other premium vehicles in its class, “the Porsche
Macan parts are very well-priced”.
The air filter on the Macan is, for example, half the price of that
in the Corolla 1,4 D4-D and the big German’s rear brake pads are almost R60
cheaper than that of the Japanese sedan.
Still, said Kinsey, overall, the Corolla’s parts basket is the
least expensive of the 11 cars.
“This is because Toyota aims to make all their models affordable
throughout their life cycle,” he said, adding that the Prospecton factory works
hard to make all the vehicle components — from the typical wear-and-tear parts
to panel-beater parts — affordable for the average South African.
Kinsey revealed that perception plays a strange part in parts
pricing.
“Cheap does not always make clients happy. Some people actually
want to pay more for the same make of parts if it is fitted to more expensive
cars,” he said.
Kinsey is still the only man to have towed a four-berth caravan up
Sani Pass in a 3,0-litre Ford Saphire auto and he holds several fuel-consumption
records in various sizes of car.
Asked if the perception that French cars have expensive parts is
still valid, Kinsey said this idea is long outdated.
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| South Africa auto parts price guru Malcolm Kinsey |
He pointed out that the parts basket of the Citroën C4 Picasso
e-HDi 115 Intensive on the Coty shortlist is just over R21 k more than that of
the Corolla. He said that in the past few years, the local French
representatives have done a huge amount of work to reduce their parts prices in
every way possible.
“They, for example, now ship smaller parts in the same box as what
a bumper gets packed in. This has reduced their number of shipping items by
about 25%, which correspondingly has reduced their freight costs and of course,
some of their parts prices by about the same margin.”
He said the real price shock for most people lurks in the
panel-beating lists. Replacing a hail-damaged bonnet can range from R2 301,72 on
the Corolla to R20 234,87 for the BMW M4 Coupé.
Replacing a hail-damaged front windscreen will cost the least in a
Renault Duster (R2 679,89) and about R10 500 in both the Subaru WRX and Honda
Accord 3,5 V6 Exclusive.
As always, Kinsey warns buyers that his price lists are averages
and he urges all car owners to shop around when they service or panel-beat a
car.
“The manufacturers cannot enforce their recommended prices. We have, for
example, found the same parts in Durban are up to 10% more expensive than in
Johannesburg or Cape Town,” said Kinsey.
• More on www.kinseyreport.co.za
The price for the same basket of parts for the 2015 Coty finalists in South Africa
R71 898,64 — Toyota
Corolla 1.4 D-4D Prestige
R74 969,61 — Renault
Duster 1.5dCi Dynamique AWD
R93 190,47 — Citroën
C4 Picasso e-HDi 115 Intensive
R104 916,74 — Nissan
Qashqai 1.6 dCi Acenta AT
R132 262,83 — Audi
A3 Sedan 1.4T FSI SE S Tronic
R133 426,12 — Lexus
ES 250 EX
R141 428,14 — Porsche
Macan S Diesel
R154 874,12 — Honda
Accord 3.5 V6 Exclusive
R170 595,77 — Mercedes-Benz
C 200 AT
R224 956,83 — BMW
M4 Coupé AT
