Summarize

Ten down, two to go as Auto Bakkie Race’s extensive 2019 Gumtree Pre-Owned Car Awards coverage heads toward Tuesday’s reveal with a look at the five best-performing two-year old Large Sport Utility Vehicles now for sale at less than R715, according to Unitrans pre-owned car price records. 

In alphabetical order, the BMW X4, Jaguar F-Pace, Land Rover Discovery Sport, Mercedes GLC250d and Range Rover Evoque best represent that niche and best retain their new value. Let’s first take a look at what we said about them new two years ago, before we consider their used car park highlights…

BMW’s second generation X4 has this 140kW turbodiesel X4 xDrive20d as its entry step. It gets to 100km/h in under 8 seconds, can do 213km/h and sips 5.5l/100km at 142 g/km. It has has paddle-shift eight-speed automatic and intelligent all-wheel drive.

X4’s enhanced cabin gains improved gesture, voice and touch control, a big new info touchscreen and more, it’s frisky and quick with little body roll for a quite practical mom’s taxi too – balanced with a comfy ride and more than enough grunt.

Twenty years ago, if I told you that you’d buy a Mercedes, a Porsche or a BMW four-by-four you’d tell me I was smoking my socks. Now here’s a Jaguar coupled at the hip with Land Rover to translate those sleek genes into a mud-plugger. 

It makes you think and splits opinion, has a great engine and drivetrain, is quick and lithe on-road and handles the dirt well, but is well enough? So, if you want the schoolyard pose with a commanding driving position, it’s excellent. But others may be better over a broader base. 

Freelander has a new name – meet Discovery Sport – Land Rover’s latest premium compact SUV.  It looks the part, while still being cavernous enough to accommodate a hugely versatile 5+2 seating configuration for an optimally configurable cabin. 

Its capable 2-litre turbodiesel is a great all-rounder, torquey from idle, it revs out sweetly, 

not quite top-drawer stuff, but nothing to be sneered at, and it rides exceptionally on dirt or tar and is packed with everything you’d expect for Discovery.

Based on the latest C-Class, this Mercedes-Benz GLC gets the stronger 150kW 250d engine, a nine-speed automatic and all-wheel drive to do 100km/h in 7.9 seconds and top 220km/h. This coupe is sleeker then the wagon, but you can get both, so no worries either way

Undoubtedly a BMW chaser, the C-Class based machine gets a longer wheelbase and is shorter, wider and lower than its obvious Bavarian rival. Supremely equipped in a splendid cabin, it’s surprisingly capable on both ends of its broad spectrum too.

Some cars take a bit of getting used to, but we quite enjoyed this one as our time went on with it. Of course Range Rover Evoque really looks the part – it strikes a pose somewhere between Hot Wheels and Transformer, so that’s a good start.

It rattled a bit too much though and I found it a bit harsh on the road – a bit crashy in fact. Those aspects however faded in significance as the baby Range performs so well for a poseur’s Rover that is quite the wheels if you’re looking to stand apart, doll

This is an a closer-fought fight than a few we have seen of late – all these cars are surprisingly well matched, so can one of them really stand apart? They square up well in performance for starters – all are turbo four-pots, but the Land Rover is a petrol, not a diesel, all have sophisticated gearboxes and this lot is all wheel driven, so no excuses there

The BMW is the quickest car here, followed by the Merc, which hit back by being the most elastic in our testing, but the Jaguar and Range Rover come back on economy and the Land Rover scores on space. You have a broad choice here to suit your own style needs too.

One car starts to stand out when it comes to value tough – the Mercedes may have been the cheapest to buy new, but its’s now the most expensive to buy used. Which means it retains its asset value by far the best, boasts the best service plan and it is a Mercedes, after all. 

So, while it was a close-run race until we looked at how they perform as an asset, the Mercedes stood apart by that to take this category. But will the rest of the Gumtree Pre Owned Jury agree with our view? Come back late tomorrow evening to find out if they did! – Michele Lupini