According to data from WeBuyCars a vehicle is most likely to change ownership five to six times during its lifetime.

“New car owners tend to keep their vehicles for six years, and second-hand car owners for three,” says WeBuyCars executive director Faan van der Walt.

Used-car trader WeBuyCars sells more than 9 000 vehicles a month.

“When looking at buying trends in various provinces over the last few months, Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal equals to about 83% of all purchases,” says Van der Walt.

“Gauteng accounts for 43%, the Western Cape for 25% and KwaZulu-Natal for 15%. The rest are split between the other provinces.”

WeBuyCars data also shows that a typical KwaZulu-Natal buyer tends to buy and sell more frequently than customers from other provinces, selling a newer vehicle of higher value so that they can trade up.

Western Cape buyers tend to buy with cash, hold onto their cars for longer and maintain their cars’ service histories, while Gauteng buyers tend to be a combination of the two.

“Twenty years ago, when WeBuyCars was established, we did not aim to become such a large business, but a combination of luck, circumstances and a deep understanding of delivering based on what our customers want and need, has allowed us to grow into a significant business with turnover close to R12-billion,” says Van der Walt.

“Over the years we have relied greatly on industry and provincial trends when making business decisions. We need to know where consumers are located and what their needs are so that we can provide them with the best selection that meets their requirements.”

This is especially true for deciding which vehicles will be sold in which province. 

Insights have shown that Volkswagen is the most popular WeBuyCars brand in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, the Western Cape, the Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga.

Ford reigns supreme in the Free State and Limpopo, while Toyota takes the lead in the North-West and Northern Cape.

Most of the vehicles bought by WeBuyCars are from people between the ages of 30 and 44. This age group roughly accounts for around 37% of all purchases. 

Second in line is the 45 to 59 age group, accounting for 28% of all purchases. 

“These age group trends do not differ across the provinces. We also see that the age group we buy the least number of cars from are the 75 to 89 age bin, which roughly accounts for 2.6% of all purchases,” says Van der Walt.

The price bracket in which most WeBuyCars vehicles are purchased is between R40 000 to R80 000, with the R120 000 to R200 000 mark being a strong second. 

Aligned with the surge in online purchasing and auction sales, WeBuyCars has seen its Gauteng branches make up more than half of its total online sales. 

Midstream is the business’ best performing branch (out of four Gauteng branches) with reference to online vehicle sales, currently accounting for around 25% of sales.

WeBuyCars will soon add another Gauteng branch, with the opening of a facility at the Dome.