Double cab or SUV? Choose wisely

If there’s one thing South Africans probably love more than SUVs, it’s bakkies. But things get complicated when you’re stuck somewhere in the middle, having to choose the one over the other. While the heart might be very vocal in reaching your decision, a sober head is required during your research. Vehicles, especially new ones, cost a lot of money and regretting your choice down the line could turn out to be very costly.

A shiny double cab is hard to resist, especially when kitted out to the brim with nudge bar, roll bar and all the usual bells and whistles. It gives you an imposing presence on the road with the added benefit of a superior ride height and where bakkies have lacked in interior comfort and safety in years gone by, their specification levels have been raised considerably in these areas to bring it up to car-like standards.

South Africa is bakkie-loving country proven by the fact that the Toyota Hilux is the country’s top-selling vehicle every month.

But all the niceties aside, a bakkie’s main trait is still its ability to carry goods. It is officially classified as a light commercial vehicle after all. And this is where the double cab is quite unique. It’s got room for five people in the cabin similar to a passenger car, while at the same time it can carry a tonne on the back or in typical South African custom, probably three tonnes on any given day.

If you need a vehicle for business purposes that can double act as a family car, a double cab is a straight forward choice. But when you need a multipurpose vehicle mainly for leisure use, as enticing the prospect of a double cab might seem, it is highly recommended that you at least way it up against a medium sized SUV. Especially if you are a city dweller whose daily routine consists of driving to work, school and the shop, as a SUV will offer better comfort for passengers in the back while manoeuvring school bags, lunch boxes, laptops and grocery bags will be easier from a boot than the back of a bakkie.

Getting the loadbox dirty is what a bakkie is all about.

Ladder frame SUVs share the same platforms as their double cab siblings like Toyota’s Fortuner and Hilux, Ford’s Everest and Ranger, Isuzu’s MU-X and D-Max and the Pajero Sport and Triton from Mitsubishi. Because these siblings share specifications, cabins, engines, transmissions, suspensions and drive systems right through their model line-ups, basically the only difference between the two will be the body style, making it somewhat easier to choose between a double cab and SUV from the same stable.

The headache becomes a lot more severe when you start weighing the double cabs up against all other SUVs in similar price ranges. For instance, if you are prepared to fork out over R700 000 for a top-of-the-range double cab, you are playing in the price range of a premium SUV like a BMW X3 xDrive, Range Rover Evoque or the jam-packed Hyundai Santa Fe. And while you surely won’t load garden refuse or other messy stuff in the back of these fine rides like you would in a bakkie’s loadbox, fitting a tow bar and using a trailer for the dirty work is always an option.

Premium SUVs can offer finishing superior to that of any bakkie.

It is important to remember that while you can always fit a canopy at a later stage to increase a double cab’s luggage space, with a SUV you simply don’t have the option of removing the roof down the line. Well not with the approval of your dealership anyway.

At the end of the day your needs will be the determining factor in your decision. Ask yourself exactly what you need the vehicle for and weigh up all the pros and cons of each according to your lifestyle. If you can get the head and heart to agree, well done. If not, good luck.

An extra row of seats gives some SUVs the advantage of safely carrying seven people.

Main things to remember:

SUV

• Can offer premium interior superior to that of any bakkie, for example a sun roof or digital instrument cluster
• Rear seats are generally more comfortable than that of a bakkie’s second row, while there are also various models offering seven seats, albeit at the expense of luggage space
• Tailgate offers easy access to the boot, even more so when electronic
• Can offer hordes of space with second row folded down, but not the kind of space you want to load a tonne of building sand into and doesn’t offer the option of moving upright appliances like refrigerators
• Just because shiny SUVs look more at home in the city than the bush doesn’t mean they are not capable of tackling the rough stuff. Most SUV ranges have 4×4 model options that should be as capable off the beaten track as any 4×4 bakkie
• Even the bigger SUVs are still easier to manoeuvre in parking lots than a double cab

Bakkie

• Still the only choice for tough jobs like moving building rubble or some cattle
• The loadbox offers a wide variety of options which you can customise to suit your needs, albeit some of them at a premium. You can secure your load by fitting a canopy, a liftable lid, a steel roller door or tonneau cover
• Insurers might have an issue with valuables getting stolen while stowed in the loadbox as the wide array of aftermarket locking devices works separately from the bakkie’s central locking and alarm system
• When you need to move more than five people you’ll have the option of loading passengers on the back of a bakkie, but keep in mind that their safety is in jeopardy unlike in the third row of a seven-seater SUV, which is protected by the vehicle’s safety shell and equipped with safety belts
• Some double cabs feature loading boxes under the rear bench seat, there is still a lack of space in the cabin, whether it be legroom in the back or the fact that you don’t have proper access to the loadbox during your ride
• The standard bakkie engine specifications won’t cut it if it’s an extra pinch of power you’re after, as a decent SUV powerplant will still outrun even the fastest double cab
• With the standard double cab already measuring over five metres in length, things like nudge bars and tow bars make it even longer, which could result in the bakkie not fitting in any garage and shorter parking space.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.