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# Cheap Chinese cars are coming back for trade-in, but the bigger problem is how long the loan runs
- URL: https://www.businessbagel.com/cheap-chinese-cars-are-coming-back-for-trade-in-and-some-owners-owe-the-bank-more-than-theyre-worth/
- Published: 2026-10-28T03:45:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-28T03:44:59.000Z
- Description: Car dealer group CMH says the first cheap Chinese cars are coming back for trade-in worth less than owners hoped, but resale value is a brand-by-brand question, and the length of the loan affects everyone.
- Author: Christian Maidman
- Tags: Companies, Business Bagel News, #big

One of South Africa’s biggest car dealer groups has raised a worry about what Chinese cars are worth second-hand. Combined Motor Holdings, better known as CMH, released its half-year results last week, and while headline earnings rose 18.6%, its used-car sales fell 10%.

CMH’s explanation is about timing. Chinese and Asian brands arrived at discount prices four or five years ago, and those cars are now coming back as trade-ins. Many owners are discovering they are worth far less than they expected, and plenty are holding on until the trade-in covers what they still owe the bank. Chinese brands now make up about 20% of new-car sales by CMH’s count, and with new names arriving every quarter, it says it is impossible to tell which will last.

## A brand-by-brand question

There is evidence behind the worry. TransUnion’s valuation data, in a 2025 comparison, had the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro losing 27.1% of its value over three years, against 20.5% for a Kia Sonet. WesBank, FirstRand’s car-finance arm, has also put more money aside for losses when repossessed cars are sold.

Other data tells a different story. AutoTrader’s 2026 figures have leading Chinese crossovers keeping roughly 70% to 75% of their original price after three years. Cars.co.za found that the Tiggo 4 Pro and the Haval Jolion each lost under 30% over three years, a better showing than the Renault Duster, Kia Seltos, Mazda CX-3 and Hyundai Creta. So some Chinese cars do lose value faster, but there is little evidence that every Chinese brand does.

## The loan is everybody’s problem

The part that deserves more attention is how we finance our cars. Most South Africans have financed over 72 months, which still made up 72% of deals in Lightstone’s July 2025 analysis, but 96-month agreements are now available, and one deal in ten already ran that long. A longer term makes the instalment smaller, but it also means the debt itself comes down far more slowly.

Put numbers on it: take a R300,000 car financed at 12%, with no deposit and no balloon payment. After four years, you would still owe roughly R125,000 on a six-year loan. Stretch the same loan over eight years and you would owe about R185,000\. That is R60,000 more on exactly the same car, with exactly the same resale value. TransUnion makes the same point: longer terms and balloon payments - a lump sum left to the end to keep instalments down - raise the risk if the car’s value falls.

So the argument about Chinese resale values needs to be had one brand at a time. The loan term applies to every badge, and it is how South Africans end up able to afford the monthly instalment on a car, but not able to afford to sell it.