We all know about Mustang Sally; all she wanted to do was ride, Sally, ride. Well, it seems the same can be said of South Africans in their quest to buy their perfect car! According to AutoTrader’s CEO George Mienie, South Africans are willing to travel quite some distances to find the car they want.

“We have analysed the ‘distance range’ setting on AutoTrader and we have made some interesting findings. For instance, the most popular search radius is 100 km. However, lots of buyers are willing to search nationally (1 500 km radius),” he reveals.

Buyers in the Western Cape are especially happy to drive to find their dream car. A whopping 50 percent of all searches using the national radius hail from the Western Cape. While Capetonians are lacking in water, they and their provincial counterparts, certainly aren’t lacking in style or good taste – an incredible 62 percent of national Porsche searches hail from the Western Cape.

Potential buyers of Volkswagen are the most passionate about acquiring the ideal car; these vehicles top the rank in the 1 500 km search range. Toyota customers are the second most ardent, followed by BMW.

“This is interesting, because BMW is the most searched-for make on AutoTrader. Somehow, Volkswagen and Toyota customers are more determined. They’re willing to go the extra mile to find their dream wheels,” comments Mienie. The AutoTrader CEO reveals that the various provinces have specific car brand preferences for which they are willing to travel nationally.

“Western Cape residents favour Volkswagen, followed by BMW and Toyota. In KwaZulu-Natal, Volkswagen is a firm favourite, followed by BMW and Ford. In Gauteng, the Toyota brand reigns supreme, followed by Volkswagen and BMW,” Mienie reports.

The analysis was conducted on the top ten most searched-for makes on AutoTrader during 2017, namely BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Ford, Land Rover, Nissan, Hyundai and Porsche.

Mienie says the AutoTrader findings are significant to regional dealers who may be considering extending their reach nationally for new customers. For consumers, Mienie cautions “those considering a national distance search range must consider dealer delivery and cost implications when buying from another province.”