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This Chery priced to go

29 July 2009, 15:40 GMT + 2 0 comments

You don’t get many sport-utility vehicles for under R200 000. The cheapest Toyota Rav4 costs almost R300 000, the Nissan X-Trail R268 300, a Honda FR-V R261 900 – you get the picture.
You can buy a Chery Tiggo TXE, with an auto gearbox nogal, for R199 900. It also comes with an electric sliding sunroof, cruise control, electric windows all round, electric mirrors and anti-lock braking.
There’s also a TXE model with a five-speed manual gearbox for only R189 900 and, after just a short acquaintance with the top-of-the-range auto Tiggo, I suggest you’d be well advised to save ten thousands bucks by going for the manual.
The auto gearbox does not make a great initial impression. Its marriage with the under-endowed 2-litre engine is not a happy one. There’s too much noise while the Tiggo is accelerating through the gears, although it’s much better once it has achieved cruising speed.
And that’s the thing with this Chinese-made vehicle, brought to South Africa by the respected McCarthy Group. I found myself continually looking for good points. At first I had to look quite hard.
To start with, yes, there’s the price. But you do get what you pay for. The armrest/storage bin between the front seats feels flimsy, as do the side-wall storage compartments in the luggage area. There is an “onboard computer”, but all it tells you, about from the time and how far you have travelled since you pressed the zero button, is the instantaneous fuel consumption. Most people would far rather know the average consumption.
And yes, there are the looks – not bad at all, pretty sharp in fact. The Chinese will deny it but it seems there has been an attempt to copy the appearance of the Rav4, down to the big handsome headlights and the ....l cover over the rear-door-mounted spare wheel. Admittedly other SUVs have the same appearance and could also be accused of following in the tracks of the Rav4.

Inside, you get leather-like seats all round and a bright, airy feeling, thanks to an abundance of big windows and the electric sliding sunroof. The Tiggo has an auto-lock system for the doors once you get up to a certain speed and the key, which has remote lock-unlock ability, folds away into itself – both these features, once again, are normally found on far more expensive cars.
You get warning buzzers when you leave the key in the ignition, when you have left the headlights on, and (for a limited time) when you have not fastened your seatbelt. There is no up/down auto feature on the electric windows. There are twin airbags for the front occupants.
The lights indicating whether you are in park, neutral, reverse of drive are on the wrong side of the auto-gearbox shifter lever but you do get this information on the main instrumental panel too. The instruments are easy-to-read black figures on white background, and at night the dials become red, the figures blue, so that it all looks rather VW-like. The impression is an attractive one, and the brightness of the instrument lighting can be adjusted.
The Tiggo cruises comfortably at 120km/h at 3000rpm but is no road rocket. There are a few internal rattles – perhaps this could be put down to the harsh treatment meted out to press vehicles?
Apart from the cruise-control buttons on the steering wheel, there are remote controls for the audio system too.
Head and leg room is excellent for front and rear occupants, although we did get a complaint about the rear seat being uncomfortable. Admittedly, this person was sitting in the central position, which does not even have a headrest, so maybe the Tiggo would be best used as a four-seater.
Luggage space is excellent, even with the rear seats in use, and ease of loading is good. Some people don’t like the sideways-opening rear door, complaining that it is a problem is someone parks close behind you. I liked it because I have a problem in my garage with upwards-opening rear doors touching against the garage door.
The alloy wheels are attractive, as is the roof rack. The overall appearance is more than pleasing. Chery should do well with this vehicle, which is also offered in a 1.6 TX version for R159 900 and a 2.0 TX for R174 900, apart from the more luxurious TXEs already mentioned. The 1.6 engine puts out 80kW and 147Nm, with the 2-litre gives 95kW and 180Nm. Fuel tanks across the range hold 57 litres – fuel consumption is on the heavy side, you will do well to get 100km on 10 litres. The fuel warning light came on before I had done 400km but I think you will get quite a long way on what is left in the tank.
The clever Chinese obviously are working on providing as many features as possible in their vehicles, and the goodies-rich, price-low Tiggo is a case in point. One bit of advice – it might be better to concentrate on small quality issues, such as doors that sound good when you close them.
Chinese vehicles might not be quite there yet in terms of quality, but the Chery Tiggo is proof that they are on the way. I had become surprisingly fond of it by the time I had to give it back.