Car hire prices in South Africa: what you pay a day, and what adds to it

All figures below were shown on 29 September 2026 unless stated. They are per day.

Cheapflights lists Avis as its most popular company and a Mini as the most common car type.

A "from" price is a floor. Discover Cars shows small cars from R202 a day while its average is R271, and Cheapflights shows a cheapest price of R204 against an average of R556. The distance between the floor and the average is what you pay for a normal booking: a better class, a busy date, an airport pick-up or a short notice.

Averages also disagree with each other. The Discover Cars headline average is R271 a day, but its own monthly table shows R386.69 in its cheapest month. Cheapflights puts the average at R556. Skyscanner puts the Johannesburg average at R470, while Cheapflights puts Johannesburg at R324. The pages do not explain these gaps. Quote the source and its definition, not a single national average.

Operator "from" rates work the same way. They are the starting rate for the smallest car on the best terms, and some carry conditions that the home page does not show.

R100 a day is not a rate any comparison site or large brand showed. The lowest per-day figures on the aggregators were R164 (Skyscanner, cheapest found in Johannesburg), R202 (Discover Cars, small cars from) and R204 (Cheapflights, cheapest).

One operator does advertise it. MotoRent, a small used-car operator in Cape Town, lists the VW Citi Golf, Opel Corsa Lite and Toyota Tazz "From R100 P/Day". Read the conditions before you count on it:

• Its home page marks the headline offers "Subject to 90 days Great rental or more", so the low rates are aimed at long hires, not a weekend.
• The FAQ says you pay the rental and the deposit upfront. The refundable deposit is from R1500 (home page).
• Card payments carry a 5% surcharge. Cash and EFT do not.
• Unlimited mileage covers 150 km from the Cape Town CBD. Beyond that it charges R2.50 a km for basic and compact cars.
• Standard cover is included, but you lose your deposit and are responsible for 10% of the total damage.

For a short hire from a mainstream operator, expect the figures in the first table instead.

Each source publishes a monthly average per day. They do not agree on the cheapest month.

Discover Cars contradicts itself. Its data table says September is the cheapest month, while its tips say May is about 29% cheaper than the yearly average. Cheapflights names May as the best month to hire. Skyscanner names September.

February is the dearest month in both Discover Cars and Cheapflights. December is where they part: Discover Cars shows R474, close to its highest, while Cheapflights shows R510, below its own yearly average of R556. So "December is always the most expensive month" is not supported by every source. Our December 2026 guide covers the holiday dates and what to book early.

The daily rate is the start of the bill. These are amounts operators publish on their own pages, as read on 29 September 2026. Different operators charge different things, so read the terms of the one you book.

Our guides to excess, deposits, one-way hire and hiring under 25 explain each of these in more detail.

This is arithmetic on published figures, not a quote. It uses one operator so that the numbers belong together. Rent A Cheapie published its VW Polo Vivo at R249 a day for September 2026, and the page lists rates by month, so check the month you travel.

Add the lines that apply to you. A driver who qualifies for neither fee pays three times the daily rate. The deposit is separate: it is refundable, but it must be available on your card or account for the whole rental. Fuel, tolls, fines and any excess are on top.

If you want an Avis figure for three days, we cannot give one. We did not find a daily Avis rate published in text on the Avis pages we read. Avis shows the price after you enter your dates and pick-up, and its pages list fees such as the young driver surcharge instead. Enter your own dates to see it.

The large brands did not publish a bakkie day rate in text on the pages we read. Two figures are available. MotoRent lists a Nissan NP200 bakkie from R190 a day and an NP300 from R220 a day, and those sit under the same 90-day headline conditions described above. Discover Cars shows vans from R477 a day.

Bakkies carry bigger deposits. Woodford's deposits and waivers schedule shows a credit-card deposit of R10,000 for its Toyota Hilux group, against R5,000 for its mini and economy groups.

For a single day, ask for the total including the waiver, the deposit hold and the kilometre allowance, because a bakkie hired for a move or a job can use up an allowance quickly.

1. Search your exact dates, pick-up point and class on the operator's own site and on one comparison site.
2. Compare the total with the waiver you want, not the "from" rate.
3. Ask for the deposit hold in rand for your class and waiver.
4. Add one-way, cross-border, young driver, additional driver and card fees where they apply.
5. Check the kilometre allowance. Pace's cash rentals include 200 free km a day, for example, and excess km are billed.
6. Read the fuel and fines terms.

Cheapflights says hire prices average around R381 a day when booked seven days ahead. That is an average across bookings, not a promise for your dates.