If you have ever even remotely lived by the motto: “here for a good time, not a long time”, the Chinese-built Haval H6 Lux may just be the cheapest car hitting Australian roads to help you meet your goals.
It is no secret that cars coming out of China have earned themselves a reputation as “readily disposable”.
Typically, they are seen as cheap and better for the big fleet buyers who need quantity over quality.
They’re not known to last long… not by comparison with makes built elsewhere around the world – and generally costing considerably more.
I’ve heard plenty of stories of companies taking advantage of the super-affordable Chinese built ranges to get a job done and further saving on the fleet costs by simply never servicing the cars… just letting them run into the ground.
They do live up to their reputation as disposable vehicles.
But, I can confidently suggest that buyers of the Haval H6 Lux are going to extend its life with a little TLC, even with its affordable drive away price of $34,000 potentially putting it in the “disposable” car lot.
While I know many people who will question my call, but the Haval H6 Lux is a decent prospect.
It is unproven if it will go the distance – and I’m sure there will be plenty of people knock me down the track IF the H6 runs into the preverbal Great Wall on longevity within a few years – but first impressions must count for something.
The Haval H6 Lux looks the goods, for mine. Anyone arguing that it’s ugly must consider the same has to be said for pretty much everything else in its class, given its styling draws from plenty of other cars in its class.
Something Chinese car builders do very well is copy… cheat if you like.
But they don’t just copy. With each new model their “cheating” designers copy and improve. This strategy, to leverage off other car company’s design and engineering work, saves them the money which keeps the costs down for customers.
It is that kind of strategy which delivers the level of bling included in the H6 Lux for such a crazy low price.
For $34,000 you get everything from sunroof to satin-silver vent surrounds, non-fake looking synthetic leather seats and event a bit of wood grain look. A downfall is no sat nav, but finding your way around the controls in the H6 doesn’t pose much problem if that’s any consolation.
The H6 Lux lives adds to its title with quirky extras including heated front seats and neat neon light highlights. Even the gimmicky side mirror “Haval” light impression on the pavement is a trick little touch.
It is the kind of kit-list you find in a Mercedes or BMW equivalent at prices starting at quite a bit more, even if not as polished in their finish.
Will it last? Hard to tell in just a week of driving the H6.
But are you here for a good time or a long time?
What I was able to tell from my time in the H6 is that, new, it performs perfectly well, particularly for its price tag. In fact, I quite enjoyed it.
It was punchy and powerful enough in the Adelaide traffic and rode some of our rougher roads well (although I didn’t take it on a country outing) and all the little tricks worked for me at a touch of a button.
It features a 2.0-litre four cylinder turbo petrol engine with a claimed fuel consumption rate of 9.8 litres/100km and producing 145kW of power and 315Nm of torque.
Riding on 19 inch wheels wearing Chinese made Cooper tyres, it handles the bumps and ruts well, if not superbly and steers adequately.
Reputations are hard to break, particularly when it comes to cars.
But there’s plenty to suggest that Haval has copied and improved and advanced far enough to not only make living the good life more affordable but also for it to last longer.