New Hyundai Kona vs Volkswagen T-Roc: costs
Fuel efficiency is at the heart of Hyundai’s new small SUV, but does it have enough strings in its bow to beat the five-star Volkswagen T-Roc? Let’s find out...
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
The biggest advantage that a full hybrid system brings is lower fuel bills. In our real-world tests, the Hyundai Kona returned an average of 46.1mpg, compared with the Volkswagen T-Roc’s 37.9mpg. At current pump prices, this equates to a saving of more than £1000 over 36,000 miles.
If you’re a company car driver, it’s worth noting that the Kona’s hybrid set-up also reduces CO2 emissions and consequently leaves you paying £72 less per month in benefit-in-kind tax, assuming you’re in the 40% bracket.
Furthermore, the Kona is slightly cheaper to buy on PCP finance. Put down a £2000 deposit and sign up to a three-year agreement, with an annual limit of 10,000 miles, and you’ll pay £522 per month, versus £528 for the T-Roc.
To top it all off, the Kona will be cheaper to service and insure. However, that’s not the full story. You see, the T-Roc is currently the cheaper car to buy outright if you use our free online New Car Deals service; our Target Price mystery shoppers have secured a £1679 discount, whereas there aren’t any deals on the new Kona yet.
What’s more, the T-Roc is predicted to hold on to its value significantly better – so much so that it will actually cost private buyers around £670 less to run in total over a typical three-year ownership period.
You do get more equipment with the Kona, though. It upgrades the T-Roc’s heated front seats to ones that are heated and ventilated, plus it adds heated rear seats and a heated steering wheel, none of which is available on the T-Roc. The Kona comes with keyless entry, an electric tailgate and a Bose premium sound system, too. On the T-Roc, keyless entry (and start) will cost you £390, a powered tailgate is part of a £605 pack, and a Beats audio upgrade is £490.
The Kona was too new to be included in the 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey, but the T-Roc came 14th out of 22 models in
its class, with the most common fault area being the brakes, followed by the infotainment system. In the overall brand league table, Hyundai ranked seventh out of 32, while Volkswagen was 22nd.
As for safety, Euro NCAP awarded the T-Roc five stars back in 2017, whereas the latest Kona hasn’t yet been tested. That said, it’s worth noting that while both cars have automatic emergency braking and lane-keeping assistance, the Kona also features blindspot monitoring and a rear cross-traffic alert system that warns you if you’re about to reverse into the path of another vehicle.
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