Chery J1 2011 Review

Name: Chery J1 2011 Review
Brand: Chery

Australia's cheapest new car sets new low benchmark in more ways than one

Chery J1
Road Test

What we liked
>> The promotional $10,990 driveaway price
>> The interior layout and instruments
>> Full size spare wheel and tyre

Not so much

>> Only two airbags. Stability control not available
>> Engine ‘flare’ between gear changes, needs premium unleaded
>> No warning chime when headlights are left on

Overall rating: 2.0/5.0

Engines and Drivetrains: 2.0/5.0
Price, Value, Practicality: 3.0/5.0
Safety: 2.0/5.0
Behind the wheel: 1.0/5.0
X-factor: 2.0/5.0

About our ratings

OVERVIEW

>> Australia’s cheapest new car, but at what cost?

New cars have never been as cheap or as well equipped as they are in 2011.

When Korean carmaker Hyundai lured tens of thousands of used-car buyers into a brand-new vehicle at $13,990 driveaway in the 1990s, we thought we had it good. And yet that car – initially at least – didn’t even come with air-conditioning or power steering, let alone such safety features as airbags or antilock brakes.

Fast forward a couple of decades and customers get a whole lot more for their money. The price of technology has come down and factors such as competition and the strength of the Australian dollar have made new cars more affordable than ever before.

Against this backdrop is the emergence of the Chinese car industry – and a new low benchmark when it comes to cost.

Chinese carmaker Chery arrived in local showrooms earlier this year with a pricetag of $11,990 driveaway for its J1 hatch – equaling the Malaysian-made Proton S16 sedan as Australia’s cheapest car.

But favourable exchange rates which have seen the Australian dollar soar (as high as $US1.10) have enabled the Chery importer to offer $1000 cash back for a limited time, which temporarily trims the price to $10,990 driveaway.

A cheap price, however, doesn’t always equate to good value. The reliability and reputation of this and other Chinese cars is unknown, and as such these cars will initially be hit hard on resale value.

It will be at least two to three years before Chery (and other Chinese brands) start to develop a track record. But rest assured, Chinese carmakers will be a serious force in a relatively short space of time – and they will improve much more rapidly than Korean and Japanese carmakers did when they started their global expansions. After all, almost every new car on the road today has at least some components, electronics or plastics that have come from China – now China’s industry wants to make cars of its own.

Of the more than 40 Chinese carmakers there are about half a dozen that have risen to the top in the domestic market; the Chinese government has already indicated its automotive industry will start to consolidate.

Chery is China’s largest and most diverse independent vehicle manufacturer. Other brands to watch: Great Wall Motors (which has been selling utes and 4WD wagon in Australia since mid 2009); Geely (which recently bought Swedish carmaker Volvo, has been selling cars in West Australia since last year and will expand to other states this year); JAC (which specialises in trucks, also planning a local launch); and Hawtai (in the process of buying a stake in Saab and also planning to sell cars here).

PRICE AND EQUIPMENT

>> There’s nothing else new for the money.

Wow. There’s no other word to describe that price. It’s unlikely anyone else will be able to limbo this low for a long time – and for good reason.

Emerging carmakers can undercut the established competition so dramatically because they often lack a couple of expensive items that customers don’t always notice.

The Chery J1 advertisement will tick most boxes for many buyers – power steering, power windows and mirrors, CD player, air-conditioning, remote entry, alarm, alloy wheels, two airbags and anti-lock brakes. But what’s missing are potentially life-saving features such as side impact airbags and stability control, which are seen as necessities by many on new cars these days – and can be had on rival cars from an extra $500 compared to the Chery J1’s normal RRP.

Also in the fineprint (and on the fuel flap): the Chery J1 must take a minimum of 93 octane fuel, which means buyers of Australia’s cheapest car must fill up with the more expensive 95 octane premium unleaded.

There’s also no automatic transmission option; the Chery J1 is available in one grade with five-speed manual only. Colour is the only choice.

Not having a diverse model mix helps keep the price low and makes distribution easier.

Another reason emerging car brands are so cheap is because they don’t have to recoup hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development – simply because they don’t spend as much on R&D as the established players.

One Chinese car brand once boasted to me that they crash test at least six examples of a given model. The industry average for established carmakers is between 60 and 120 real crash tests of a particular model – and tens of thousands of computer simulations.

The same goes for durability testing. Established carmakers take up to four years to validate and prove components; some Chinese brands knock out a new model in 18 months. Presumably any faults are found and fixed once the car is in customer hands.

Distributors of Chinese cars would say that a three-year factory warranty should offer sufficient peace of mind – and that a car with two airbags and antilock brakes is safer than an old clunker. But near-new cars with better safety can be had for the same money (see competitors).

For now, though, not everyone in Australia will have such a dilemma. The Chery J1 is not available in Victoria. Its lack of stability control banned it from sale there following regulations introduced in January this year – ahead of Federal Government introducing the same mandate nationally in November 2011.

The company is in the process of having this technology adapted on future models.

MECHANICAL

>> One 1.3-litre petrol engine, one five-speed transmission.

There’s nothing revolutionary about what’s under the bonnet of the Chery J1: it’s a relatively modest 1.3-litre four-cylinder petrol engine backed by a five-speed transmission, both average for the class.

Power is respectable (62kW/122Nm) but the fuel consumption average of 6.7L/100km, while not exactly thirsty, is not as frugal as its peers. And, as noted above, it runs on the more expensive 95-octane premium unleaded.

The engine still needs a little more calibration work, too, as the revs can inexplicably rise or ‘flare’ between gear changes.

The shifter itself has a plastic, toy-like feel to it, but the aircraft-style handbrake is neat.

The engine also makes an unusual sound – from either side of the dashboard. It’s not clear whether this is because there is a lack of sound deadening or if it’s a trait of the engine’s layout. At higher revs, the engine actually sounds quite refined and hi-tech – but at normal driving revs it sounds patchy, even by cheap economy-car standards.

At the request of the Australian distributor, Chery has already changed the gear ratios to make the J1 a little more spritely off the line. The first batch of cars were prone to stalling in first as it was too tall a gear.

PACKAGING

>> Bright blue gauges, bright coloured seats.

The interior of the Chery J1 is genuinely a pleasant surprise. Granted, fit and finish could still be improved but the car we sampled generally passed muster.

The instruments are large, bright and clear to see, logically positioned and easy on the eye. The glovebox is small and the door pockets are slim, but there is a storage cubbie on top of the dash, and the interior door pulls have room for a small phone or loose change.

There is a shallow recess (a cupholder cum ashtray) between the front seats, and a pull-out drink holder below the air-conditioning controls. The air-conditioning itself was very effective and the blue instruments and backlighting look fresh and upmarket.

A couple of other (nice) surprises: height adjustable headlights, and map reading lights for the front seats. But only the front passenger gets a vanity mirror, and it’s not covered.

The side and rear-three-quarter view is good thanks to convex mirrors on both sides of the car – but vision directly behind is not as good as some other small cars because of the high and small rear window.

Back seat space is tighter than most cars in the class – but on par with a Suzuki Alto. Headroom is excellent.

The back seat has a 60/40 split but there is a step up from the boot when they are folded. When the back seats are in position, the boot is relatively small but deep, and has a full size spare under the floor. The boot area is covered, and there’s a light to find stuff in the dark.

The struts that hold the rear hatch up were stiff and slow on the test car, and the hatch itself does not have an external release lever – you must use the ignition key.

The headlights were surprisingly impressive on low and high beam, although there is no warning chime if you leave them on once you’ve switched the engine off.

SAFETY

>> Three-star ANCAP rating is better than expected, but still not ideal.

Industry observers were surprised to find the Chery J1 scored three stars in the latest round of crash tests by independent safety authority ANCAP. Many were expecting worse.

Most of the time, three out of five aint bad. But in the world of ANCAP, three stars are not always as good as they sound. Indeed, the one-word summary for three stars is “marginal”.

The longhand version of the ANCAP report said, in part: “The passenger compartment lost structural integrity. Protection from serious chest injury was poor for the driver … There was a high risk of a life-threatening chest injury for the driver.”

ANCAP stated the Chery J1 scored 16.97 out of a possible 37 points, which is at the low end of the three-star rating scale. For example, the Proton S16 also has a three star rating – but scored more points (19.96/37) because the passenger compartment “held its shape reasonably well”.

Translated this means that while the Chery J1 has two airbags, its front body structure wasn’t able to slow down the impact on the crash test dummies as much as other small cars can.

With the exception of the three-star Proton S16, the Chery J1’s nearest new-car rivals score four (Alto) or five stars (Micra) and have six airbags and stability control as standard.

At least most of the ingredients are already in the J1 to make it a better car, and Chery engineers appear keen to improve next time around. They were present at the ANCAP test and are already looking to introduce improvements on future models.

The Chery J1 has height adjustable belts for the front seats, lap-sash belts for all five seating positions, and height-adjustable headrests for all five seating positions (which the more expensive Nissan Micra lacks, it only gets four headrests).

All cars tested by ANCAP must achieve a high-end four-star score before they are eligible for a side impact pole test, which in most cases elevates a car to a five-star rating. Here’s hoping Chery is developing side impact airbags regardless if it can achieve a five-star rating or not.

COMPETITORS

>> New and near-new used cars.

The Chery distributor’s decision to pass-on the exchange rate saving and temporarily trim the price from $11,990 to $10,990 driveaway is a canny move. Price is everything in this end of the market and by giving itself an extra $1000 gap to the rest of the small-car pack, the J1 starts to make a more compelling argument.

The $10,990 price point immediately distances the Chery J1 from the $11,990 Proton S16 – although the Proton is a bigger car with a much bigger boot.

The Proton S16 also rides and handles well. Unfortunately it too has unexplained engine flare between gear changes and, despite being in Australia for more than 10 years, Proton is still an unknown quantity on the used market, so resale values are weak.

Which brings us to the next cheapest new-car rivals: the Suzuki Alto and Nissan Micra.

At the Chery’s RRP, even cash-strapped customers might have been able to scrounge together an extra $500 to step up to a Suzuki Alto ($12,490 driveaway). The new Nissan Micra, by far the pick of the pack, was $2000 away at $13,990 in the traffic. But in one keystroke Chery has widened those gaps to $1500 and $3000 respectively – about a 15 to 30 per cent price jump. Ouch!

This will likely bring many customers back to the Chery J1. But should they buy one?

Anyone trying to sell you a new J1 will highlight that the Chery has a 1.3-litre four-cylinder engine compared to the Suzuki Alto’s 1.0-litre three-cylinder and Nissan Micra’s 1.2-litre three-cylinder. But despite being smaller in capacity, they truly are better engines in better, safer cars.

If you can afford either the Alto or the Micra, they are absolutely worth the price jump.

However, we recognise many people won’t be able to make the leap. In that instance we suggest a patient search for a near-new or ex-demonstrator Alto or Micra (or similar) that you might be able to snap up for Chery J1 money. [Ed: A quick scan of carsales classifieds (in May 2011 when this review was published) yielded a good choice of current-shape Altos at under $10k.]

ON THE ROAD

>> The Chery J1 is all about price, not the way it drives.

If you’ve read this far, you’ll appreciate that it’s the price, not athrilling experience behind the wheel, that will make Chery J1 drivers happy.

There are also many other things to like about the Chery J1, such as the comfort and convenience features, and the well presented cabin. The steering is light and the suspension rides well over bumps. But its skinny (175/50 R14 Champiro) tyres mean it is better suited to city driving than winding open roads. This is a polite way of saying ‘take it easy in corners’.

This may sound like a harsh criticism given that it is a city car, but many of these vehicles will end up in semi-rural suburbs on the fringes of our cities. And most other commuter cars are more than competent on the open road.

If the latest shipment car we sampled is a guide, there is still a bit of work to do on the Chery J1. Not because it doesn’t drive like a BMW, but because it is still quite a way behind its contemporary rivals: the Proton S16, Suzuki Alto and the class-leading (and admittedly more expensive) Nissan Micra 1.2. Drive these cars first before you sign on the dotted line.

If Chery can refine the engine calibration to minimise ‘flare’ that would be a good start. Adding safety features that are now considered basic requirements would be another welcome improvement. Continuing to improve fit and finish inside and out would be icing on the cake.

There’s no doubt Chery will be a serious contender in the small-car market in the near future, but in the meantime there’s some homework to do. And the moment the price goes back up to $11,990, the Chery J1 will lose its slim advantage.

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Chery J1 2011 Review

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