JMC sent us two Vigus double cabs to find out. A black entry-level manual and the range-topping 4×4 automatic. Neither was spared. Both had to slot into my lifestyle — the school run, the weekend trailhead shuttle with bikes in the back, and the longer hauls out of town where five bodies, their luggage and their smartphones all demand attention.
Let’s start where the Vigus makes its loudest argument: the price. The range opens at R399 900 for the 4×2 six-speed manual, which ties it for the title of Mzansi’s most affordable double cab. The flagship 4×4 eight-speed auto asks R499 900. Every derivative shares the same 2.5-litre turbodiesel, good for 123kW and 430Nm, and a five-year/200 000km warranty and four-year/65 000km service plan come bundled in. On paper, that’s a lot of bakkie for the money.
On the road, it largely backs that up. The torque arrives low and stays put, so the Vigus never felt strained with a full cabin. The ride has that familiar ladder-frame firmness — a live rear axle will always fidget a little when unladen — but it settles nicely once you’ve loaded it up, which is precisely when you want it to. JMC claims 7.0L/100km. With my crew aboard, consider that a starting point for negotiations.
The cabin is genuinely spacious. Three kids across the back bench didn’t spark a single border dispute, and the 12.8-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto kept navigation and the family playlist alive on the longer stretches. Oddly, there’s no conventional AM/FM radio, so it’s your phone or silence. Hard plastics abound, but it all feels solidly screwed together.
Then there’s the load bay. It swallowed my mountain bike whole — no wrestling the front wheel off, no awkward diagonal Tetris. A spray-in bedliner comes standard and there are old-school external tie-down hooks for when the load gets ambitious. Small thing. Big win.
Of the two, the auto was far easier to live with. The manual is perfectly honest, but the eight-speed ‘box is smooth and unhurried, and the range-topper adds four airbags instead of two, a reverse camera, tyre-pressure monitoring and a BorgWarner 4WD system with low range. That R100 000 premium stings, but it’s almost worth the extra price of admission.
Almost. Because the Vigus doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s part of an ever-growing contingent of Chinese bakkies, and it has to square up against the establishment — pricier ‘trucks’ with better reputations and, let’s be honest, stronger resale values. Worse still, the threat is coming from inside the house. I recently spent time with its larger sibling, the Grand Avenue, which starts at R529 900 and tops out at R579 900. With 155kW and 500Nm, it was a cut above in every regard and, frankly, the more tempting prospect. Stretch further and you’re in Ranger, Hilux and D-Max territory, where top-spec variants sail past R750k — if you can afford them.
Judged on ride and performance alone, the Vigus is comfortable and capable. Trouble is, so is almost everything else in this brimming segment, and it never quite finds a way to stand out from the crowd.
It has earned its seat at the table. Whether it earns a spot in your driveway depends on how far you’re willing to stretch.
JMC Vigus 2.5TD Double Cab: the numbers
- Engine: 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel
- Outputs: 123kW / 430Nm
- Gearboxes: 6-speed manual or 8-speed automatic
- Payload: 915kg
- Claimed consumption: 7.0L/100km
- Pricing: 4×2 6MT R399 900 · 4×2 8AT R459 900 · 4×4 8AT R499 900
- Warranty / service plan: 5yr/200 000km · 4yr/65 000km