SUV and 4x4 Hire in Cape Town

The Fortuner is the classic South African road-trip car: diesel, high ground clearance, genuine low-range 4x4 and a third row of seats. The X5 and Range Rover Sport trade some rough-road ability for far more refinement on long tar drives; see luxury car hire for the full premium range. The iX is the quiet choice for the Winelands and the coast, with charging covered on our electric car hire page.

For most visitors, no. The Garden Route, Route 62, the West Coast to Paternoster and the Winelands are all on tar. An SUV earns its keep through space, comfort and a higher driving position rather than off-road ability.

A proper 4x4 makes sense when your plans include:

• The Cederberg: the roads to Wupperthal, the Sanddrif and Algeria campsites and many farm stays are gravel, sometimes corrugated, with steep sections.
• Game reserves and farm tracks in the Karoo or along the West Coast.
• Namibia and Botswana, where long stretches of main road are gravel.

Times are without stops and assume normal traffic. Leave Cape Town before 06:30 or after 09:00 on weekdays to avoid the inbound and outbound N2 queues, and plan fuel stops on the N7 north of Clanwilliam, where towns are further apart. Ending your trip somewhere else? See one-way car hire from Cape Town.

Selected vehicles, including the Fortuner and Hilux, may cross into Namibia, Botswana, Eswatini and Lesotho with our letter of authority. Request it at least 72 hours before your handover. The letter costs R1,500 per rental and includes the vehicle documents the border post will ask for.

• Border fees, road-user charges and any third-party insurance required by the country you enter are paid by you at the border.
• Carry the original letter, the vehicle documents supplied with it, your passport and your licence.
• Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Zambia are not included.

SUV hire includes 300 km a day on the Fortuner and X5, pooled across your rental, so on a 10-day trip you have ten days' worth of kilometres to use however you like. That comfortably covers Cape Town to the Garden Route and back with plenty of day trips. Electric SUVs include unlimited kilometres.

With the third row in use, the Fortuner's boot takes soft bags rather than large suitcases. For seven adults with luggage, the Mercedes-Benz V-Class on our people carrier hire page is the better choice. Roof boxes add space but catch Cape Town's south-easter, so drive more slowly on windy days and on exposed stretches such as the N2 near Sir Lowry's Pass.