I Tried Every Bakkie Service in Cape Town – Only One Came in Under R500
I tested 7 popular bakkie hire options in Cape Town in December 2025. Spoiler: 6 of them charged me R850–R1 600. Here’s the only one that arrived in 18 minutes for R450.
I needed to move a fridge, couch, bed and 12 boxes from Tamboerskloof to Gardens.
Same-day, no helpers, no bakkie of my own.
So I did what any normal person does in 2025 — I opened every app and group I could find and requested quotes.
Here are the real prices I got on Tuesday 3 December 2025 (screenshots in my phone if you don’t believe me):
| Service | Quoted price | Time to arrive | Notes |
|-----------------------------------|----------------------|-------------------|--------------------------------------------|
| Random guy on Facebook | R1 100 | “Later” | Wanted cash upfront |
| Gumtree ad | R950 | Tomorrow | R200 extra for stairs |
| That famous “blue bakkie” company| R1 600 | 3–4 hours | 3-hour window, no live tracking |
| Another app (the red one) | R1 250 | 2 hours | Driver cancelled last minute |
| Another app (the green one) | R885 | 45 min | Added R150 “fuel levy” after booking |
| Local moving company | R2 200 | Next day only | Minimum 3 hours |
| **Vula Bakkie (yellow one)** | **R450 flat** | **18 minutes** | Driver Thabo, thumbs-up and all |
What actually happened with Vula Bakkie
- 14:21 → Opened the app, typed pickup and drop-off
- 14:23 → Price locked at R450, driver photo and name popped up
- 14:41 → Bright yellow Hilux pulled up outside, Thabo jumping out ready to load
- 15:28 → Everything unloaded in Gardens
- 15:30 → Paid R450 cash, gave Thabo R50 tip because the man is a machine
Total time door-to-door: 69 minutes.
Total cost: R450.
Why the others lost
- Most quote cheap then slap on “waiting time”, “stairs fee”, “weekend rate”, “traffic charge”
- Half of them only work 9–5 weekdays
- Zero live tracking → you sit and pray they actually come
My new rule for 2025
If the price isn’t shown upfront in the app → I’m not even replying.
I’ve used Vula Bakkie four more times since then (rubbish to the dump, IKEA pickup in Century City, helping my cousin move into UCT res). Every single trip was R350–R650 and the driver arrived in under 25 minutes.
Want to try it yourself right now?
Download Vula Bakkie here → https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Vb8BFreFy725YtukZw0c
Takes 20 seconds to see your price.
Have you been overcharged for a bakkie lately? Drop your horror story in the comments — I want to know I’m not alone 😂
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