[ĐÁNH GIÁ XE] VinFast Lux SA: still an SUV model "worth every penny" within its budget

After 4 years of appearing and 3 years on the market, VinFast Lux SA is still a very attractive name and an outstanding car model within its budget. Although it has officially been “decommissioned”, this is still an option worth considering in the used car market. A Lux SA has rolled over 70,000km and has had several owners, still proving to be very stubborn and compact.

Durable design over time

After 4 years of appearing, it’s fair to say VinFast Lux SA Still a very “slick” and easy-to-see car. Thanks to the talented minds and skilled hands of Pininfarina, Lux SA’s design does not become confusing or old over time. In mid-2022, the car still brings a very modern look and has a “unique quality” of VinFast with unique, highly identifiable front and rear light clusters.

After 4 years, the design of VinFast Lux SA is still very attractive, with the highlight being the highly recognizable bird-wing LED lights.

Specifically, on the 3-year-old Lux SA, the body of the car has many noticeable “signs of age”: because the owner only uses the car to pick up and drop off children and does not care too much about appearance, the paint layer has many clumsy “margins” after collisions and is not meticulously and skillfully fixed.

The car’s body shows many traces of clumsy repairs after collisions. However, this is just a special case.

There are also many deep scratches on the surface of the wheel, especially at the rear – a place where a collision is unlikely to occur if you drive carefully. The car owner had repainted the wheels black, so these scratches became even more “unsightly”.

The front and rear rims also have many scratches even though they have been repainted, proving that the owner uses his vehicle quite carelessly.

The rare “unsatisfactory” point of the Lux A or Lux SA is that the default lighting system of the manufacturer VinFast equipped on the car still does not make many users satisfied. However, currently, car owners can easily upgrade their car’s lights with many diverse choices from reputable third-party brands in the Vietnamese market such as GTR or Aozoom.

Step inside the car, VinFast Lux SA Greeting passengers with a luxurious brown Nappa leather interior, the leather is soft and elastic, giving it a premium feel. The Lux SA in the article is covered with a seat cushion, so the leather surface has not degraded even after 3 years of use.

However, in places that are frequently handled, such as the door panel or parts that are constantly exposed to the sun, such as the top of the dashboard, the material’s surface has begun to show “traces” imprinted by time. However, overall after 3 years of driving, the car’s interior is not old and degraded, it is still very smooth.

What is not really satisfied is that VinFast’s layout makes the Lux SA (and even the similar Lux A sister car) monotonous by removing most of the buttons and integrating features on the central screen.

Speaking of the central screen, VinFast Lux SA has an infotainment screen cluster up to 10.4 inches in size – very large, with a vertical design different from the majority. However, until the end of the current product life cycle, this screen still possesses very few features (despite the addition of Apple CarPlay connectivity).

The temporary solution that the Lux SA car owner chose is to use an Android Box, with the advantage of not needing a mode, just plug the USB connection cable into the original screen to “transform” it into a screen running Vietnameseized Android, with full of modern, high-end smart features.

In the back, Lux SA is equipped with air conditioning vents, 2 USB charging ports, a charging port and a convenient 230V power outlet, serving emergency working needs on the go. That amount of toy equipment can be considered quite enough for a multi-purpose SUV.

Equipment begins to show signs of being “out of fashion”

As of 2022, the equipment list is above VinFast Lux SA It will be difficult to attract consumers compared to a series of competitors that are “flooded” with pampering options: the car is only equipped with LED lights, electric adjustable – folding mirrors with heating, 19 – 20 inch wheels depending on the version on the exterior. The car does not have a 360 panoramic camera, smart lights or advanced driving assistance system.

Meanwhile, the Lux SA interior also only has a mechanical clock behind the steering wheel, electronic handbrake with Auto-Hold, manual leather-wrapped steering wheel, 2-zone automatic air conditioning, wireless charging and 8-13 speaker sound depending on the version. The car lacks a quick gear shift lever behind the steering wheel, a sunroof, a “lack of intelligence” screen and poor features…

In particular, the car makes a buzzing noise when operating at low speeds. However, when the air conditioner is turned off, this buzzing sound immediately disappears. So, according to conjecture, it is likely that the belt system connecting the engine and air conditioner generator has degraded and causes noise when operating. This can be fixed simply, quickly and inexpensively by replacing the vehicle’s belt.

It can be seen that VinFast Lux SA focuses a lot on “car quality” such as engine – gearbox – chassis and accompanying values such as: soundproofing ability, ability to suppress vibrations, driving feel…; rather than focusing on investing in entertainment options to serve passengers in the car.

If you want to improve, users are forced to upgrade the toy. However, this is a reasonable product design philosophy. Because upgrading toys on a good quality car is still simpler and easier than having to upgrade a poor quality car that is equipped with a series of “flashy” features to serve the ability to “have fun in front of the eyes” – or roughly, “better wood than good paint”.

The tenacious operating power is typical of Germany

VinFast Lux SA Possesses a 2.0L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine with code N20 “parcel” from BMW. Despite refining the operating technology and changing gear ratios thanks to the 8-speed automatic transmission from the famous ZF brand, Lux A still possesses “temporarily acceptable” power, with maximum performance parameters that can reach 228 horsepower and 350 Nm of torque.

The dynamic system (including engine, gearbox and rear-wheel drive system) of Lux SA still gives the driver a very “tough” feeling after 3 years of rolling. It seems that that amount of time is still not enough to challenge the endurance of the European standard “cardiovascular and muscular” system that VinFast Lux SA is equipped with.

Although it cannot compare to BMWs with 3.0L engines, the Lux SA still has a certain “speed” and is completely capable of traveling on any road in Vietnam (which is limited to a maximum of 120 km/h). All acceleration and overtaking operations can be done easily and under control.

Even the chassis system (developed from BMW’s F15 generation) and suspension system (double wishbone front, multi-point rear – extremely valuable compared to competitors within the price range) of VinFast Lux SA still responds very well after 3 years of “neglect by the owner” without paying attention to warranty and maintenance.

Although VinFast has used an electrically controlled hydraulic power steering system (the source of the “iii” sound typical of Lux cars), the “specialty” inherited from BMW – the rather “heavy” steering wheel still appears on Lux SA cars. However, for many people, steering requires more hand force than usual, which is an advantage when it comes to providing a “solid” operating feeling with bold “SUV qualities”.

Competitors within budget

Currently, Vietnamese manufacturer VinFast has officially “discontinued” – stopped production of two car models Lux A and Lux SA. The final orders will reach customers this year. And along with the last penultimate “clearance” round, VinFast has also launched a series of “shock” promotions, allowing multiple types of vouchers to be applied at the same time to the car’s selling price.

This makes it possible for customers to access the Lux A and SA 2022 with prices starting from just over 600 million VND and slightly more than 1 billion VND, respectively. In this price segment, Lux A and Lux SA are really valuable choices! It is not an exaggeration to comment: the Lux A and Lux SA pair are “European quality, but with Vietnamese prices”.

For customers who use cars, a general market survey shows that VinFast offers cheap prices for maintenance, repair, and replacement of spare parts compared to the general level. The staff is well-trained and the facility system meets nationwide standards, making the after-sales problem very easy for VinFast.

In addition, to reassure consumers, the Vietnamese brand has announced an increase in the warranty period of Lux cars to 10 years – which is twice or even more than three times longer than the warranty policies of popular car manufacturers in Vietnam today. This also proves that VinFast is really confident in the quality of its products, thereby building trust with customers who are directly using the car.

Summarize3 years of use with over 70,000 km of driving is still not a big problem for the VinFast Lux SA. Although there are many traces of time on the car, its solid and European performance is still clearly evident. The car is more about performance qualities, rather than racing entertainment features.

With the current price on the used car market only fluctuating at 800 – 900 million VND depending on the version or model (currently stopped new production), VinFast Lux SA is still an “unrivaled” car within the budget, thanks to the durable, stubborn “German quality” inside.

The fact that the VinFast brand increased the warranty period to 10 years is also a factor worth considering: affirming product quality as well as building trust among consumers (both customers who own cars or groups of customers who are looking to buy cars on the used market).

Mr. Phan (Tuoitrethudo)