Haval H6C Shesha - A Semi-Sad Goodbye

After a little more than a year in our company, the Haval H6C has finally gone back. Will we miss it?

OUR love affair with the H6C was definitely not a rushed, fall-in-love within-two-hours kind of Hollywood romance. This one was a slow burn but there certainly was some attraction from the get-go.

Upon its arrival at the office, we did the obligatory meet and greet. Climb in, push every button, prod the dashboard to assess the quality and adjust the seating position. Everyone was blown away by the quality of the vehicle. Suffice to say that the days of Chinese cars smelling like glue are long gone and anyone who doesn’t agree simply hasn’t been inside one of these yet.

The second surprise was the generous specification. Our H6C was not a top-of-the-line Luxury derivative but rather an entry-level City. Even so, there’s not much we wanted to add. Higher up in the range you get leather seats and a few other cosmetic touches, but the City grade is more than acceptable at the price.

Having said that, we picked up three issues during our time with the car. The first is the lack of Apple CarPlay. This might not seem like a big deal but it has become the norm these days. Not only is it easier to operate overall, but smartphone mirroring allows you to access numerous apps that make driving easier. Waze, which helps you avoid traffic jams, is a perfect example.

The Haval can still play music from a phone, but there’s at least a three-second delay between when you push the button to skip a song and it doing so. Secondly, plugging a phone in also overrides the Bluetooth connection, which can be infuriating when you simply want to charge the thing. Additional USB ports would have been handy.