Jack is finally reviewing the JAC! How fitting!
Chinese carmaker JAC has launched its first model in the Australian market, the T9 dual-cab 4×4 ute, with customer deliveries commencing back in December last year.
Available in two turbo-diesel powered trim levels, the T9 is priced from $42,662 before on-roads in entry-level Oasis form. This sees it go up against a wide array of budget-priced dual-cab ute rivals like the GWM Cannon, KGM SsangYong Musso, and LDV T60 Max.
After initially claiming this ute would have a 3500kg braked towing capacity, JAC then revised this down to 3000kg. As a result of “further validation and certification testing” in late 2024, the T9 now has a 3200kg towing capacity, with a tow ball download rating of 320kg.
The wading depth is also down on what was originally claimed (650mm versus 800mm), though it has slightly more payload (1045kg versus 1000kg).
The JAC T9 is being distributed locally by LTS Auto and sold at over 60 dealerships nationwide. It’s being offered with a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, plus seven years of roadside assistance, and seven years of capped-price servicing.
How does it stack up against strong competition? Read along to find out.
How much does the JAC T9 cost?
JAC is offering two T9 variants at this stage. The low- to mid-$40,000 asking prices are similar to those at the lower end of the GWM Cannon, KGM SsangYong Musso and LDV T60 Max dual-cab 4×4 ute lineups, all of which recently received updates.
| Model | Price before on-road costs |
|---|---|
| 2025 JAC T9 Oasis | $42,662 |
| 2025 JAC T9 Haven | $45,630 |
To see how the JAC T9 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool
What is the JAC T9 like on the inside?
Stepping into the T9 is made easier by big steel side steps and chunky A-pillar grab handles, but like many high-riding dual-cab utes it’s still a fair hike up into the cabin.
Once you’re in, there is leather-accented seat trim that, in our top-spec Haven tester, was finished in black but can also be had in brown. All of the seats sounded squeaky when we first sat on them, especially the driver’s seat, which is positioned awkwardly.
This mightn’t be the case for everyone, but I couldn’t find a comfortable seating position. For my six-foot-plus frame, the driving position felt cramped due to the pedal placement, and although the driver’s seat offers six ways of electric adjustment, it lacked thigh support for me.
Another disappointing element of the driving position is that the steering wheel only offers tilt adjustment. Almost all utes now also offer reach adjustment, which makes it easier for people of different sizes and statures to get comfortable behind the wheel.
The steering wheel itself is inoffensive, with a two-spoke design and physical buttons that are easy enough to understand. The metallic finishes on the wheel look cool and break up the monotony of black finishes, but attract fingerprints easily as you frequently interact with the buttons.
Ahead of the driver is a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster that’s clear and concise, but a bit rudimentary. It displays all the critical information you need to know, including a large digital speedo readout.
You can cycle through informative pages for things like the engine revs, fuel consumption, and driving range, among others. But it’s a little annoying that you can’t have more information displayed at once.
Moving across, there’s a 10.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system that’s clearly the prominent focus of the interior. It’s mounted vertically, like in the top-selling Ranger, but while it looks pretty in terms of the hardware, its software looks and feels more aftermarket.
The user interface and menu layout aren’t the fanciest, but there are bright colours and large icons to click on. There’s also not a whole heap of depth to the system, so if you get lost it’s not hard to find your way back to the home screen.
As standard, only wired forms of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are available through a USB-A port at the front of the centre console. Its connection is rock solid, which is to be expected with wired versions of smartphone mirroring.
We appreciated the physical buttons under the touchscreen for adjusting the single-zone climate control system. It’s a very similar layout to the Ranger’s, as there are additional buttons on the touchscreen for more climate-related functions.
In practice, the climate control system is good but perhaps too good, since the auto mode is a bit over the top and blows the fan very hard when you first turn the car on.
Looking around the cabin, there are some softer surfaces in high touch-point areas, like the armrests, but beyond them there is a sea of hard, scratchy plastic. This isn’t uncommon in the ute segment because, at the end of the day, it’s more about function than form here.
But if left out in the sun for a while, the interior of our T9 developed a very plasticky smell when we first hopped in. It was rather intoxicating and likely not the best air to breathe in, forcing us to air out the cabin by piping in fresh air via the climate control or by lowering a window.
There is a welcome lack of glossy piano black finishes around the cabin, though the material does feature around the air vents, where it shows up dust very quickly.
Like the steering wheel, there’s also a heap of metallic finishes on the dashboard and the centre tunnel. It shows up fingerprints very easily and looks grimy unless wiped clean frequently.
While there is plenty of physical switchgear on the centre console, a lot of it feels cheap and flimsy. The worst offender is the four-wheel drive selector dial, which has way too much play.
Storage up front is pretty good for a ute. The two cupholders have differing depths, plus there’s a wireless phone charger, a centre console box, a glove box, and door pockets big enough for water bottles.
Moving to the second row, the space on offer is surprisingly decent for a dual-cab ute. There’s easily enough room for adults behind adults, though having three across the bench seat would make things squishy. Apprentices or kids will be fine.
In terms of second-row amenities, there are air vents on the back of the centre console, USB ports, a 220V power plug, as well as a fold-down armrest with cupholders.
At the back, the tailgate opens and closes easily, though there’s no damping or assistance. It’s also part of the vehicle’s central locking system, which isn’t always the case with dual-cab utes.
Our tester was equipped with the soft tonneau cover, which is an optional accessory. It’s a little fiddly to use because the sides are secured by velcro, which may wear out, and there are cross braces that fall into the tub unless you put tension on the cover in a certain way.
As standard, the T9 comes with a spray-in tub liner, which is nice to have because you don’t have to worry as much about scuffing the metal in the tub. However, the finish of the tub liner in our tester left a bit to be desired.
Other tub-related amenities include some tie-down points and a steel sports bar for aesthetics.
| Dimensions | JAC T9 |
|---|---|
| Length | 5330mm |
| Width | 1965mm |
| Height | 1920mm |
| Wheelbase | 3110mm |
| Tub length | 1520mm |
| Tub width | 1590mm |
| Tub height | 470mm |
To see how the JAC T9 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool
What’s under the bonnet?
This ute is powered exclusively by a 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine that’s mated to a ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission.
| Specifications | JAC T9 Haven |
|---|---|
| Engine | 2.0L 4cyl turbo-diesel |
| Power | 120kW |
| Torque | 410Nm |
| Transmission | 8-speed auto |
| Drive type | Part-time 4×4 (2H, 4H, 4L) |
| Fuel economy (claimed) | 7.6L/100km |
| Fuel economy (as tested) | 9.1L/100km (650km driving) |
| CO2 emissions (claimed) | 202g/km |
| Fuel tank | 76L |
| Weight (kerb) | 2055kg |
| Payload | 1045kg |
| Braked towing capacity | 3200kg |
| Gross vehicle mass (GVM) | 3100kg |
| Gross combination mass (GCM) | 5630kg |
To see how the JAC T9 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool
How does the JAC T9 drive?
You press a button to the left of the steering wheel to start up the JAC T9, and then you get a grumbly four-cylinder diesel engine note. That’s fairly common for a ute, and the engine in the T9 doesn’t vibrate the cabin as much as others can when cold.
To take off, you either pull the gear selector forward for reverse or backward for drive while holding a button on the side, which is fairly intuitive, though the latter is positioned close to the park button.
Once on the move, there’s adequate power but little more. You’ll be keeping up with traffic from the lights, but don’t expect to get ahead. At the end of the day, you have to remember this is a relatively low-output 2.0-litre single-turbo diesel moving this two-tonne dual-cab ute.
If you push the accelerator a little harder, the engine starts to sound laboured and will let you know it’s working hard. Despite this, acceleration still feels decent from behind the wheel, but it won’t blow you away. There are quicker four-cylinder diesel utes out there.
Across the range, a ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission is standard, and it’s the best part of the T9 powertrain. It shifts gears in a silky smooth way, which makes for comfortable (if docile) acceleration.
The way it operates is reminiscent of the Ranger, as it shifts up gears as soon as possible to minimise fuel consumption and to lean on the turbocharged torque. It’s also happy to drop a gear or two to keep the revs up while accelerating up a hill, or to deliver some engine braking when coasting downhill.
The ride is very utilitarian and ute-like. That’s not unexpected, as like almost all of its rivals this ute has a leaf-spring rear suspension setup, which is geared more towards load carrying than on-road comfort.
However, the front end can get a little bouncy on continuous undulations, which contrasts the stiff rear end. Overall, ride quality is nowhere near as comfortable as a Ranger’s, but it’s not as rough as some utes, like the Toyota HiLux.
There are three different settings to choose from when it comes to steering feel. I stuck with the normal ‘Comfort’ mode setting because it felt the most natural, even though it erred on the lighter side. Regardless of the mode, the steering feels direct, which isn’t always the case with utes.
Although the steering makes the T9 feel nimble, it can’t disguise its overall heft. This is most apparent when it comes to parking this 5.3m-long beast. Thankfully, there are front and rear parking sensors, as well as a surround-view camera with decent but not outstanding quality.
Once you get out on the open road, this ute will comfortably get up to higher speeds while unladen and happily cruise at speeds above 80km/h in eighth gear. If you need more acceleration, it’ll slot back to seventh and get things moving along quicker, though the engine note gets more gruff.
This is a comfortable highway tourer that will hold its position on the road confidently and with ease. There also isn’t as much wind or tyre roar as you’d expect, given this is a dual-cab ute.
Although we didn’t get to take the T9 off-road or tow anything this time around, CarExpert founder Paul Maric did chuck around 900kg of load into the tray for an upcoming comparison video. He found the T9 worked well with it, but for more information you’ll have to wait until the full video comes out on YouTube.
It’s on the safety front where this ute is let down, like a few other Chinese vehicles.
As standard, there is adaptive cruise control, but it is one of the most infuriating systems I’ve ever experienced. When you activate it at 80km/h, for example, the transmission changes down to seventh gear, which is unnecessary as the engine revs more than it needs to.
You can fix this by pressing on the accelerator slightly, which then gets the car to change up to eighth gear, where it should have stayed in the first place. Annoyingly, the moment you let off the accelerator, it dips back to seventh.
Even more infuriating is the fact the ute struggles to maintain the set speed, constantly dipping below and above it. I was able to manage my speed considerably better than the cruise control could, which is disappointing because systems like this are meant to make long-distance driving easier, not more frustrating.
I hate to keep harping on the point, but the adaptive cruise control also tends to brake heavily when it detects a car ahead and keeps a sizeable gap, even on the closest setting. This is a common trait with many Chinese vehicles.
The T9’s lane-keep assist is generally fine, but at times it can unexpectedly jerk at the steering wheel, though I’ve experienced much worse.
There’s also Intelligent Cruise Control, which combines the adaptive cruise control and lane centring, but I’d avoid using this as it’s too hands-on with its steering inputs. And as I’ve already said, the adaptive cruise isn’t great.
The bad news continues on the T9 safety front, as it’s a victim of sounding many bings and bongs for different systems.
Some of the most annoying systems are the speed limit assist, which often reads speed signs incorrectly and tells you off for speeding when you’re not, and the driver attention monitoring, which can go off if you’re doing a head check before changing lanes.
Thankfully, the chime isn’t the most annoying I’ve heard, and the volume can be turned down, but a lot of the systems default to on every time you drive the vehicle.
On the upside, the T9 comes with great LED headlights, which are nice and bright. This is helpful is you drive on dimly lit roads, or live in a rural area.
Like many cars, there’s a ‘Follow Me Home’ function that keeps the lights on after you lock the car for a certain period. In the T9, however, it activates the high-beams, which doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, since as you could dazzle other cars if you’re parked on the street. Thankfully, if you don’t like it, you can turn it off using the touchscreen.
| Off-road dimensions | JAC T9 |
|---|---|
| Track front and rear | 1610mm |
| Ground clearance | 210mm |
| Approach angle | 27 degrees |
| Departure angle | 23 degrees |
| Wading depth | 650mm |
To see how the JAC T9 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool
What do you get?
JAC is offering two trim levels of the T9 at launch.
2025 JAC T9 Oasis equipment highlights:
- 18-inch alloy wheels
- Sports bar
- Automatic LED headlights and running lights
- Front and rear fog lights
- 10.4-inch touchscreen infotainment system
- Wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto
- 7.0-inch trip computer display
- Wireless phone charger
- Adaptive cruise control with traffic jam assist
- Automatic wipers
- Leather-accented interior trim and wheel
- Powered driver’s seat adjustment
- Climate control air-conditioning
- Spray-in tub liner
- Iron “off-road side steps”
- Rear air vents
T9 Haven adds:
- Exterior puddle lighting
- Front parking sensors
- Roof rails
- Privacy glass
- Auto-folding side mirrors
- Auto-dimming interior mirror
- Surround-view camera
- Heated front seats
- Powered passenger seat
- USB-C port for rear passengers
- Rear 220V accessory port
- Chrome door mirrors
- Black or brown interior options
To see how the JAC T9 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool
Is the JAC T9 safe?
The JAC T9 has a five-star ANCAP safety rating based on testing conducted in 2024.
| Category | JAC T9 |
|---|---|
| Adult occupant protection | 85 per cent |
| Child occupant protection | 87 per cent |
| Vulnerable road user protection | 87 per cent |
| Safety assist | 89 per cent |
Standard safety equipment highlights:
- Forward collision warning
- Autonomous emergency braking
- Lane-keeping assist
- Emergency lane keeping
- Driver attention monitoring
- Blind-spot monitoring
- Rear collision warning
- Exit warning
- Rear parking sensors
- Reversing camera
T9 Haven adds:
- Front parking sensors
- Surround-view camera
To see how the JAC T9 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool
How much does the JAC T9 cost to run?
The JAC T9 is covered by a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with seven years of roadside assistance and seven years of capped-price servicing.
| Servicing and Warranty | JAC T9 |
|---|---|
| Warranty | Seven years, unlimited kilometres |
| Roadside assistance | Seven years, unlimited kilometres |
| Service intervals | 12 months, 15,000km |
| Capped-price servicing | Seven years, 105,000km |
| Total capped-price service cost | $3069 |
| Average capped-price service cost | $438 |
To see how the JAC T9 stacks up against its rivals, use our comparison tool
CarExpert’s Take on the JAC T9
This new Chinese dual-cab ute is entering a fiercely competitive and extremely popular market segment, and what it offers as a package doesn’t reinvent the wheel.
What stands out is the T9’s appealing asking price, but the dual-cab 4×4 ute scene has moved on a fair bit in recent times, especially at the budget end.
There are now plenty of cut-price and fully featured rivals, including the GWM Cannon and KGM SsangYong Musso, both of which are priced closer to $40,000 drive-away. They both also offer more power and also a segment benchmark 3.5-tonne braked towing capacity, which is something the T9 cannot match.
That’s not surprising, given the T9 is powered by a low-output 2.0-litre turbo-diesel while many carmakers are now introducing bi-turbo or larger-displacement turbo-diesel engines in their dual-cab utes.
However, the T9 still does a good job of getting around with minimal fuss, which is testament to how good the ZF-sourced eight-speed automatic transmission is.
Another thing that jumps out about the JAC T9 is the generous amount of standard equipment, especially given its price point. However, a lot of the cabin finishes are cheap, and the digital user interfaces look aftermarket. The lack of telescopic steering wheel adjustment is also crook in this age, and will prevent many from getting comfortable behind the wheel.
Speaking of standard equipment, the T9 is jam-packed with safety gear, but the way it operates leaves a lot to be desired. This ute does a lot of beeping and bonging, which can get very frustrating. And if they bug you, you need to turn off numerous systems in a touchscreen sub-menu every time you drive the ute.
Topping it off, the adaptive cruise control system is one of the most infuriating I’ve experienced in any vehicle to date. It holds lower gears when it doesn’t need to, isn’t able to keep a steady speed, and slows the vehicle down way too much when it detects a car ahead.
If you’re attracted to the JAC T9 because of its value, we strongly urge you to test drive some of its rivals before signing on the dotted line. There are plenty out there.
Interested in buying a JAC T9? Get in touch with one of CarExpert’s trusted dealers here
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