I was in Wales for 2 weeks with this car and did 2370 miles in that time at an average of 47.8mpg. Each tank went over 500 miles. Brilliant little car. Glad you enjoyed the drive Ian 👍 And yes the lack of somewhere for my clutch foot to go is incredibly annoying on a long drive. It got on my nerves when I drove it to Scotland back in July for the Knockhill round of the British Touring Car Championship
2370 miles around Wales in 2 weeks!!! Did you sleep at night, reminds me of the London cabby who took an American tourist for a tour, the yank saw 3 Buckingham palaces, 5 big Ben's and 4 London bridges😀
@@brianiswrong well not just wales. I had a scheduling conflict with my holiday which meant I drove to Barmouth on Saturday 24th to start the holiday, then next day had to drive to Silverstone and back for the BTCC. I has the Silverstone ticket booked before the holiday and didn't realise the dates clashed until afterwards. Long day that was but great racing
I ran a Logan MCV 0.9tce as a hackney taxi from September 2015 to March this year, took it from 11 miles to 212,000 before replacing it with a Hyundai Ioniq HEV due age limits, it was a thoroughly reliable car that did the job well.
That's quite impressive. Where there no major engine issues? My wife's 2013 MCV sprung a coolant leak earlier this year, with just 40k miles on it, the rubber gasket on the thermostat housing had perished. Found it is a very common issue on all the cars this engine was fitted yo, but was a cheap and easy enough to fix (
@@piuthemagicman I dont know if you can really call 100hp per liter in a forced induction engine stressed these days. But even so, In my experience I have found the "stressed engine" to be a somewhat of a myth since many decades ago, I have never seen any data that would suggest an engine with more ponies per liter generally has worse reliability than the ones with less.
I don't get why some people have an issue with dashboards being made of hard plastic. Like, how often are you touching the dashboard like that? In my experience, those softer materials that make up 'high quality' interiors don't wear nearly as well over time. I actually really dig the chrome rings surrounding the gauges. Thanks for another great review of a car I'll probably never see in person.
I agree. I don’t care if it’s plastic, I have a 2012 Jeep Liberty Jet which isn’t a posh car by any means, and it has a plastic dashboard, but the interior still looks quite nice imo and even higher end than you’d expect for a Jeep. And for a 10 year old vehicle, the plastic dash really isn’t worn or scuffed at all.
There is a BIG difference between CHEAP and INEXPENSIVE! The Dacia Sandero is definitely designed to a certain price point but by using proven Renault mechanicals, whose development and tooling cost were paid for years ago, you can make a perfectly acceptable vehicle inexpensively. Not everybody is a enthusiast and don't require up to date engines or tech in their car. They only require a vehicle that starts every time and can reliably take them to the shops and school run or on the occasional motorway journey.
Sandero definitely fits the "starts every time" bill--I was in hospital for three months not long ago, and when I got home the first thing I did was try to start the car, assuming it would be dead flat and I'd have to get a battery charger. Should have had more faith, it started instantly on the key like it always does!
Here in Australia, Renault is a lot less popular. There is tendency to need to order parts like sensors or seals from Europe and wait for shipping, which would not necessarily be ideal for an entry-level Sandero. The current popular entry level brand new cars are the MG3 and Kia Picanto, whereas 10 years ago an economically-minded motorist would probably buy something like a Hyundai Accent, Suzuki Swift, Suzuki Alto if very economical, or Toyota Yaris (whose prices have now increased considerably!). Thankfully rust is a non-issue here, if true that Japanese cars have inferior rust proofing.
My little Suzuki celerio 1.0lt has taken me from Southampton to Newcastle and Scotland and back on several occasions and easily keeps up with motorway speeds. These little cars are built like tanks these days.
Cheap often means Tacky. It isn't. I did look at a second hand Dacia at a Renault dealer. It had caught some battle damage on the tailgate, and the paint appeared a bit thinner than I'd expect - probably how they saved some pennies
They're not bad. Dacia Logan Estates are very popular as taxis around here. Boring basic interior but they've turned out to be very reliable. I asked a cab driver what the appeal was, he said that it came down to cheap parts when the warranty ran out. He'd done 100,000 miles in 4 years and needed new fuel injectors, £180 for the set, Ford £800, Toyota £1000. Don't need to be a mathematician to see it makes more sense to run the Dacia.
@@richard21109 they are just older Renault. So one would assume the majority of the gremlins have been ironed out. Styling on the modern ones has improved a lot. Would be a tough choice between a Renault Captur/Mitsubishi ASX or the Dacia equivalent I would think 🤔
I have a 2013 Sandero, same colour and spec but the 0.9 turbo engine you mention. I think the engine is mapped for low-end torque--I certainly rarely feel the need to change down a gear (maybe when going up a very steep hill), but the power kind of runs out around 5000rpm. That's still good for 70mph in 3rd, though, and I've been averaging 45mpg or better since I've had the car. Overall, I'd rate it probably the second best car I've ever owned, just behind a diesel Seat Toledo I had for a long time. By the way, one of those blank switches on the right of the steering wheel is the Eco button, which I guess is a turbo-only feature?
We just bought a Dacia Spring in this household, it's a small electric car and goes to prove that EVs don't have to be monster SUVs that cost the GDP of Namibia. So future Hub Nut cars could well be EVs as well.
@@stephenholland5930 bummer. It's about the size of a Smart ForFour, costs buttons to buy and run and it's actually quicker than the power output would suggest. It's a really neat, unpretentious little car.
@@HubNut The worst plastic is aged soft touch plastic that becomes a sticky black gloop, adhering to your fingers like roofing bitumen, especially in hot humid climates. Mercedes have mastered this in many of their vehicles, including ML and Vito, but you can either drive wearing Marigolds or strip it off with methylated spirits to reveal wholly satisfactory, smooth, shiny plastic! It also struck on some Mercedes pens I acquired; now that would have added extra drama to King Charles' recent pen meltdown.
@@HTMLEXP The fuss over whether or not foam-backed rubber or vinyl has been glued over the dash (and door panels) is certainly strange. I guess the intended contrast is to cars like Jaguars or Maseratis, where it is foam-backed **leather** that has been glued over the dash, accompanied by actual wooden veneers. For economy cars, I guess the best they can do is to make the design look nice and make sure things like the elbow rest on the door is actually padded (hard plastic is certainly uncomfortable there). Higher-end economically built cars like Ian's Commodore ute (or an Opel Senator or whatever) *do indeed* have foam-backed rubber/vinyl glued all over the dash and doors so I guess that is the distinction being made -- that "nicer" trimmed mini and supermini economy cars are expected to include some of that, and are 'ranked' as such based on how much they include. 🤨
(goes off and looks at prices on Autotrader...) What a fine little car, again something I'd happily consider. Odd fact; when I worked in Brazil a few years ago I noticed the Logans were badged as Renaults - and I see, still are.
Thanks for this video. I've often thought that if I ever buy a 21st century car one of these will be high on my list. I know several people who have them and have never heard anything bad.
I had a 2013 Duster 1.5 TDI ( Mercedes use the same engine) . Back then it was £11 k for the middle trim. What a car, super economical ( no add blue back then ), capacious, good build, cheap insurance, a real family load lugger.
We had a Clio yard car which I used daily for a year with this engine and it was indeed a very likeable, torquey little performer. The thing I like about Dacia is it is what it is and not try to pamper to snobs. Great review Ian
I bought the wife a Sandero. She's always driven Ford's but i had been pleasantly suprised by a few i'd had at work. She loves it and i love it as its all just a 90's clio underneath. Cheap and easy to fix!
I got the 3. generation on LPG, it’s got all I could ask for, and even some things I didn’t want like keyless entry and electronic parking brake. It’s great value for money and fully adequate for the 2-3.000 km I do yearly.
"Top spec poverty". Great expression. Really nicely styled little car. Plain and rather elegant in its simplicity. Roomy and practical and doesn't look cheap, as you say.
We bought one of these brand new in 2016 - 6k as a pre reg. Acres of space around the engine for the DIY tinkerers. Unfortunately I've not had the opportunity as nothing whatsoever has gone wrong with it! Definitely a Hubnut of the future; remarkably unexceptional.
Looks like there’s enough space on the windscreen to fit a longer driver’s side wiper blade to get rid of the triangle of doom. 😜 Otherwise personally I’ve got very used to using rain repellent. Great stuff!
I've never understood the obsession with hard plastics some have on a dashboard. I by and large rarely touch it, so being hard or soft doesn't matter. I DO care about where my elbow is resting, as that's a surface I'm constantly touching. A cheap car like this, is going to have cheap materials. I'd never knock it on the dash since it's a bargain car.
Brilliant review Ian. A friend of mine was recently looking for a new second hand small car and I immediately pointed them towards a Dacia Sandero and I am very happy to report that they did indeed take my advice. Coincidentally the model they brought is exactly the same colour and spec as the one you have just featured and they had a very good deal on it and are very happy with it. Happy days...👍🙂👍
@@HubNut It's not just inflation, from 2012 to 2021, pre Putin and the Muppet Gov, cumulative inflation was 20% Car makers have used Covid as an excuse to screw us, if you read the trade press, they even boast about much higher profit margins. Also cars have become too complex, but car makers and many other industries are taking us for fools, just look at CEO pay, which is linked to profit / shareprice to see the real picture. We must not forget or forgive them.
@@jamesfrench7299 Not really. As I said above, they tune the turbos for low-end grunt rather than performance, so you run out of power long before the red line. Put your foot down in 3rd, though, and it'll sail past almost anything.
So glad to a Dacia appear on this channel and to hear it get a glowing review. 😃 I own an example of one it's rivals - 2018 Hyundai i10 (1.2 with 85bhp) but I did consider a Sandero. My only criticism of Dacia is the lack of colour choices you used to get with their earlier new car offerings. Don't like white? Have a blue one or a red one instead but they're metallic only + an extra £450 or thereabouts. And white was the only colour you could have on the Billy Basic 1.2 Access version.
I hate it when people complain about plastics and switches in cheap cars and I think that constant want for better interior more equipment etc is one of the reasons that led us to typical family cars being over 30k car these days
The interior of the Sandero doesn't just feel cheap, it feels old. Switchgear and stalks from circa 2006. I compared it side by side with a Hyundai i10 and the Hyundai was head and shoulders above the Dacia quality wise, for the same price.
Quite a few people in the comments have suggested that this is a car for people who don't like cars. That is rubbish! I truly love cars but would happily buy this, at the low price, rather than paying tens of thousands for some other 'marque' whose performance can never be used on British roads. What's the point? Financially I have other priorities to be honest. An everyday driver is essentially a tool to get you where you want to be, no more, no less.
We had an FSO Panache back in the late 80s which had exactly the same dash vents! I also hate the auto door locking but, luckily, I can disable it on our 2021 Sandero Stepway. I've also disabled that dreadful auto stop/start nonesense. Thanks for the vid!
All depends what you want from a car. If your just after something for shorter journeys shops etc that’s cheap to run, buy, insure and maintain that’s also reliable then it’s a great choice. It’s the sort of car that people buy with their own money as opposed to loaned and owned by the finance company. They are certainly not for the image conscious who go out and spend a fortune on a Audi or something on finance living pay cheque to pay cheque. Ask yourself a question who’s the stupid one the person buying a Dacia with cash or the person taking out huge car loan for something trendy? Unremarkably brilliant.
This reminds me of a very low spec Mercedes-Benz from say the 1980s, which in itself, without any luxuries, was still considered up market. This incidentally, has more equipment with the passage of time, same kind of vibes.
MOST IF NOT ALL new cars especially EVs😡😠 SUVs i would not even consider!!!!!!!!!! This car does look too bad, gets James May seal of approval, yes i would consider one!!!!! Ian ( we steam train fans, don,t want to hear about it, we WANT TO SEE IT!!!! )
When I go away on business I always ask my team to bookmark the cheapest hire car. Last time I was in Ireland I got a Sandero. Apart from the confusing stereo, I loved it.
I'll echo what was said at the time by Top Gear: it only makes sense to buy the base model, because the higher-spec ones are almost as expensive as equivalent cars from more reputable brands and you get a lot more for your money with those. I was quite taken with the base model, honestly; I respected its basic level of motoring, you got all you needed and very little more. Manual windows, non-metallic paint, steel wheels with only a centre cap, no central locking, and a stereo was optional. It was like going back in time, but still with the quality one would expect from a modern car. I am shocked to find that the base spec has now doubled in price and is loaded with features that should be options. What happened to the poverty spec car?
Dacia has a terrible reputation here in South Africa, mainly caused by the Renault 10 pickup which nobody would even steal. They bent in the middle most of the time. So Dacias are sold here as Renaults and do very well! What's in a name?
I really like the Dacia range, having always been a fan of budget motoring, and a budget conscious motorist myself, I did always admire the Eastern European, and Russian offerings from back in the day, in fact I did own, and had many miles of fun in a Lada, which was my first car. My favourite manufacturer, Škoda is sadly moving away from the budget segment, thankfully Dacia have filled the gap very admirably, well done Dacia ❤.
That's true of many of the old "budget" brands (EG Vauxhall). I think Skoda need to be *very* careful with their current strategy. We're in difficult economic times and I think the perception could be that you may as well buy a "proper VW", since prices are pretty similar. If they're not careful they'll find that Dacia and Hyundai have stolen their lunch. The new Ford Maverick in the US suggests that car manufacturers are waking up to the fact that purchasers need affordable cars, not low-rate financing.
@@Rapscallion2009 Skoda counts a lot on the company fleet market, which though it seems to be near dead in the UK, it thrives for the last 10-15 years in Czech Republic. So most Skodas sold during these times (and even more after the Rapid was replaced by the much more expensive Scala are sold to companies. I'd say Skoda has moved from cheap cars like the Favorit and reasonable cars like Fabia MkI and Octavia MkI and II to what I personally call "polished shit". They look like a premium car, but they actually work worse then tose like the Dacia (VW/Skoda infotainment problems are now a subject to dark jokes for over 3 years). Regular people who would want a Fabia or Octavia have moved to KIAs and Hyundai equivalents, some of them to Dacia. Also the fact that Skoda gives no fuck about regular customers is the fact that though they build useless cars like the Kamiq, they dropped the Fabia Estate, which was very popular family car here.
@@blueocean2510 Parts from Dacia come from Romania or rest of Europe (mainly Poland, Italy, Germany , France and other countries. Consumables like certain spark plugs for example can come from overseas like Japan). Where does Russia fit in here? Renault left Russia at the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. I have a Dacia Logan I and I live in Bucharest Romania, 100 km from Pitesti and 140 km from Colibasi where the Dacia Plant is located and Dacias are build. I know my shit. By the way, Hub Nut got it wrong, Dacia is made in Colibasi (Arges County). Pitesti is the main town and municipality residence in Arges County
i drove a dacia duster hire car once, and thought it was really comfortable, then jumped in a Vauxhall mokka, the mokka was so awful i had shooting pains in my spine, so i asked for the dacia back!
These are cars I have always wanted to like, but just never managed to. The interior just depresses me and all the controls felt worn out from new (at least to my hands). Which is a shame really
13:37 Yes, here in Brazil the the second generation Renault Sandero had a version called RS with the F4R Hi-Flex engine and a 6-speed manual gear box, they are a lot of fun, I drove a brand new one of those a few years ago. By the way, this platform is very popular here (All Dacias are sold here as Renaults). I have a 2016 Renault Oroch, the Dynamique trim level with the F4R Hi-Flex engine and a 6-speed manual (mine is the front wheel drive, not the 4WD), it's a pickup/UTE version of the Duster, and as far as I know it was never sold anywhere in Europe.
I'm trying to reply to the comment made by @14725800369 but RUclips auto deletes the comment in seconds. EDIT: Lets see if replying to my own comment will not be deleted by RUclips. All Renault cars sold in Brazil since 2005 have flex fuel engines, that can run on any mixture of petrol and ethanol, and they can run on E100 (ethanol sold in Brazil doesn't have any petrol in it), the exception is the Renault Master which only has diesel engines, because in Brazil diesel is prohibited for passenger cars since the 1980s. The "normal" second generation Sandero (launched here in 2014) had two engine options, the D4D (1.0 16v) and the K7M (1.6 8v), but the first generation had the K4M (1.6 16v). In 2016 they replaced those engines with the SCE family (they are Nissan engines), a 3 cylinder (1.0 12v) and a 4 cylinder (1.6 16v), but the RS always had the F4R engine. The second generation had a minor facility in 2019, with new headlights and new taillights (totally different from the Dacia Sandero) and the RS version ended production in 2021. Now there is only a poverty spec called "S Edition" 1.0 12v and the Stepway 1.6 16v (the majority sold with a CVT transmission).
@@fulano1969 well there was E85 and E100 versions for Brazilian market. So as which was the RS modell available. There's a difference between E85 and E100 models
All flex fuel cars sold here can run on E100, we never had E85 versions sold in Brazil (there is no E85 in any petrol station here, only E100), all brands and models can run on E100, and that includes the Sandero RS (exceptions are some imported luxury cars that run only on petrol). By the way, petrol sold in Brazil is technically E25 because it has ethanol in it since 1980. I also still have an old 2008 second generation Clio (with the 1.0 16v) that I bought in 2010, and for the first three years I only used E100, but ethanol became way to expensive and since then I only use petrol. The old generation flex fuel cars sold here have a cold start tank, it is a small plastic tank inside the engine bay that holds usually 1L of petrol that the ECU uses on cold starts when the fuel mixture in the tank has more than 80% ethanol and the coolant is below 18°C, there is a single injector at the throttle body that sprays the fuel from the cold start tank when the engine is cranking. Today most modern flex fuel cars (sold here anyway) use a system that heats up the fuel in the fuel injector, eliminating the need for the cold star tank. There are some strange solutions from some brands from the old generation flex fuel era, like Honda used on the Civic, Fit and City, they have two fuel doors, one at the rear left quarter for the main fuel tank, and another one on the front right fender for the cold start tank. Weirdness that only exists here.
@@fulano1969 yes there's i difference between E85 and E100 version. At least for the 1,6 8V engine. If you like I can consult parts numbers and there is a whole bunch of parts on the E100 version that wasn't on the E85 version. Mainly a second independent fuel delivery system like you stated upwards that was installed from factory on the E100 version and was controlled by the ECU. E85 version didn't have that. In Europe the E85 version wasn't available as 8v engine. Only the 1,6l 16v engine that wasn't sold in Brazil was sold in Europe as Hi-Flex E85 version. For Brazil there was an extra E85 version of the 8v engine that was cheaper than the E100 version, mainly because of the missing additional fuel system. So biggest issue as you stated is on ''any'' car with E100 is the cold start. So not any car can run on E100. For example I've tried and fuel trim is just way off. My car hits the limit of +99% and thereby runs too lean. Cool and interesting system with the injector heating
glad you like it we do ours is 1.5 diesel 2013 model and very torquey and punchy and will climb hills in 4th gear easily, a great title tow car, we went up to hull with a trailer tent like yours from Kettering and we got 80 mpg at a constant 60mph, just wait until you drive a duster, I think you'll like it to. had to swap my duster for a Citroen C5 Aircross Automatic as I needed a torque converter gearbox. once bitten by Citroens you tend to go back to them again for all the toys and comfort they offer.
Have you ever driven an early Kia Venga? There are lots of conflicting reviews on them. I bought a 2013 Venga 3 a few months back and I quite like it, it even has the electric Panoramic roof, it would be interesting to see what you really thought about it.
As you say, Ian - she's a good car....in the manner of something pleasant but unremarkable to drive from A to B and back again. Nothing really stands out enough for the wow factor except that it IS a good, cheap, relatively comfortable A to B vehicle that is not an SUV, hot hatch or estate car. I like it a lot for that very reason....although I would be tempted to play with the wipers a bit The driver's side has a large-ish unswept area of disappointment right above my line of sight which would drive me mad, so I would fit a taller wiper blade on the driver's side. Then if the Triangle was still there, tweak the passenger's wiper arm up at the wiper join to lift the outer (top) sweep so that the blade sweeps overlap. Other than that, I like the dash layout - the dials are purposeful and smart with the chrome rings, the interior is smart albeit largely a charcoal colour (like most modern cars) and that passenger and boots space is just perfect for pretty much anything I'd need it to do. Many thanks for this review. I shall have to see whether any of them exist here in New Zealand and go have a look.
Nice city car for those who are able to choose with their wallet in mind IMO. But as for its twin - Renault Sandero which sold in Russia till May 2022 - the car wasn't as competitive as Logan back in 2005. There were some exchange problems and low level of local components.
There seems to be a lot of badge snobbery among certain groups in the population, but I like the comparative "basic-ness" of cars like Dacias. If it's got the full complement of wheels, brakes, lights, etc and it gets you where you need to go and home again in reasonable comfort, I'm far from sure I have any urgent need for "infotainment" systems or computer aided anything else. Gawd bless yer, Mr. Dacia. Long may you reign.
I've been thinking about one of these as a daily for a while. It's a shame that we just have to 'deal with' over servoed brakes and all the annoying electronics because 'that's just the way all cars are now'. One of my pet hates on 'moderns' is when you want to do just one flash of the indicator (or change your mind about indicating), the slightest touch on the stalk results in 3-6 flashes and there's no way to stop it except flicking it the other way, then it does 6 flashes that way and you end up looking like a fool! I still fancy one of these though, as it's probably less annoying than anything more expensive (and you can accept niggles at that price)
Agreed. A local junction has three successive left turns. Showing oncoming traffic turning right which left you intend to make, at the same time as dissuading traffic at those left turns from pulling out, is white knuckle stuff. In my older car indication is much simpler.
Hi Foxanne. Have you driven one? I dont find the brakes to be hard to get along with at all in these.. very normal. Well, at least to me. In this car, dont fret, because it comes with just 1 flash as standard, as well as an old school "mechanical type" stalk. Well at least my mums 2013 model did. Not even sure you can do more in it? In other cars, the indicator flashes are settable, you can chose from 1 to 5 or 7 is the most common. The "reverse indication" is also something you get used to and get away from. Most people really like 3 flashes, thats why it comes as the standard setting for many cars.
the overservoed brakes renault came up with around the time of the first Megane, i think. Years ago i read they had done some research that showed some % (significant enough i guess) of all light accidents may be avoided if the driver pressed the brake hard enough. So they just went ahead and built that in. I've seen this in multiple renaults of tthe past 20 or so years and i really think it is rather in tune with the feel of the rest of the controls, as they all tend to be very light.
If you can find a decent mazda 2 they are brilliant daily drivers, simple cars. I miss mine the rust got to it but I did over 40k in it just abs module and of course the rust but it's on the road being used now by someone
13:43 yes, we had the RS version here in Brazil, sold from 2015 up until last year I believe, and it was a very fun car, actually developed by Renault Sport. The upgrades weren't just limited to the 150cv 2.0 16v engine. It had a lot of structural reinforcements, a complete overhaul on the suspension to allow less body roll, upgraded brakes, with the rear ones now being fitted with discs and a transmission with 6 speeds, with shorter gears, always keeping the rpms high on a more sporty drive.
WOW, I've got one of the original Captur's (2014 build 1.2lt turbo) and much of the interior is the same. Spooky. Like Fiat 124 and Lada. Same vents, dash, IT, storks, hard plastic, binnacle, lots of road noise, breaks touchy and electronic, cruise control/ speed limiter, Bluetooth phone is useless, too much noise. I love it. Engine cooked off at 130,000k's. To hot in Australia for little supercharged engines on Christmas eve in 40 deg C heat. Boom.
Here in New Zealand the Sandero is labeled as a Renault. Probably why they have sold...like...3 of them. I reckon they should have introduced fhe Dacia name. We adapt reasonably quickly to new makes. But no body buys a Renault here in NZ
It is interesting how they managed to produce an older car and update it's looks just enough to make it look just enough different to it's original design... I know Innocienti in it's last years tried to produce a re-badged Uno but people bought the Punto instead lol
You forgot another rival of the Sandero which was Vauxhalls relaunch of the Viva which was based on a Korean car of some sort (don't know whether it was a Hyundai/Kia product or something else) that was particularly similar priced but didn't sell that well.
Would say that at least dimensions wise this Sandero was competing against Corsa, while Viva was competing against Hyundai i10, Skoda Citigo/ VW Up and Kia Picanto (which are a bit smaller in terms of width and wheelbase)
It would have been amusing if they offered he Sandero with the 1.6 turbo petrol engine as found in its sister Renaults and Nissans. Would make it a nice warm hatch for a good price. Probably no-one other than me would buy one.
Renault are very careful not to allow Dacia to "steal" sales from more profitable brands. That's why they restrict engine size choices. It makes sense for them. Also the production process is so much easier/cheaper to manage if you have fewer volume engine options.
The only Dacia I ever drove was a Logan years ago in Portugal and I think it was a good car. Also, Laureate was a name given to special edition renault 5’s (not the super cinque) in the early 80’s
There was a garage near me that lost its Vauxhall dealership in 1989. They went on to sell (For a very short time) Dacia. Had a few Dusters on the forecourt but in the showroom was an unregistered Dacia Shifter (Pick-up) It was there for years gathering dust. No idea what happened to it but it was still there in 1996 when I went to view a Montego they had for sale.
I rented one last year in Ireland, and I absolutely hated it. I agree that, for a budget car, it is certainly very acceptable. I just found it exhausting to drive for more anything more than 20 miles. Far too much road noise and mechanical noise. Also, far too much gear changing (as you pointed out) because of the razor thin power band. I didn’t like the seats as I found them too hard and unsupportive. I found the horribly hard plastics everywhere very unpleasant, even when you’re NOT trying to scratch them. It made plugging things into to the charging port etc. feel very cheap and nasty. I do agree that the stalk controls did have a much nicer feel to them (probably from Renault?), and the hidden Renault style remote control behind the steering wheel is a nice touch. My guess is that the headlight adjuster button was put down there so that people wouldn’t fiddle with it by accident, so I can see the logic of that.
I looked at one of these when I bought my current car in 2014, they were good but very, very bland. I ended up getting a really good deal on a new Fabia instead, a 1.2 3cyl SE (so had the all-important A/C!) for nearly a grand less than the equivalent Dacia. Still got it now and it's just passed 155k miles, much more pleasant than the Dacia and has other luxuries like a full size spare, alloys and a clutch footrest.
I drove Dacia's 2020 and 2021 when I took up a job of being a delivery driver so that as a invalid retired young man (stomach problems) I won't rot at home. First, my company had a 2013 1st gen Logan MCV 1,5 dCi. It was a five seater in the highest spec (all electric + aircon and remote central locking), but it was used as a delivery car. Though only 75BHP, it was very rapid even fully loaded (I delivered pet food and accesories, so it was full very often). EVen with that and operating only in Prague, it did over 52mpg when I had a ligh right foot and even if I did floor it, it wouln't do less than 47mpg. Later, I received one of the last Dokker ones (before it was rebranded as Renault Kangoo). It had the 1,3Turbo petrol and with that, I became the fastest delivery driver in town :D but it was thirsty, even with a feather over the throttle it wouldn't do better than 36mpg. But I liked it, it was well equipped, ran well and was quite comfortable. It had sliding door on both sides, which not a lot vans do these days. It was also the firsttime I even drove a new car (when I got it it had just 400km on the clock as it made it's way from a company central in Moravia to Prague), so it was interesting to follow all the guide on how to run with a new car. I never had a single fault with the Dacias over the about 10 000km I did with them in both heat and cold of a daily metropolis furious delivery driving and they also handled very well indeed despite their simple suspension design (or maybe because of it?). I really like what Dacia does, it is the modern time SKoda Favorit or Felicia. It's clear that renault learned their lesson, because when they wanted to buy Skoda and abolish it, they lost the chance to VW and then saw how big success VW had with Skoda by branding it as a reasonable but competent car mark. BTW the knob for the light positioning is mounted so weird because Dacia uses the hydraulic systen like the Favorit and Felicia had, so they probably didn't want to stretch the pipes so high up towards ste steering wheel.
I started to pay attention to these in 2019 when I spent a few days in Brittany in France and there are loads of these around there, they are extremely popular cars there. The owners all see to like them, which is what matters .
i had a 2014 1.5 DCI stepway model, absolutely loved it. Was really torquey and fairly quick for what it was. I absolutely loved it, it's one of the few cars I've sold that I really miss.
@@andymccabe6712 Even those people can tell where something like a Mazda2 is better than something like a Mitsubishi Mirage (the late model three-cylinder one) once they make the switch though. Quote: "the Mazda feels so much more confident and sticks to the road so much better", probably to do with the Mazda having better geometry, better dampers and those kinds of things (probably tuned and designed with a little bit more care than the Mitsubishi). Not saying they had any objection to the Mirage when they had it, but once they released the Mazda2 feels better on the road it's probably hard to go back. Not saying the Sandero is as bad as the Mirage as it's much better than that IMO!
I've had two Sanderos, my first was a 2014 1.5 diesel, with pretty much everything I needed on it. Reliable, with plenty of power, and extremely good mpg. Over 800miles on a tank. Shame Dacia don't do diesel in the sandero now, as I've got a 0.9 tce. OK, it's nippy and efficient, but nowhere as punchy as the first one.
Spare wheel is available in both steel and alloy formats from both dacia and renault dealers for the generation your driving ian. For the current 3rd gen car there standard and the foam kit is the option.
I have one - which I use as a driving instructor. It's white - they are like white goods, a car to get you from A to B - Nothing goes wrong, the main criticism I have is the truly awful seats.
Good reviewHave a Logan MCV bought during initial lockdown-Total practicality-kayaks and bikes on roofrack-older fashioned dynamics-Uninspiring handling - lower rent interior than a modern but at the price this load lugger can't be beaten-Hub Nut sticker adds 20 odd horse power.My mates take the michael as It often gets mistaken for a taxi-totally happy(Used to have all sorts of hot hatches and posher cars but priorities must)
I own exactly the same car (colour and interior) albeit with the 0.9 TCe 3 cylinder turbo. It's a real little "cheap tiger" with great performance and acceleration although the turbo kicks in rather harsh around 2500 rpm, making the throttle sometimes act ridiculously sensitive in lower gears. Bought mine second hand 5 years ago and still enjoy cheap motoring every day. Hurray for Sandero!
I always drive my 0.9TCe in Eco mode--I find it makes it much smoother on that turbo pick-up, and if you want the full beans you can still get them by putting your foot to the floor. I don't get left behind in traffic, let's put it that way!
@@d2factotum True, and as for the pedal placement and the lack of rest for the clutch foot, this seems to be an Issue caused by RHD conversion, since I don't have any problem with that (LHD).
We have a Logan MCV (the estate) in the same color as this one, same engine and it seems pretty similar trim. The multimedia unit is actually a navigation unit that also has bluetooth for phone and music streaming.
Lots and lots of Vivaro switchgear in there. Same touchscreen too although the Vivaro version doesn’t say LG on it. Guessing that LG knocked a little off of the price for the Sandero units if they got to put their logo on it.
I was in Wales for 2 weeks with this car and did 2370 miles in that time at an average of 47.8mpg. Each tank went over 500 miles. Brilliant little car. Glad you enjoyed the drive Ian 👍
And yes the lack of somewhere for my clutch foot to go is incredibly annoying on a long drive. It got on my nerves when I drove it to Scotland back in July for the Knockhill round of the British Touring Car Championship
2370 miles around Wales in 2 weeks!!!
Did you sleep at night, reminds me of the London cabby who took an American tourist for a tour, the yank saw 3 Buckingham palaces, 5 big Ben's and 4 London bridges😀
@@brianiswrong well not just wales. I had a scheduling conflict with my holiday which meant I drove to Barmouth on Saturday 24th to start the holiday, then next day had to drive to Silverstone and back for the BTCC. I has the Silverstone ticket booked before the holiday and didn't realise the dates clashed until afterwards. Long day that was but great racing
Thanks for the loan of the Sandero! Impressed it still managed 47mpg even with me driving. ;-)
@@Matthew-Fletcher That answers why there was a BTCC sticker in the back window 🙂
My 2005 Hyundai getz CRTD 1.5 gets 47mpg over the last 40,000 miles. 🤔
I ran a Logan MCV 0.9tce as a hackney taxi from September 2015 to March this year, took it from 11 miles to 212,000 before replacing it with a Hyundai Ioniq HEV due age limits, it was a thoroughly reliable car that did the job well.
That's quite impressive. Where there no major engine issues? My wife's 2013 MCV sprung a coolant leak earlier this year, with just 40k miles on it, the rubber gasket on the thermostat housing had perished. Found it is a very common issue on all the cars this engine was fitted yo, but was a cheap and easy enough to fix (
I've known a couple of people in Hungary with Logans, they seem happy enough with them.
impressive for a small and pretty stressed engine! no headgasket ot other engine open-failures?
surprised to didnt get the 1.5 diesel option, one near me with 352,000 miles
@@piuthemagicman I dont know if you can really call 100hp per liter in a forced induction engine stressed these days. But even so, In my experience I have found the "stressed engine" to be a somewhat of a myth since many decades ago, I have never seen any data that would suggest an engine with more ponies per liter generally has worse reliability than the ones with less.
I don't get why some people have an issue with dashboards being made of hard plastic. Like, how often are you touching the dashboard like that? In my experience, those softer materials that make up 'high quality' interiors don't wear nearly as well over time. I actually really dig the chrome rings surrounding the gauges. Thanks for another great review of a car I'll probably never see in person.
I agree. I don’t care if it’s plastic, I have a 2012 Jeep Liberty Jet which isn’t a posh car by any means, and it has a plastic dashboard, but the interior still looks quite nice imo and even higher end than you’d expect for a Jeep. And for a 10 year old vehicle, the plastic dash really isn’t worn or scuffed at all.
If it was made of cow shit I wouldn't care 😂
It's a car. You sit in it, and it goes and stops. I like it.
The MK5 Escort did those things too, but no-one liked those. This seems way better.
Mk5 Escort had weak, horrible engines and some serious handling deficiencies. It also wasn't a budget car. Came back fighting with the Focus though!
There is a BIG difference between CHEAP and INEXPENSIVE!
The Dacia Sandero is definitely designed to a certain price point but by using proven Renault mechanicals, whose development and tooling cost were paid for years ago, you can make a perfectly acceptable vehicle inexpensively.
Not everybody is a enthusiast and don't require up to date engines or tech in their car.
They only require a vehicle that starts every time and can reliably take them to the shops and school run or on the occasional motorway journey.
Sandero definitely fits the "starts every time" bill--I was in hospital for three months not long ago, and when I got home the first thing I did was try to start the car, assuming it would be dead flat and I'd have to get a battery charger. Should have had more faith, it started instantly on the key like it always does!
Here in Australia, Renault is a lot less popular. There is tendency to need to order parts like sensors or seals from Europe and wait for shipping, which would not necessarily be ideal for an entry-level Sandero. The current popular entry level brand new cars are the MG3 and Kia Picanto, whereas 10 years ago an economically-minded motorist would probably buy something like a Hyundai Accent, Suzuki Swift, Suzuki Alto if very economical, or Toyota Yaris (whose prices have now increased considerably!). Thankfully rust is a non-issue here, if true that Japanese cars have inferior rust proofing.
My little Suzuki celerio 1.0lt has taken me from Southampton to Newcastle and Scotland and back on several occasions and easily keeps up with motorway speeds. These little cars are built like tanks these days.
I think there's "cheap" and "good value". IMO the Dacia Sandero is very much the latter
Cheap often means Tacky. It isn't. I did look at a second hand Dacia at a Renault dealer. It had caught some battle damage on the tailgate, and the paint appeared a bit thinner than I'd expect - probably how they saved some pennies
"good news. its the dacia sandero" had me missing james may
They're not bad. Dacia Logan Estates are very popular as taxis around here. Boring basic interior but they've turned out to be very reliable. I asked a cab driver what the appeal was, he said that it came down to cheap parts when the warranty ran out. He'd done 100,000 miles in 4 years and needed new fuel injectors, £180 for the set, Ford £800, Toyota £1000. Don't need to be a mathematician to see it makes more sense to run the Dacia.
In other markets the Dacia Logan Estate is sold as a Lada
You must be joking lol
@@richard21109 Seriously. Look it up 🙂 ( Renault, Dacia and Lada were part of the same group )
@@robsmall6466 read it,il tell you one thing the few people I know who own these cars have had no issues at all with them.
@@richard21109 they are just older Renault. So one would assume the majority of the gremlins have been ironed out. Styling on the modern ones has improved a lot. Would be a tough choice between a Renault Captur/Mitsubishi ASX or the Dacia equivalent I would think 🤔
A solid enough and handsome car, The same people, probably laughted at Škoda, which today is a getting close to a premium and well heeled brand.
I have a 2013 Sandero, same colour and spec but the 0.9 turbo engine you mention. I think the engine is mapped for low-end torque--I certainly rarely feel the need to change down a gear (maybe when going up a very steep hill), but the power kind of runs out around 5000rpm. That's still good for 70mph in 3rd, though, and I've been averaging 45mpg or better since I've had the car. Overall, I'd rate it probably the second best car I've ever owned, just behind a diesel Seat Toledo I had for a long time. By the way, one of those blank switches on the right of the steering wheel is the Eco button, which I guess is a turbo-only feature?
Might well be turbo only... mums got one on her diesel which of course also got a turbo.
We just bought a Dacia Spring in this household, it's a small electric car and goes to prove that EVs don't have to be monster SUVs that cost the GDP of Namibia.
So future Hub Nut cars could well be EVs as well.
Unfortunately, I don't think they are going to sell it in the UK.
@@stephenholland5930 bummer. It's about the size of a Smart ForFour, costs buttons to buy and run and it's actually quicker than the power output would suggest.
It's a really neat, unpretentious little car.
"You could take offence at the nasty hard plastic; similarly you could just ignore it and get on with your life." Point well made!
A nice snipe at a certain car reviewer.
Not sniping at anyone, but some people do seem to get upset about how plastics feel. On bits of the car you never touch...
@@HubNut Indeed, sometimes they admit that they seldom touch those areas, but nonetheless are still miffed. 'Snipe' may have been a bit strong.
@@HubNut The worst plastic is aged soft touch plastic that becomes a sticky black gloop, adhering to your fingers like roofing bitumen, especially in hot humid climates. Mercedes have mastered this in many of their vehicles, including ML and Vito, but you can either drive wearing Marigolds or strip it off with methylated spirits to reveal wholly satisfactory, smooth, shiny plastic! It also struck on some Mercedes pens I acquired; now that would have added extra drama to King Charles' recent pen meltdown.
@@HTMLEXP The fuss over whether or not foam-backed rubber or vinyl has been glued over the dash (and door panels) is certainly strange. I guess the intended contrast is to cars like Jaguars or Maseratis, where it is foam-backed **leather** that has been glued over the dash, accompanied by actual wooden veneers.
For economy cars, I guess the best they can do is to make the design look nice and make sure things like the elbow rest on the door is actually padded (hard plastic is certainly uncomfortable there). Higher-end economically built cars like Ian's Commodore ute (or an Opel Senator or whatever) *do indeed* have foam-backed rubber/vinyl glued all over the dash and doors so I guess that is the distinction being made -- that "nicer" trimmed mini and supermini economy cars are expected to include some of that, and are 'ranked' as such based on how much they include. 🤨
(goes off and looks at prices on Autotrader...) What a fine little car, again something I'd happily consider. Odd fact; when I worked in Brazil a few years ago I noticed the Logans were badged as Renaults - and I see, still are.
Me too (checking prices on Autotrader).
Thanks for this video. I've often thought that if I ever buy a 21st century car one of these will be high on my list. I know several people who have them and have never heard anything bad.
I had a 2013 Duster 1.5 TDI ( Mercedes use the same engine) . Back then it was £11 k for the middle trim. What a car, super economical ( no add blue back then ), capacious, good build, cheap insurance, a real family load lugger.
Also available with LPG. Currently half the price of petrol and better for the planet.
We had a Clio yard car which I used daily for a year with this engine and it was indeed a very likeable, torquey little performer. The thing I like about Dacia is it is what it is and not try to pamper to snobs. Great review Ian
I bought the wife a Sandero. She's always driven Ford's but i had been pleasantly suprised by a few i'd had at work. She loves it and i love it as its all just a 90's clio underneath. Cheap and easy to fix!
I got the 3. generation on LPG, it’s got all I could ask for, and even some things I didn’t want like keyless entry and electronic parking brake. It’s great value for money and fully adequate for the 2-3.000 km I do yearly.
White goods car, plain, dull, boring, much cheapness.
No problems with that, it’d do me as a daily driver to not care about
@@Thecrazyvaclav As a second-hand car id rather an astra/focus/polo but i get your point :)
@ Mike Foley, I think you may be missing the point of Hubnut.
@@borderlands6606 lol -The point is what? Numpty.
"Top spec poverty". Great expression. Really nicely styled little car. Plain and rather elegant in its simplicity. Roomy and practical and doesn't look cheap, as you say.
The highlight of this video for me is the vintage AA box. My dad kept his key on his keyring all his life, well into the mobile phone era.
He also had an original metal badge on his radiator grill. I think they had your membership number engraved on them.
We bought one of these brand new in 2016 - 6k as a pre reg. Acres of space around the engine for the DIY tinkerers. Unfortunately I've not had the opportunity as nothing whatsoever has gone wrong with it! Definitely a Hubnut of the future; remarkably unexceptional.
Looks like there’s enough space on the windscreen to fit a longer driver’s side wiper blade to get rid of the triangle of doom. 😜
Otherwise personally I’ve got very used to using rain repellent. Great stuff!
I've never understood the obsession with hard plastics some have on a dashboard. I by and large rarely touch it, so being hard or soft doesn't matter. I DO care about where my elbow is resting, as that's a surface I'm constantly touching. A cheap car like this, is going to have cheap materials. I'd never knock it on the dash since it's a bargain car.
Brilliant review Ian. A friend of mine was recently looking for a new second hand small car and I immediately pointed them towards a Dacia Sandero and I am very happy to report that they did indeed take my advice. Coincidentally the model they brought is exactly the same colour and spec as the one you have just featured and they had a very good deal on it and are very happy with it. Happy days...👍🙂👍
These are 12 to 14 grand new, hardly peanuts. In 2012 you could pick up a new i10 for 6K, that was good value.
Inflation. A basic facelift Duster cost £10k four years ago. Same car is about 50% more expensive now.
The 2022 price of an i10 Now is £13.5k - £18.9k that’s doubled that Dacia price hasn’t really jumped that much since 2012
The cheapest car you can buy brand new in the UK is £12,000 (Kia Picanto). Which I find alarming.
They were 6995 not that long ago for the base model
@@HubNut It's not just inflation, from 2012 to 2021, pre Putin and the Muppet Gov, cumulative inflation was 20%
Car makers have used Covid as an excuse to screw us, if you read the trade press, they even boast about much higher profit margins.
Also cars have become too complex, but car makers and many other industries are taking us for fools, just look at CEO pay, which is linked to profit / shareprice to see the real picture. We must not forget or forgive them.
I had a 0.9TCe and it was a lot of fun and surprisingly frugal too, I loved it 😁
I want a sub 1 litre 3 cyl. Turbo is a bonus. Automatic available? Merely curious.
@@jamesfrench7299
Cvt auto is indeed available on the Mk3 1.0 3cyl 90Hp
Have to make it sing to access those. Hp?
@@jamesfrench7299 Not really. As I said above, they tune the turbos for low-end grunt rather than performance, so you run out of power long before the red line. Put your foot down in 3rd, though, and it'll sail past almost anything.
@@d2factotum Yep.
Good news! Great review of the Sandero, from the home of Dacia.. Best wishes.
James May will be pleased. Love your videos.🏴🚙⛺️
So glad to a Dacia appear on this channel and to hear it get a glowing review. 😃 I own an example of one it's rivals - 2018 Hyundai i10 (1.2 with 85bhp) but I did consider a Sandero.
My only criticism of Dacia is the lack of colour choices you used to get with their earlier new car offerings. Don't like white? Have a blue one or a red one instead but they're metallic only + an extra £450 or thereabouts. And white was the only colour you could have on the Billy Basic 1.2 Access version.
I hate it when people complain about plastics and switches in cheap cars and I think that constant want for better interior more equipment etc is one of the reasons that led us to typical family cars being over 30k car these days
The interior of the Sandero doesn't just feel cheap, it feels old. Switchgear and stalks from circa 2006. I compared it side by side with a Hyundai i10 and the Hyundai was head and shoulders above the Dacia quality wise, for the same price.
@@williamgreer4087 you have to consider the i10 is category bellow in size
@@Thanos.m yeah it's definitely not as roomy, that's very true.
A switch is a switch
Quite a few people in the comments have suggested that this is a car for people who don't like cars. That is rubbish! I truly love cars but would happily buy this, at the low price, rather than paying tens of thousands for some other 'marque' whose performance can never be used on British roads. What's the point? Financially I have other priorities to be honest. An everyday driver is essentially a tool to get you where you want to be, no more, no less.
Come to Germany , i have a Sandero 2 Stepway with the 0.9 Turbo (Tce90) for you to test 😉
We had an FSO Panache back in the late 80s which had exactly the same dash vents! I also hate the auto door locking but, luckily, I can disable it on our 2021 Sandero Stepway. I've also disabled that dreadful auto stop/start nonesense. Thanks for the vid!
All depends what you want from a car. If your just after something for shorter journeys shops etc that’s cheap to run, buy, insure and maintain that’s also reliable then it’s a great choice. It’s the sort of car that people buy with their own money as opposed to loaned and owned by the finance company. They are certainly not for the image conscious who go out and spend a fortune on a Audi or something on finance living pay cheque to pay cheque. Ask yourself a question who’s the stupid one the person buying a Dacia with cash or the person taking out huge car loan for something trendy?
Unremarkably brilliant.
Seconded
This reminds me of a very low spec Mercedes-Benz from say the 1980s, which in itself, without any luxuries, was still considered up market. This incidentally, has more equipment with the passage of time, same kind of vibes.
If you're just interested in getting from A to B in a budget-conscious car it's a good choice.
MOST IF NOT ALL new cars especially EVs😡😠 SUVs i would not even consider!!!!!!!!!!
This car does look too bad, gets James May seal of approval, yes i would consider one!!!!!
Ian ( we steam train fans, don,t want to hear about it, we WANT TO SEE IT!!!! )
I got a flashback to my youth at 0:00! I heard Futurama's Professor Farnsworth say "Good news everyone" when Ian said "Good news" :)
When I hear "Good news!" I think of James May
It's not cheap, it's inexpensive
When I go away on business I always ask my team to bookmark the cheapest hire car. Last time I was in Ireland I got a Sandero. Apart from the confusing stereo, I loved it.
I'll echo what was said at the time by Top Gear: it only makes sense to buy the base model, because the higher-spec ones are almost as expensive as equivalent cars from more reputable brands and you get a lot more for your money with those. I was quite taken with the base model, honestly; I respected its basic level of motoring, you got all you needed and very little more. Manual windows, non-metallic paint, steel wheels with only a centre cap, no central locking, and a stereo was optional. It was like going back in time, but still with the quality one would expect from a modern car.
I am shocked to find that the base spec has now doubled in price and is loaded with features that should be options. What happened to the poverty spec car?
Dacia has a terrible reputation here in South Africa, mainly caused by the Renault 10 pickup which nobody would even steal. They bent in the middle most of the time. So Dacias are sold here as Renaults and do very well! What's in a name?
I really like the Dacia range, having always been a fan of budget motoring, and a budget conscious motorist myself, I did always admire the Eastern European, and Russian offerings from back in the day, in fact I did own, and had many miles of fun in a Lada, which was my first car.
My favourite manufacturer, Škoda is sadly moving away from the budget segment, thankfully Dacia have filled the gap very admirably, well done Dacia ❤.
That's true of many of the old "budget" brands (EG Vauxhall). I think Skoda need to be *very* careful with their current strategy. We're in difficult economic times and I think the perception could be that you may as well buy a "proper VW", since prices are pretty similar. If they're not careful they'll find that Dacia and Hyundai have stolen their lunch.
The new Ford Maverick in the US suggests that car manufacturers are waking up to the fact that purchasers need affordable cars, not low-rate financing.
@@Rapscallion2009 Skoda counts a lot on the company fleet market, which though it seems to be near dead in the UK, it thrives for the last 10-15 years in Czech Republic. So most Skodas sold during these times (and even more after the Rapid was replaced by the much more expensive Scala are sold to companies. I'd say Skoda has moved from cheap cars like the Favorit and reasonable cars like Fabia MkI and Octavia MkI and II to what I personally call "polished shit". They look like a premium car, but they actually work worse then tose like the Dacia (VW/Skoda infotainment problems are now a subject to dark jokes for over 3 years). Regular people who would want a Fabia or Octavia have moved to KIAs and Hyundai equivalents, some of them to Dacia. Also the fact that Skoda gives no fuck about regular customers is the fact that though they build useless cars like the Kamiq, they dropped the Fabia Estate, which was very popular family car here.
Parts for Dacia may take 6 months as they came from Russia, with sanctions they have to be sourced from elsewhere.
@@blueocean2510 Parts from Dacia come from Romania or rest of Europe (mainly Poland, Italy, Germany , France and other countries. Consumables like certain spark plugs for example can come from overseas like Japan). Where does Russia fit in here? Renault left Russia at the start of the Russian invasion in Ukraine. I have a Dacia Logan I and I live in Bucharest Romania, 100 km from Pitesti and 140 km from Colibasi where the Dacia Plant is located and Dacias are build. I know my shit. By the way, Hub Nut got it wrong, Dacia is made in Colibasi (Arges County). Pitesti is the main town and municipality residence in Arges County
Love your channel Ian. Would love to see a Peugeot 1007 review. Keep up the awesome content.
i drove a dacia duster hire car once, and thought it was really comfortable, then jumped in a Vauxhall mokka, the mokka was so awful i had shooting pains in my spine, so i asked for the dacia back!
These are cars I have always wanted to like, but just never managed to. The interior just depresses me and all the controls felt worn out from new (at least to my hands). Which is a shame really
13:37 Yes, here in Brazil the the second generation Renault Sandero had a version called RS with the F4R Hi-Flex engine and a 6-speed manual gear box, they are a lot of fun, I drove a brand new one of those a few years ago.
By the way, this platform is very popular here (All Dacias are sold here as Renaults). I have a 2016 Renault Oroch, the Dynamique trim level with the F4R Hi-Flex engine and a 6-speed manual (mine is the front wheel drive, not the 4WD), it's a pickup/UTE version of the Duster, and as far as I know it was never sold anywhere in Europe.
was the RS available as an E100 version or only as E85 version?
Also second generation still had the old 8v engine which wasn't available in Europe
I'm trying to reply to the comment made by @14725800369 but RUclips auto deletes the comment in seconds.
EDIT: Lets see if replying to my own comment will not be deleted by RUclips.
All Renault cars sold in Brazil since 2005 have flex fuel engines, that can run on any mixture of petrol and ethanol, and they can run on E100 (ethanol sold in Brazil doesn't have any petrol in it), the exception is the Renault Master which only has diesel engines, because in Brazil diesel is prohibited for passenger cars since the 1980s.
The "normal" second generation Sandero (launched here in 2014) had two engine options, the D4D (1.0 16v) and the K7M (1.6 8v), but the first generation had the K4M (1.6 16v). In 2016 they replaced those engines with the SCE family (they are Nissan engines), a 3 cylinder (1.0 12v) and a 4 cylinder (1.6 16v), but the RS always had the F4R engine.
The second generation had a minor facility in 2019, with new headlights and new taillights (totally different from the Dacia Sandero) and the RS version ended production in 2021. Now there is only a poverty spec called "S Edition" 1.0 12v and the Stepway 1.6 16v (the majority sold with a CVT transmission).
@@fulano1969 well there was E85 and E100 versions for Brazilian market. So as which was the RS modell available. There's a difference between E85 and E100 models
All flex fuel cars sold here can run on E100, we never had E85 versions sold in Brazil (there is no E85 in any petrol station here, only E100), all brands and models can run on E100, and that includes the Sandero RS (exceptions are some imported luxury cars that run only on petrol). By the way, petrol sold in Brazil is technically E25 because it has ethanol in it since 1980.
I also still have an old 2008 second generation Clio (with the 1.0 16v) that I bought in 2010, and for the first three years I only used E100, but ethanol became way to expensive and since then I only use petrol.
The old generation flex fuel cars sold here have a cold start tank, it is a small plastic tank inside the engine bay that holds usually 1L of petrol that the ECU uses on cold starts when the fuel mixture in the tank has more than 80% ethanol and the coolant is below 18°C, there is a single injector at the throttle body that sprays the fuel from the cold start tank when the engine is cranking. Today most modern flex fuel cars (sold here anyway) use a system that heats up the fuel in the fuel injector, eliminating the need for the cold star tank.
There are some strange solutions from some brands from the old generation flex fuel era, like Honda used on the Civic, Fit and City, they have two fuel doors, one at the rear left quarter for the main fuel tank, and another one on the front right fender for the cold start tank. Weirdness that only exists here.
@@fulano1969 yes there's i difference between E85 and E100 version. At least for the 1,6 8V engine. If you like I can consult parts numbers and there is a whole bunch of parts on the E100 version that wasn't on the E85 version. Mainly a second independent fuel delivery system like you stated upwards that was installed from factory on the E100 version and was controlled by the ECU. E85 version didn't have that. In Europe the E85 version wasn't available as 8v engine. Only the 1,6l 16v engine that wasn't sold in Brazil was sold in Europe as Hi-Flex E85 version.
For Brazil there was an extra E85 version of the 8v engine that was cheaper than the E100 version, mainly because of the missing additional fuel system.
So biggest issue as you stated is on ''any'' car with E100 is the cold start. So not any car can run on E100.
For example I've tried and fuel trim is just way off. My car hits the limit of +99% and thereby runs too lean.
Cool and interesting system with the injector heating
This is just a Renault Clio from about 2008. It looks the same and the buttons are in the same place!
More economical than a VW Up or a Ford Fiesta when driven to Chernobyl
glad you like it we do ours is 1.5 diesel 2013 model and very torquey and punchy and will climb hills in 4th gear easily, a great title tow car, we went up to hull with a trailer tent like yours from Kettering and we got 80 mpg at a constant 60mph, just wait until you drive a duster, I think you'll like it to. had to swap my duster for a Citroen C5 Aircross Automatic as I needed a torque converter gearbox. once bitten by Citroens you tend to go back to them again for all the toys and comfort they offer.
Would love to see you review a picanto.
Have you ever driven an early Kia Venga? There are lots of conflicting reviews on them. I bought a 2013 Venga 3 a few months back and I quite like it, it even has the electric Panoramic roof, it would be interesting to see what you really thought about it.
Never have.
As you say, Ian - she's a good car....in the manner of something pleasant but unremarkable to drive from A to B and back again. Nothing really stands out enough for the wow factor except that it IS a good, cheap, relatively comfortable A to B vehicle that is not an SUV, hot hatch or estate car. I like it a lot for that very reason....although I would be tempted to play with the wipers a bit
The driver's side has a large-ish unswept area of disappointment right above my line of sight which would drive me mad, so I would fit a taller wiper blade on the driver's side. Then if the Triangle was still there, tweak the passenger's wiper arm up at the wiper join to lift the outer (top) sweep so that the blade sweeps overlap.
Other than that, I like the dash layout - the dials are purposeful and smart with the chrome rings, the interior is smart albeit largely a charcoal colour (like most modern cars) and that passenger and boots space is just perfect for pretty much anything I'd need it to do.
Many thanks for this review. I shall have to see whether any of them exist here in New Zealand and go have a look.
Cool 20 year old Renault 😮 you’ll be seeing it again in 10 years…. Tcd
Not a fan of 3 cyl engines, the coarseness of them makes a cvh engine feel like the epitome of refinement.
i understand when people say it a great little car , its a very cheap new car, its great for what it is.
1 inch more wiper on driver side would prolly kill the TOD
Nice city car for those who are able to choose with their wallet in mind IMO. But as for its twin - Renault Sandero which sold in Russia till May 2022 - the car wasn't as competitive as Logan back in 2005. There were some exchange problems and low level of local components.
There seems to be a lot of badge snobbery among certain groups in the population, but I like the comparative "basic-ness" of cars like Dacias. If it's got the full complement of wheels, brakes, lights, etc and it gets you where you need to go and home again in reasonable comfort, I'm far from sure I have any urgent need for "infotainment" systems or computer aided anything else. Gawd bless yer, Mr. Dacia. Long may you reign.
Tourist board of Wales must be paying you!😂
I've been thinking about one of these as a daily for a while. It's a shame that we just have to 'deal with' over servoed brakes and all the annoying electronics because 'that's just the way all cars are now'.
One of my pet hates on 'moderns' is when you want to do just one flash of the indicator (or change your mind about indicating), the slightest touch on the stalk results in 3-6 flashes and there's no way to stop it except flicking it the other way, then it does 6 flashes that way and you end up looking like a fool!
I still fancy one of these though, as it's probably less annoying than anything more expensive (and you can accept niggles at that price)
Agreed. A local junction has three successive left turns. Showing oncoming traffic turning right which left you intend to make, at the same time as dissuading traffic at those left turns from pulling out, is white knuckle stuff. In my older car indication is much simpler.
Hi Foxanne. Have you driven one? I dont find the brakes to be hard to get along with at all in these.. very normal. Well, at least to me.
In this car, dont fret, because it comes with just 1 flash as standard, as well as an old school "mechanical type" stalk. Well at least my mums 2013 model did. Not even sure you can do more in it?
In other cars, the indicator flashes are settable, you can chose from 1 to 5 or 7 is the most common. The "reverse indication" is also something you get used to and get away from. Most people really like 3 flashes, thats why it comes as the standard setting for many cars.
@@GoldenCroc The Sandero is starting to sound even more appealing.
the overservoed brakes renault came up with around the time of the first Megane, i think.
Years ago i read they had done some research that showed some % (significant enough i guess) of all light accidents may be avoided if the driver pressed the brake hard enough. So they just went ahead and built that in.
I've seen this in multiple renaults of tthe past 20 or so years and i really think it is rather in tune with the feel of the rest of the controls, as they all tend to be very light.
If you can find a decent mazda 2 they are brilliant daily drivers, simple cars. I miss mine the rust got to it but I did over 40k in it just abs module and of course the rust but it's on the road being used now by someone
13:43 yes, we had the RS version here in Brazil, sold from 2015 up until last year I believe, and it was a very fun car, actually developed by Renault Sport. The upgrades weren't just limited to the 150cv 2.0 16v engine. It had a lot of structural reinforcements, a complete overhaul on the suspension to allow less body roll, upgraded brakes, with the rear ones now being fitted with discs and a transmission with 6 speeds, with shorter gears, always keeping the rpms high on a more sporty drive.
WOW, I've got one of the original Captur's (2014 build 1.2lt turbo) and much of the interior is the same. Spooky. Like Fiat 124 and Lada. Same vents, dash, IT, storks, hard plastic, binnacle, lots of road noise, breaks touchy and electronic, cruise control/ speed limiter, Bluetooth phone is useless, too much noise. I love it. Engine cooked off at 130,000k's. To hot in Australia for little supercharged engines on Christmas eve in 40 deg C heat. Boom.
Here in New Zealand the Sandero is labeled as a Renault.
Probably why they have sold...like...3 of them. I reckon they should have introduced fhe Dacia name. We adapt reasonably quickly to new makes.
But no body buys a Renault here in NZ
I don't see how fitting an obscure Romanian badge would increase sales compared to a Renault badge!
It is interesting how they managed to produce an older car and update it's looks just enough to make it look just enough different to it's original design...
I know Innocienti in it's last years tried to produce a re-badged Uno but people bought the Punto instead lol
You forgot another rival of the Sandero which was Vauxhalls relaunch of the Viva which was based on a Korean car of some sort (don't know whether it was a Hyundai/Kia product or something else) that was particularly similar priced but didn't sell that well.
Would say that at least dimensions wise this Sandero was competing against Corsa, while Viva was competing against Hyundai i10, Skoda Citigo/ VW Up and Kia Picanto (which are a bit smaller in terms of width and wheelbase)
Dacia have never been good at Ncap crash test results.
It would have been amusing if they offered he Sandero with the 1.6 turbo petrol engine as found in its sister Renaults and Nissans. Would make it a nice warm hatch for a good price. Probably no-one other than me would buy one.
Renault are very careful not to allow Dacia to "steal" sales from more profitable brands. That's why they restrict engine size choices. It makes sense for them. Also the production process is so much easier/cheaper to manage if you have fewer volume engine options.
The only Dacia I ever drove was a Logan years ago in Portugal and I think it was a good car.
Also, Laureate was a name given to special edition renault 5’s (not the super cinque) in the early 80’s
This is the second time you've reviewed an ex-Eastern Bloc car in a parking garage.
There was a garage near me that lost its Vauxhall dealership in 1989. They went on to sell (For a very short time) Dacia. Had a few Dusters on the forecourt but in the showroom was an unregistered Dacia Shifter (Pick-up) It was there for years gathering dust. No idea what happened to it but it was still there in 1996 when I went to view a Montego they had for sale.
I rented one last year in Ireland, and I absolutely hated it.
I agree that, for a budget car, it is certainly very acceptable. I just found it exhausting to drive for more anything more than 20 miles. Far too much road noise and mechanical noise. Also, far too much gear changing (as you pointed out) because of the razor thin power band.
I didn’t like the seats as I found them too hard and unsupportive. I found the horribly hard plastics everywhere very unpleasant, even when you’re NOT trying to scratch them. It made plugging things into to the charging port etc. feel very cheap and nasty.
I do agree that the stalk controls did have a much nicer feel to them (probably from Renault?), and the hidden Renault style remote control behind the steering wheel is a nice touch.
My guess is that the headlight adjuster button was put down there so that people wouldn’t fiddle with it by accident, so I can see the logic of that.
I looked at one of these when I bought my current car in 2014, they were good but very, very bland. I ended up getting a really good deal on a new Fabia instead, a 1.2 3cyl SE (so had the all-important A/C!) for nearly a grand less than the equivalent Dacia. Still got it now and it's just passed 155k miles, much more pleasant than the Dacia and has other luxuries like a full size spare, alloys and a clutch footrest.
This just in: Map reading lights are mod-cons, heh. ;)
I think it might be time to test a 63 plate Toyota Yaris. No triangle of doom, more a crescent of doom - single wiper. Clever stuff!
I drove Dacia's 2020 and 2021 when I took up a job of being a delivery driver so that as a invalid retired young man (stomach problems) I won't rot at home. First, my company had a 2013 1st gen Logan MCV 1,5 dCi. It was a five seater in the highest spec (all electric + aircon and remote central locking), but it was used as a delivery car. Though only 75BHP, it was very rapid even fully loaded (I delivered pet food and accesories, so it was full very often). EVen with that and operating only in Prague, it did over 52mpg when I had a ligh right foot and even if I did floor it, it wouln't do less than 47mpg. Later, I received one of the last Dokker ones (before it was rebranded as Renault Kangoo). It had the 1,3Turbo petrol and with that, I became the fastest delivery driver in town :D but it was thirsty, even with a feather over the throttle it wouldn't do better than 36mpg. But I liked it, it was well equipped, ran well and was quite comfortable. It had sliding door on both sides, which not a lot vans do these days. It was also the firsttime I even drove a new car (when I got it it had just 400km on the clock as it made it's way from a company central in Moravia to Prague), so it was interesting to follow all the guide on how to run with a new car. I never had a single fault with the Dacias over the about 10 000km I did with them in both heat and cold of a daily metropolis furious delivery driving and they also handled very well indeed despite their simple suspension design (or maybe because of it?). I really like what Dacia does, it is the modern time SKoda Favorit or Felicia. It's clear that renault learned their lesson, because when they wanted to buy Skoda and abolish it, they lost the chance to VW and then saw how big success VW had with Skoda by branding it as a reasonable but competent car mark. BTW the knob for the light positioning is mounted so weird because Dacia uses the hydraulic systen like the Favorit and Felicia had, so they probably didn't want to stretch the pipes so high up towards ste steering wheel.
I started to pay attention to these in 2019 when I spent a few days in Brittany in France and there are loads of these around there, they are extremely popular cars there. The owners all see to like them, which is what matters .
I once owned a Sandero 0.9 TCE, Great car for the money if someone wants simple non badge snobbery motoring, latest one looks great !
"Top spec poverty" thats a good one😀
i had a 2014 1.5 DCI stepway model, absolutely loved it. Was really torquey and fairly quick for what it was. I absolutely loved it, it's one of the few cars I've sold that I really miss.
It’s a car for people who don’t really like cars, but have to own one.
I’d be quite happy with that tbh
Not 'don't really like cars' - but, 'don't really CARE about cars'!
.... that's most of us , isn't it.....!
@@andymccabe6712 Well, most of people in general, perhaps not the ones watching this channel.
@@andymccabe6712 Even those people can tell where something like a Mazda2 is better than something like a Mitsubishi Mirage (the late model three-cylinder one) once they make the switch though. Quote: "the Mazda feels so much more confident and sticks to the road so much better", probably to do with the Mazda having better geometry, better dampers and those kinds of things (probably tuned and designed with a little bit more care than the Mitsubishi).
Not saying they had any objection to the Mirage when they had it, but once they released the Mazda2 feels better on the road it's probably hard to go back. Not saying the Sandero is as bad as the Mirage as it's much better than that IMO!
Dacia was so horrendous in South Africa that when the Logan, Duster and Sendero came out they decided to sell them as Renault over here. Still do.
I've had two Sanderos, my first was a 2014 1.5 diesel, with pretty much everything I needed on it. Reliable, with plenty of power, and extremely good mpg. Over 800miles on a tank.
Shame Dacia don't do diesel in the sandero now, as I've got a 0.9 tce. OK, it's nippy and efficient, but nowhere as punchy as the first one.
I don't like the steering on these, it just feels weird. Turning circle is crap too.
Other than that it's a very decent car, very reliable.
Spare wheel is available in both steel and alloy formats from both dacia and renault dealers for the generation your driving ian. For the current 3rd gen car there standard and the foam kit is the option.
Fun fact ; all the Dacias I saw in Mexico 2019 , were badged as Renault s.
Absolutely brilliant video Ian 👍what a lovely car I really like it very nice car 4x4 looking and practical
I've got a 22 plate Sandero Stepway 3 cylinder turbo. Probably a bit modern for you Ian.
I have one - which I use as a driving instructor. It's white - they are like white goods, a car to get you from A to B - Nothing goes wrong, the main criticism I have is the truly awful seats.
"Very acceptable"? If I worked in marketing I would have gone with "well it could be worse" or "at least it's not a Lada".
Good reviewHave a Logan MCV bought during initial lockdown-Total practicality-kayaks and bikes on roofrack-older fashioned dynamics-Uninspiring handling - lower rent interior than a modern but at the price this load lugger can't be beaten-Hub Nut sticker adds 20 odd horse power.My mates take the michael as It often gets mistaken for a taxi-totally happy(Used to have all sorts of hot hatches and posher cars but priorities must)
That one isn’t a cheap one. It’s got paint on the bumpers
Go to brazil its th renault sandero
I own exactly the same car (colour and interior) albeit with the 0.9 TCe 3 cylinder turbo. It's a real little "cheap tiger" with great performance and acceleration although the turbo kicks in rather harsh around 2500 rpm, making the throttle sometimes act ridiculously sensitive in lower gears. Bought mine second hand 5 years ago and still enjoy cheap motoring every day. Hurray for Sandero!
I always drive my 0.9TCe in Eco mode--I find it makes it much smoother on that turbo pick-up, and if you want the full beans you can still get them by putting your foot to the floor. I don't get left behind in traffic, let's put it that way!
@@d2factotum True, and as for the pedal placement and the lack of rest for the clutch foot, this seems to be an Issue caused by RHD conversion, since I don't have any problem with that (LHD).
Try the Stepway. It handles so bad.
We have a Logan MCV (the estate) in the same color as this one, same engine and it seems pretty similar trim. The multimedia unit is actually a navigation unit that also has bluetooth for phone and music streaming.
Lots and lots of Vivaro switchgear in there. Same touchscreen too although the Vivaro version doesn’t say LG on it. Guessing that LG knocked a little off of the price for the Sandero units if they got to put their logo on it.
Good observation, seems likely.
That video was perfectly average. Well done. 😉