In Denmark we have a taxi company that runs Dacia Lodgy cars, and some cars in their fleet has run 1M kilometers with almost nothing but normal wear parts on the service history. Amazing economy
In Romania you can tell reliable cars by the options chosen by the taxi companies and taxi drivers, which take take every cent into consideration. Needles to say, nothing has beaten Sandero and Logan yet. I have a Passat for normal usage and a 2013 1.6 Dacia pickup when I do light work on my land and for fishing. The pickup with normal maintenance never caused me any trouble. It's probably gonna stay with me for many years to come.
@@ifrimvlad that's the thing. Folk are saying Renault based car are not very good but the fact that Volvo worked with Renault back in the 1980s and 90s. Most 300 and 400 series Volvos used Renault engines except maybe 360 GLT. I mean, even Renault are supplying small engines to Mercedes and the small MB van, which is based on a Kangoo prove their reliability, so of course Dacia will be the same.
Exact Renault is a good brand, Peugeot only 2010 start improving 208 was awesome 507 is great but when Renault released Megane 2 and Clio with no rust on panels and new frame 5 star ⭐ rating crash even other couldn't keep up
Ayy, Romanian here :D Also the "ci" in Dacia is pronounced the same as "ci" in "ciao" italian. My dad had a 1310, then a 1st gen Dacia Logan since 2004. He still has it, bought new for about 5K euro, never broke down. And a new Dacia Duster 2023, top of the line 4x4 150hp engine for 21K.
There is a saying here in Romania among mechanics, which translates to: Volkswagen and BMWs are in the auto workshops, the Dacia is on the streets, clocking miles.
When Dacia got bought by Renault, the french company decided to make the new Dacia models using the old Renault technology, engines, panels, etc. who were proven very reliable and had a budget price, while Renault developed new technology on the main brand. So Dacia became the budget brand of Renault on the european markets.
Surprisingly accurate. One thing to add for the exreyor panels, atleast for the second Sandero model, was made from scratch. To my knowledge only the interior and mechanical parts are comon amongst Renault cars.
I drive a DACIA Dokker since 2017 and find it is an incredible value for its price. Fun fact: My car comes from a romanian brand, owned by a french brand and build in Marocco! 😅👍👍👍
My country has no automotive-based brand, but we mount VW's, Toyotas and Peugeots/Citroens.. Where am I? =) (Note: there is a debate on if Dacias mounted in Morocco are better than the ones mounted in Romania - I think the same model is mounted on different locations, for different markets).
yeah they are sold to differ markets. The ones made in Pitesti are sold in Europe and the ones made in Tanger are sold in Morocco, Egypt, etc. There are also Dacia plants in Columbia, Brazil, Russia (well, before the war), and other countries xD@@sirsancti5504
Dacia is a beloved brand here in Romania. The engineers who worked on it put a lot of soul into their creation. There are also rich people who prefer a Dacia Duster because they don't want to waste money on a famous brand when Dacia offers them similar performance.
Dacia is owned by the French Renault car company now, and they use Renault engines and underpinnings. They used to use superseded Renault tech, which were tried and tested designs needing no new R&D, which could be made and sold cheaply. Nowadays, Dacia cars are pretty modern, more stylish and better equipped, and whilst still good value, not quite as cheap as they were a decade back.
Came here to say this. I would definitely consider a Dacia if I were to buy a new Car. Skoda had the same with VW buying them and using older VW tech to make Skoda's. They have become a proper brand now, although no longer budget unfortunately.
We have a Dacio Sandero Stepway (the higher riding semi SUV version). Old logo version. Very reliable 1.5 liter 4 cylinder turbodiesel engine that Mercedes also put in the Smart. Great engine. Manual shift of course (5 speed). Good looks. No problems with that car. You see the low price level in some small finishing details, but they are really very good value for the money. The trick is to use the same instrument panels, buttons, seats and such in different models. And most of the tech is Renault so any mechanic in France can repair them. Parts are affordable too. The Duster SUV comes in frontwheel drive and in 4x4; the latter does pretty well in offroad use. Our Sandero consumes close to 5 liters of diesel per 100 km. What's that, 60 miles to the gallon?
Hello. I have a Dacia Logan since January 2008. I don't really use it anymore, I have another car that I use every day, I drive the Logan only occasionally but it served me faithfully for years. No major expenses other than those for consumables and fuel. I also use it when going to work and on holidays. I've been with it in Greece, in Poland, on mountain roads or on highways and it has never put me to shame in front of other more expensive and better rated cars. When I bought it, I paid almost 11,000 euros because it was top of the range in terms of equipment at that time. It has air conditioning, on-board computer, front and rear electric windows, electrically adjustable and heated side mirrors, central locking with remote control, CD audio system with 4 speakers from Blaupunkt, power steering, ABS, EBD. The new models are much better equipped, including a start-stop system, keyless operation, cruise control, lane assist, hill assist, etc. The engine in my car is 1.5 dCi, i.e. 1.5 liter turbodiesel, common rail injection. The version on my car has 90 hp. The same engine in various power versions is also found on other cars from the Dacia range, but also on Renault and Nissan models, including one of the Mercedes class A variants. As for performance, 0-100 km/h in about 11 seconds and as the maximum speed, I went with it at 174 km/h on the GPS. this is because I have a 5-speed manual gearbox. Newer models with the same engine but 6-speed gearbox reach 190 - 200 km/h. It has the best consumption if you go on a long road constantly somewhere between 110 and 130 km/h. The consumption is somewhere around 4.3 liters per hundred km without air conditioning and about 4.8 liters per hundred km with the air conditioning on. In the city it consumes between 5 and 7 liters per 100 km depending on the traffic. All in all I am very pleased with it. It is a constitutive car. It doesn't offer you I don't know what, but it doesn't claim to either, and it does surprisingly well what it says it offers. The next car in its place will almost certainly be a Logan, obviously the new generation.
Interesting that you discovered Dacia! These Dusters are very popular in Europe, in fact the best selling SUVs over here. I have a 2019 Duster w. 4wd and a torquey diesel engine, a very good combination. It also has a 6 speed manual trans. Been very reliable in spite of the low price.
maybe I'm wrong, but I think that the duster is not a SUV. a SUV is a car that looks somewhat like a car with offroad-capability, but do not try to offroad. the duster on the other hand is a real all terrain vehicle. you should respect its limitations, but it is not just a car that wants to appear to be offroaders, but a real offroader. but I understand, that this is the european side. the american side demands much more offroad capability of an SUV.
@@robertheinrich2994 Duster in 2WD are quite capable but in 4x4 / 4WD versions are off-road ready since are light and reliable tall enough to pass obstacles, specially if you add some decent BF-Goodrich KO2, KO3 all-terrain tires on them if you want clips to see them against other SUV just look here on these links.. 2WD versions : ruclips.net/video/Sjb2ROCFABg/видео.html Since Duster is affordable is sold to all over the world gain the famous :"Best budget SUV of the world" (Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, South Africa, Morroco, Jordan, Siria, Lebanon, Egypt, Spain, Germany, France, UK, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Czeck, Poland, Turkey, Latvia, Kazaksthan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Duster has gain popularity and have fun-clubs everywhere here are few examples that people use them in expeditions to test them to limits in different wild nature off-road scenarios (first is from Turkey) : ruclips.net/video/epmpX299OtA/видео.html ruclips.net/video/kiT5GNZ2UqU/видео.html ruclips.net/video/X0M2uhWl3WU/видео.html From Romania : ruclips.net/video/bpRG8R63Wr8/видео.html From Czech : ruclips.net/video/neF_bm91J1A/видео.html From French : ruclips.net/video/REdNGFYSNYg/видео.html From Russia : ruclips.net/video/qVSlwWHU8LM/видео.html ruclips.net/video/uWdjOnYUf9s/видео.html ruclips.net/video/iJmh_zCmHio/видео.html
@@robertheinrich2994 did not know about Renault Samsung with Mitsubishi but I'm aware that some big Citroën and Peugeot SUV's were a rebadged Mitsubishi but then that not Renault as such. The Volvo 300 and 400 series used a mix of Renault engines and S40/V40 MK1 used Renault diesel engines.
I drive a 2021 Dacia Duster as a job car. I'm totally amazed by it. A cheap car that competes and most of the time beats the expensive cars of it's class
Lodgy owner here. Very happy with my "voâturescu romanescu" made in Morocco 👍 Cheap, reliable, 7 seats. Perfect for our needs in Europe and I will put in tho boat when I retire to Africa where my old Kangoo already awaits us.
I bought 2. gen. Sandero in 2020, brand new for 9070€! They were lot cheaper few years back. I drive it every day, it is handling surprisingly good. Great car for that money.
A few details about Dacia: - it is called after Dacia land (first wiki page you opened) - used to be budget brand, not so much anymore, at least compared to the local average income) - it is a brand owned by Renault - Dacia cars are reliable, with average maintenance costs - they use really small engines (0.9 to 1.3 liter petrol engines)
@@GdzieJestNemo They are THE budget brand throughout Europe, including Romania (don't really understand the "used to" part of the OP here). Suzuki, Hyundai and Skoda I think are the direct competitors, but I consider them on on-par without going into too much analysis on pros and cons of each brand. And no @Xeridas, "used cars" are not "cheaper brands".
I drive a 2014 Duster 4x4 diesel, chose it because it seemed to be the best fuel economy 4x4 on sale at the time, can get 60mpg on long journeys. 228k miles and been very reliable, only had to change alternator, lower control arm and a rubber hose. New rrp was £14,000 in 2014, but a base spec petrol 2x4 Duster Access was £8,995 back then. They also now sell an LPG Duster, and in LHD markets there is an EV called Spring.
The yellow pickup had the hood scoop because the hood was design to be on a gas car and they put a naturally aspirated 1.9 diesel Renault engine in the pickups which didn't clear the hood. So then they just cut a hole in it and put a hood scoop to clear the engine. That was some cheap engineering at the time but you could identify the engine in those from a mile away.
Hi, Ian! Nice video! I'm an owner of a Dacia 1300 from 1979 (pretty much just like the one at 11:58 except mine is red) and what I can tell you about owning one is that they do indeed break quite a lot, but they are ridiculously easy to repair also because the engine bay was designed in such a way that you have a lot of space. Because they are so repair-friendly, you could say they are quite eco-friendly as well since there still a lot of elderly people daily driving them. I don't daily drive it, it's just for car meets and parades and everytime we take it out for a spin, people turn their heads since this is still considered Romania's people's car and many people have fond memories about them. About later models, I like the early 2000 models more than the current ones as they were basiclly refreshed designes of the same late 60's car they were producing for over 30 years. They looked retro, while still being somewhat modern, especially after 2000 when they introduced EFI and Euro 2 catalyzers (on the same engine they used for more than 30 years). That's also why I think I will buy a 2004 Dacia 1310 (2004 being the last year of production) and daily drive it. Modern Dacia's just look boring in my opinion. They look soulless and made out of plastic. Older ones have an unmistakeable engine sound, when you close the doors they sound like pure metal, the clutch pedal always squeaks, the car always smells like petrol etc. It just feels alive. Anyway, I will now try to attach a few RUclips links that are relevant to the topic. And again, great video! Cheers from Romania! :) Last Dacia 1310 (21st of July 2004) ruclips.net/video/Hn_a757ZgX8/видео.htmlsi=6R4yydD_87Tns-sM 1998 (no, not '88, it's from '98) Carburated Dacia 1310: ruclips.net/video/R6MySmR4U8Q/видео.htmlsi=M5-077u2Czji9tDb 2003 Dacia 1310 with EFI: ruclips.net/video/nNDJiOOTE8A/видео.htmlsi=UcBWuFv0Sc5pAwVs
@@Shiftinggers And it was true. While not the most reliable car in the world, it made up in its repair-friendlines. It formed an entire generation of car mechanics.
Our car is a Dacia Duster I am wheelchair disabled and it is easier to transfer into as it has an optional foot rest along the outside. Incidentally it is smashing on flooded roads. The space at the back is fab too. We got the 4x2 version.
You have missed the most important model... Mk1 and Mk2 Logan. Mk1 Logan was car, that you could buy for 6000€ in 2004/2005. It used 1.4l 75HP Renault engine. It was really the bearest minimum to be roadworthy. (in this 6k€/ 8700USD/169 000CZK there was no power steering, no AC, power windows, power locks, radio, ABS.... That was all optional extra.) You can also have 1.6MPI, 1.2 16V and 1.5 diesel Mk2 Logan MCV. was a succesor made from 2012 to 2018. You could purchuase them from 180 000CZK(9000USD). My father used to own MK1 from 2006 to 2015, I own one right now as a student. I have got the exact minimum trim level, but I have a positive altitude about it... If there is nothing, nothing can break. It does between 35 to 45 MPG, range is around 500 miles. My father owns a MK2 Logan MCV, but in top trim level, price in 2013 approx 396 000CZK(18 000USD). It is a 90HP 1.5dCi, that can do easily (extra urban) 60MPG. When i was hypermiling shit out of it, i have reached 80MPG.But normally... its about 50 MPG.(so the range is approx 750 miles on slightly overfilled tank). Its got a cruise control, AC, satnav, bluetooth, towing joint, comfortable seats, power windows, power locks... ) Back then it was a bargain... And nowdays those cars are gaining popularity as a second hand cars, because of theri reliability, no need for branded service and original parts, and ease of maintanance.
Dacias are known for having the opposite philosophy of luxury sports cars, basically using the minimally viable motor/horsepower and infotainment system. But considering that most European countries aren't Germany and are limited to 120/130km/h on highways anyway this usually doesn't matter. Especially onsidering most people only move their own ass plus maybe one passenger and or three days of groceries, so you'll never need it unless you absolutely want fast acceleration.
That Dacia PickUp is traditionally called Papucl, meaning Slipper because of its shape. The Papuc car was the first 4X4 Dacia and it was and still is very popular for farmers as it is a very durable car, easy to fix, cheap to fix too and very versatile.
As a romanian, i want to thank you for covering this. Last year i bought a Sandero Stepway, in the Extreme configuration. It has the bi-fuel Eco-g 100 engine. Excelent for fuel costs. It's FWD, but has the Extended Grip system from Renault. I tested it in the forest of Romania, both on muddy and snowy roads. I was quite impressed. Of course, it's not on the same level as a 4×4, but it could save you from a nasty situation. I truly love this car, and i'm looking forward to the Bigster.
The badge snobs hate them and value conscious people who think all the high tech rubbish isn’t needed love them! I’ve had 3, Duster 4x4 150 bhp tce Prestige, Sandero Stepway Prestige 0.9 tce 90 bhp cvt and currently a Jogger 140 bhp hybrid Extreme which is perfect for getting my Bull Mastiffs in. I also have an older BMW e60 525i and tbh all the Dacia’s actually have more tech and equipment than that does 🤷🏻♂️. My Jogger still has all the airbags, active braking, blind spot alert, sos call system, climate, cruise, touchscreen with CarPlay, heated seats etc. It’s a 7 seater but you can remove the rear two seats and you have a huge load area. They actually sell a sleep pack for it which turns the rear into a double bed with storage as well as a tailgate tent. Very practical cars.
Yes! My first car was a Renault 12 Gordini rally car. It weighed next to nothing but had 135 hp which isn't much now but was like crazy numbers back in 1973. A lot of it was cobbled together from Dacia 1300 parts tho, because they were still readily available in the late 2000's/early 2010's when I owned it.
the 1.5dci engine owned by Renault is used by Dacia, Nissan, infiniti and Mercedes. I put over 650 thousand kilometres on my Renault Fluence, never once gave me any problems
I've owned two Renaults, never again, both were complete nightmares with continuous electrical problems, cost me a fortune in repairs, they spent more time in the repair shop than on the road. Wouldn't ever touch a Renault again.
@@martinwebb1681 I have a Megane 2 1.5DCI, from 2005,already 600 000km,no electrical problems yet, only replaced distribution clutch,alternator and turbo,wich is normal after 18 years of dayly use. I guess you shouldn't go to that mechanic anymore,you been conned,an advice from a guy who makes all the manteinance and repairs myself.
@@draculakickyourass ... I had no choice the electrical faults were continuous, a complete nightmare, cost me over £1000 pound to get the second Renault Megane sorted, it spent six weeks in the garage. The first Renault was bad enough with continuous electrical faults with the lights etc, but the second had electrical faults that affected the engine, the thing ran like a pig and the lights had a life of there own, total nightmare, I'll never touch a Renault again, complete crap.
As a Romanian I'm glad we're getting some recognition from around the globe when it comes to our automotive industry. I love your energy and vibe when you're giving an opinion or a comment about a model. Great video!
last time i checked the cheapest Dacia was the Sandero which was 12.400 euros, but the Mitsubishi Space Star was 11.888 euros (those were the prices in Romania)
Good cars. Really. Reliable . Many with 500k + miles on the clock. Also since you said it, Romania produces: cars, trucks, busses, trains, trams, ships, planes, plane engines and more.
@@catalinpetrescu8488 Avioane Craiova SA. Also we make a lot of aircraft parts. We make jet engines parts and other Airbus parts. I also forgot to mention we produce rockets in Ploiești and submarines in the Ghiroda factory.
Dacia was quite popular in the GDR. They made Renault cars in license. The Dacia 1300 was a Renault 12 in license. The rally lights were quite popular in the GDR in the 80's. The license plate says it is registered in Halle/Saale.
My first car was a 1973 Renault 12 Gordini, but a lot of the parts on it were from Dacia 1300's because they were interchangeable and they were still making them well into the 90s.
Hey man, great clip! Dacia started building cars under license from Renault in '66. Dacia 1100 is actually the Renault 8, Dacia 1300-1410 is the Renault 12.
Been driving 2018 Dacia Sandero for a year, bought it for 4k€ it has all i need; cruise, A/C etc. With 0.9 tce engine its most economical car to run I've ever had, around 4,4l/100km (64mpg).
Hi Ian Dacia was founded by a partnership between Renault and Romania in the 60's. The 1st model was the 1100, a Renault 8 mounted in Romania. Then they made the 1310, 1410 and so on, all based on the Renault 12. There were pick ups, coupés, 5 door versions, which didn't exist here in France, all based on the Renault 12. The Securitate (local secret police) had Dacias 2000, simply rebadged Renault 20. Anywhere else Dacia cars are sold as Renault cars.
Very popular in the Uk .Basically taken over where Skoda was say 15 years ago .Owned by Renault .I think some of there cars use say the Clio drivetrain /engine from a previous model line . Seems very popular in South America though often badged Renault in those markets .In Colombia where they are assembled for instance I think they are the most popular model line in the country . They are cheap ,but not terrible by any means .
Well not just "some" are using the drivetrain.,,,, its pretty much all of them. Well except for that it was only the previous gen clio chassis, engines were always the same as renaults latest. With the models on sale currently, it uses the current renault chassis as well, so they are "up to date" in all regards regarding the drivetrain and chassis.
Really enjoyed the video, seeing your enthusiasm while talking about the Dacia range of cars made me happy. If you ever want to expand your knowledge of Romanian cars you should look up ARO, a now defunct off-road car company. Much love from Romania.
Im suprised to hear that the company is that old, I don't think I heard of them or saw any Dacia cars in real life until maybe sometime around 2010 when the Sandero was first launched, I guess they really ramped up production and became more mainstream/international after Renault took over, which makes sense since Renault is one of the biggest manufacturers in the world, they have the resources, facilities and know-how to help a small manufacturer grow quite quickly
@@AHVENAN Renault has nothing to do with Dacia Designs,u can check all the new designs are made by romanian students working at Dacia in Romania just because Renault has 51% actions in Dacia doesn't mean everything that Dacia makes atributes to French help,on contrary all the dusters sold outside as Renault Duster should be called Dacia Duster and many other cars that were made by the Dacia company that Renault simply rebrands them that I simply think could be considered theft if not for them owning that big porcentage of the Dacia
Romania had the following companies: Dacia ARO UTB (for tractors) Roman (Trucks and buses) IAR (Airplanes especially military jets) DAC (Another truck company) Olcit Daewu (I don't know exactly if it was 100% Romanian, but I know they had a factory locally) Right now in Romania are factories for: Ford Dacia Iveco (and I don't know if there are others too)
*Daewoo is Korean, but yes, it was quite popular. I actually drive a red Daewoo Cielo (from 2006), and is a great car and needed battery change only after 16 years of use. Never had any issue and driving it feels amazing. A great car for a humble person.
Was one of the first ones to buy a Dacia Duster in 2010. Never regretted the purchase ! The car passed the TÜV every time since then without any problems :) (edited for spelling mistake)
20 years ago, first dacia were sold in france, there were 1 years wait to have a car. the second cars dacia cars were more expensive than the brand new one, because of the wait
It is a budget brand from Romania that has always been associated with the Renault concern. During the communist era, it produced the Renault 12 under license. Dacia Duster is an off-road SUV with a manual gearbox, 4X4 reduction gear (Nissan) and engines from the Japanese company Nissan (used in the Nissan Juke model). The best is the 4x4 petrol version with factory LPG refueling installation . It meets high ecological standards and is very cheap to operate (a liter of liquid gas costs USD 0.72). Perfect for trips to the forest for a 2+2 family
Greetings from Germany, your channel is really cool... I noticed your cat in the background, he looks very happy and even resembles my Charlie... Really cute 👍🏻😄
I personally drive a Dacia Sandero from 2009 - it´s still running and starts with some flaws this year. Before that it was very reliable (it still is but the age is coming through). It´s one of the best cars I´ve ever had and I always would buy a Dacia again. Looking forward to the new Duster!
I bought my brandnew Dacia Sandero 12 years ago for 8000 Euros. This was about 1/3 of the price of a VW Golf, which size is similar to the Sandero. I'm 100 percent satisfied with it, not missing all the little unnecessary things, which make other cars expensive and heavy
My grandpa has a 2019 Dacia Duster. It´s quite a bang for the buck, but you notice the lower cost right when you touch it anywhere. The doors feel quite lightweight as does the steering wheel. And lots of scratchy plastic in the interior. I bought a Škoda Karoq last year and I can’t complain. It’s about 200-300k CZK more expensive than a Duster though. Dacia Jogger hybrid is an excellent budget 7 seater in my opinion.
Can not compalin, we got what we pay for. My coworker bought new Duster few days ago, it has 5 year warranty and basic service cost from 80 Euros (oil and filter, software update) and up. New car for familly of 5. Otherwise he could get Superb with 100.000Km or more for simillar money, and spent another 3000 to 4000 in next two years on maintenance.
Hi Ian and greetings from Europe! A fairly intriguing and interesting topic about the car and truck brands from Europe that americans aren't familiar with... and vice versa. Though us Europeans are mostly familiar with your brands since they are somehow present on our market as well. We are exempt from most of the model line, and so was in the past due to american cars being too big for our roads, parking lots and garages, also large fuel consumption and import costs. Yeah there are some american brands like Rivian, Fisker, Buick... from the defunct ones Oldsmobile, Pontiac (there were two or three models from Pontiac in European market as well...) beautiful cars. You can see them only on car collector events. As for European ones there is quite some major ones in car segment. You've mentioned Opel, Renault, Škoda, Dacia, Lada. There are also: - Lancia - Citroén - Peugeot - Seat - Cupra From old defunct ones Rover, Saab (not so interesting since they were available in US as well) and also some eastern european ones like Wartburg or FSO. Russians also have Zil, Volga or newer Aurus. There are a lot more of them defunct or present. But these I guess are/were the major ones. On bus and truck market there is much more of unknown stuff. There are a lot of Turkish brands present nowadays, like: - Otokar - Temsa and -Anadolu Isuzu - Mercedes Benz (Truck and bus) - Volvo (Truck and bus) - Solaris (Bus) - Neoplan (Bus/German) - Setra (Bus/German) - Scania (Bus and truck) - Iveco (Truck and bus - very popular) - Daf (Truck) - VDL (Bus) - Van Hool (Bus) - Heuliez Bus (Bus) - MAN (Truck and Bus) There are also Ford and Renault trucks present in Europe. In the past there was a lot of Magirus Deutz which is now incorporated into other brands. Hope you find some of these data interesting and useful for maybe another video. Kind regards and good luck with new videos.
I'm from and in Romania. It's a good very reliable car and cheap to repair, but here we look at it as a "old man's cheap car", we still love BMW and Mercedes way more. I'm glad that Renault bought Dacia, they do well with the marketing as I can see it. Those older cars were made during the Romanian's "Ceausescu" Comunist era that we got rid of in 1989. Cheers and keep it up!
Yeah Dacia is a Romanian car brand, and Romania before (like from medieval to wild west times) was called "Dacia" i guess the founder of this car brand got it's name inspiration from that. #historyofromania
Because you mentioned it in this context, John DeLorean, founder of DMC DeLorean, was romanian after his father... It doesn't have anything to do with Dacia, but somehow it fits here.
I feel like 80% of the rental car fleet in Iceland is the Dacia Duster. It's EVERYWHERE. That's a testament of toughness. Now I want one to toss around everywhere.
The Dacia 1300, from 1973, is a Renault 12. Very very popular in Australia in the 70's. Rode well on our bad roads - that magic French suspension. Were made here or put together here via CKD - Complete Knock Down. Last forever. Feels like driving a large car. Came in awesome pastel colours like our famous Kingwood's and Falcons and Valiants. Until lead was banned. The same car was sold in Turkey under a Turkish car maker. Lada sold the Samara and little 4wd Niva here in Australia. The Niva being very durable. Peter Brock even was involved with a version of the Samara. Can see on RUclips on Australian car adverts/research.
When you do a video about Opel I highly recommend looking into their older models. Their ‚golden era‘ kind of ended in the 2000s. But they used to be a premium brand with very luxurious and sporty cars.
Opel was a very popular car here in denmark back in the 70's and 80's. Opel kadett had the most sold new car record in a year (I believe it was in 1984), just got knocked off that record with Tesla model Y here.
They raced a Dacia at the Nurburgring 24h, it wasn’t a factory entry or anything, but it was very popular with the spectators (like the “fox tail” Opel Manta). iirc it raced twice, actually finished the first time, but got wrecked by a GT3 slamming into it (and completely destroying it) the second time. It had a Renault Clio rs motor swap but still was one of the slowest cars out on track.
Once I saw a YT video from a guy who made animations. One was transforming a wrench into the (new) Dacia logo, the other was a scissor jack transformed to the Renault logo. Burned into my brain... 🙃
Romanian here, its funny for me to hear the english pronunciation of the word Dacia. The way you pronounce the c in Dacia is the same way you would pronounce the word Qi(chi) in Chinese. Hope that helps!
In Germany the Sandero and Duster are pretty common but Dacia was very looked down upon in the Car szene bc they are the "cheap brand" of Renault, which some people by itself view cheap and not reliable(it literally said Dacia by Renault on the back). They were also probably the cheapest cars you can buy here new, so that didnt help the image. The old ones really were "bland" cars but the newer models are slowly changing peoples opinions about the brand. Probably also bc new German models are getting so expensive but German brand loyalty is still strong here so any foreign car always gets shit on here. You should look up some Duster offroading videos, they are very capable offroad Machines as 4x4s. Greetings from Germany
Regarding to the logo, the current logo that you see on the 1st advert is a D and C joined together so it read Dacia, before it had the full name like Porsche until last year where they did some rebranding. It is a very good brand for the money, simple mechanical car, with general quality interior to take you from A to B. Using older renault parts, engines, etc... makes them actually more reliable than current renaults 😂
@@gaborbakos7058 Picture this, I live in a country where the region the car is named after is called Dakia, the importers first tried to call it Dacha in their ads, the people (I among them) call it Datsia while we all know it has a correct pronunciation that is way different from what any English speakers use.
The first Dacia result on Wikipedia shows the map and history of Dacia, the ancient land in east center Europe that was conquered by romans, most of it on Romania's modern teritory. Take a visit to Romania, i'll show around😊
3 years ago the sandero was under 10K in germany. I think Dacia wouldnt sell well in the US because most new american cars do 0-60 in under 10 seconds and got more standart features.
I have a station wagon from Dacia and it taken me around everywhere even on gravel roads.
10 месяцев назад
The amateur race car you saw is the Dacia Logan Cup. Great little thing Dacia made as an entry level car years ago. I used to race one for a couple of years. Low cost, easy maintenance. Beautiful. And competitors on the track usually kept a respectful distance. Why? Not because you were faster. But because any possible dent in your Dacia would cost just a couple of bucks to fix.
Speaking of motorsport program, they used to have two kits for the Logan, a touring car and a rally car kit. There was also a Renault-run Dacia Cup for the Logan. There was a very famous Dacia Logan running at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in the 24H of the Nurburgring - by far the slowest car but hands down the fan favourite for years for its funny look. Unfortunately it was collected by a Porsche GT3 last year and totalled, and the car is beyond repair so they've discontinued that program. But they've now stepped up their game in off road with a real factory team for the Dakar and World Rally Raid championship, with none other than Sebastien Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez as factory drivers from 2025, so that will be interesting.
@3:00 - The logo is the D and C from DaCia. It's the new 2023 logo - the old one was like a bottle opener (with standard caps, not twist offs) The Sandero is a sub-compact hatch, smaller than the Crosstrek and just FWD. It has the sibling, the Dacia Logan which has a sedan body The Bigster will be the big brother to the Duster
I have a Sandero stepway, love my car. I chose Sandero over Duster because I'm short and its a bit more difficult to get in and the seatbelts weren't so comfortable. Also, Sandero has the display higher, closer to the "road". And it's smaller, easier to park in cities
Dacia was something of a latecomer to the major European manufacturer scene, but the brand's gradual resurrection since the 1990s is a success story on par with that of Škoda. 🙂 Romania used to have another passenger car brand in the pre-1990s era, Oltcit, a collaboration with Citroen, but it didn't last long. The name was a combination of Citroen and Oltenia, the latter a name of a southern Romanian historical region. (Probably where they assembled those Romanian Citroens ?) The fact that Dacia stuck around and narrowly survived, was by the 1990s, about one of the few positive legacies of the former Romanian dictatorship. A by-and-large local car brand that would slowly recover by the 2000s and then start getting successful internationally. Since Romania is a Romance-speaking country and has long historical ties with France, it's no surprise their passenger car brands collaborated closely with French car-makers in the post-WWII years and that Dacia as the main surviving car maker became a subsidiary of Renault. The Dacia Logan from twenty years ago was the first one since the Renault takeover that became a real breakout model, much like the Felicia and especially the Octavia did for Škoda back in the mid-to-late 1990s. Funnily enough, the Logan has also sold just fine in other markets where Renaults and other French cars are commonly sold and seen. Including North African ones. You laugh, but even in The Bourne Ultimatum, which premiered in 2007, one scene where Jason Bourne evades the police in Tangiers, Morocco, has the local police driving a Dacia Logan patrol cruiser. I've always found that detail cute. :-) Back then, people were appreciative of Dacia finally breaking out internationally, but I doubt anyone would have predicted how well it would do by the early 2020s. Volkswagen has Škoda as its older Czech sis who often even outperforms some Volkswagen sales, and Renault has Dacia as its younger sister that's also selling very well in a lot of niches that Renault might not always cover.
Dacia 1300 was such a good car, it looked cheap but it's so hard to find original pieces and it was so good even if it stopped working you could've started it with a wrench or smth. I believe in the famous romanian movie "Miami Bici 2" , they managed to bring one in LA.
In Denmark we have a taxi company that runs Dacia Lodgy cars, and some cars in their fleet has run 1M kilometers with almost nothing but normal wear parts on the service history. Amazing economy
In Romania you can tell reliable cars by the options chosen by the taxi companies and taxi drivers, which take take every cent into consideration. Needles to say, nothing has beaten Sandero and Logan yet.
I have a Passat for normal usage and a 2013 1.6 Dacia pickup when I do light work on my land and for fishing. The pickup with normal maintenance never caused me any trouble. It's probably gonna stay with me for many years to come.
Im Danish, ive never seen that and never heard about that - and i travel a lot for my job...
@@ifrimvlad that's the thing. Folk are saying Renault based car are not very good but the fact that Volvo worked with Renault back in the 1980s and 90s. Most 300 and 400 series Volvos used Renault engines except maybe 360 GLT. I mean, even Renault are supplying small engines to Mercedes and the small MB van, which is based on a Kangoo prove their reliability, so of course Dacia will be the same.
Thank you so very much for your appreciation from Romania 🇷🇴.
Exact Renault is a good brand, Peugeot only 2010 start improving 208 was awesome 507 is great but when Renault released Megane 2 and Clio with no rust on panels and new frame 5 star ⭐ rating crash even other couldn't keep up
Ayy, Romanian here :D
Also the "ci" in Dacia is pronounced the same as "ci" in "ciao" italian.
My dad had a 1310, then a 1st gen Dacia Logan since 2004. He still has it, bought new for about 5K euro, never broke down.
And a new Dacia Duster 2023, top of the line 4x4 150hp engine for 21K.
So, Che “ch” would be pronounced hard❓
🚗🙂
Yes @@jeffking4176
@@jeffking4176 yes, like chair, better like the chi from tai chi. Da-ci-a. :)
@@jeffking4176, in English it would be like pronouncing "Datchia"
@@vald9698 Why? Do you write ,,Tchicago'' or ,,Chicago''?
The duster is a small suv, the Sandero is a hatchback.
Sandero is a Crossover
@@silesiaminers98 Sandero is a hatchback , Stepway is crossover-styled version of Sandero .
The Sandero is similar to the Renault Clio.
@@silesiaminers98 Sandero is a hatchback, but Sandero Stepway is a crossover version of Sandero
@@automation7295 you're right I forgot completely that there's Sandero and stepway. Here where I live all Sandero are stepway versions. My bad.
There is a saying here in Romania among mechanics, which translates to: Volkswagen and BMWs are in the auto workshops, the Dacia is on the streets, clocking miles.
When Dacia got bought by Renault, the french company decided to make the new Dacia models using the old Renault technology, engines, panels, etc. who were proven very reliable and had a budget price, while Renault developed new technology on the main brand. So Dacia became the budget brand of Renault on the european markets.
Wtf are you saying.Szeklers are dumb.
They did use old Renault tech in the past, but most new Dacias have the same tech as contamporary Renaults.
Starting 2024, they remove all restrictions for Dacia so they are able to compete with any other brand. I believed the same is for Skoda in VAG
Surprisingly accurate. One thing to add for the exreyor panels, atleast for the second Sandero model, was made from scratch.
To my knowledge only the interior and mechanical parts are comon amongst Renault cars.
And now Dacia is the only thing that keeps Renault alive :)
Dacia are pretty good cars actually. We have them in Norway too - well done, Romania!
I drive a DACIA Dokker since 2017 and find it is an incredible value for its price. Fun fact: My car comes from a romanian brand, owned by a french brand and build in Marocco! 😅👍👍👍
That's just globalism and corporations eating each other. nothing new.
My country has no automotive-based brand, but we mount VW's, Toyotas and Peugeots/Citroens..
Where am I? =)
(Note: there is a debate on if Dacias mounted in Morocco are better than the ones mounted in Romania - I think the same model is mounted on different locations, for different markets).
@@sirsancti5504 Mexico?
yeah they are sold to differ markets. The ones made in Pitesti are sold in Europe and the ones made in Tanger are sold in Morocco, Egypt, etc. There are also Dacia plants in Columbia, Brazil, Russia (well, before the war), and other countries xD@@sirsancti5504
Imitație de lemn ce imită pielea 😂😂😂
Dacia is a beloved brand here in Romania. The engineers who worked on it put a lot of soul into their creation. There are also rich people who prefer a Dacia Duster because they don't want to waste money on a famous brand when Dacia offers them similar performance.
Dacia is owned by the French Renault car company now, and they use Renault engines and underpinnings. They used to use superseded Renault tech, which were tried and tested designs needing no new R&D, which could be made and sold cheaply. Nowadays, Dacia cars are pretty modern, more stylish and better equipped, and whilst still good value, not quite as cheap as they were a decade back.
Came here to say this. I would definitely consider a Dacia if I were to buy a new Car. Skoda had the same with VW buying them and using older VW tech to make Skoda's. They have become a proper brand now, although no longer budget unfortunately.
Yep, France is full of them.
You're full of it, just like Renaut
Like Renaut ? WTF is that? What he says is true its easy to find out using the internet but you have to spell the words correctly sometimes.@@xSlavic
main thing to keep in mind: they are fairly easy to repair. because of the main market romania.
We have a Dacio Sandero Stepway (the higher riding semi SUV version). Old logo version. Very reliable 1.5 liter 4 cylinder turbodiesel engine that Mercedes also put in the Smart. Great engine. Manual shift of course (5 speed). Good looks. No problems with that car. You see the low price level in some small finishing details, but they are really very good value for the money.
The trick is to use the same instrument panels, buttons, seats and such in different models. And most of the tech is Renault so any mechanic in France can repair them. Parts are affordable too.
The Duster SUV comes in frontwheel drive and in 4x4; the latter does pretty well in offroad use.
Our Sandero consumes close to 5 liters of diesel per 100 km. What's that, 60 miles to the gallon?
Hello. I have a Dacia Logan since January 2008. I don't really use it anymore, I have another car that I use every day, I drive the Logan only occasionally but it served me faithfully for years. No major expenses other than those for consumables and fuel. I also use it when going to work and on holidays. I've been with it in Greece, in Poland, on mountain roads or on highways and it has never put me to shame in front of other more expensive and better rated cars. When I bought it, I paid almost 11,000 euros because it was top of the range in terms of equipment at that time. It has air conditioning, on-board computer, front and rear electric windows, electrically adjustable and heated side mirrors, central locking with remote control, CD audio system with 4 speakers from Blaupunkt, power steering, ABS, EBD. The new models are much better equipped, including a start-stop system, keyless operation, cruise control, lane assist, hill assist, etc. The engine in my car is 1.5 dCi, i.e. 1.5 liter turbodiesel, common rail injection. The version on my car has 90 hp. The same engine in various power versions is also found on other cars from the Dacia range, but also on Renault and Nissan models, including one of the Mercedes class A variants. As for performance, 0-100 km/h in about 11 seconds and as the maximum speed, I went with it at 174 km/h on the GPS. this is because I have a 5-speed manual gearbox. Newer models with the same engine but 6-speed gearbox reach 190 - 200 km/h. It has the best consumption if you go on a long road constantly somewhere between 110 and 130 km/h. The consumption is somewhere around 4.3 liters per hundred km without air conditioning and about 4.8 liters per hundred km with the air conditioning on. In the city it consumes between 5 and 7 liters per 100 km depending on the traffic. All in all I am very pleased with it. It is a constitutive car. It doesn't offer you I don't know what, but it doesn't claim to either, and it does surprisingly well what it says it offers. The next car in its place will almost certainly be a Logan, obviously the new generation.
No lane assist yet, maybe with the new Duster and Sandero facelift.
yeah, they do have auto emergency break though :D @@laurradu868
@@laurradu868Maybe…
Can’t expect much from a Dacia.
Il vinzi?
@@shelbyv2658 nu. Loganul îl va folosi fiul meu ca prima lui mașină.
Interesting that you discovered Dacia! These Dusters are very popular in Europe, in fact the best selling SUVs over here. I have a 2019 Duster w. 4wd and a torquey diesel engine, a very good combination. It also has a 6 speed manual trans. Been very reliable in spite of the low price.
maybe I'm wrong, but I think that the duster is not a SUV. a SUV is a car that looks somewhat like a car with offroad-capability, but do not try to offroad.
the duster on the other hand is a real all terrain vehicle. you should respect its limitations, but it is not just a car that wants to appear to be offroaders, but a real offroader.
but I understand, that this is the european side. the american side demands much more offroad capability of an SUV.
@@robertheinrich2994 Duster in 2WD are quite capable but in 4x4 / 4WD versions are off-road ready since are light and reliable tall enough to pass obstacles, specially if you add some decent BF-Goodrich KO2, KO3 all-terrain tires on them if you want clips to see them against other SUV just look here on these links..
2WD versions : ruclips.net/video/Sjb2ROCFABg/видео.html
Since Duster is affordable is sold to all over the world gain the famous :"Best budget SUV of the world" (Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, South Africa, Morroco, Jordan, Siria, Lebanon, Egypt, Spain, Germany, France, UK, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Czeck, Poland, Turkey, Latvia, Kazaksthan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Duster has gain popularity and have fun-clubs everywhere here are few examples that people use them in expeditions to test them to limits in different wild nature off-road scenarios (first is from Turkey) :
ruclips.net/video/epmpX299OtA/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/kiT5GNZ2UqU/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/X0M2uhWl3WU/видео.html
From Romania :
ruclips.net/video/bpRG8R63Wr8/видео.html
From Czech :
ruclips.net/video/neF_bm91J1A/видео.html
From French :
ruclips.net/video/REdNGFYSNYg/видео.html
From Russia :
ruclips.net/video/qVSlwWHU8LM/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/uWdjOnYUf9s/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/iJmh_zCmHio/видео.html
Isn't the 4x4 derived from Nissan?
@@VinDieselS70 could be. these companies form a cluster renault, dacia, nissan. and don't forget renault samsung motors.
@@robertheinrich2994 did not know about Renault Samsung with Mitsubishi but I'm aware that some big Citroën and Peugeot SUV's were a rebadged Mitsubishi but then that not Renault as such.
The Volvo 300 and 400 series used a mix of Renault engines and S40/V40 MK1 used Renault diesel engines.
I drive a 2021 Dacia Duster as a job car. I'm totally amazed by it. A cheap car that competes and most of the time beats the expensive cars of it's class
Lodgy owner here.
Very happy with my "voâturescu romanescu" made in Morocco 👍
Cheap, reliable, 7 seats. Perfect for our needs in Europe and I will put in tho boat when I retire to Africa where my old Kangoo already awaits us.
I bought 2. gen. Sandero in 2020, brand new for 9070€! They were lot cheaper few years back. I drive it every day, it is handling surprisingly good. Great car for that money.
in 2010 a dacia logan was 5000 euros:))
you can look over the ARO, is an old romanian offroad car and was used in military and was a daily car. It will be intresting if you make a reaction
A few details about Dacia:
- it is called after Dacia land (first wiki page you opened)
- used to be budget brand, not so much anymore, at least compared to the local average income)
- it is a brand owned by Renault
- Dacia cars are reliable, with average maintenance costs
- they use really small engines (0.9 to 1.3 liter petrol engines)
there are cheaper brands?
@@GdzieJestNemo only second hand imported from all over europe, that muppet born in 2007 is to young to even drive.
@@GdzieJestNemo They are THE budget brand throughout Europe, including Romania (don't really understand the "used to" part of the OP here). Suzuki, Hyundai and Skoda I think are the direct competitors, but I consider them on on-par without going into too much analysis on pros and cons of each brand.
And no @Xeridas, "used cars" are not "cheaper brands".
It’s still a budget brand.
They don’t cost as much as a Renault.
Overall cars got more expensive
And dacia is still the cheapest one
Blame the politicians for the inflation
I drive a 2014 Duster 4x4 diesel, chose it because it seemed to be the best fuel economy 4x4 on sale at the time, can get 60mpg on long journeys. 228k miles and been very reliable, only had to change alternator, lower control arm and a rubber hose. New rrp was £14,000 in 2014, but a base spec petrol 2x4 Duster Access was £8,995 back then. They also now sell an LPG Duster, and in LHD markets there is an EV called Spring.
The yellow pickup had the hood scoop because the hood was design to be on a gas car and they put a naturally aspirated 1.9 diesel Renault engine in the pickups which didn't clear the hood. So then they just cut a hole in it and put a hood scoop to clear the engine. That was some cheap engineering at the time but you could identify the engine in those from a mile away.
Hi, Ian! Nice video! I'm an owner of a Dacia 1300 from 1979 (pretty much just like the one at 11:58 except mine is red) and what I can tell you about owning one is that they do indeed break quite a lot, but they are ridiculously easy to repair also because the engine bay was designed in such a way that you have a lot of space. Because they are so repair-friendly, you could say they are quite eco-friendly as well since there still a lot of elderly people daily driving them. I don't daily drive it, it's just for car meets and parades and everytime we take it out for a spin, people turn their heads since this is still considered Romania's people's car and many people have fond memories about them. About later models, I like the early 2000 models more than the current ones as they were basiclly refreshed designes of the same late 60's car they were producing for over 30 years. They looked retro, while still being somewhat modern, especially after 2000 when they introduced EFI and Euro 2 catalyzers (on the same engine they used for more than 30 years). That's also why I think I will buy a 2004 Dacia 1310 (2004 being the last year of production) and daily drive it. Modern Dacia's just look boring in my opinion. They look soulless and made out of plastic. Older ones have an unmistakeable engine sound, when you close the doors they sound like pure metal, the clutch pedal always squeaks, the car always smells like petrol etc. It just feels alive. Anyway, I will now try to attach a few RUclips links that are relevant to the topic. And again, great video! Cheers from Romania! :)
Last Dacia 1310 (21st of July 2004)
ruclips.net/video/Hn_a757ZgX8/видео.htmlsi=6R4yydD_87Tns-sM
1998 (no, not '88, it's from '98) Carburated Dacia 1310:
ruclips.net/video/R6MySmR4U8Q/видео.htmlsi=M5-077u2Czji9tDb
2003 Dacia 1310 with EFI:
ruclips.net/video/nNDJiOOTE8A/видео.htmlsi=UcBWuFv0Sc5pAwVs
There used to be a saying among Dacia 1310 drivers:"All you need to repair that thing, is a hammer, some solder and a wire"
@@Shiftinggers And it was true. While not the most reliable car in the world, it made up in its repair-friendlines. It formed an entire generation of car mechanics.
Good news! Very good quailty, low cost cars. Reliable too. I see lots of them on the street. If you don't have a big budget, these are worth a look.
Oh well moving on
Low quality materials inside, nice look outside.
The Dacia Sandero is almost here :))
Well... If have enough money in 7 years to buy a better car, than it's perhaps the right decision. If not, the pain will start after this 7 years!
@@melchiorvonsternberg844 Who are you?
Our car is a Dacia Duster I am wheelchair disabled and it is easier to transfer into as it has an optional foot rest along the outside. Incidentally it is smashing on flooded roads. The space at the back is fab too. We got the 4x2 version.
Glad to hear that? Do they sell it in US ?
19:58 - Commercial means they are work vehicles, usually with only two seats and a cargo area in the back.
yes, that (labor cars, construction cars etc) or company cars :)
You have missed the most important model... Mk1 and Mk2 Logan.
Mk1 Logan was car, that you could buy for 6000€ in 2004/2005. It used 1.4l 75HP Renault engine. It was really the bearest minimum to be roadworthy. (in this 6k€/ 8700USD/169 000CZK there was no power steering, no AC, power windows, power locks, radio, ABS.... That was all optional extra.) You can also have 1.6MPI, 1.2 16V and 1.5 diesel
Mk2 Logan MCV. was a succesor made from 2012 to 2018. You could purchuase them from 180 000CZK(9000USD).
My father used to own MK1 from 2006 to 2015, I own one right now as a student. I have got the exact minimum trim level, but I have a positive altitude about it... If there is nothing, nothing can break. It does between 35 to 45 MPG, range is around 500 miles.
My father owns a MK2 Logan MCV, but in top trim level, price in 2013 approx 396 000CZK(18 000USD). It is a 90HP 1.5dCi, that can do easily (extra urban) 60MPG. When i was hypermiling shit out of it, i have reached 80MPG.But normally... its about 50 MPG.(so the range is approx 750 miles on slightly overfilled tank). Its got a cruise control, AC, satnav, bluetooth, towing joint, comfortable seats, power windows, power locks... ) Back then it was a bargain... And nowdays those cars are gaining popularity as a second hand cars, because of theri reliability, no need for branded service and original parts, and ease of maintanance.
Dacias are known for having the opposite philosophy of luxury sports cars, basically using the minimally viable motor/horsepower and infotainment system. But considering that most European countries aren't Germany and are limited to 120/130km/h on highways anyway this usually doesn't matter. Especially onsidering most people only move their own ass plus maybe one passenger and or three days of groceries, so you'll never need it unless you absolutely want fast acceleration.
Dacias are simply "Point A to Point B" type of cars.
That Dacia PickUp is traditionally called Papucl, meaning Slipper because of its shape. The Papuc car was the first 4X4 Dacia and it was and still is very popular for farmers as it is a very durable car, easy to fix, cheap to fix too and very versatile.
May: Good News!
Clarkson: What?
May: the new Dacia Sandero will come to Britian!
Anyway... The new Ferrari...
Heh. Came here to start making Top Gear jokes - completely stoked to see somebody beat me to it!
May : Bad News!
Clarkson : What ?
May : The Dacia Sandero... It's delayed !
Clarkson : OH NO! Anyway last week !
Thanks for reminding us good old times 😂
Oh no... anyway
As a romanian, i want to thank you for covering this. Last year i bought a Sandero Stepway, in the Extreme configuration. It has the bi-fuel Eco-g 100 engine. Excelent for fuel costs. It's FWD, but has the Extended Grip system from Renault. I tested it in the forest of Romania, both on muddy and snowy roads. I was quite impressed. Of course, it's not on the same level as a 4×4, but it could save you from a nasty situation. I truly love this car, and i'm looking forward to the Bigster.
The badge snobs hate them and value conscious people who think all the high tech rubbish isn’t needed love them! I’ve had 3, Duster 4x4 150 bhp tce Prestige, Sandero Stepway Prestige 0.9 tce 90 bhp cvt and currently a Jogger 140 bhp hybrid Extreme which is perfect for getting my Bull Mastiffs in. I also have an older BMW e60 525i and tbh all the Dacia’s actually have more tech and equipment than that does 🤷🏻♂️. My Jogger still has all the airbags, active braking, blind spot alert, sos call system, climate, cruise, touchscreen with CarPlay, heated seats etc. It’s a 7 seater but you can remove the rear two seats and you have a huge load area. They actually sell a sleep pack for it which turns the rear into a double bed with storage as well as a tailgate tent. Very practical cars.
Nice that you have taken the time to do this video for Dacia. I'm from Romania.
Dacia1100 and 1300 were Renault 8 and 12
Yes! My first car was a Renault 12 Gordini rally car. It weighed next to nothing but had 135 hp which isn't much now but was like crazy numbers back in 1973. A lot of it was cobbled together from Dacia 1300 parts tho, because they were still readily available in the late 2000's/early 2010's when I owned it.
... But worse
Romanian here, thank you for covering Dacia. Your video was pretty funny.
the 1.5dci engine owned by Renault is used by Dacia, Nissan, infiniti and Mercedes. I put over 650 thousand kilometres on my Renault Fluence, never once gave me any problems
I've owned two Renaults, never again, both were complete nightmares with continuous electrical problems, cost me a fortune in repairs, they spent more time in the repair shop than on the road. Wouldn't ever touch a Renault again.
@@martinwebb1681but the 1,5dci engine is reliable and very good one, that was the point
@@martinwebb1681 the 1.9 DCI is great apart from the vibrations and some electrical problems
@@martinwebb1681 I have a Megane 2 1.5DCI, from 2005,already 600 000km,no electrical problems yet, only replaced distribution clutch,alternator and turbo,wich is normal after 18 years of dayly use. I guess you shouldn't go to that mechanic anymore,you been conned,an advice from a guy who makes all the manteinance and repairs myself.
@@draculakickyourass ... I had no choice the electrical faults were continuous, a complete nightmare, cost me over £1000 pound to get the second Renault Megane sorted, it spent six weeks in the garage. The first Renault was bad enough with continuous electrical faults with the lights etc, but the second had electrical faults that affected the engine, the thing ran like a pig and the lights had a life of there own, total nightmare, I'll never touch a Renault again, complete crap.
As a Romanian I'm glad we're getting some recognition from around the globe when it comes to our automotive industry. I love your energy and vibe when you're giving an opinion or a comment about a model. Great video!
The current Dacia duster you saw in the commercial is the best looking Duster of all the generations
‼️Dacia just unveiled the Dacia Sandrider, their 2025 Dakar Rally Car with a 360 HP Nissan engine. One of the pilots is Sebastian Loeb
Dacia i think is today the cheapest car brand you can get in Europe. 20 years ago it was Lada, Skoda and so on.
last time i checked the cheapest Dacia was the Sandero which was 12.400 euros, but the Mitsubishi Space Star was 11.888 euros (those were the prices in Romania)
What about Fiat?
@@berezcorp Fiat is a budget car also but Dacia i would say is in the bottom of the swamp!
@@bog423 Well... duh... Mitsubishi is leaving Europe.. so they are now selling cars at much reduced rate to sell off any stock remaining.
@@KayoMichiels They are? Dang
Good cars. Really. Reliable . Many with 500k + miles on the clock. Also since you said it, Romania produces: cars, trucks, busses, trains, trams, ships, planes, plane engines and more.
Where do we still build planes, though, lol?
@@catalinpetrescu8488 Avioane Craiova SA. Also we make a lot of aircraft parts. We make jet engines parts and other Airbus parts. I also forgot to mention we produce rockets in Ploiești and submarines in the Ghiroda factory.
@@Jack_The_Ripper_Hereîntr-adevăr, tocmai am văzut azi o știre cu IAR 99 SM :D Nu e ceva foarte avansat, însă tot este ceva, wow. Point given.
@@catalinpetrescu8488 👍
Dacia was quite popular in the GDR.
They made Renault cars in license.
The Dacia 1300 was a Renault 12 in license.
The rally lights were quite popular in the GDR in the 80's.
The license plate says it is registered in Halle/Saale.
Dacia is the ancient name of the country that is now Romania. Ergo, Dacia, Romania...
My first car was a 1973 Renault 12 Gordini, but a lot of the parts on it were from Dacia 1300's because they were interchangeable and they were still making them well into the 90s.
Hey man, great clip! Dacia started building cars under license from Renault in '66. Dacia 1100 is actually the Renault 8, Dacia 1300-1410 is the Renault 12.
Been driving 2018 Dacia Sandero for a year, bought it for 4k€ it has all i need; cruise, A/C etc. With 0.9 tce engine its most economical car to run I've ever had, around 4,4l/100km (64mpg).
Yea, lack of power is always economical.
0.9TCe is best engine in Twingo. With hybrid turbskie and tune You can get over 150hp from it.
yeah got the same model. pretty good car for its money
But it's fkn booring and ugly!!! Cars is fun when they look good, have power and gadgets!!!
@@Kent. usually said by folk with tiny appendages
Hi Ian
Dacia was founded by a partnership between Renault and Romania in the 60's. The 1st model was the 1100, a Renault 8 mounted in Romania. Then they made the 1310, 1410 and so on, all based on the Renault 12. There were pick ups, coupés, 5 door versions, which didn't exist here in France, all based on the Renault 12.
The Securitate (local secret police) had Dacias 2000, simply rebadged Renault 20. Anywhere else Dacia cars are sold as Renault cars.
Very popular in the Uk .Basically taken over where Skoda was say 15 years ago .Owned by Renault .I think some of there cars use say the Clio drivetrain /engine from a previous model line . Seems very popular in South America though often badged Renault in those markets .In Colombia where they are assembled for instance I think they are the most popular model line in the country .
They are cheap ,but not terrible by any means .
Well not just "some" are using the drivetrain.,,,, its pretty much all of them. Well except for that it was only the previous gen clio chassis, engines were always the same as renaults latest. With the models on sale currently, it uses the current renault chassis as well, so they are "up to date" in all regards regarding the drivetrain and chassis.
thanks@@GoldenCroc
Really enjoyed the video, seeing your enthusiasm while talking about the Dacia range of cars made me happy. If you ever want to expand your knowledge of Romanian cars you should look up ARO, a now defunct off-road car company. Much love from Romania.
Im suprised to hear that the company is that old, I don't think I heard of them or saw any Dacia cars in real life until maybe sometime around 2010 when the Sandero was first launched, I guess they really ramped up production and became more mainstream/international after Renault took over, which makes sense since Renault is one of the biggest manufacturers in the world, they have the resources, facilities and know-how to help a small manufacturer grow quite quickly
Dacia was never a small manufacturer, they were exporting a lot since the 60`s-70`s, but mostly to communist countries, South America and Africa.
@@stefanhurdubeti9563 OK so what Renault did was help them gain traction mostly in Europe then, and maybe update their designs
@@AHVENAN Renault has nothing to do with Dacia Designs,u can check all the new designs are made by romanian students working at Dacia in Romania just because Renault has 51% actions in Dacia doesn't mean everything that Dacia makes atributes to French help,on contrary all the dusters sold outside as Renault Duster should be called Dacia Duster and many other cars that were made by the Dacia company that Renault simply rebrands them that I simply think could be considered theft if not for them owning that big porcentage of the Dacia
Romania had the following companies:
Dacia
ARO
UTB (for tractors)
Roman (Trucks and buses)
IAR (Airplanes especially military jets)
DAC (Another truck company)
Olcit
Daewu (I don't know exactly if it was 100% Romanian, but I know they had a factory locally)
Right now in Romania are factories for:
Ford
Dacia
Iveco
(and I don't know if there are others too)
*Daewoo is Korean, but yes, it was quite popular. I actually drive a red Daewoo Cielo (from 2006), and is a great car and needed battery change only after 16 years of use. Never had any issue and driving it feels amazing. A great car for a humble person.
Was one of the first ones to buy a Dacia Duster in 2010. Never regretted the purchase ! The car passed the TÜV every time since then without any problems :) (edited for spelling mistake)
Got mine in 2011, passed the TÜV the day before yesterday. Repair costs over 13 years have not yet reached €1K.
Other Romanian brands: Oltcit (small hatchbacks), ARO (similar to Range Robers), brands from comunism era.
20 years ago, first dacia were sold in france, there were 1 years wait to have a car. the second cars dacia cars were more expensive than the brand new one, because of the wait
you do have dacia in US for sure, there is actually a club where people drive old Dacias in a parade like fashion once a year.
It is a budget brand from Romania that has always been associated with the Renault concern. During the communist era, it produced the Renault 12 under license. Dacia Duster is an off-road SUV with a manual gearbox, 4X4 reduction gear (Nissan) and engines from the Japanese company Nissan (used in the Nissan Juke model). The best is the 4x4 petrol version with factory LPG refueling installation . It meets high ecological standards and is very cheap to operate (a liter of liquid gas costs USD 0.72). Perfect for trips to the forest for a 2+2 family
Dacia is constantly being improved and has cool, sleek lines Greetings 🇪🇺🇳🇱
James May of Top Gear / Grand Tour fame was always banging the Dacia Sandero drum!
Good News!!!!
Greetings from Germany, your channel is really cool... I noticed your cat in the background, he looks very happy and even resembles my Charlie... Really cute 👍🏻😄
you should check Automobile ARO another brand of auto that was made in romania
I personally drive a Dacia Sandero from 2009 - it´s still running and starts with some flaws this year. Before that it was very reliable (it still is but the age is coming through). It´s one of the best cars I´ve ever had and I always would buy a Dacia again. Looking forward to the new Duster!
S.C. Automobile Dacia S.A. is owned by Renault S.A.
Renault has lots of successes like Renault Clio. Dacia works. It’s been tested.
Doesnt matter, Renault has no sales in USA anyway
@@jkarra2334 He is Trans American 🙄 Born in to wrong place 🙄
Yep, since 1999
@@jkarra2334but pretty much whole Nissan is under Renault. So... few pieces can be in US with renault logo.
I bought my brandnew Dacia Sandero 12 years ago for 8000 Euros. This was about 1/3 of the price of a VW Golf, which size is similar to the Sandero. I'm 100 percent satisfied with it, not missing all the little unnecessary things, which make other cars expensive and heavy
My grandpa has a 2019 Dacia Duster. It´s quite a bang for the buck, but you notice the lower cost right when you touch it anywhere. The doors feel quite lightweight as does the steering wheel. And lots of scratchy plastic in the interior. I bought a Škoda Karoq last year and I can’t complain. It’s about 200-300k CZK more expensive than a Duster though. Dacia Jogger hybrid is an excellent budget 7 seater in my opinion.
Can not compalin, we got what we pay for.
My coworker bought new Duster few days ago, it has 5 year warranty and basic service cost from 80 Euros (oil and filter, software update) and up.
New car for familly of 5.
Otherwise he could get Superb with 100.000Km or more for simillar money, and spent another 3000 to 4000 in next two years on maintenance.
I remember one Dacia commercial where they used "Another bites the dust" but changed it to "Another one buys a Duster"
Hi Ian and greetings from Europe!
A fairly intriguing and interesting topic about the car and truck brands from Europe that americans aren't familiar with... and vice versa. Though us Europeans are mostly familiar with your brands since they are somehow present on our market as well.
We are exempt from most of the model line, and so was in the past due to american cars being too big for our roads, parking lots and garages, also large fuel consumption and import costs.
Yeah there are some american brands like Rivian, Fisker, Buick... from the defunct ones Oldsmobile, Pontiac (there were two or three models from Pontiac in European market as well...) beautiful cars. You can see them only on car collector events.
As for European ones there is quite some major ones in car segment. You've mentioned Opel, Renault, Škoda, Dacia, Lada.
There are also:
- Lancia
- Citroén
- Peugeot
- Seat
- Cupra
From old defunct ones Rover, Saab (not so interesting since they were available in US as well) and also some eastern european ones like Wartburg or FSO. Russians also have Zil, Volga or newer Aurus. There are a lot more of them defunct or present. But these I guess are/were the major ones.
On bus and truck market there is much more of unknown stuff.
There are a lot of Turkish brands present nowadays, like:
- Otokar
- Temsa
and
-Anadolu Isuzu
- Mercedes Benz (Truck and bus)
- Volvo (Truck and bus)
- Solaris (Bus)
- Neoplan (Bus/German)
- Setra (Bus/German)
- Scania (Bus and truck)
- Iveco (Truck and bus - very popular)
- Daf (Truck)
- VDL (Bus)
- Van Hool (Bus)
- Heuliez Bus (Bus)
- MAN (Truck and Bus)
There are also Ford and Renault trucks present in Europe.
In the past there was a lot of Magirus Deutz which is now incorporated into other brands.
Hope you find some of these data interesting and useful for maybe another video.
Kind regards and good luck with new videos.
Excellent information thank You 😎🎉
I'm from and in Romania. It's a good very reliable car and cheap to repair, but here we look at it as a "old man's cheap car", we still love BMW and Mercedes way more. I'm glad that Renault bought Dacia, they do well with the marketing as I can see it. Those older cars were made during the Romanian's "Ceausescu" Comunist era that we got rid of in 1989. Cheers and keep it up!
Yeah Dacia is a Romanian car brand, and Romania before (like from medieval to wild west times) was called "Dacia" i guess the founder of this car brand got it's name inspiration from that. #historyofromania
The logo always reminds me of the DeLorean logo.
Because you mentioned it in this context, John DeLorean, founder of DMC DeLorean, was romanian after his father... It doesn't have anything to do with Dacia, but somehow it fits here.
Fake news, DeLorean wasn't romanian he was szekler comunist.
there's a little "genetic" resemblance... both Romanian by ancestry! :)))
For optimistic drivers: "when one door closes, another opens" - this is what characterizes the original Dacia cars the best :D
Awesome reaction and yes its another car from romania call ARO the suv 4x4
You can also look at the g waggon from Mercedes coz it's the former brand ARO on steroids 😂😂😂
I feel like 80% of the rental car fleet in Iceland is the Dacia Duster. It's EVERYWHERE. That's a testament of toughness. Now I want one to toss around everywhere.
The Dacia 1300, from 1973, is a Renault 12. Very very popular in Australia in the 70's.
Rode well on our bad roads - that magic French suspension. Were made here or put together here via CKD - Complete Knock Down. Last forever.
Feels like driving a large car.
Came in awesome pastel colours like our famous Kingwood's and Falcons and Valiants. Until lead was banned.
The same car was sold in Turkey under a Turkish car maker.
Lada sold the Samara and little 4wd Niva here in Australia. The Niva being very durable. Peter Brock even was involved with a version of the Samara.
Can see on RUclips on Australian car adverts/research.
To be honest u should learn about Polish Truck companys like STAR or JELCZ they had detroit diesel engine in offer :D
Well they brand themselves as the status symbol for those who don't need status symboles. I like that attitude.
They drive good enough for the price and dont empty your wallet while still being reliable
@19:00 those prices are with RABLA program where you trade your old car in.
When you do a video about Opel I highly recommend looking into their older models. Their ‚golden era‘ kind of ended in the 2000s. But they used to be a premium brand with very luxurious and sporty cars.
To be more precise, it ended with the Astra H.
@@module79l28astra gsi, kaddet gsi, calibra
Opel was a very popular car here in denmark back in the 70's and 80's. Opel kadett had the most sold new car record in a year (I believe it was in 1984), just got knocked off that record with Tesla model Y here.
Well I wouldnt say "premium brand", they were a "mid range/lower mid range" brand, one could say. But thats ok.
@@GoldenCrocThe Omega and the Senator can be considered premium, but I agree with the rest.
Hi. I drive Dacia Sandreo 0,9 ccm 3 piston engine with LPG in Slovakia. Ang I can tell you better car dont exist. ❤❤❤
I always thought the Duster should have yellow cloth seat material with red stitching!
Romania is very beautiful country with plenty of interesting things to find out
Super interesting video for me as a car salesman working at a Renault/Dacia dealership! 😅
Yo should call up the chain of command to bring Renault and Dacia to the USA. With car prices right now it is a golden opportunity to grab.
Dacia Sandrider looks really cool, made for the Dakar Rally 2025
You should check out Aro Automobiles, especially Aro 324 AMC Bugaro
Dacia 1300 was based on Renault 12.
You mean, it WAS a Renault 12.
They raced a Dacia at the Nurburgring 24h, it wasn’t a factory entry or anything, but it was very popular with the spectators (like the “fox tail” Opel Manta). iirc it raced twice, actually finished the first time, but got wrecked by a GT3 slamming into it (and completely destroying it) the second time. It had a Renault Clio rs motor swap but still was one of the slowest cars out on track.
Once I saw a YT video from a guy who made animations. One was transforming a wrench into the (new) Dacia logo, the other was a scissor jack transformed to the Renault logo.
Burned into my brain... 🙃
Romanian here, its funny for me to hear the english pronunciation of the word Dacia. The way you pronounce the c in Dacia is the same way you would pronounce the word Qi(chi) in Chinese. Hope that helps!
I’m Romanian too. Also what are your thoughts on the Top Gear Romania special?
In Germany the Sandero and Duster are pretty common but Dacia was very looked down upon in the Car szene bc they are the "cheap brand" of Renault, which some people by itself view cheap and not reliable(it literally said Dacia by Renault on the back). They were also probably the cheapest cars you can buy here new, so that didnt help the image. The old ones really were "bland" cars but the newer models are slowly changing peoples opinions about the brand. Probably also bc new German models are getting so expensive but German brand loyalty is still strong here so any foreign car always gets shit on here. You should look up some Duster offroading videos, they are very capable offroad Machines as 4x4s.
Greetings from Germany
Regarding to the logo, the current logo that you see on the 1st advert is a D and C joined together so it read Dacia, before it had the full name like Porsche until last year where they did some rebranding. It is a very good brand for the money, simple mechanical car, with general quality interior to take you from A to B. Using older renault parts, engines, etc... makes them actually more reliable than current renaults 😂
The mighty Dacia, as Hubnut would say! I think it is pronounced "Dacha".
More like Dachiya.
NOOO!! It's Da-Chee-uh or Dachiya.
It's unbelievable, the old saying is true: If somebody doesn't know something than teaches it.
@@gaborbakos7058 Picture this, I live in a country where the region the car is named after is called Dakia, the importers first tried to call it Dacha in their ads, the people (I among them) call it Datsia while we all know it has a correct pronunciation that is way different from what any English speakers use.
The first Dacia result on Wikipedia shows the map and history of Dacia, the ancient land in east center Europe that was conquered by romans, most of it on Romania's modern teritory.
Take a visit to Romania, i'll show around😊
3 years ago the sandero was under 10K in germany. I think Dacia wouldnt sell well in the US because most new american cars do 0-60 in under 10 seconds and got more standart features.
they're getting stupidly expensive today. in a few years they will cost the same as any other brand, which completely defeats the purpose of the brand
I have a station wagon from Dacia and it taken me around everywhere even on gravel roads.
The amateur race car you saw is the Dacia Logan Cup. Great little thing Dacia made as an entry level car years ago. I used to race one for a couple of years. Low cost, easy maintenance. Beautiful. And competitors on the track usually kept a respectful distance. Why? Not because you were faster. But because any possible dent in your Dacia would cost just a couple of bucks to fix.
Speaking of motorsport program, they used to have two kits for the Logan, a touring car and a rally car kit. There was also a Renault-run Dacia Cup for the Logan. There was a very famous Dacia Logan running at the Nurburgring Nordschleife in the 24H of the Nurburgring - by far the slowest car but hands down the fan favourite for years for its funny look. Unfortunately it was collected by a Porsche GT3 last year and totalled, and the car is beyond repair so they've discontinued that program. But they've now stepped up their game in off road with a real factory team for the Dakar and World Rally Raid championship, with none other than Sebastien Loeb and Cristina Gutierrez as factory drivers from 2025, so that will be interesting.
Over the years I have rented many of them in Europe. They are great vehicles to drive and get great gas mileage.
Dacia Sandero it almost surpassed the sales of the tesla model y, placing it in 2nd place at the European level after the tesla model y
@3:00 - The logo is the D and C from DaCia. It's the new 2023 logo - the old one was like a bottle opener (with standard caps, not twist offs)
The Sandero is a sub-compact hatch, smaller than the Crosstrek and just FWD. It has the sibling, the Dacia Logan which has a sedan body
The Bigster will be the big brother to the Duster
I have a Sandero stepway, love my car.
I chose Sandero over Duster because I'm short and its a bit more difficult to get in and the seatbelts weren't so comfortable. Also, Sandero has the display higher, closer to the "road". And it's smaller, easier to park in cities
Dacia was something of a latecomer to the major European manufacturer scene, but the brand's gradual resurrection since the 1990s is a success story on par with that of Škoda. 🙂
Romania used to have another passenger car brand in the pre-1990s era, Oltcit, a collaboration with Citroen, but it didn't last long. The name was a combination of Citroen and Oltenia, the latter a name of a southern Romanian historical region. (Probably where they assembled those Romanian Citroens ?) The fact that Dacia stuck around and narrowly survived, was by the 1990s, about one of the few positive legacies of the former Romanian dictatorship. A by-and-large local car brand that would slowly recover by the 2000s and then start getting successful internationally.
Since Romania is a Romance-speaking country and has long historical ties with France, it's no surprise their passenger car brands collaborated closely with French car-makers in the post-WWII years and that Dacia as the main surviving car maker became a subsidiary of Renault. The Dacia Logan from twenty years ago was the first one since the Renault takeover that became a real breakout model, much like the Felicia and especially the Octavia did for Škoda back in the mid-to-late 1990s.
Funnily enough, the Logan has also sold just fine in other markets where Renaults and other French cars are commonly sold and seen. Including North African ones. You laugh, but even in The Bourne Ultimatum, which premiered in 2007, one scene where Jason Bourne evades the police in Tangiers, Morocco, has the local police driving a Dacia Logan patrol cruiser. I've always found that detail cute. :-) Back then, people were appreciative of Dacia finally breaking out internationally, but I doubt anyone would have predicted how well it would do by the early 2020s.
Volkswagen has Škoda as its older Czech sis who often even outperforms some Volkswagen sales, and Renault has Dacia as its younger sister that's also selling very well in a lot of niches that Renault might not always cover.
The funny car @23:32 is more or less a Renault 12. The car was very popular in northern Africa, very simple mechanics and easy to maintain.
You should watch one of the compilations of Top Gear talking about the Dacia
Dacia 1300 was such a good car, it looked cheap but it's so hard to find original pieces and it was so good even if it stopped working you could've started it with a wrench or smth. I believe in the famous romanian movie "Miami Bici 2" , they managed to bring one in LA.