What is value for money these days? With supermarkets producing special offers that only save you a penny and in store sales that actually run all year round, finding a genuine bargain out in the big bad world is actually much easier said than done. Are the days of coming home smug with your purchase over? Not if new brand to the UK, Dacia, have anything to say about it.
Dacia are a sub-brand of Renault and as a result you can stroll into any diamond insignia branded building and order a Dacia, or if you have one get any maintenance done. The other up shot of this close relationship is that Dacia gets access to Renaults parts bin and doesn’t have to pay costly sums for development. This saving is then passed onto the consumer. This is the Dacia Duster Access and thanks to all of the above it is the cheapest 4X4 on the market by quite a long way.
The Duster is a well sized piece of kit seating five in relative comfort and offering ample room for a dog or two in the boot. Visibility is great and that much desired high driving position is most welcome. This Access model is the entry level car and though it doesn’t come with any toys what so ever, not even a stereo, it does offer a punchy 1.6 litre petrol engine and all wheel drive. The idea of the Access on any Dacia is that it is literally the cheapest that they can make the car whilst still producing a quality product. It might have wind-up windows but the seating is comfortable and there is no denying its practicality. The cost of moving up a trim level if this is a little too basic is only £500 and remembering that this 4X4 model starts at only £10,995 the upgrade wouldn’t exactly break the bank. An interesting note is that if you don’t really need a 4X4 function you can claim the 4X2 model from £8,995 which is just incredible value for what you get. An option 7 year warranty that stays with the is also available.
On the open road the Duster moves will with the petrol engine more than capable of getting the car up to speed. It revs freely and the 105BHP it produces never leaves you feeling underpowered. Though road and wind noise is more noticeable in the Dusters most basic form, it is far from unbearable. The car feels very sure of itself going through corners and body roll is kept at bay rather well for a car of its size. Feedback from the wheel is good and that purposeful suspension has no problem dealing with our rutted roads. Grip levels are high allowing for confident driving whilst at the wheel. Twisting the dial to the 4WD mode and heading off the beaten path doesn’t phase this car either as it has genuine off-road credentials. Our test car trawled up boggy paths and climbed up and over some demanding obstacles with no issues what so ever. It is clear that the Duster isn’t some budget basement machine, but a genuinely impressive tool that leads you to think how its competitors justify their asking price. This six speed manual petrol model not only has a pleasant gear change, but will also do 35MPG meaning it should also have a pleasant effect on your wallet.
This Duster Access is a brilliantly humble machine and just does what it says on the tin. For the money you can’t beat it and in comparison with its closest rivals it quite often leaves you in awe that a car costing this little could ever challenge the establishment. Dacia say that 40% of all Dusters sold are the 4X4 model suggesting that many buyers are looking for a car that can handle the rough stuff. I admire the Duster for its honesty and pure utilitarian persona. Watch this space because if Dacia carry on in the way they have begun you could well see many many more of them on the road.
There are a lot of fast cars out there; from a speed icon like the BMW M3, to a thumping great Mustang up to the eye-wateringly beautiful (but expensive) Lamborghini Aventador, there’s something for everyone. But that’s a lie. There isn’t something for everyone because not everyone can go out and spend a cool £60,000 on an M3 or stroll into a Lamborghini dealership and leave with the keys to one of their raging bulls. Alas, it seems that for those that want to have some brand new fun on a budget you are stuck trawling through the pages of your local FreeAds or on internet auction sites.
So I’m sure you can understand that the words that suddenly appeared in my head when I first set eyes on this little eastern European were not going to be anything like ‘speed-demon’ or ‘howling fun’ or ‘mind-blowingly quick’. Despite this, I took to the wheel and as the mileometer started ticking over it suddenly dawned on me that I’d been driving for miles with a ridiculous smile on my face. How had this little Dacia given me the same feeling that I get thundering around in a car that costs ten times as much? For goodness sake, it didn’t even have electric rear windows! A quick stop at the side of the road was in need, I had to see what sort of V6 monster was powering this thing.
But no! Under the bonnet you’ll find a cheery little 900cc 3 cylinder petrol engine that hoofs out 90bhp and will get you to 60 in 11.1 seconds.It will even do 109MPH… Eventually. This engine can also be found in Renault’s brand new Clio, but unlike in the Clio this Sandero weighs about as much shoelace. You can expect anywhere from 45mpg around town to a respectable 65mpg going downhill in 5th gear and with it sitting in tax band C you won’t be breaking the bank every 12 months either. It really did take my breath away that a car that I had considered to be nothing more than a cheap small family run-around could be so much fun when it’s given the beans and taken to the red-line.
Inside this middle of the range model there was a very modern looking CD player with AUX and USB connectivity, a tastefully subtle steering wheel and the very sporty looking ‘Atom’ two-tone seat trim which gave the inside a really classy overall look. Chrome surrounds on the inside made the car feel far more expensive than it was. On the corners were a set of very tasty 15” ‘Sahara’ alloy wheels and at the back a subtle but fitting lip spoiler. In the back there’s plenty of space but I found my head slightly ajar with my ear rubbing the roof, but no more than I’m used to when trying to fit all 6 foot 5 inches of me into the back of a hatchback. An impressive class-leading boot also appealed to the sensible side of me.
What I love most about this little Romanian motor though is the way it feels to drive. No it isn’t as fast as a Fiesta ST or perhaps a Fabia VRS but whipping from corner to corner in this revvy little petrol was great fun and you’ll find yourself pushing the tiny tyres to their limits. It would be great to see Dacia roll out a sportier version of this model, but there’s no denying that this car is great fun and even though our test model was somewhat higher than the advertised ‘under £6000’ Access, it still came in at £8,290 which is remarkable for a car that’s this much fun and comes with a respectable level of equipment. This only really leaves us with one question; have Dacia given the likes of the giants such as Volkswagen and Ford something to be worried about? No. If you want to buy a hatchback with a somewhat ‘cool’ badge you’ll still buy a Polo or Fiesta, but I think we’ll be seeing a lot of these Sanderos on the road soon. People who just want a car to go from A to B now have an option that isn’t just reasonably priced, but it actually good fun too.
In a world of ever towering costs and unavoidable expenditure £6,000 doesn’t actually go as far as what you might think. In fact, according to GQ magazine that is just about the “price of a decent watch…” From a motoring perspective that money, unless you are buying second hand, gets you absolutely nothing, not a sausage. That was until the Dacia Sandero came along. Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the cheapest new car on sale in the UK today.
Now normally when we talk about the cheapest car on sale we are looking at horrifically soulless and hysterically basic machines such as the Perodua Kelisa. Thankfully that undeniably poor and potentially suicide inducing machine has been euthanised. Dacia are a new brand to the UK and their aim is to produce a car from one segment for the cost of another in a lower one. For example; our Sandero Access test car is in the same category as the Ford Fiesta, but you can have one for £5,995 making it as cheap as a supermini. How? Well Dacia are a sub-brand of Renault and as the French company develops parts and conducts costly R&D for its cars, Dacia benefits from sharing these new components but does not incur the cost of producing them. The result is a car that can undercut competitors by a considerable margin. What makes the Sandero different to the intolerable Kelisa is that Perodua had to make the car cheap and nasty to keep costs down, Dacia on the other hand have access to good quality parts at low prices from the get-go.
Granted, the Sandero isn’t going to be winning any beauty pageants in the near future with its rather stocky generic small car shape, but it isn’t exactly ugly either. The Access model, lovingly known as “UN spec,” only comes in white with black plastic bumpers. It actually doesn’t even come with a stereo but Dacia’s philosophy is that you can pay only for what you want. For a small amount Dacia will fit your Sandero with a stereo if that is what you wish, but if you don’t all the wiring is in place for you to go to Halfords and pop a £40 unit in yourself. The low budget airline way of thinking extends to the warranty also meaning that if you want it you can pay a little bit extra for a 7 year warranty that stays with the car even after it is sold.
So what do you get at the absolute cheapest price? The Sandero Access is powered by a 1.2 litre 16 valve 74BHP engine that is perfectly adequate for the size of car. Seating five in a cabin that offers plenty of leg and head room, you can’t fault it for the amount of space on offer. Some of the plastics don’t look very appealing to the eye but every surface does have a very durable feel to it which is quite an achievement in a car that costs this little. The seats are actually rather comfortable and my only real ergonomic gripe with the Access is that the plastic steering wheel isn’t the most comfortable thing to grip for extended periods of time, but again only an extra £500 would move you up a trim level. The boot of this Dacia is vast for the size of car. 320 litres of shopping space as well as split-folding rear seats makes this a very practical car indeed.
The little 1.2 litre engine is surprisingly smooth around town and won’t leave you cursing at junctions about not having the grunt to take advantage of a gap. When you get up to speed the engine doesn’t produce the sweetest sound combustion has gifted us but it is passable. The lack of sound proofing at over 45MPH is noticeable with wind and road noise filling the cabin, to combat this we recommend that optional stereo. Through the corners the steering is nice and direct giving the Sandero quite a nimble feel, though body roll when cornering at speed is a bit more than what we would have liked. The suspension has a lot to do with the roll but the trade is that the car is good at tackling Britons battered roads. Potholes and cracks don’t appear to phase the little car all that much. Pushing the car harder is quite entertaining as it reveals its no frills, pure function character. As it pitches into a turn revving highly in its gruff voice you can help but smile at its try hard attitude. The Dacia Sandero is, even in it most basic form, enjoyable to drive.
In conclusion, this Sandero Access is a refreshingly honest car in a highly competitive market. It is an eye opener showing that a “good car” does not need all of the toys under the sun to be classed as good. This is not a machine that could take on class leaders such as the Fiesta, but for the money you will not find a better brand new car.
Several years ago while holidaying in France my eyes were cast upon one of the most unpleasant looking cars that I have ever seen. It was made by a small Romanian company called Dacia and was called the Solenza. This ridiculous little saloon didn’t have the power to pull the skin off of a rice pudding and looked so flimsy I’m pretty sure the chassis was made out of toothpicks and discarded chewing gum. It won’t surprise you then when I tell you that this car never set foot on the shores of Great Britain. The fact has been that if you wanted to go and buy a Renault produced Romanian car and happened to live in Britain, you would have had to travel to the continent to do so. Until now.
Despite the jokes and speculation over this super-cheap hatchback, with hordes of people mocking its origins and somewhat spartan looks, I felt as though this was a car that had to be tested. “There is no way that you can go to a garage and buy a brand new car for under £6,000 and travel more than 5 miles without the engine, doors or seats disintegrating” was my first thought, but my goodness was I wrong.
Stepping into the Dacia Sandero is a somewhat pleasant experience for someone as tall as myself and I felt comfortable in the seats which although didn’t provide the comfort of a BMW or Audi, were more than supportive in a car which costs about the same as a “nice watch.” In the Laureate model you are greeted with an LG produced touchscreen panel which allows you access to a number of functions like Satellite Navigation, Bluetooth, Maps and the Arkamys radio which you will also find in the new Renault Clio. Surprisingly this is only a £250 extra and well worth it. An attractive combination of chrome trim and a matted black effect meets a happy medium between bland and migraine-inducing bling with a comfortable steering wheel and attractive easy on the eye dials displaying MPG and other essentials. A leather steering wheel and gear knob also gives the cockpit a touch of class and the ‘carbon black’ cloth trim matches tastefully to the rest of the interior.
Arguably the weakest point of this car is its exterior. Striking chrome across the front grille (standard on the Laureate) and an eye-catching badge perching on top of a tasteful front bumper with two leering fog lights sets the tone, but along the sides this car leaves a lot to be desired. A somewhat clunky shape gives the Sandero the aerodynamic qualities of a barn. At the back a small lip spoiler adds some finesse to a questionably lumpy rear but this is understandable as the Sandero boasts a class-leading 320L boot with enough space to accommodate a large family shop. Thanks to a £425 option the alloy wheels wouldn’t look amiss on a any established hatchback.
Under the bonnet sits a little 1.5 diesel capable of kicking out 90 horsepower with 220nm torque @ 1,750 rpm. In a car that weighs a little over 1,000kg this means you’ll reach 60mph in a nudge over 12 seconds and hit 107mph. Speed is not the point of this car though, with excellent economy means you’ll be looking at 65mpg around town and anywhere up to 80mpg on the motorway. Thanks to it sitting smugly at 99g/km C02 you’ll also be in the lowest possible tax band.
It may not be the most engaging car to drive and its skinny tyres do leave a desire for more grip, but the car bumbles along quite nicely. The good levels of torque help the Sandero keep pace and its lack of weight makes it relatively nimble. Body roll through the corners, however, is noticeable and the suspension at times does struggle with the roughness of British roads.
What we have here then is a well built, very well equipped little hatchback with wallet-pleasing economy that costs a shade under £11,000 with this model coming in at exactly £10,940. Can I see this outselling the Ford Fiesta and other competitors? No. That’s not the Sandero’s aim. But what I can see is this giving the big companies something to worry about. I wouldn’t be surprised if we started seeing a mass of budget hatches hitting the road soon from Volkswagen and Ford. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we started seeing a bigger push from Kia and Hyundai trying to pull their prices down to match the Dacia. Only time will tell, and with orders of the cars pushing 2,000 already, time is running out.
Dacia are a new brand to the UK that you may have heard of. In fact if you haven’t heard of them you soon will as they are causing quite a stir on the new car scene. Explained simply, this is Renault’s sub-brand that has thrived in Europe and from this year will make landfall in our homeland. The aim of the brand is to produce a product that undercuts the competition in a dramatic fashion whilst offering everything a rival does. A very tall order for any company, let alone a new one… However, Dacia has the might of Renault behind it and with that comes a host of components that have gone through rigorous R&D. They can be sold so cheaply as these proven parts filter down into this sub-brand. The Duster is the cheapest SUV on sale by some margin and as a result our test car is the cheapest diesel 4X4 on the market.
This mid-spec Ambiance model is equipped with everything you would expect from a brand new car. 16 inch wheels, a premium stereo with Bluetooth and USB connectivity, chrome detailing and remote central locking. All pretty normal equipment by today’s standards, but factor in that it is powered by a 1.5 litre diesel engine with 110BHP, and all wheel drive, for £14,315 you wont find anything like it.
Are you expecting the cabin to be cheap and nasty? Well, you might be surprised to find its quality to far surpass what you thought was possible for such a car. Obviously it isn’t a Rolls-Royce and lacks some soft-touch surfaces, but the plastic feel robust and durable. The console is well laid out with a dial to switch between 2WD and 4WD prominently placed. The seating deserves a mention as it is not only supportive in the right places but also very comfortable. The boot with the parcel shelf removed is vast and more than big enough for a dog or a big supermarket shop.
On the move the Dacia Duster proves itself to be a highly competent machine with plenty of torque on tap from its diesel engine. The steering is well weighted offering good feedback as well as adequate power assist as to not turn steering inputs into a wrestling match between man and machine. Road noise is not unbearable but is noticeable at speed. The engine itself is refined and happy to hum along at what ever pace you desire all day long. This car may only have a top speed of 104MPH, but remembering that it has the aerodynamic properties of a brick, it can be forgiven. In 2WD mode the economical benefit is commendable as on its best form the car will achieve 53MPG combined. The suspension isn’t just there to give this car a desirable high driving position, oh no, it has been properly engineered to take on the frankly menacing potholes of our roads and have a good go at the rough stuff.
Engaging 4WD drive mode unlocks the potential of the Duster. This car is not all mouth and no trousers, it has genuine off-road capabilities. It will scale steep banks with little fuss, plug its way through muddy trails and even wade through some fords. The Dacia Duster is impressive not only for its price, but in some elements it puts leaders of its class to shame. Of course it is no Land Rover Defender, but its abilities can not be denied. In terms of engineering, its high ground clearance teamed with 240Nm of torque available from 1,750RPM makes for a formidable combination.
I think Dacia and their expanding range of cars could well be a real game changer in the new and used car market. They offer well manufactured products for the cost of the segment below and as a result they maintain a high residual value. The last car company to make a success of their “peoples cars” was Volkswagen and look where they are today.
