Anyone bought a new Dacia Sandero? What you think?

dodo69

Old Clio on its last legs and we called into the Renault dealer to look at 1-2 year old ones. Was amazed to be shown a new Dacia Sandero 1.2 Laurate new for less than £8000. They would take our old Clio as deposit and offered competitive finance. Am I missing something or is it a really bad car? It drives ok and not unlike the Clio and seems well enough built.

oldhand

Can only judge on what I read but there seems to be little wrong with them,they are far removed from the last dacias that were sold here and seem good value if basic motoring.The basic ones have wind up windows in the back but thats hardly a great hassle.
I would think if you intend to keep one they would make a good buy although depreciation will likely be a problem however all cars depreciate so not such a big deal.
Autocar like them and they can be hard to please.

http://www.autocar.co.uk/car-review/dacia/sandero

verityboo

We test drove both models and were quite impressed. The thing that put us off was that you had to get the top model for air-con and the more expensive engine for half decent economy. Its then no longer a cheap car and there are other better cars for the money

ukjoel

Decent cars and selling fairly well.

You can upgrade to a 5 year warranty for peace of mind which is a plus. I dont think Residual values are clear on these yet so if you planned to sell after 3 years could be a bit of a risk.

I think they get a lot of credit for introducing a budget car when everyone elses prices are just going up and up.

forgotmyname

Depends if youre buying the basic one. As mentioned go up a few trim levels and there are other cars for similar money.

If your keeping it forever then the 2nd hand value doesnt matter so much. So dont be shocked if its worth less than £1000 when its 5 years old.

Drives like the Clio because thats what it is underneath. But an old one in a dress.

gilbert_and_sullivan

The concept is excellent, aircon isn't a deal breaker for me, i'd choose a low spec model in a light colour and open the windows....Duster may well find its way onto my drive in a few years.

Couple of things i'd check would be real servicing costs over a 5 year period, as said above depreciation will be heavy so its a car to run into the ground, so good servicing is desirable apart form necessary to keep warranty.
And check a few parts prices, such as headlamp assembly and brake parts.

Putting my own stereo in the basic model wouldn't be a hardship, preferable indeed to the sub standard garbage fitted in many modern cars, integrated bluetooth i can well live without.

Getting up the Jones's nose by owning a wrongly badged car is always a bonus.

photome

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

The concept is excellent, aircon isn't a deal breaker for me, i'd choose a low spec model in a light colour and open the windows....Duster may well find its way onto my drive in a few years.

Couple of things i'd check would be real servicing costs over a 5 year period, as said above depreciation will be heavy so its a car to run into the ground, so good servicing is desirable apart form necessary to keep warranty.
And check a few parts prices, such as headlamp assembly and brake parts.

Putting my own stereo in the basic model wouldn't be a hardship, preferable indeed to the sub standard garbage fitted in many modern cars, integrated bluetooth i can well live without.

Getting up the Jones's nose by owning a wrongly badged car is always a bonus.

how do you know depreciation will be heavy ? Even if it is, with a low starting cost does it really matter

gilbert_and_sullivan

photome wrote: »

how do you know depreciation will be heavy ? Even if it is, with a low starting cost does it really matter

It doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, i would run it into the ground but others might choose to do differently.

I expect the market, driven by image over function, to place these in the same sector as Proton and Skoda before VW bought them, regarded as semi joke cars for those who judge all things by name/image/kudos not competence...the named running shoe generation.

silverwhistle

gilbert_and_sullivan wrote: »

The concept is excellent, aircon isn't a deal breaker for me, i'd choose a low spec model in a light colour and open the windows.....

Heh, that made me chuckle: for some (a lot?) of us the reality is that we are driving old cars where the AC or electric windows don't work any more. Well, my windows go _down_ reliably but..:D

It looks like the best engine to go for on the Sandero is the new 0.9 which is only available in the next trim up, which puts up the cost. I've certainly considered one although will probably get something else for my particular needs. Not learning to drive until older I never gave a fig for what people thought, and I've never used finance for a car. That seems to give people a load of grief, as evidenced on this board.

Incidentally, saw a Dacia Dokker(?) in a local car park the other day. It's not available in the UK market but from the outside it looked well built.

gilbert_and_sullivan

silverwhistle wrote: »

Not learning to drive until older I never gave a fig for what people thought, and I've never used finance for a car. That seems to give people a load of grief, as evidenced on this board.

Never a truer word spoke, beats me how many youngsters start out with new or almost new cars (maybe trying to keep up with peers who's brand new MINI's were bought by daddy) and then find themselves on that slippery slope to heavy debt before their 20th birthday.

dodo69

We will go back to the garage on Tuesday and see what the best deal is. Our Clio is 1.2 16v so I wonder would the 0.9 litre engine might be a little under powered?