Dacia Sandero review (2021 - 2025)
Dacia Sandero cars for sale
3.0
Expert review
Pros
Very cheap to buy
Roomy and practical cabin
Affordable to fuel and insure
Cons
Modest safety standards
Stingy list of standard kit
Basic fit and finish
The CarGurus verdict
The Sandero has always been a popular car, and this latest one improves things in every single area. It’s better to drive, cheaper to run, better built, and is available with more luxury equipment. It also delivers those classic Dacia trademarks of having loads of space for a laughably small price.
Chuck in the fact that the previous car’s slightly goofy appearance has been replaced by sharp lines and coherent details, and it even looks the part. Granted, cheap doesn’t always equate to value, but in the Sandero’s case, it most definitely does, and to astounding effect.
You really have to hand it to Dacia; what this small Romanian firm – owned by Renault – has managed to achieve in recent years is nothing short of magical. Not only has the brand attracted a fiercely loyal, almost cult-like following due to its no-frills honesty and incredible value, but in the Sandero it’s also managed to conjure up Europe’s best-selling retail car (a title it’s held since 2017).
Delve beneath the surface of the previous Sandero, and the sleight-of-hand employed to offer such incredible value is revealed. Equipment was basic, material quality was low and engineering effort was minimal. And the platform that underpinned it all was the same one found in the Renault Clio of many, many years before. But despite the smoke and mirrors, it still had audiences gripped.
Given such popularity, Dacia was faced with a dilemma in coming up with the Sandero’s successor. Do they continue on the pared-back bargain-basement theme and simply ignore ever-improving competition and ever-tightening safety regulations in order to maintain the low sticker price? Or do they bring the car up to date at the cost of watering down its price advantage? Well, guess what. With the latest incarnation of the Sandero, Dacia has really managed to pull a rabbit out of a hat and do both.
Like the first Sandero, it’s based on a Renault Clio platform, but rather than an ancient one, it’s the same one used in the very latest Clio. That means it supports all sorts of safety and luxury equipment items that weren’t available on the previous car, a decent slice of which come as standard on most versions. And yet, while prices have climbed, this is still among the cheapest new cars you can currently buy, and again, the difference is thousands rather than hundreds.
The new platform also means the new Sandero is better to drive than before. It’s still not the last word in precision or plushness, but it does a thoroughly decent job on both counts. It always feels secure and predictable when changing direction, while the suspension generally does a good job of mopping up the various kinds of bumps and ripples found in the UK’s road surfaces.
Delve deeper into the details and you start to feel a rather spongey character to the way the Sandero operates. The gearshift feels hollow and notchy, the steering is slow – to react, to turn, and to self-centre – and the mushy action of the pedals means that pulling away smoothly takes some practice.
Scintillating speed is something else you’ll have to sacrifice if you’re sold on the Sandero. There’s currently only one engine available if you’re buying new – a turbocharged 1.0-litre three-cylinder unit with 89bhp, known as the TCe 90 – and while its power delivery is eager enough to keep life pretty relaxed, its shortage of grunt means it can easily get caught out by a steep incline if you find yourself in too high a gear. And however hard you work it, your pace is never any better than merely acceptable.
Not that you’d want to work it hard, mind, because even with relatively few revs on the dial, the engine gives off a loud, strained, breathless timbre. Regardless, you can still hear the transmission whining away in the background, and you’ll also feel plenty of engine vibration coming at you through the pedals and steering wheel.
The same engine can also be had with an optional CVT automatic gearbox, and it’s definitely worth considering if you have the funds and the desire for a self-shifter. Happily, it doesn’t behave much like a CVT. When you ask for more urgent acceleration, it doesn’t pin the rev needle to the redline until you ease off, working the engine unnecessarily hard. Instead, it eases off the revs of its own accord, and in good time, keeping life a bit more serene. It also swaps gears pretty smoothly, and it eliminates the mushy pedals, crunchy gearshift and whining transmission of the manual car.
If you’re looking in the used market, there were a couple of other engines originally offered with this version of the Sandero. The SCe 65 was a non-turbocharged version of the TCe engine that had just 64bhp (yes, really!), while the TCe 100 Bi-Fuel was a 99bhp unit that could run on both petrol and LPG (Liquid Petroleum Gas).
This is one of the areas where the new Sandero has taken a significant step forward from its predecessor, but as with that car, you’ll need to manage your expectations and pick the right model if you’re after anything resembling luxury.
When the current Sandero was launched, base spec Access models still lacked basics like a radio of reach adjustment on the steering wheel. For 2021, however, the entry level model was dropped and there are now just two to choose from: Essential and Expression.
Essential still feels pretty basic inside but, as the name implies, you do get essentials like electric front windows, cruise control and a Bluetooth-enabled stereo with DAB radio. Step up to Expression and the equipment levels are actually pretty generous. The most noticeable addition is the brilliant 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which looks great and is fast, easy and responsive to use. Parking sensors and a rear camera also come as standard, along with keyless entry and front fog lights. Expression also brings some fabric dashboard inserts to pep up the otherwise rather dull-looking cabin, but while the plastics are harder and scratchier than those found in many other superminis, they’re better than before, and not bad at all considering the car’s price.
It’s no use offering the one of the cheapest new cars to buy if it costs buyers a bomb to run, but happily, the Sandero doesn’t. When paired with the manual gearbox, the TCe 90 engine returns a fuel economy of just over 53mpg according to official figures, and used gently, you should have a reasonable chance of getting somewhere close to that in the real world. The automatic version is somewhat thirstier, at just under 49mpg, but still respectable.
Insurance groupings range between 4 and 11, so while some rivals will command smaller premiums, the Sandero won’t break the bank, either. Servicing and maintenance costs will also be pretty reasonable. Dacia offers a range of fixed-price servicing plans, the cheapest of which will take care of all routine work for three years/30,000 miles for just over a tenner per month.
Maybe even better than the Sandero’s bargain-basement price is the fact that it protects that meagre investment so incredibly well thanks to its scarcely believable residual values. After the standard three-year, 60,000-mile ownership period, the Sandero will retain up to 57% of its value according to the experts, compared to figures of more like 35% for most rival cars. That news is far less advantageous if you’re buying used, but when prices are so low to begin with, it’s not like you’ll ever pay top dollar for a Sandero.
Brand new Sanderos come with Dacia’s standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty. That’s nothing special, but it does match those of most other car manufacturers, which is impressive given that a brand new Sandero will still cost you less than many used cars with little or no warranty. What’s more, this cover can be extended to up to 100,000 miles or three years (whichever comes first) for a small fee.
You can be reasonably hopeful that you won’t have to call upon that cover, too. Reliability data on the latest Sandero is still in fairly short supply, but as a brand, Dacia placed a very creditable 13th out of 24 manufacturers in the 2019 JD Power UK Vehicle Dependability Study. That’s ahead of the industry average and considerably better than some much fancier brands we could mention.
- The Sandero has recently lost its crown as Britain’s cheapest new car, with the Kia Picanto city car and Citroën’s two-seat ‘urban mobility solution, the Ami, both undercutting it. In reality, though, if you want supermini space it’s still the cheapest option out there.
- The fact that this Sandero is built on Renault’s latest platform rather than an ancient one means that, not only is it better to drive, but it’s also much safer. It’s stronger and has more sophisticated crash structures, and it also supports more safety technology. Automatic emergency braking is standard across the range, for example. However, because this system is a basic version that only detects other cars – with the equivalent systems in most other cars, pedestrians and cyclists are detected as well – it was marked down very heftily in Euro NCAP crash tests. Despite delivering entirely adequate crash protection that would otherwise have earned it the same four-star rating as its predecessor when that car was tested back in 2013 (under much less stringent standards than those used today), the latest car was only awarded two out of five stars.
- Unusually, no version of the Sandero hatchback comes with alloy wheels. Instead, the range-topping Comfort version comes with ‘Flex’ wheels, which are intricately styled plastic wheel caps designed to look like alloy wheels, and they’re pretty convincing. However, they’re much cheaper to repair or replace if they get damaged.
- If you want to cover the basics: Essential is now the cheapest Sandero (following the discontinuation of the poverty-spec Access model) but it’s got everything you need for basic transport, and even a few things that could be considered luxuries if you were coming from an older second hand model, such as cruise control, air-conditioning and a stereo that includes DAB radio, steering-mounted controls and a Bluetooth phone connection.
- If you want all the toys: The Comfort model is the more expensive Sandero variant, which you might think would somewhat limit its appeal given the Sandero’s budget roots. Not a bit of it, though, because it’s still very affordable at £13,595, and it’s well equipped for the money. You get spruced up interior trim with fabric inserts, front fog lights, keyless entry, powered rear windows, powered door mirrors, rain-sensing wipers, rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and an 8.0-inch touchscreen system with navigation. You also get wireless operation of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and that’s a feature that most other cars – even some very exotic and expensive ones – don’t offer.
- If you want your Sandero in a more rugged, SUV flavour: If you’re one of those people that simply has to have an SUV – which is pretty much everyone these days – but you like high-value proposition of the Sandero, then the Dacia Sandero Stepway has you covered. With chunkier bumpers roof bars and a raised ride height, it has a good dollop of SUV style. It’s not as cheap as the regular Sandero, but it’s still very affordable. We’ve written a separate review about it, which you can read here.
