Dacia Sandero: bargain or just a lot of publicity?
Lately there has been a lot of announcement about a new car brand called Dacia. This Renault-owned brand has come to England with 2 new models, the Sandero and the Duster. The Sandero is a Fiesta-sized hatchback and the Duster is a Qashqai competitor.
Dacia is trying to win the British public by selling the basic Sandero at £5995. That sounds like the bargain of the century compared to a basic brand new Fiesta which sells at around £9500. I must admit that it's not all happy news. Firstly the name Dacia Sandero sounds like a mexican criminal from the '70s and secondly the cheapest Sandero doesn't have a radio, electric windows or aircon. Furthermore the new Dacia was awarded a frankly scary 3 star EuroNCAP which, in crash test ratings terms, is the same as a 1996 Ford Ka. Hence the idea of a bargain is starting to quickly fade away. Auto-Express took a Sandero and purposely covered every Dacia badge on the car. They then asked the British public to identify the make and price of the car. Some of them thought it was as solid as a VW and the price around £12000. Those people probably will buy a Dacia Sandero purely because they never either recently sat inside a VW Polo or drove one. If they did, they would definitely buy a Polo! I personally put safety on a high scale when choosing a new car so I need a safer car than the "smart price" Dacia. I also can't sing for the love of God so a radio is essential and my mates would laugh at me if I turn up in a car with windy windows. The only problem remains the £6000 budget. However, for that kind of money, you could still buy a 2011 Skoda Fabia 1.2 S, a 2011 Peugeot 207 1.4 S or a 2011 Kia Rio 1, all with less than 10000mls so basically box fresh. All these nearly new cars have a 5 star EuroNCAP, a cd player, aircon and electric windows. I also could bet any money that these 3 used cars will be worth more money than the Dacia when their manufacturer warranty runs out. My personal advice is therefore to buy a nearly new family hatchback opposed to an unsafe new car which will predictably depreciate at the speed of light. MG
Dacia is trying to win the British public by selling the basic Sandero at £5995. That sounds like the bargain of the century compared to a basic brand new Fiesta which sells at around £9500. I must admit that it's not all happy news. Firstly the name Dacia Sandero sounds like a mexican criminal from the '70s and secondly the cheapest Sandero doesn't have a radio, electric windows or aircon. Furthermore the new Dacia was awarded a frankly scary 3 star EuroNCAP which, in crash test ratings terms, is the same as a 1996 Ford Ka. Hence the idea of a bargain is starting to quickly fade away. Auto-Express took a Sandero and purposely covered every Dacia badge on the car. They then asked the British public to identify the make and price of the car. Some of them thought it was as solid as a VW and the price around £12000. Those people probably will buy a Dacia Sandero purely because they never either recently sat inside a VW Polo or drove one. If they did, they would definitely buy a Polo! I personally put safety on a high scale when choosing a new car so I need a safer car than the "smart price" Dacia. I also can't sing for the love of God so a radio is essential and my mates would laugh at me if I turn up in a car with windy windows. The only problem remains the £6000 budget. However, for that kind of money, you could still buy a 2011 Skoda Fabia 1.2 S, a 2011 Peugeot 207 1.4 S or a 2011 Kia Rio 1, all with less than 10000mls so basically box fresh. All these nearly new cars have a 5 star EuroNCAP, a cd player, aircon and electric windows. I also could bet any money that these 3 used cars will be worth more money than the Dacia when their manufacturer warranty runs out. My personal advice is therefore to buy a nearly new family hatchback opposed to an unsafe new car which will predictably depreciate at the speed of light. MG
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