Reviews of Dacias

maynooth_rules

wondering if anyone can help me. My wife is considering getting a dacia. To me they look nice but im very wary of buying french, particularly a budget french brand. anyone who has experience driving one care to share their experience?

Seth Brundle

Pros: They're cheap
Cons: They're cheap for a reason

They do get good reviews on Top Gear, Whatcar and AutoExpress
Is there a particular model she is thinking of? Get her to take one for a test drive and then to drive a comparable car and she what she thinks. Make it a proper test drive (a few hours if possible) as driving around the block is somewhat pointless.

maynooth_rules

Its the sandero stepway she likes. Has got decent reviews for what it is but always nice to get Irish opinion

Atlantic Dawn

maynooth_rules wrote: »

wondering if anyone can help me. My wife is considering getting a dacia. To me they look nice but im very wary of buying french, particularly a budget french brand. anyone who has experience driving one care to share their experience?

They are actually a Romanian car manufacturer.

colm_mcm

With the discounts Nissan are doing on their stuff, I can't see the value in Dacias.

TBi

Atlantic Dawn wrote: »

They are actually a Romanian car manufacturer.

Although last I heard they were built in India (sold as Renault over there).

colm_mcm

The dusters were initially thrown together in India but are being built in Romania now.

Seth Brundle

maynooth_rules wrote: »

Its the sandero stepway she likes. Has got decent reviews for what it is but always nice to get Irish opinion

Irish owners possibly kno sod all as LIGHTNING said. Also the Irish media reviews are never impartial as they depend so much on advertising revenue from the marques that they daren't say a bad word! Look at UK sites for reviews!

grogi

maynooth_rules wrote: »

wondering if anyone can help me. My wife is considering getting a dacia. To me they look nice but im very wary of buying french, particularly a budget french brand. anyone who has experience driving one care to share their experience?

They are not French. They are Romanian, from a town of Craiova to be precise.

Seth Brundle

grogi wrote: »

They are not French. They are Romanian, from a town of Craiova to be precise.

Dacia are owned by Renault so technically they are...
https://group.renault.com/en/company-vehicles/discover/dacia/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_Dacia#Acquisition_by_Renault

However, I don't think it really matters - I wouldn't touch either with a bargepole!

Toyotafanboi

Brand ownership aside, the cars are actually good. Reliability is by and large very good.

Corners aren't cut making them, they just use older, tried and tested technology which works out to be cost effective and incidentally helps reliability too.

Don't expect the fit and finish of a Mercedese, but they are a decent product for the price paid.

FGR

As Toyota Fanboi said - Dacia are now what Skoda were fifteen years ago. Using tried and tested parts to sell reliable cars at good prices.

That said so many brands are offering great deals. Hyundai, Kia, Nissan for example..

_Brian

Few friends have them, duster, sandero and Logan estate.
Feedback is they are a reasonably well built car but some fixtures seem cheap, plastic scuffs a bit and the likes of door handles are light and weak, know one handle broke off.

colm_mcm

FGR wrote: »

As Toyota Fanboi said - Dacia are now what Skoda were fifteen years ago. Using tried and tested parts to sell reliable cars at good prices.

That said so many brands are offering great deals. Hyundai, Kia, Nissan for example..

Dacia are where Skoda were when the Felicia or Favorit came out rather than the Octavia/Fabia - Relative to the competition.

bazz26

The Duster, Sandero/Sandero Stepway and Logan have all got revised for 2017. Technology is a mix of current and previous generation Renault. Engines are pretty much what you get in Renaults and Nissans these days. Switch gear from be from Renault a generation or two back. Fit and finish of trim and materials are not great but you cannot expect a 3 course dinner for the price of a happy meal.

Special Circumstances

maynooth_rules wrote: »

To me they look nice but im very wary of buying french, particularly a budget french brand.

You should buy something German. With a timing chain, none of those bothersome timing belts.

pa990

Is the radio an optional extra ?

bazz26

That was only on base UK Dusters.

biko

Older threads

Cabaal

Feedback from a Dacia owner
I got a Logan MCV for around 18 months and honestly I find it great, bucket loads of boot space.
It runs just fine and the only thing that annoys me about it is the lack of a boot latch (you have to use the key or latch on drivers side). Other then that its comfortable enough and for around 18km new it was a bargain for what I got as far as I'm concerned....especially when you compare it to other estates.

I'm see cars as very much for getting A-B so if I needed a second car and I didn't want to spend a lot I'd have no issues going for another Dacia

monkeysnapper

colm_mcm wrote: »

With the discounts Nissan are doing on their stuff, I can't see the value in Dacias.

I'm looking to buy a petrol estate for myself / 2 dogs/ 3 kids, bikes ect , I do low enough daily miles but need something decent for UK trips twice a year .

My budget is 10-12k and as much as I keep going around circle looking at estates I keep coming back to the Logan .

Its in budget/ its petrol/ its BIG .

I drove the 1.2 and was flat enough but a friend had the 1litre and that seemed OK. I see they have actually scrapped the 1.2 in exchange for a sce75 1 litre .

I will hold off another few months and see how that car goes .

TBi

monkeysnapper wrote: »

Its in budget/ its petrol/ its BIG .

A logan MCV is a clio with a massive boot. I wouldn't consider that big. Especially not in the back seat.

Joeface

GF has a Stepway for almost a year now , 0.9ltr Turbo Petrol .
Took a petrol as the drive to work is 14k round trip . No even close to diesel territory . In ECO mode it is sluggish but still drives away fine even with a full car. Out of ECO mode , turbo does draw a little smile every time .


Pro's :
Cheap Car , Cheap Tax , 3 year warranty , 5 year paint warranty & 7 year Corrosion warranty. Easily and comfortably seats 5 adults and decent boot space ( was really surprised by this.) Driven on ECO mod it is economical enough 48mpg + depending on who is behind the wheel. Hands free kit (bluetooth) is surprisingly good and steering side control make it easy to use, Good Driving position , high up and clear vision.

Con's
Do not like the body roll in the car , Very light as it is really a car on stilts. Diesel version might be better (heavier engine) , Bit too much road noise when Driving motorway speeds for long periods . Don't like the style of seats this is a personal thing , every car I have ever owned has had bucket seats , they are not uncomfortable ,I just don't like them.

Interior is cheap but I wouldn't call that a con your buying a cheap car. We took the base model as the extra's all seemed unnecessary after test driving a few.
I would take Parking sensors as an extra (€250)
Rear electric windows to me was a bad idea the buttons are located just behind the handbrake , and anyone getting into the centre seat will hit these every time and brake them. I did it in the test drive car

In the end I would never tell someone not to buy one.

Emma1980

have had my dacia sandero signature since 2013 and so far *touch wood* i haven't had an ounce of trouble with it - had an opel astra previous and had nothing but problems with that!!
i'm not a big daily driver and still have low mileage (17.5k km in 3.5yrs!) but i honestly can't fault it

monkeysnapper

TBi wrote: »

A logan MCV is a clio with a massive boot. I wouldn't consider that big. Especially not in the back seat.

I'm looking for a car with a large boot , roof bars , that's not the problem , I think I'm more concerned with drive quality and reliability of new engines that are coming out this year .

Saint_Mel

Something to bear in mind though that if you intend to upgrading every few years, unless you stick with Dacia (or possibly Renault) you'll get bugger all on a trade in. From my experience, other dealers do not want to touch them. In fact some Renault dealers don't want to touch them again either!
I've had a few issues with duster and an a$$hole dealer :mad:

gripcasey

I had Duster for 4 years just after selling it. I had no problems at all with it. They are cheap compared to other brands, and yes you can see that in the quality of the interior. But overall I think thay are reliable and I would buy again.