Does anyone have a Dacia?

[searchfortruth]

Am looking for a 'new' car and Dacia seems reasonably priced.

Am looking at Duster or Sandero. I need family car that can fit a big dog in!

Does anyone have experience of these cars?

I’ve got an older Duster and it’s a lot of car for the money. Quite basic and not as good as my Zafira. My DH was so impressed he has bought a newer model
I have 2 dogs, one 40kg and one 20kg and they fit in a large crate in the boot.
The newer Dusters have more ie built in sat nav, automatic lights etc.
I’m happy with mine. My biggest criteria was fitting the dog crate in and it is great for that. Cheap to run too which is also important to me.

Life's too short to waste money on a car. The money we save on the car we can spend on other things and experiences.

The money spent on the car is 'dead' money to me. My life isn't better because the car is quiet. If you want to spend your money on ensuring you travel in style that's your choice. Same for things like hotels. We are quite happy to do budget if we can do more.

For other people, it's not a choice. Their budget doesn't extend to a nicer car. They just need a car.

We bought the new Duster 4 years ago after our Nissan Qashqai (which we loved) was stolen. Couldn’t get a Qashqai, even 2nd hand, for anywhere near the price of the Duster, and we got the top of the range Duster. Absolutely love it - easy to drive, not full of buttons and gadgets you don’t need (we test drove a LOT of cars before deciding), great for kids and dog and so reliable. And 4 years ago it did well on safety test scores - the reason it isn’t now is because of some new pedestrian sensor thingy I believe, not basic safety features.

My Sandero is eight years old now. No problems at latest mot. I told my mechanic, “Hope to see you next year” and he replied “You will. Those things never break down.”

I hope he’s right.

We have a duster and I LOVE it. Bought to be big enough for our major camping habit, and simple enough to be actually mechanical to fix rather than computer.

Economical to run, decent insurance and my mechanic loves it.

They're also Renaults in Dacia clothing

We bought a Sandero in 2017. Never had any problems with it and it's been reliable and economic. Plenty of room for the Labrador too.

When we bought our Dacia new it was £7k. With all the warranties etc. Plus the insurance was about as low as you can get (in part because of the cost of the car). I said to DH at the time it would retain much of its value. He was dubious about it. I was right. 9 or 10 years on, it's still worth at least £4.5k I believe.

The reason for this is the total lack of alternative in its price bracket for its size. The next car the same size was at least three times the cost new, and you couldn't get close to the original price unless you bought really old. And of course a car of that age brings its own risks in terms of its now dated safety ratings and reliability.

This is what gets me. People saying 'buy a better car'. It's such a lot of money, which deprecates a lot more and doesn't really add much to your life.

The Dacia is our car for going outdoors in. We can fit everything in for sports and camping. And not worry about scratches or getting mud in it like we would with an expensive car or one on lease/hire purchase. It's a lot less stress in terms of worrying if it will get nicked. I mean who wants to steal a crappy old Dacia? The comments on this thread sum it up. It's just not aspirational and the price means there's no market. Nor is there a market for stealing for parts from it cos Renault parts are cheap and easy to get hold of.

It's interesting to see the number of kayakers and dog owners who swear by them. I suspect because of price point and practicality.

DH sometimes has moments of wishing he had a fancy car. Then he thinks about it and how he'd just get in a toss over using it for outdoor activities and messing it up.

It is a really stress free car in many respects. It's incredibly practical. And this is of course the antithesis of people who buy cars for the badge and want to show it off. It's just not our priority nor mindset.

This is mainly because they don't have fancy safety gadgets like lane departure warning etc. Look at the actual crash test results percentages for a fully accurate picture.

PIL have a 2017 Stepway since new, no issues with it, they think it's been an absolute bargain.

I've got a Duster. It's nearly 5 years old. Never had any problem with it. I'm not into cars so basically want a car that gets me where I want to be and back again. It does that.

I got it because I've got teens and could fit 3 in the back comfortably. The boot is a great size.

I have a dacia sandero as a courtesy car just now. Its quite spacious inside and has been comfy to drive, but not a great sized boot for the size of car.

Had a major crash in summer. My car saved my life. It scored high in safety tests. Wouldn’t touch anything that classes as “acceptable”