Cheap Sandero adds up to value for money

DACIA has sold over 1,000 cars since they entered the Irish market just over 12 months ago.

The Romanian company, which is owned by Renault, have just two models currently available here, the Duster and this week’s test car the Sandero.

Dacia has operated in Romania since the

’60s. It was founded in 1966 as Romania’s state car maker, bought by Renault in 1999 and the brand was re-launched with the Logan car in 2004.

There’s an old saying that you pay for what you get in life. Dacia say that their cars are

‘shockingly affordable’ and it’s true. With an entry level price of

?¬9,990 you are not going to get much luxury in the Sandero.

But then again, there are not many new cars available in Ireland with an entry level price of less than 10K, so you can’t have it every way.

This is a no frills car. There is room for five people at a squeeze in this five-door super mini; but in truth the back seat would be more comfortable with two rather than three passengers.

You get a decent sized boot but no spare wheel. I would prefer a spare wheel rather than the infamous repair kit, but then as regular readers will know, Dacia are not the only culprits in the

‘no spare wheel’ department.

I drove a blue version and externally it looked good. Inside the seats are comfortable, but you do get the feeling of austerity when you glance at the dash.

I had difficulty finding the digital clock, but eventually found it and a host of extra information available via the stalk to the right of the steering wheel.

On the road the car handled very well and I didn’t have any reason to stop at a petrol station; it definitely has a frugal engine. If you have around 10k to spend and were thinking of buying a second hand car, why not go for a new Sandero instead?

All Dacia engines are band A or B, meaning very low road tax, and come with a standard three year, 100,000km warranty, extendable to five years unlimited mileage warranty.

Safety is improving as the new version got four stars in the Euro NCAP test. Dacia now has 25 dealers countrywide.

How do Dacia do it? Well they cut back on various luxuries and use tried and tested Renault parts. The guys on Top Gear had a running joke about the Sandero a while back. But then we had similar situation with Skoda many years ago and look at where Skoda are now.

Prices start at

?¬9,990, but there are higher-speced versions available with prices going up to

?¬14,490 for the 1.5 diesel version. However, opting for a fancier model would, I think, spoil the unique selling point of the Sandero, which is low, low prices.

So there you have it. If money is tight in your house I would suggest you take a closer look and maybe have test drive in the Sandero. As the manufacturers say, it’s

‘shockingly affordable.’