2023 (23) Dacia Sandero 1.0 Tce Bi-Fuel Expression 5dr

This enhanced version of the third generation Dacia Sandero could very well completely change the way you think about budgeting for a new compact family car. Jonathan Crouch reports.

Ten Second Review

Wouldn't it be good if the Dacia Sandero could feel properly modern as well as being properly cheap. Well, we're promised that this improved version of the MK3 design is exactly that. Really modern that is. It still pretty cheap too - still the cheapest family car you could choose - but at the same time as being a far better quality hatch in this rejuvenated form. If you're just about to buy a mainstream brand city car, supermini or family hatch, you need to stop right here and read on....

Background

From Renault's point of view, it was a great concept. Buy a struggling Romanian car brand (in 2004) using factories with cheap labour. Then take a last-generation Renault hatch design, freshen it up with modern styling and a different badge and sell it at the kind of super-cheap prices that all of these short-cuts could facilitate. So was born the Dacia Sandero in 2013, which was then - and still is now - by some margin Britain's most affordable compact family hatch. With the original version (actually a second generation design that was lightly freshened in 2017), you very much got what you didn't pay for, but loyal owners didn't care. Some of us though, wondered whether this car's sales prospects wouldn't be considerably improved if just a fraction of that affordability could be sacrificed in favour of creating more modern, efficient engineering. In a cabin that didn't feel quite so much like a Bulgarian thrift store. A step towards that goal was made with the third generation model launched in 2020. And continued progress has been made by that MK3 model in the updated form launched in 2025. That's the car we look at here.

Driving Experience

Sandero owners will continue to primarily choose this car with a 1.0-litre three cylinder petrol TCe engine, but now it produces 100hp (up from 90hp before). This core powerplant has that slightly off-beat feel that's unique to three-cylinder engines. And remains paired to the same 6-speed manual gearbox. This has a supremely light shift action, though can feel slightly rubbery and imprecise when you click the gears into each ratio. You can have a CVT auto as an option. The Stepway version can still be had with a 110hp version of this same TCe unit - and can also be ordered with the brand's hybrid 155 electrified powertrain. The hybrid 155 combines a 109hp 1.8-litre four cylinder petrol engine, two electric motors (a 50hp motor and a high-voltage starter/generator), a 1.4kWh battery (230V) and an automatic electric gearbox with four gears for the ICE engine and two others for the electric motor. Otherwise, all is as before, so the Sandero continues to ride on the same Renault Clio-derived CMF-B platform. The electric steering remains light and still doesn't offer any meaningful feedback, but it's precise and predictable enough for everyday driving, and the turning circle is usefully tight at 10.5 metres. You'll get a bit of extra wheel travel if you opt for the crossover-style Sandero Stepway model, but nothing else in terms of off road SUV engineering. So it'll be fine for school run kerbs but of course no use at all for any real off road shenanigans.

Design and Build

As before, the Sandero is sized somewhere between a supermini and a family hatch and is available in the standard form we focus on here - on in 'Stepway' guise (which adds a series of crossover-like styling cues). This isn't an all-new Sandero but this Dacia now has a much smarter look, courtesy of a new LED light signature featuring an inverted 'T' with redesigned headlights. The light signature is connected to the revised grille by a fine line of pixel-like white dots, standing out clearly against the black of the grille. At the rear, there's a fresh design of the LED 'pixel' lights - and the wheels are restyled too. The Stepway version features new protections on the wheel arches, lower body and fog light surrounds in 'Starkle', a kind of eco plastic invented by Dacia.  The interior's been given a makeover too, with smarter dashboard air vents that feature an inverted 'T' design, matching the latest exterior light signature. There are more durable fabrics on the seats, dashboard and doors, giving the interior a more welcoming look. Plus the steering wheel's been re-styled. Dacia's also added a new interface design to the 7-inch digital drive display; and revised the 10-inch central infotainment monitor, which can be had with connected navigation and a nearby wireless smartphone charger. As before, access to the rear is easy, with wide-opening doors and reasonable knee room; you could seat a couple of adults there more comfortably than in most other superminis. The boot remains larger than the supermini models this Sandero is priced against, rated at 328-litres, extendable to 1,108-litres with the rear bench folded.

Market and Model

Prices haven't changed much, starting from around £16,000 - about £10,000 more than this model line retailed at when it first arrived in the UK in 2013. There are two trim levels, base 'Expression' or, for another £1,000, plusher 'Journey'; go on, spoil yourself. The Stepway model starts from around £17,000 and comes in 'Expression' and 'Extreme' forms. Depending on the trim level you choose, infotainment will be taken care of by the brand's 'Media Control' system (working with an improved app); or, further up the range, you get a 10-inch 'Media Display' screen, which offers wireless 'Apple CarPlay' and 'Android Auto'; and can also be upgraded to 'Media Nav Live' nav-equipped status, where it'll be paired with an Arkamys 6-speaker 3D Sound System. Other features new to Sandero include a wireless 'phone charger, auto high beam headlights, a multi-view camera and power-folding mirrors. The 'YouClip' attachments we first saw on the Spring EV now make an appearance on the Sandero, a simple, ingenious system for securing a wide range of dedicated accessories at key points around the passenger compartment in a practical and robust way. There are three YouClip anchor points: one on the dashboard, one at the back of the central console, and another inside the tailgate. These anchor points can be used for a tablet holder, storage pouch, phone holder or a coat hanger - and you can buy a 'YouClip' accessory attachments for a glasses case and a shopping bag. The Sandero also really needed a safety upgrade; it's had it, with new driving aids meeting the latest European safety standards: including better automatic emergency braking (city/highway with vehicle, pedestrian, cyclist and motorbike detection) and driver attention alert. Making life easier for customers, Dacia has added an ingenious 'My Safety' button, providing easy access to the driver's preferred ADAS configuration.

Cost of Ownership

The efficiency figures haven't changed much. The 100hp 1.0 TCe manual variant most will choose manages 53.3mpg on the combined cycle and 119g/km of CO2. It's 49.6mpg and 129g/km if you have the auto gearbox. The 100hp 1.0-litre Stepway model manages 51.4mpg and 126g/km. Overall, this isn't quite as good showing as you would from a pricier mainstream supermini, but there's no doubt that Dacia has considerably closed the previous gap in efficiency that previously existed compared to the mainstream market. On to the warranty. Dacia offers an industry standard 3-year/60,000 miles guarantee from the showroom, backed by three years or 60,000 miles of roadside assistance. For a little more, you can extend the cover by two years or you can up the period covered to a Kia-equalling 7 years and 100,000 miles. Service intervals are every year or every 12,000 miles and since most Renault dealers look after Dacias too, you shouldn't be too far from a specialist workshop. It also helps that there's a timing chain that'll last as long as the engine. Dacia offers a choice of pre-paid servicing schemes covering you for either two years and 24,000 miles or three years and 36,000 miles.

Summary

This is probably the compact family hatch that many people currently choosing Corsas, Polos and the like should actually be considering. Those mainstream superminis aren't only vastly more expensive than this Sandero; they're also significantly smaller inside too. With the previous versions of this Dacia, those two Sandero selling points, though considerable, weren't quite enough to convince the relatively few prepared to consider it. These folk should think again. If, for you, a car is simply a functional implement, a domestic tool that, like any other, must justify its expenditure, then this one now fits the bill perfectly. Solid, spacious and family-friendly for the kind of money you'd pay for a tiny city scoot, it offers pretty much everything you need and nothing you don't. Yes, products from the established market players are still more sophisticated - but the gap isn't huge. Except, of course, when it comes to what you have to pay.