Dacia Sandero Stepway

Reviews:

The Stepway is good value for money. I would have given this car 5 stars had it not been for the 'hard' ride (the suspension is a little unforgiving) and although the car sits quite high I do have a little difficulty getting in and out. I think that younger people may not experience these difficulties (I am well retired) so don't let this put you off and do have a test drive. Having said all that I am very pleased with this purchase. The car seems to sip petrol compared with my trade-in Fiesta it was easy setting up my new phone with the console, the camera system for parking and warnings is awesome. Interior wise it does have all the bells and whistles and we are finding new things all the time.

I think dacia are really good value, my last one i changed after 8 years , onley problem was a starter motor in all the time i had it, so i bought the same model again, now called a sandero stepway extreme, heated steering wheel is great for winter mornings and the digital speedometer put right the the problem of seeing the deeply recessed dials in poor light, love the reversing camera, still getting used to electric hand brake, the face lift from my old stepway laurette looks great too, I would have preferred a real handbook, to an, app, and there is still some reflection off the dashboard onto the screen in bright sunlight, I am still getting used to all the digital apps and programs, but all in all i think this is a wonderful car for the price,

I keep having issues with the separate computer screen. It was happening from 2 days after I had the car when it went off completely. I contacted the dealer and they thought it hadn’t upgraded on the computer. We tried a few things over the phone and they advised any issues Go to my local branch. It seemed okay for a while, but I keep losing my radio some of the time. I’m getting lots of pop up messages on the dash to say take a break and the screen has gone off again. I do need to contact my local branch to have it looked at - when I checked on the screen for upgrades, the last was July - one date before I got the car, the other after and on the screen the icon for wifi always has a question mark above it. I know I will have to have it looked at. (This is my third Dacia - but not so far happy with the IT performance of this car)

I’m 76 and the car is perfect for what I need. I only expect to do 6 to 7000 miles a year. I love the media, when it works. I do lose it at times, I only want the satnav and the radio and it works great then I can’t get both and sometimes either. It always comes back so I don’t know if this is a characteristic or that my iPhone is getting old.

I like how easy it is to drive and especially the camera system which makes it even easier to use. The only complaint I have is the electric handbrake it seems to release far too early once I engage the gear stick. Not ideal for a hill start. I would ask if this is a problem with this particular car?

great car , comfortable to drive , not sure on all the gadgets yet, pity they dont come with a handbook instead of on line, drives well on motorways , beeping sometimes is abit annoying but i can turn it off

i am having a problem with payments iwas overcharged 2 payment on my trade in saderai got a refund but 58 pound wasnot refunded i have contated carlisle but still waiting for rely from manager dave

An excellent all round vehicle with many standard features, I think I prefer the Duster (had2) but this will fit the bill admirably until I have a look at the new model Striker

Affordable, economic and a pleasure to drive, It has some great features and driver assistance options. We get just over 50mpg. The 4 cameras and front radar are impressive too !

It is made for common sense safety and everyday use. It has tactile nobs instead of touch screen buttons for demist, ventilation and temperature. This is the safest and easiest option. The ECO setting really saves fuel and therefore money. Steal wheel rims make sense for a driving school car. It's very good value for money A really good radio. The phone link SATNAVE works really well. The lines in the rear camera are more helpful than many cars. It is easy to switch off the lane assist and speed limiter. I know that these "safety devices" are law and have to be fitted. I have driven different types of car that have these "safety devices" fitted. They are dangerous. For it to go peep at you if you break the speed limit is obviously a good thing. When the camera sees a speed limit on another road and thinks it applies to you - then unpredictably slows the car down is very dangerous and happens all the time. This happens a lot in cars I will not name that have a bad reputation for it. Having to be on your guard to prevent the lane assist from running you into the oncoming traffic is something you can do without. Again There are cars with a bad reputation for it being difficult to turn this off and for the steering being difficult to overpower. I being easy to disable these "safety devices" on the Dacia is very much a plus. A spare wheel is good for a driving school. If you do have a puncture your back on the road properly and it will protect you from a hard back end shunt. Plenty of room in the engine bay. At present I only do driver maintenance on it and take it to the dealer for servicing. The could do better: The windscreen wipers are unpredictable and can turn themselves off even when at full speed and this was not just a faulty car. It has happened on a number of Dacia Stepways. You have to fiddle from time to time to get them to work again. The way that you change from tyre pressure to MPG, to fuel ranger left, to engine temperature etc. is not easy. Things like clock setting as well. These menus could be made much easier to use. I like cabin vents that have volume and direction controls separate. All cars these days have a very big A pillar. I know this is to prevent you getting a headache if you roll the car. Better visibility around the A pillar would make you less likely to roll it in the first place. The top range KIA Rio had a directional headlight as well as the front headlight instead of using the fog light to light up the curb that you are turning in towards. When I had a Rio I really liked that feature.

Great car for the price top spec has all the features needed. It will be interesting to see how it performs in the next few years.

To date the car has not been used that much, so it's difficult to give a full impression, that said it starts when I ask it to and gets me to where I need to be. One issue I noticed is the front camera intermittently becomes unavailable at which time several emergency and safety related driver assistance features become disabled, my issue is mainly that there is no audible alert to the driver that these safety related systems have become unavailable. I'm currently in correspondence with Dacia UK about this issue.

We love the car, but are still getting used to the increase in New Technology..

I expected, perhaps naively, that the latest mid range Stepway, titled the Expression, would have by now have achieved broadly the same level of spec as the four year older Expression of the same title, which was at the time top of the range. Unfortunately not, and it's not even close. Whilst I expected a drop in the technology levels between mid and top range, its is the basic comfort and driving experience that disappoints the most. The driver footwell is so cramped, it feels like you are driving a compact. Where the former Expression had a very ample foot rest to be position your left foot on and space to stretch your leg when not needed, the new Expression has neither. Instead, there is space only to drop your left foot down in front of the clutch pedal, and the foot rest, such as it is, is tiny, suitable only for the size of feet of a child, and the pedal is positioned partially under the flaring of the centre console, so it is almost impossible to make us of it at all. The arm rest is fixed to the driver seat, meaning it reclines with the seat, rendering it unusable when the seat is dropped back. The seats feel smaller and narrower, meaning there is a feeling of being squeezed upwards and outwards of the chair, particularly for anyone of a larger size, exacerbating the existing feeling, if not reality, of the cabin being smaller on size and cramped. The head rest angle is very poor, meaning you have to lean too far back to make use of them, negatively impacting the driving position and comfort of the neck. The safety features such the speed indication and warning system is wildly inaccurate, meaning you either have continuous intermittent warning sounds for speeding, or you have to disable it and along with it, some of the other now mandatory safety features on all new cars. Some of the odometer and might features are simplified meaning you don't have quite the same level of journey monitoring you had with the former model of the same name. A minor point I admit but a drop off in comparison as it was a feature I utilised given my high mileage. Performance is very sluggish given its near identical engine type. MPG was also very poor for the first four months, even on ECO mode, costibg me far more in fuel, something that has for some reason now improved dramatically, beyond even that of the former model now. Perhaps the engine has settled down to some degree, but i was not anticipating such a varying degree in efficiency. The outer trim is more basic and not surprisingly looks cheaper and not as polished as the former, but that is to be expected. Wheel covers rather than alloys. Again, to be expected. Overall, it's adequate, but where as I found the 2021 Expresssion rather surprising and quite impressive in most regards, this slightly misleading mid range version of the same name, underwhelms in all respects and does nothing particularly well, save for the latest MPG results on LPG. Dacia really should have changed the name to make it more obvious that it is absolutely no comparison to the 2021 model. Given the proce difference, avoid the Expression and go with the Extreme. I opted for the Expression as the slightly different spec did not seem that much, but it is the unlisted details such as those I have listed that make it such a significant drop-off in comparison to Extreme. Although please note, I did not test drive either model, I bought on spec as I did in 2021. Therefore I can not guarantee that the top of the range Extreme is equivalent to the 2021 top of the range Expression. Buyer beware and definately test drive them

Looks good easy to drive, drivers seat easily adjusted. Good boot space Can think of nothing to improve it.

Easy to drive and park, packed with equipment like rear view camera, warning sensors when reversing.

The additional technology (like all the eco settings and driver assists) is too intrusive and impossible to switch off permanently. Whilst some people might like having all these features turned on by default every time they get in the car, it is a seriously irritating inconvenience for those of us who don't, having to turn them off manually every time you start the engine! Apart from this it's a good car and I'm very happy with it. Is worth also noting, the 3-cylinder TCe90 engine is also quite growly compared to a traditional 4-cylinder engine. I can live with this because it's no noisier than a diesel engine and the performance remains good, but it is something the buyer should be aware of.

Fab car at a fab price! Drives well and has lots of features included for the cost.

Stylish good value for money comfortable A mechanical handbrake ( I’m old!!)

Much improved on the last one and I’ve had 4.