Used Dacia Sandero cars for sale

Used Dacia Sandero pros and cons

Is a second hand Dacia Sandero a good car?

The Dacia Sandero is a small hatchback with a small price, and it’s beloved by canny car buyers who’ve worked out that although much cheaper than other small cars, the Sandero is at least as good, and often better, than the rest. It’s like finding out that the supermarket’s own-brand cereal is tastier than Frosties. 

The Sandero is up against the likes of the VW Polo and Skoda Fabia, and it shares all of its mechanical bits and its engines with the posher, more stylish Renault Clio. Just don’t go expecting the tech nor the luxury touches of cars like that. 

Not that the Sandero looks shabby from the outside. In fact, it’s a rather smart-looking car these days, with distinct overtones of the previous-generation VW Polo about its style. Especially with that new Dacia ‘DC’ grille badge, there’s no way anyone will think you’ve scrimped on your car. 

Even the basic Essential model gets body-colour bumpers – it’s kind of a shame that the old grey plastic bumper basic option has been ditched – and a choice of just four paint colours (dark blue looks the best). 

If you’re expecting hair-shirt minimalism on the inside, prepare to be surprised. Okay, so the Sandero isn’t the last word in style and luxury in the cabin, but this model has an interior that’s a  big step up from the cheap and grey look of the previous Sandero. There’s even a decent touchscreen for more expensive Expression and Journey models (the range-topping, off-road-y Extreme spec is reserved for the SUV-wannabe Sandero Stepway). Basic Expression models get a simple, but ingenious, clamp on the dashboard that holds your phone and an app that allows you to control the car’s infotainment through that phone. Simple and effective. And cheap. 

There’s some nice soft fabric trim on the dash, which makes the cabin feel much more welcoming, and the driving position is comfortable, with much, much better seats than you got in previous Sandero models. There’s good visibility all-round, and there’s adequate legroom and headroom in the rear, although if you want more of that, go for a SEAT Ibiza instead. At 328 litres, the Sandero’s boot isn’t the biggest in the class (that’s the Skoda Fabia with 380 litres) but it’s fine. 

Just as you don’t expect luxury from a Sandero, you don’t expect sports car-like handling either, and the Dacia duly, er, doesn’t deliver. However, it’s certainly not bad with light steering which is good around town (but rather too light at higher speeds and on twisty roads). Basically, the Sandero is good at what most people will want it to do — school runs, the ‘big shop’, the odd run down the country to visit relatives. It’s even quite refined and comfortable on longer journeys, so it’s a solid all-rounder. 

There are two engine choices for the Sandero, although actually they’re basically the same 1.0-litre three-cylinder petrol turbo engine. The basic version comes with 90hp and can be had with either a five-speed manual gearbox or an automatic. There’s also a 100hp version of the same engine, available in the bi-fuel version, which can run on either petrol or LPG (thanks to an LPG tank that sits in the spare wheel well). 

There’s a bit of trickery going on here, though. The bi-fuel engine is actually exactly the same 90hp engine, but when you run it on LPG it gets an extra 10hp because of the way the gas-based fuel burns. On a combined tank of petrol and tank of LPG the bi-fuel Sandero claims a range of more than 600 miles. 

There’s a question mark over safety — Euro NCAP only gave the Sandero two stars, a very poor rating, but Dacia hit back saying that the Sandero is a fundamentally safe car, and it only gets marked down because it doesn’t have some of the more expensive electronic safety systems, which it says its customers aren’t interested in anyway. 

The Sandero is also better equipped than it used to be. Even boggo Essential models get DAB radio, a digital trip computer, air conditioning, and cruise control. The basic 15-inch steel wheels are great too, as if you’re a regular in-town parker, you won’t worry about bashing them off the odd kerb. Higher spec Expression and Journeys get a touchscreen, reversing camera and more, but do you really need any of those? 

The Dacia Sandero might be the bargain-bucket offering in the small hatchback world, but like the supermarket cereal, it’s a tastier option than you might expect. The only downside is that Sanderos hold onto their value, so used prices in some ways aren’t as tempting as new ones. 

What to look for when buying a used Dacia Sandero

Dacia’s reputation for reliability is good — as shown by the fact that the Dacia Duster finished first overall in the Driver Power Top 50 Cars To Own survey. Meanwhile, Dacia as a brand finished in 22nd place out of 32 brands in the overall customer satisfaction survey, with 22% of owners reporting a problem with their car — a relatively low number. 

There have been reports of problems with the bi-fuel LPG system inducing rough-running and automatically switching back to petrol power, so beware of that. Thankfully, Dacia has an extended warranty programme, which runs for as much as six years, so it’s worth seeking out a Sandero that’s still covered.