[Colonelbrandon]

Here I am again, one month on and a bit more used to the 21 Stepway Prestige. Sorry it’s a bit long but you don’t have to read it all.

Things I don’t like;
The damn armrest between the driver and passenger seats, it seems the most useless bit of ‘fluff’ they could have added. It gets in the way every time I want to attach or detach my seatbelt. It is also so small inside as yet I have found no use for it as storage.

Reaching down to pull up the handbrake then having to double check I’ve got the little leaver for the electronic handbrake. Then having to count 1, 2, 3, for the brake to come on. Try that at a set of traffic lights on a slope with some nice driver 6“ from your rear bumper.

Not having an actual OFF position for the lights only AUTO, Side and Headlights. The driver coming towards me the other day must have wondered what the heck I was up to as I drove under some dark trees and the headlights flashed on and off all on their own.

The spring loaded doors. The number of times I’ve smacked my knuckles when opening the driver’s door in a tight space and had it smack back because of the spring.

The gearbox, I’m having trouble when reversing and changing from reverse to 1st, It seems the detent doesn’t always drop down so I push forwards into 1st and find I’m still in reverse. I now have the habit of selecting 2nd then 1st to make sure I’m in the right gear. Just a minor niggle but it should get better as it wears in.

And things I like;
The engine, in Eco mode it has the same pulling power as my old Sandero. Take the Eco off and you get a noticeable punch in the acceleration.

Fuel economy. I live in laid back, we don’t have motorways (we really don’t) slightly rural Dorset. So most of my journeys are on A, B, C or unclassified roads. So far according to the digital display I’m getting 50 MPG, 11 more than my old car.

The display; this took me by surprise the whole display is backlit at all times, even when the lights are off. That was my biggest bugbear with the old car, in gloomy conditions or under bright sun I could not see the speedo. I also love the digital display of the speed in MPH and things like water temp, trip distance etc.

Android Auto, it works fine with my mobile phone. Google maps mean I don’t have to spend a fortune keeping the maps up to date. Voice commands so far work fine, even when I really put it to the test and issued a long command. I’ve not tried the hands free phone yet, still taking small steps at my age

The rear door having an electronic lock, so much easier when you arrive with a load of shopping and just open it with a press of the button.

The reversing camera, lets me see if some little person is hiding behind the car when pulling out in the supermarket car park. Also all the warning alarms, I did think about turning them off but now I’ve toned them down a bit (volume and tone) I decided to leave them on.

Lastly I like the way Dacia has integrated the Nav system with the car so I can adjust a lot of the cars settings with just a few taps of the screen. Well done for that Dacia.

 

[Colonelbrandon]

Some months ago when I signed up to this forum I mentioned I would be upgrading to a new Stepway. Well Last Tuesday after just over 10 months of waiting, delays and frustrations I finally managed to pick it up.

What have I got, a Sandero Stepway Prestige in Desert Orange, 6 speed manual gearbox, and petrol exactly as shown on Dacia’s advert.

Do I like it, well it’s taking a bit of getting used too.

The colour is actually lighter in real life than it seems on the select your car site (subject to me being colour blind in the red/green spectrum).

The car is much quieter to drive than my old 65 Sandero and the engine seem much ‘puncher’ and quicker to respond to a touch on the loud pedal. The seats are comfortable and have a pretty good range of adjustments. Steering is very light at low speeds and gets more ‘restrained’ as you get faster (that’s how I found it your mileage may vary).

Still having ‘fun’ with the keyless entry and the start button, had to study the manual to find out how to turn on the accessories side on the car without starting it. Oh yes I must remember to actually ‘Stop’ the engine when parking up not rely on the ‘Stop/Start’.

The electronic handbrake will take some getting used too, I have driven cars with a ‘real’ handbrake since I was 17 and I’m about to turn 76 next year so stopping on a hill or at traffic lights will be ‘interesting’. Any tips?

The Nav unit seems to work as expected and connects to my mobile fine. I used Android Auto with Google maps as a test on my way home from the dealer (30 miles or so), and I was surprised by how accurate the Nav worked. The voice directions even gave the road names as well as the number and worked out any changes very fast.

The warnings from the proximity detectors took me by surprise as I pulled up facing the wall at home the screen lit up and warnings flashed as I approached (I can turn most of this stuff off in the Nav settings but I will leave as is for now).

So downsides, I miss the gas lift strut on the bonnet, back to the old ‘pull down the holding bar’ type of fitting. The gearbox is a bit stiff and somewhat woolly to use I find 5 to 6 to be the worst but most say it frees up after some 500 miles or so. The double height boot floor is OK but a bit of a fiddle to change, not that I’ll do it very often.

Otherwise I’m pleased with the car and even my friends were impressed. Would I buy a Dacia again yes but this time from a forecourt not as a pre-order (although I did get it at last year’s price before all the rises).

Finally a question, on the instrument panel (the digital one between the dials) is a small picture of a car (not the door open one) it sometimes changes from grey to white (sort of lights up) but I can’t find what it means in the manual, anyone have any idea?