Dacia Sandero Stepway Laureate Diesel Right Hand Drive

I am probably not the average demographic for purchaser as I have driven a very wide variety of cars etc. OK so had it a while, so here are my thoughts:

1 Spec I could do without:

• Cruise Control, liked it in the USA on an automatic car and long open roads, on a manual here it's a waste of space even on long runs.
• MediaNav, for me the sat nav is so massively useless compared to the market leaders in add on kit it's a waste of time, I have mine now switched off and use a Tom Tom for long journeys. So many issues, its not in the correct line of sight, the representation of the 3D view ahead is rubbish, speed camera database is too out of date, I need to be able to use the hands free phone while still having the sat nav display in front of me, etc.
• Silly stickers on the doors
• The rear head rests are supposedly different to Ambiance? They look the same to me... have I been ripped off?

2 Spec I want added

• Electronic folding door mirrors
• Proper full sized spare wheel
• Alloy wheels
• Voice activated hands free calling
• Locking wheel nuts
• Black underseal in the wheel arches and under the car not body colour

3 Things that stopped me buying an ambiance

• Air con
• Rear loud speakers
• Height adjustable drivers seat
• Electronic rear windows (would hate to have children in the back operating windy up windows, at least with elec windows you can disable their switches)

(it seems to me if they added these things to an Ambiance it would be a winning spec)

4 Things that really need fixing

• Pedal layout, sizing, spacing, feel, heaviness, and so on is terrible. No space for left foot. Left foot does not fit between clutch and panel to the left of it. Clutch pedal travel is far too long, and pedal is far too heavy on a long journey (yes I have revised my views here). Left foot aches in stop start traffic, it really shouldn't be like this in this day and age. Accelerator and brake are far too far off the floor, and again travel is far too much. The pedals need redesigning around ergonomic foot usage. Probably they need to replace the cable operated clutch with a hydraulic clutch to do it properly. Really is this what Renault pedals are like? If so it's so far behind modern practise its ridiculous. The thing is putting better sized and laid out pedals in would not cost any more than this layout, so it really should be sorted. I note its different on left hand drive versions, not seen one close up to tell if they are good enough but these right hand drive ones are bad. This is ultimately the one thing that will stop me recommending this car.
• Needs decent pioneer or similar loudspeakers these cheap ones are rubbish
• Chrome features in the cab reflect the sun into your eyes when driving, so chrome "Dacia" badge on steering wheel, chrome around air vents and instruments. Really these need replacing with something that doesn't blind the driver in normal use.
• Palming me off with the wrong sized wheel as a spare. If it was a space saver which saved weight I maybe persuaded. But a 15 inch full size wheel when the car has 16 inch road wheels THEY ARE TAKING THE MICKEY. Dealer laughing at me when I complained I HAVE ALREADY DIRECTED SEVERAL POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS ELSEWHERE AND WILL CONTINUE TO DO THE SAME.
• Other than that I would be happy with the car. I don't find the ride, handling, road noise, etc too bad and lots of the reviews along those lines from professional reviewers I disagree with. I don't find the overall quality too bad.

5 Things I would prefer

• Automatic option
• More leg room in the back
• Option to have the car without the roof rails. Keep the extra ride height but ditch the roof bars.
• More lateral support for front seats (something like a 89 cavalier would do me again decent seats would not cost more to make if the tooling was setup correctly from the beginning).

6 Dealer experience

• I didn't pay enough attention as I was in a hurry and ended up over paying. Ripping me off so much they felt embarrassed to show additional car price or reduced part ex value and simply stuck an extra figure in for "optional gold service". No such gold service noticeable. Well guess what you have probably already lost more business than the extra money you ripped off me.
• Laughing when I complained about the spare wheel. For one I am not a kid. For two massive PR mistake.
• Sticking dealer advertising all over my car, stickers, oversized rear number plate holder, etc. Again will just make me avoid you the next time.
• Not impressed

Hope that helps folks!

 

I am a realist.

I am just laying out the pros and cons as I see them.

Yes the price tag is a major advantage, but my review just tries to lay out realistic view.

Most of the negatives I list could be fixed. A one off tooling cost. Or for instance replace the pedal board with another off the shelf set of pedals (of which there are many for the makers to choose from). There would be no additional cost to production once tooling was sorted. So I think Dacia could really show the competition a big problem if they got their act together and sorted this stuff out.

 

We have had ours 3 weeks now and had no problems with it, the sat nav worked well when we went to South Wales Easter weekend and I have no problems with the pedals and we have had 3 adult passengers in the back no moans from them about legroom

Posted Via The DaciaForum.co.uk App

 

I'm loving the sat nav,within my media nav,cracking piece of kit!
Enjoy your 'user friendly' tom tom.......because quite frankly I think portable sat navs are a pain on the arse,and here's a few reasons why,

Security issues,as when you leave the vehicle,the unit really should be removed/hidden to prevent potential theft and vandalism to the car to get to it....same goes for the suction cup/bracket.
Charging lead in the vehicle,is clutter that isn't wanted,and again as above,needs to be removed when vehicle parked etc....
I don't understand the need to stick the sat nav pretty much in your direct line of sight on the windscreen,I personally prefer to concentrate on what's happening outside my windscreen than getting distracted by a screen stuck to it,just another blind spot if you ask me...oh and that's why sat navs have audio instructions,so you don't necessarily have to keep looking at the screen.
Factory installed sat navs,can't move whilst driving,or fall over,unlike a unit I had stuck to my dash board a few years ago,which decided to lose suction half way around a roundabout,not very helpful and potentially dangerous.

Last but not least,I took delivery of my stepway laureate (petrol) at the beginning of April,and quite frankly it's the best vehicle I've owned,and I love it.....!

Happy days ahead.

Regards,
CM.

 

Three months ownership now so have formulated more of an opinion of the stepway.first thing to say is Dacia would not have been my first choice but finances dictated it,i needed a new car with a larger boot to take a wheelchair,needed it to be easier for my mother inlaw to get in and out of,she is 85 registered blind and can hardly walk and four doors so when there was three of us in my wife didnt have to struggle to get in.

So i took it out for a test and thought yes ok no irritations i could live with this,things have moved on from there and now its a case of really liking it,plenty of comfort not short on power and handles well.

Fuel economy well that was a strange thing having had two new puntos previously which showed a computer MPG of 40 mpg in short town trips i felt this was not as good as i was only retuning 36-38mpg on tank to tank calculations,but my wife pointed out to me we where doing exactly the same driving as we did in the punto and putting £5 a week less fuel in,so the Dacia must be doing better.

Faults,well two really one the fuel gauge was playing silly beggars and never showed full but instead of running straight back there i thought give it a few months for any other faults to show and get them all done at the same time,its now sorted itself.

One of the rubbers around a rear quarter light has developed a bulge which could allow water in so its going back for that.

Financially its a no brainer,tax the same as the punto,insurance half price,5 years warranty better MPG,can only guess but my thoughts are if i had paid £15,000 for a car in five years i would be very lucky to get £7,000 back so a loss of £8,000 paid £9,000 with all the bits ie extended warranty so only got to get £1000 to be no worse off.

 

Hi guys,

well going to pick up my stepway Laureate today, had a test run in one and all seems good to me. radio/satnav ok, asked about Dab radio upgrade there price was £1,000+ wow no thanks.

From January this year Dacia will only supply a 15inch spare only paid £95, any how after complaining about the spare I got a deal with the car superguard, mudflaps B/F, plus a full tank, just to stop me moaning I think.

 

Oh and I forgot

I would prefer to have a temperature gauge and the both rear fog lights wired in.

Geraint, chill it's a review of the car not me… I actually like it, understood most of the pros and cons before I bought it, can live with the cons apart from the clutch pedal which is ridiculous, and see most of my suggestions repeated in comments from other owners. Most of these cons could be sorted by Dacia cheaply and they really would shock the market then!

Cheers

 

I actually like it, understood most of the pros and cons before I bought it, can live with the cons apart from the clutch pedal which is ridiculous, and see most of my suggestions repeated in comments from other owners. Most of these cons could be sorted by Dacia cheaply and they really would shock the market then!

Cheers

Really not sure what you mean about the clutch pedal, it seems fine to me, unless you mean that it's a bit too far to the left and there's not much room for your foot...but the clutch action itself is pretty good as far as I'm concerned. That said, my previous car, a 2010 Kia Picanto, had a truly vile clutch on it. It seemed to be either completely on or completely off and finding the bite was always tricky. Coupled with the stupidly oversensitive accelerator, it was ridiculously easy to stall and very tricky to drive slowly in low gear for any distance. Only thing I miss about the Picanto was the nice slick gear change - the Stepway's box is a bit lumpy and I find it harder to change gears quickly, but I suspect I'll get used to that in time. Other than that, I find the controls well laid out and very user-friendly. My wife likes it a lot too. She's a driving instructor so she spends almost her entire life in a car (a diesel Corsa in her case), and she is well impressed with the Stepway.

 

Coolcat - Fair enough with the review, but and this is just my opinion, I think your dealer relationship has possibly led to a less than complimentary review (well, actually there was none, lol).

Reminds me when someone goes on holiday, and they have one incident or no soap or something and then it becomes the 'worst holiday ever', lol.

I can see some instances were fair enough, but light off a chrome fitting?????

FD

 

I actually like it, understood most of the pros and cons before I bought it, can live with the cons apart from the clutch pedal which is ridiculous, and see most of my suggestions repeated in comments from other owners. Most of these cons could be sorted by Dacia cheaply and they really would shock the market then!

Cheers

Really not sure what you mean about the clutch pedal, it seems fine to me, unless you mean that it's a bit too far to the left and there's not much room for your foot...but the clutch action itself is pretty good as far as I'm concerned. That said, my previous car, a 2010 Kia Picanto, had a truly vile clutch on it. It seemed to be either completely on or completely off and finding the bite was always tricky. Coupled with the stupidly oversensitive accelerator, it was ridiculously easy to stall and very tricky to drive slowly in low gear for any distance. Only thing I miss about the Picanto was the nice slick gear change - the Stepway's box is a bit lumpy and I find it harder to change gears quickly, but I suspect I'll get used to that in time. Other than that, I find the controls well laid out and very user-friendly. My wife likes it a lot too. She's a driving instructor so she spends almost her entire life in a car (a diesel Corsa in her case), and she is well impressed with the Stepway.

God you poor sod' my better half always moans about my driving so imagine if she was actually an expert on driving' how the hell do you convince her its not your driving that's at fault

 

I agree with NC. Some of these professional reviewers are testing different cars on a weekly basis most probably. One day they may be behind the wheel of a bmw or merc and the next day a Stepway. They are bound to make comparisons and they are unlikely to favour the Stepway but as Dacia admit themselves they are expecting a lot of their customers to have never owned a new car before and as such will be more than pleased with what they get (hopefully).

Couldn't agree more. Wow what a car.

Posted Via The DaciaForum.co.uk App

 

Haven't a clue about cars!!!! All I know is I love my stepaway laureate petrol. My previous car was a 2001 vectra estate!!!! The brain of this car would not longer communicate, was problems with idling. My newnstepway, reliable and comfortable tom drive. Mostly city driving and step way is very nippy and very surprising going uphill!!! Love it and as far as I'm concerned was the best decision of my life

 

Couldnt agree more. Had mine 6 weeks and done 1500km of effortless, comfortable driving. Love the media nav and punchy engine. Best new car descision I ever made, too. And Im 65.

 

When buying only got the laureate trim, for future selling purposes. Don't know what I'D do without it now!!!!!!

 

Well hope I am doing the right thing I have had the duster ambiance 4x2 for just over a year but missed the little extras. so I have now px and picking up Saturday a stepway laureate in black looks stunning.

 

What exactly did you miss' to me the air con is really the only thing missing on the ambo; all the rest are nice but not deal breakers

 

its all those little extras like elec wing mirrors windows all round touch screen sat nav reverse sensors cruise control speed limiter. them are the ones I miss as I had them on my ford focus before the duster but I like the dacia so just upgrading.

 

Height adjustable seat is on the laureate too, that was a must for out purchase along with the electric mirrors as I'm 6'2" and my wife is only 5'. It allows us to adjust the mirrors from the drivers seat easily cruise control etc are nice to have but wouldn't have been a deal breaker.

Hope you enjoy your new car when it comes

 

Cheers it is great saw it Tuesday picked it up Saturday. I was informed that I was lucky that all new orders may not get leather steering wheel or gear stick and rear electric windows as they may be optional extras in future or so the salesman said. but I love it so much more refined than the Duster.

 

Spooky as I had a Focus and the only thing I really missed was the heated windscreen' a godsend on frosty mornings

 

Spooky as I had a Focus and the only thing I really missed was the heated windscreen' a godsend on frosty mornings

As the words of "Big yellow taxi" you don't know what youv'e got 'till it's gone !

 

 

He is from near me. His Logan review is good too!

 

Good?

Think Top Gear are safe' spookily enough didn't notice any black pud or whippets to go with the flat cap

First reviewer who wasn't totally enamoured with the medi nav

 

Good?
Think Top Gear are safe' spookily enough didn't notice any black pud or whippets to go with the flat cap
First reviewer who wasn't totally enamoured with the medi nav

On the Logan review he is much more complementary... Strange.