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Dacia Sandero Stepway Journalist Reviews

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34K views 58 replies 37 participants last post by  prince  
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
#28 ·
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.
 
#29 ·
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 ÂŁ5 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 ÂŁ15,000 for a car in five years i would be very lucky to get ÂŁ7,000 back so a loss of ÂŁ8,000 paid ÂŁ9,000 with all the bits ie extended warranty so only got to get ÂŁ1000 to be no worse off.
 
#30 ·
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 ÂŁ1,000+ wow no thanks.

From January this year Dacia will only supply a 15inch spare only paid ÂŁ95, 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.
 
#31 ·
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
 
#32 ·
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.
 
#33 ·
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
 
#34 ·
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
 
#35 ·
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
 
#36 ·
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
 
#42 ·
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
 
#43 ·
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.
 
#46 ·
I had pretty much the only trim version of the Focus that didn't have the heated screen, even Autoglass phoned me to check when I needed a new screen!

But back to the Stepway, having just come back from Germany in it and being stuck in massive delays in both Belgium and on the M25 I have to say the car is more comfortable than my last 3 cars - no back ache, no stiff knees and still being able to walk properly after sitting in the car for 4 hours straight!