Dacia – yay or nay?

Looking at replacing my Passat saloon in the next few months, and the Dacia Logan has attracted my attention. £10.5k for a pretty well specced brand new motor with 5 year warranty seems a bargain. I’m no car snob, interested purely in value and reliability.

Passat is a 2.0Tdi and a big part of the reason for changing is to get something “cleaner” and move away from diesel. Does anyone have any experience of the Tce engine in these beasties? We’re a family of 5 & usually have a lot crap to cart around and whilst I’ve no desire to “make progress”, I do do a reasonable amount of motorway driving and don’t want to be having to change gear at the slightest incline!

You’ll never pull any tidy birds in it…

Mate bought a brand new one 6 months ago and he is well chuffed with it. Taking into account the price, lot of car for the money.

**** me that’s ugly 🙂

We have a Sandero with the other petrol engine (75 rather than 95), it’s great as cheap get you from A to B transport, use it mainly for a commute which is narrow lanes and then stop go dual carriageway. For this it does the job and after 3 years has been very reliable and cheap to run.

However in a Logan, fully loaded, even with the bigger engine I don’t think I would want to do a lot of motorway miles, it’s pretty unrefined, fairly noisy and probably pretty gutless. Test drive it first, with the family!

Also, the boot isn’t centrally locking on ours which is a niggle that really gets to me.

It’ll be uglier still when the Mrs has done her usual trick of reversing into a wall, or smashing a trolley into it. And the kids have puked in it, pissed in it, crapped in it, ground chocolate into the seats & climbed all over it 🙂

Or maybe it’ll be improved. But, like I said, I don’t really care about any of that 😉

Tidy birds are more likely to own one in France.

We’ve had a Lodgy TCE 115 for 4 years. It’s needed a new rear wiper motor which was replaced under warranty. It’s averaged 5.8l/100km. I like the way it drives, only minor gripes are the over-firm dampers when it’s empty and OEM fuel-saving Conti tyres on which it’s vague, fine on Michelin Alpins.

i have an old diesel 8v berlingo thats noisier than a noisy thing and a 200tdi land rover with zero sound proofing and even i thought the logan mcv was noisy as ****.

I wanted to like them but the salesmans pushy nature over the 1.2 TCE engine meant we did not buy it and bought another old used berlingo instead.

Cheers Edukator. Do you do any distance in it, and loaded up? We tend to do one long (France say) trip a year, and camping trips in the UK.

To clarify, I’m talking about the 0.9 litre 3 pot turbo engine.

Nay Nay Nay me lad. I had one last month in Germany (hire car). It was the petrol variant.

Pros
– big boot, ideal for throwing skis & general stuff into
– reasonable fuel economy

Cons
– awful driving position. I’m 6ft1.5in with long legs and had the seat all the way back and wheel all the way up – it was still very uncomfortable. Pedals slightly to the right too. Seat very soft and no support
– crap engine
– 5sp box was awful, gearing very low hence motorway “screaming”
– terribly noisy above 50mph, engine screams like a banshee
– dodgy build quality, everything rattles, bare metal in the boot etc.

If you’re skint and have no choice, it might be worth getting one but not if you are tall, or in a rush to get somewhere, or if you like driving. I’d say it’s ideal for pensioner who likes gardening and needs to move crap around at a leisurely pace.

I had a Duster for a while. Not a luxurious place to be sat in and a bit noisy but no trouble at all with it. I would buy another if I needed four wheel drive again.

Euro NCAP safety rating: 3 star

To clarify, I’m talking about the 0.9 litre 3 pot turbo engine.

Oh the planet. Please think of the planet!!!!!!

Check the Euro NCAP scores.

We considered one but that put me off. May not bother you.

they are everywhere in France, I’d consider one or a duster for our next car. Although I would suggest looking for a pre reg or low mileage 2016 model to save even more

Euro NCAP safety rating: 3 star

so heres the nub …. is that better or worse than buying a used golf of the same value which had an NCAP rating of 5 when it came out ….. probably a 2008 as they seem to be about 6 grand give or take dependant on milage.

Please think of the planet!!!!!!

Well, someone’s got to 😉

The NCAP thing isn’t something I’d thought about to be honest, but it’s a good point.

ElShalimo’s glowing review has given me food for thought too, thanks!

That wouldn’t be for me because:

1, I wouldn’t lay out £10500 in cash and on a PCP basis I would imagine I’d find a better deal.

2, NCAP 3 in 2017 is terrible, I love my Children too much.

3, It’s fairly joyless, I’m no Jeremy Clarkson, but for cheap, boring transportation, I’d use a train / bus, for that sort of money I’d like something a bit nicer to be in.

4, it’s boil on the arsehole ugly, I’ve no interest in pulling burds and I don’t expect a beautiful car, just not an ugly one.

5, I’m no boy racer, but 0-60 in 15s is horrible – in my experience people don’t drive slower in slower cars, they just rag them about frustrated. 5 up and full of crap and it’ll be like the 80s again, going down the box to get up hills.

We did a return trip to Nancy fully loaded to drop junior at uni, 2500km. No aches or pains.

The noise level is bearable at 130km/h. It revs yes but wind noise is higher than engine noise. The TCE 115 engine is very flexible with max torque not much higher than a diesel, then it revs and revs. We just poddle along rarely going above 3000rpm which is all you need to keep up with the rest of the traffic.

Nothing rattles, nothing has fallen off, the gearbox is pleasant, the clutch bites where you’d expect, the brakes stop it, the steering is nicely weighted on Winter tyres but I don’t like the originals.

So what does an ncap of 3 really mean …..

Compared to a car that got a 5 in 2008 ?

2, NCAP 3 in 2017 is terrible, I love my Children too much.

actually the child protection on a Logan isn’t bad. It’s everyone else that needs to worry!

So what does an ncap of 3 really mean …..

Compared to a car that got a 5 in 2008 ?

yeah this is a good q, would be interested to know how it shapes up. They’ve definitely changed it a lot – for instance the Logan loses points because it doesn’t have lane-assist and because “The Logan MCV does have a speed assistance system as an option but it is not expected to be fitted to the majority of vehicles sold so it was not included in the assessment.” (!)

also it loses points because although you can disable the passenger airbag (for child seats), the switch to do so “is marked only by a removable sticker”. So it’s not just all about what happens in a crash, which I don’t think was always the case with NCAP ratings…

The best way to think of a dacia is its like a previous generation renault but a little more cheaply made.
if you look under the bonnet, many parts are branded renault/nissan.
My mate has a stepway, and tbh, it does everything you need for a to b motoring, but I will say this, his 1.5dci uses around £35 a week to take him to work etc, he got a loan of a 0.9tce sandero for a fortnight while his stepway was having accident damage repaired and his fuel bill doubled.
Personally, I have a renault scenic and the absolute last thing on earth it needs is to be more cheaply made.
YMMV of course, but my renault has already been the most expensive car ive owned, by quite a big margin.

It might be cheap at £10k but after 5 years it will be worth nothing and you will have spent all of that time driving an awful car 😉

Cheap cars are cheap for a reason…

Mate has had and lived one for about two years – I was seriously tempted, however a rear spring broke, and he has been driving a courtesy car for six weeks as there are no spares in the country.

It’s a standard pattern part, but Dacia say they have to source through warranty channels so nothing they can do.

we have a logan mcv
about 6 years old now

would defenitely buy again

they are everywhere in France

Nothing to do with being a bit Renault then? 😉

I have a TCe 90 Stepway, from new in October 2014.

I traded in my diesel Panda for it and my other transport is a 200TDi Land Rover, and had not had a petrol car since 2006.

I have stalled every petrol courtesy car for the last ten years so I was a bit wary of a 900cc petrol car. I even agreed to the salesman driving to a country lane first, rather than try it in stop-start Ipswich traffic. It is actually very hard to stall. I think newer cars come with ‘stop-start’ as standard.

I am now used to the lack of torque, but it still seems unnatural to change down to third to accelerate from fifty and to keep in fourth in a thirty zone.

When starting from cold, with headlights, fan, heated rear screen and A/C on, the acceleration is minimal until warm. This would be problem if I had to join a motorway via a slip road early on in my journey.

I have the ‘Laureate’ version with cruise control, I was not bothered about getting it, but I now love it. I find it particularly useful in long thirty zones and it is probably responsible for my continuing clean license. However, the lack of torque shows again when on an undulating road, it speeds up momentarily when going down hill, then feels like the brakes have been (gently) tapped when the speed has been corrected, then slowing when going up hill, over compensating and quickly slowing again. OK in Suffolk and Essex but I think it might be annoying in hilly areas.

46 mpg at an average of 34 mph according to the trip computer, mainly country roads. I do make a point of thrashing it when warm on the occasional dual carriage way as I think driving gently was the reason for the waste-gate seizing on the Panda.

Trail Rat mentions a 1.2 Tce, the only 1.2 in the Dacia range when I looked at them was the old 75 PS non-turbo, which was bad enough in my colleague‘s Proton.

Other non-engine points which may be relevant to the Logan:-

I like the fact that it has steel wheels, but not the fact that all new cars now come with tyre pressure sensors which are MOT tested and will be expensive to replace in a few years time.

I bought two new standard rims with the car to put winter tyres on (front only), and keep one as a spare in summer (summer tyre as spare in winter), they fit perfectly in the spare wheel well. I did not pay the £90 extra for a space saver and jack, but it came with one anyway.

Offside (not inside) front pads and disc where badly worn after 30,000, very strange.

I still occasionally miss a gear with the very ‘notchy’ gear change.

The 12v power supply will power a dash cam or sat nav, but not both.

The ‘Laureate’ trim comes with A/C, climate control was not an option.

The built in sat nav is dreadful, too slow to warn of turning ahead, very strange routing options, changes route when driving in a different dierectrion, but only does it correctly when set to ‘shortest’ route. I had to turn it off completely when stationary on the M25 as the speeding alarm went off continually. It is mounted too low to be safe to look at whilst driving.

All electric windows, but no auto up/down.

Central locking, but not on rear door, have to use key or lever on floor near driver’s door, it is only a matter of time before I shut the rear door with my keys inside.

The hand hold inside the rear door is in line with the catch, I have drawn blood several times when closing and catching my wrist on the catch.

Door corners are very sharp and at eye level for smaller people.

I love the USB MP3 player but cannot find what max size stick it will take (more than 32gb, less than 64gb). DAB was a £250 option with screen mounted aerial (FM aerial being made redundant), if I need DAB I will use the Aux socket.

It took several attempts before the dealer would put in writing that the extended warranty covered the turbo.

I waited for six weeks to get a white one, as all the other colours were £500 options.

Dashboard is unlit unless sidelights are turned on which makes the speedo difficult to see if driving in to a low sun.

The rear boot on the Stepway is shallower than the Panda’s, which could take a case of wine with the parcel shelf still in place.

Rear seats do not fold flat.

That is the longest post on this forum I have ever seen 😯

Indeed, but useful. Cheers fozzie

The NCAP is due to the fact it doesn’t have inbuilt stability control. It has all the crash zones and airbags that any other car has. If I wanted a cheap 4WD I’d rather have one of these than a land rover.

I have a 2016 Logan with the TCe engine. I’m very happy with it. Power-wise, it does motorway speeds without needing to be thrashed, and I overtake stuff on country roads when I need to. That’s all the power I need in a car.

Boot is absolutely huge, and (although it’s a matter of opinion) I think it looks quite good 😀

They are cheap transport, based on old Renaults that were not cutting edge when they were current.

Nothing wrong with that if it fits what you want but plenty of other better options for not much more money.

Can any of the long term Logan owners comment on rear seat comfort on long journeys?

We did a test drive recently (900cc petrol model), and quite liked it. Knee room was fine for me in the back when Mrs O was driving, and visa versa, but a slight question mark over how it will be when it’s me driving and the offspring have grown to strapping 6ft+ lads in a few years time.

Last time I spent 10 grand on a car I bought a 3 year old Touran with 14,000 miles on it and ran it for 7 years. Unless you have a particular desire to avoid a 2nd hand car, you’ll get far more car for less money by sticking with VAG. The 1.4 turbo petrols are refined and fairly economical, motorway cruising is a German forte and safety / ergonomics are better.

you’ll get far more car for less money by sticking with VAG.

Do they have 6 wheels or something . I’m curious how a car can be more car than a car when its made by someone else.

Anyway must be a while since you got your touran. Prices of cars have gone up . 10k gets you a touran with 60k on the clock these days.

I’m curious how a car can be more car than a car when its made by someone else

Build quality, interior materials, leather seats, cheaper cars extras that come as standard on other makes, reliability, better made components, etc etc etc

Build quality, interior materials, leather seats, cheaper cars extras that come as standard on other makes, reliability, better made components, etc etc etc

so thats the definition of car ….and as for vw reliability – you know you have nailed it when the berlingo comes above your bread and butter car in the reliability index – and as we all know people perceptions of french cars is that thye always break down.

downshep – Member

Last time I spent 10 grand on a car I bought a 3 year old Touran

Last time I spent 10 grand on a car I bought a 400BHP V8 that would do 300kmh, then sold it for a profit after a year.

So long, suckers! 😀

Cheap cars are cheap for a reason…

Indeed. Once you’ve sold everyone in the rich world a car the easiest way to sell a load more cars is to sell them to the not so rich world. They won’t be trying to keep up with the chap next door with an Audi S-line Q9 faux-by-faux on his drive.

My favourite car ever was a Renault 4. It just made life fun, like riding a bike.