Here’s a difficult question: what makes the perfect student car?
Something fun? Something frugal? Something cheap? Most of the time, they only fill two of these criteria, and even then they’re second, third, or even fourth hand.
The Mini, for example: fun and frugal? Check, check. But cheap? Unfortunately not. The Renault Clio? Fun and cheap? You bet, but with Renault’s rather disappointing reliability ratings, frugal it isn’t.
The ubiquitous Nissan Micra; is it frugal and cheap? Few come close! Is it fun? Few are more dull.
Dacia, Renault’s shiny new budget subsidiary in the UK, think they have the answer; the Sandero! At £5,995 in entry-level ‘Access’ trim, it’s the cheapest new car you can buy in Britain today. So, cheap? Check. Basic it may be, but what more do you need, other than four wheels, an engine and a stereo? We are students, after all. There’s also five airbags, so mum needn’t worry about her baby being mangled in a horror budget-car crash.
Its dinky 1.2-litre engine and feathery kerb weight ensure that it’s light on fuel too, just like the previous-generation Renault Clio on which the Sandero is based. Insurance is somewhat below average too, due to Dacia’s no-frills reputation, so it’s a safe bet that the running costs are going to be student-friendly too. Watch for emissions though, the engine isn’t as well-engineered as more costly rivals, so CO2 figures are something of a let down. Frugal in the long run? Most of a check.
So, is it fun? Being based on a 10-year-old platform may sound like the Dacia should creak and roll like an old pirate ship, but the way which the Sandero brings the driver is on par, with at least some of the rivals in its price bracket.
Now this would be a selling point, if the Sandero’s rivals weren’t the likes of Perodua’s typically dismal Myvi, the bland Nissan Note, and Suzuki’s pensioner-friendly Splash. The fact that it is well-and-truly trounced by Volkswagen Group’s formidable trifecta comprised of the Volkswagen Up!, Seat Mii and Skōda Citigo is of little surprise, but great consequence to the desirability of the Sandero.
Pinpointing exactly one thing which lets the Sandero so badly down on fun is quite difficult, and listing it would be cruel and pedantic, but the main gripe is how the car so wholeheartedly devotes itself to being built on a budget, almost to the point of martyrdom.
Very basic things such as an underpowered engine, raspy and unhelpful engine noise and unresponsive throttle make driving the Sandero in an urban setting more of a chore than others in the class, perhaps even hard work for those less experienced in driving; i.e. students. The awkward clutch and lack of a rev counter make these issues not only a noticeable reality, but a complete nuisance. Put simply, it is very easy to grow bored of the car’s faults, in spite of how little it costs.
This means that the Sandero only has two of the three vital points at best, because let’s face it; £5995 isn’t much for a new car, but what kind of student has six grand knocking about, plus insurance? Because there’s one fatal flaw in the Sandero being thrust upon us as a student car: the second hand market. If the Sandero was faultless, it would be more justifiable, but what makes a poorly-equipped, no-frills-but-no-previous-owners Dacia Sandero more worthy than, say, a one-owner, high-spec Ford Fiesta? There’s no contest.
By Jimi Beckwith
Image credits: Flickr user: rozcestnik.sk’s (all images)
