I have such little interest in small cars (I like to waft around in larger cars of course) but I’ve rented quite a few this year and I’m inclined to talk about this one - the Dacia… (I’ll just just check its name through the kitchen window…) Sandero. I’m sorry but it’s all negative. I seriously, seriously dislike it.
I know small cars usually mean small rental prices and that’s why I rent them but they’ve always been well equipped and perfectly adequate. Cameras, radar cruise, sat nav (or at least, mobile phone linked) and all the good stuff I enjoy. This car had absolutely none of those. And I know Dacia is the most basic of all but I just couldn’t live with it. It’s harsh, rough, primitive and above all, uneconomical. Even as a ‘petrol head’ I’ve never cared about ‘chassis’, ‘torque’ and all the other crap because I’m not interested but this dreadful car highlighted the lack all of that. Awful gear change, gutless in the extreme and whining and screaming in the highest gear at 70mph. It needed another gear. And it almost died at the slightest incline. Loading it with extras wouldn't help. And the worst thing of all was everything was complicated. I just wanted to change it from Radio-1 to Radio-2 as I collected it from the rental and in the end, wifey had to do it before I started smashing things. That’s the first thing I always do but I couldn’t even find the radio. FFS, keep simple things simple.
I thought I might have been a fan with the Dacia, they have the Duster - the cheapest pretty-good-looking SUV auto, very well equipped but I think I’d look elsewhere. And that’s a real shame because I’m a big believer in utility furniture/cars/lifestyle, etc. when it suits me. Last week I had a Toyota, Aygo/Auris? Four door and Fiesta-sized. I loved it, it had everything I needed, all simple to operate and none of the stress that the Dacia gave me.
A long time ago you could just jump into a different model, adjust your seat and mirrors and disappear, now you have to link your phone and find where the cruise is hidden and fiddle around for ten minutes. A ball-ache yes, but the Dacia is on another level, despite its simplicity. It’s crap, and I hate it. I have to drive (endure) it to Luton tomorrow. Good luck, me.
I’ve rented a car for November. Pity the guy who tells me ‘it’s a Dacia Sandero, sir’. How very dare you.
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