Input appreciated

Yes I agree...who cares.what others drive or what they think you should drive......save on tyres with a truly british gem...be the talk of the powerstation car spotters....earn a knick name like del on your first day.

El gordo escoces wrote: However if your determined to do it why not think hybrid. You should be able to plug it in for free at a power station.

Hybrid would be a wast of time on these distances!

Even the best hybrid would only be running electric for 30% of the time (if you managed to get a full charge at work), the rest of the time you are carrying a half tonne of batteries around for nothing!

Had an Outlander PHEV, which was brilliant when my commute was 13 miles each way (didn't use any petrol for nearly a month).

As soon as I moved out the office and hit the road and was traveling 100 plus miles per day then it was a gas guzzling 4x4 with a tiny fuel tank.

The non plug in hybrids wont add anything to long motorway drives!

mgtfbluestreak wrote: Yes I agree...who cares.what others drive or what they think you should drive......save on tyres with a truly british gem...be the talk of the powerstation car spotters....earn a knick name like del on your first day.

Yup, same way I don't care if people think I'm a hairdresser when turning up in a TF/F...

Shame the powerstation doesn't use coal or you could of got one of these .....steam your way down the m1 and enjoy the great outdoor avoiding all service stations incase you blow the buggers up....zero road tax...big rim wheels

Lots of input and food for thought, thanks to all, and for the humour too.

I am seriously considering arranging a test on a Dacia: read some reports, good value for money but maybe a little basic as some have said. I'm also looking into lease.

One bridge at a time: I'm still at shortlist stage and will have to work 3m notice if successful. The commute sounds a lot, but home is 10 mins from the motorway, the plant 10m off it.

Ta again..:broon:

Yes they are good value for money..I've got a 2016 dacia sandero stepway turbo diesel..is worth the money....they are tinny but come on that has to be forgotten has this car has the frills thrown away to make it more affordable. ..I like how they put the electric window switches in the same place has the tf..my engine is a 1500 dci....it's a more modern version of the one in my renault kangoo van

Very easy to park..mine pictured above...I would recommend a good test drive before purchase.
The stepway is higher up than a standard sandero making it slightly more prone to body roll...the 1.5 dci engine is a good unit ..zero road tax on mine...it has eco boost...there's a switch on the dash so you can drive it in eco mode or full turbo boost .when we got ours I accepted the 110 bhp wasn't that powerful....then I found the boost button...yippee..the dacia has 2 rear foglight. .only one works,yet the foglight that doesn't work has a working bulb in it....I tested the bulb when I saw the rear passenger side foglamp not working..bulb ok...rang the dealers to sort it out...book it in they said...after a short time they rang back apparently those cost cutting Romanians never wired up the foglamp in the first place...they said it's not nessasary on the UK market...but they put a bulb in it anyway just to confuse us....I have seen some dacia with higher trim levels...leather heated seats...comfort packs..alloys..but that defeats the object dunnit.
Mine hasn't got alloys it has spoked wheel trims..and because the wheel is the same shape behind the trim..you have to look very close to see that it ain't a alloy wheel.

Did find the seats were a little stiff/hard...on a distance of 90 miles I was rubbing my hand under my numb legs a little...Mrs also commented on this and has since put a cushion on the seat....put it down to newness maybe they will slacken a little
Engine purrs and starts instantly...Did have a couple of attempts at shutting the doors slam them...think those door seals are a bit stiff or the doors are very light...if you carefully shut them carefully so has not to annoy the folks next door early in the morning...you find you have to try again has its still ajar a slam does it.....so bugger it to my next door neghbour john...I'm slamming my doors..I've bought a dacia. ....when I bought my dacia a 6 speed gearbox was not a option.it only came with 5......if I was doing a 70 mile motorway commute.I would really miss that oprion.

A 70 mile commute in a Dacia will be pretty miserable. If you're looking for a competent A-B car then Kia Optima or Hyundai i40. If you want to turn the posh knob up then Mazda 6 or Honda Accord. Diesel is still the way forward in this case.

'A 70 mile commute in a Dacia will be pretty miserable.'?

Hmm, just finished our annual 1,450km run back from the Costa del Sol in our 2015 Duster.

Arrived feeling no more fatigued than our accompanying friends in their Mercedes estate, and wife says it's the most comfortable car we've had - she knitted for the best part of the trip! Our is a 4x4 and therefore runs a lower overall gearing than the two-wheel-drive but even then most of the noise came from the topbox and roof bars.

Lacking some bells and whistles but tough and absolutely unbeatable value. It's mostly Renault (and sold as such in many markets) with Nissan 4x4 bits in our case.The 1.5l diesel has appeared in so many vehicles (including some Mercedes) that it is well proven. Don't be put off by the early stories of paint problems - they were very early Indian-built RHD cars, all Dusters are now built in Renault's Romanian factory as have all LHD cars.

You have only to look around on French roads to realise what an impact Dacia has made!

Love the way our 1.5dci dacia starts...still impressed..talk about instant.even in the coldest of weather..interesting how mrecedes has been using the renault engine in there a class cars...just changing a few items ...namely the badge

Driving the sandero in snow today...found it not very good...too light...I've got good michelin tyres on but may have to try a snow tyre next year...

The more I see Dacias on the road during my travels North and South the more attractive a proposition they seem. The argument has always been get a 2 or 3 year old Eurobox or a new lesser brand.... Goes back to when Ladas and their ilk appeared in the 70's. Buying new and cheap brings the advantage of no MOT, tyres, exhausts etc to worry about, which is attractive. When I get a day off I'm going to test drive a Dacia. In the same way that pre-VW Skodas were scorned, I'm thinking that now Dacias are mainly Renaults in a Primark frock. I drove state-owned Dacias in the 90's in Romania: dire in the extreme. Also drove Estelle era Skodas in the seventies and eighties. Hopefully it's the same quantum leap with Dacia as with Skoda.

Possibly the worst modern era car I've driven comes down to a choice of three: These were all new cars at the time: Mahindra jeep, loaned when I did some training consultancy at Hub River power station in Pakistan, a Polski Fiat, service loan car from the Saab dealership, and possibly the contender for Gold: a new Moskvich 412, owned by a workmate. Being able to double de-clutch and drive a truck a big advantage here.