Dacia Sandero 2026 review | One of the cheapest new cars on sale

What is the Dacia Sandero?

Previous generations of the Dacia Sandero forced you to compromise on looks in favour of a bargain price. Not this one, though. It's also better to drive and even roomier than before - yet it hasn't lost its value appeal. That said, safety standards aren't up there with the best, which is why we still don't think the Sandero quite bears comparison with full-priced superminis - although it makes a frugal buy for those on a budget.

You really have to hand it to Dacia; what this small Romanian firm – owned by Renault – has managed to achieve in recent years is nothing short of magical. Not only has the brand attracted a fiercely loyal, almost cult-like following due to its no-frills honesty and incredible value, but in the Sandero it’s also managed to conjure up Europe’s best-selling retail car (a title it’s held since 2017).

Delving beneath the surface of the previous Sandero, the sleight-of-hand employed to offer such incredible value was revealed. Equipment was basic, material quality was low and engineering effort was minimal. And the platform that underpinned it all was the same one found in the Renault Clio of many, many years before. But despite the smoke and mirrors, it still had audiences gripped.

Given such popularity, Dacia was faced with a dilemma in coming up with the Sandero’s successor. Did they continue on the pared-back bargain-basement theme and simply ignore ever-improving competition and ever-tightening safety regulations in order to maintain the low sticker price? Or did they bring the car up to date at the cost of watering down its price advantage? Well, guess what. With the latest incarnation of the Sandero, Dacia has really managed to pull a rabbit out of a hat and do both.

Like the first Sandero, it’s based on a Renault Clio platform, but rather than an ancient one, it’s the same one used in the very latest Clio. That means it supports all sorts of safety and luxury equipment items that weren’t available on the previous car, a decent slice of which come as standard on most versions. And yet, while prices have climbed, this is still among the cheapest new cars you can currently buy, and again, the difference is thousands rather than hundreds.

How practical is it?

Just like the Sandero always has, the latest version also offers supermini space – and generous supermini space at that – for city car prices. There’s enough headroom and legroom in the back to comfortably accommodate a pair of tall adults, and it’s even better than most superminis at carrying three in the back due to the wide middle seat and the fact there’s not much of a hump in the centre of the floor.

The boot space is also bigger than in most superminis, and every version except the entry-level Access, which was ditched in 2021, gets a 60/40 split-folding rear seat. The 2026 facelift even introduced a modular boot floor on the top-spec Journey model. Overall, the level of practicality is impressive.

What's it like to drive?

The Sandero isn’t the last word in precision or plushness, but it does a thoroughly decent job on both counts. It always feels secure and predictable when changing direction, while the suspension generally does a good job of mopping up the various kinds of bumps and ripples found in the UK’s road surfaces.

Delve deeper into the details and you start to feel a rather spongey character to the way the Sandero operates. The gearshift feels hollow and notchy, the steering is slow – to react, to turn, and to self-centre – and the mushy action of the pedals means that pulling away smoothly takes some practice.

Scintillating speed is something else you’ll have to sacrifice if you’re sold on the Sandero. Before 2026, Sandero buyers had the choice of an 89bhp turbocharged, three-cylinder 1.0-litre petrol engine badged TCe 90, or a ‘TCe 100 bi-fuel’ version of the same engine that could run on petrol at 89bhp, or LPG at 99bhp.

While power delivery is eager enough in both of these engines to keep life pretty relaxed, the Sandero’s shortage of grunt means it can easily get caught out by a steep incline if you find yourself in too high a gear. And however hard you work it, your pace is never any better than merely acceptable.

Not that you’d want to work it hard, mind, because even with relatively few revs on the dial, the engine gives off a loud, strained, breathless timbre. Regardless, you can still hear the transmission whining away in the background, and you’ll also feel plenty of engine vibration coming at you through the pedals and steering wheel.

Sandero buyers looking to buy a new example produced from 2026 onwards get the choice of only one engine – a version of the TCe 90 that’s been boosted to 99bhp and is therefore known as the 100 TCe. No, we don’t know why they’ve swapped it around either, and yes, the bi-fuel engine option is no more.

We haven’t driven the new engine yet, and we’ll add proper driving impressions when we have them. Until then, it’s a fairly safe bet that you’ll find it to be much like the old one, just with a little bit more oomph.

The TCe 90 was available with an optional CVT automatic gearbox, and it’s definitely worth considering if you have the funds and the desire for a self-shifter. Happily, it doesn’t behave much like a CVT. When you ask for more urgent acceleration, it doesn’t pin the rev needle to the redline until you ease off, working the engine unnecessarily hard.

Instead, it eases off the revs of its own accord, and in good time, keeping life a bit more serene. It also swaps gears pretty smoothly, and it eliminates the mushy pedals, crunchy gearshift and whining transmission of the manual car.

The automatic option was discontinued temporarily when the new Sandero was introduced at the start of 2026; a new version will be coming to the UK later in the year.

Also available until 2022 was the SCe 65 – a non-turbocharged version of the TCe engine that had just 64bhp (yes, really!). It’s best avoided, as it struggles to haul the Sandero around, and doesn’t achieve brilliant fuel economy either.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

This is one of the areas where the new Sandero has taken a significant step forward from its predecessor, but as with that car, you’ll need to manage your expectations and pick the right model if you’re after anything resembling luxury.

When the current Sandero was launched, base spec Access models still lacked basics like a radio of reach adjustment on the steering wheel. For 2021, however, the entry-level model was dropped and there are now just two to choose from: Essential and Expression.

Essential still felt pretty basic inside but, as the name implied, you did get essentials like electric front windows, cruise control and a Bluetooth-enabled stereo with DAB radio.

Step up to Expression and the equipment levels were actually pretty generous. The most noticeable addition was the brilliant 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system, which looked great and was fast, easy and responsive to use.

Parking sensors and a rear camera also came as standard, along with keyless entry and front fog lights. Expression also brought some fabric dashboard inserts to pep up the otherwise rather dull-looking cabin.

In 2024, a new Journey version was added to the top of the range. This more luxurious model came with climate control, a blind spot warning system, and an electronic parking brake.

But it wasn’t until the 2026 facelift that the Sandero really began to push upmarket, with the Journey model gaining a welter of extra equipment – some of it as yet unheard of on a Sandero.

Heated seats, a heated steering wheel, a multi-view camera, front parking sensors, a digital driver display, a modular boot floor, a larger touchscreen, and alloy wheels – all now come as standard on the Journey, making it better equipped than some of the Sandero’s much pricier rivals.

Essential and Expression models’ kit lists remain largely the same, but they benefit from improved interior finishes, including in the Expression’s case, the addition of a new denim effect trim on the dashboard (which also carries through to the Journey).

Dacia Sandero running costs

It’s no use offering one of the cheapest new cars to buy if it costs buyers a bomb to run, but happily, the Sandero doesn’t. When paired with the manual gearbox, the TCe 90 engine returns a fuel economy of just over 53mpg according to official figures, and used gently, you should have a reasonable chance of getting somewhere close to that in the real world. The automatic version is somewhat thirstier, at just under 49mpg, but still respectable.

Insurance groupings range between 4 and 11, so while some rivals will command smaller premiums, the Sandero won’t break the bank, either. Servicing and maintenance costs will also be pretty reasonable. Dacia offers a range of fixed-price servicing plans, the cheapest of which will take care of all routine work for three years/30,000 miles for just over a tenner per month.

Maybe even better than the Sandero’s bargain-basement price is the fact that it protects that meagre investment so incredibly well thanks to its scarcely believable residual values. After the standard three-year, 60,000-mile ownership period, the Sandero will retain up to 57% of its value according to the experts, compared to figures of more like 35% for most rival cars. That news is far less advantageous if you’re buying used, but when prices are so low to begin with, it’s not like you’ll ever pay top dollar for a Sandero.

Dacia Sandero reliability

Brand new Sanderos come with Dacia’s standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty. That’s nothing special, but it does match those of most other car manufacturers, which is impressive given that a brand new Sandero will still cost you less than many used cars with little or no warranty. What’s more, this cover can be extended to up to 100,000 miles or three years (whichever comes first) for a small fee.

Owners of Sanderos that are up to six years old can also take advantage of Dacia’s ‘Zen’ scheme. As long as their car has a previous full Dacia service history, that means they can get an additional year’s warranty each time they have a service carried out at a main dealer, right up until that six-year (or 75,000-mile, if it crops up sooner) mark. In practice, that means you can keep a brand-new Sandero in warranty relatively easily for up to seven years.

You can be reasonably hopeful that you won’t have to call upon that cover, too, as common problems are rare. You'll want to keep an eye out for coolant leaks around the thermostat, and you'll need to be prepared for the fact that older Dacias tend to suffer with rattles and squeaks, a corollary of the cheaper components used to build them. One or two owners have reported water ingress from door seals, too.

That said, the lack of known issues doesn't necessarily mean a Sandero will be entirely dependable. The model finished 19th out of 24 small cars to feature in the latest What Car? Reliability Study. With a score of 93 per cent, that’s still not the worst result we’ve seen, but even so, keeping that warranty alive might not be such a bad idea.