Panda vs Dacia Sandero

[Diwiak]

Hi,

old Seicento failed MOT and Iam looking for a new cheapest car available here(just sick from used cars and regular repairs..),

only options here are then Dacia Sandero in white with 0.9L 3-cylinder engine (Renault), or good old 1.2 FIRE EURO6 Panda in orange/red- what do you think??

Sandero is better equipped, more modern, safer maybe, in white its a quite nice car, but iam worry of rusting problems and that lawnmover-styled engine.
Panda is a bit more expensive, bit smaller, dont come with bluetooth stereo, but I think its more "handy" and more versatile than Dacia, and have a bit smaller mpg, also drives something better, Dacia has very strange-feeling clutch and steering imo.

What do you think??? Iam using it mostly for a daily 35miles work trips(no highways).
To be complete my wife doesnt like Panda look at all

Thanks

 

[chris3234]

Panda for me easily the dacia has some of the most nasty feeling plastic I've felt

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

To be complete my wife doesnt like Panda look at all

Thanks

As a married man I would say your statement above has already defined your answer?

For myself, I would probably go for the Panda. It's been around in basically the same format (especially the 1.2 engine) for a long time now and is pretty well sorted. There can't be many garages who couldn't successfully repair one.

The Dacia engine is, I think? one of the new, quite highly stressed, generation of small turbo petrols? This alone might mean that as it ages you can look forward to, potentially, more in the way of problems. There will be far fewer workshops which have worked on them too although I think? quite a lot of the components used are from previous generation Renaults?

 

[The Panda Nut]

Well I wrestled with this one too. I went Panda but totally understand those going Dacia as there is nothing wrong with them. The base version though needs an equipment boost.

I did what you are thinking many years ago and bought my first new car (Citroen Visa).. It was cheaper for me by a significant amount, so I think you are onto a winner here.

Panda is good on tyres and brakes and so might be cheaper overall. Check service costs and common spares prices and work out costs carefully. Two biggest costs of car ownership are depreciation and fuel costs. I did a spreadsheet that worked out costs on different mpg's and miles per year. Just watch that depreciation in your calcs.

For what its worth I ran many Renaults over the years and have found Fiat reliability to be much better. Good luck.

 

[Schumi2001]

The Sandero is the TCe Turbo, isn’t it?

That engine will work much better than a 1.2 FIRE.

 

[Diwiak]

Sorry, my mistake, cheapest Sandero should be 3cylinder 1L(998ccm, 75HP) without Turbo I think, but there are specs missing on slovak Dacia site so not sure.

Mainly Iam looking for reliability and lifetime, not performance.

Iam a bit sceptical about Dacia, had serious rust problems in past, and honestly I dont trust today's "overclocked / turbo'ed" engines,
4cylinder 30-year old f.i.r.e. engine sounds more sturdy to me

 

[DaveMcT]

Dacia were bought by Renault so they are now their budget brand. I would be wary of precipitous depreciation though all but a the Panda Cross is likely to be little better.

On a personal style opinion, the Dacia Duster always looks unfinished and the front wing line is like it's just done a Dukes of Hazzard jump and bent in the middle like their car "Generally" did.

 

[Diwiak]

Definitely heading forward with another FIAT in my life (R.I.P. Centos ),

Joy/Fun Factor: Sombrero 5/10, Panda 9/10

https://www.fiatforum.com/members-motors/473340-diwiaks-brand-new-panda-319-plus-1-2-69k-euro6-s-s-sicilia-orange.html

 

[Schumi2001]

I'm surprised the Duster comes with a 900cc non-turbo, feels a bit big for that!

But they're just a jacked up Mk2 Clio, so I suppose they go well enough.

 

[maggers]

If you really want to pee someone off with a new Merc A-Class try telling them that it shares it's diesel engine with a Sandero!

 

[Diwiak]

Duster starts at some 1.4 petrol engine, afaik. Dacia engines = Renault engines. More accurate specs is missing on Dacia site.

 

[DaveMcT]

Dacia is owned by Renault. They make restyled earlier models from Renault. TBH I can see nothing to commend them. Even at the low prices on offer they are still horrible and will depreciate like a lead balloon off a council tower block.

 

[James2300]

Dacia is owned by Renault. They make restyled earlier models from Renault. TBH I can see nothing to commend them. Even at the low prices on offer they are still horrible and will depreciate like a lead balloon off a council tower block.

I would rather drop one off a council tower block.....