Customer reviews for Dacia BigsterDacia Bigster seen by those who use it on a daily basis

The performance of the 155 hybrid engine is very unreliable.

Switching from EV to petrol is haphazard and unpredictable.

Gear changes are slow and as a consequence the engine consistently over revs.

If you put the fan on or turn the temperature up on the car the motor noise is unnecessarily excessive and the only solution is to turn the radio up, which then causes speaker vibration.

I predominantly drive the car with all safety features turned off / no fan and no heating to encourage EV mode to kick in ... so more often than not ime cold but at least it's quiet.

Acceleration is slow and the engine roars until the gear changes finally happens making access onto motorways a precarious often challenging task.

I was really looking forward to owning the bigster but truly dislike driving it and feel embarrassed when I have to have passengers in the car due to the poor performance.

Ultimately i regret buying the car and would encourage people to think carefully before purchasing

Car has being in garage 2 and about to going for a 3rd time with faults relating to weather affecting how the car faults recur on days when the weather is inclement, don’t think I should only take my car out when the weather is good, nice car poor driving experience

Sent email to dealer on an urgent basis about switching off tracking as steering not in full control and teacking taking control when no vehicles in vicinity on motorway and within lines

Firstly, I'd like to say that overall we're enjoying the Dacia Bigster primarily for the following reasons:

- The vehicle is very functional and practical

- It has large boot

- The systems technology is not overwhelming

- The hybrid system is saving us money on fuel.

However, it has its faults:

- Build quality - when driving the car for the first time there was, and still is, an annoying rattle coming from the passenger side dashboard. Additionally, there is something loose and rattling around in the tailgate.

- Boot Space - the boot cover (partition between the boot and lower storage area) is flimsy and not one piece meaning that, frustratingly, it always comes apart and can be a pain to reposition. It would be better if it folded (like on the Kia Sportage). Moreover, there is no division of the lower boot space meaning that everything within it is loose. It would be better if there was the ability to partition this area so that essential equipment, some of it heavy and cumbersome (e.g. tow rope, tyre inflation etc.) could be more securely stowed so you don't hear it banging around when driving!

- Driving comfort - there needs to be more foam in the driver's side arm rest as my elbow is sore after driving, particularly as there's no other convenient place to rest my right arm when driving.

- Front Doors - the front doors would benefit from having some means of controlling their opening. As the handle is so far forward, when opening the door the only way to properly control the swing is to place a hand on the opening frame of the door. This makes it precarious when opening doors in car parks or when parked close to obstructions.

- Cruise Control - please provide standard cruise control in addition to variable cruise control! I find the variable cruise control a nuisance as I want to dictate the speed of my car and not have it dictated by the speed of the car in front. Although I appreciate there are times when this is necessary I find that for the most part it is an inconvenience as it results in a constant cycle of slowing down and speeding up which is not fuel efficient, particularly when motorway driving. Additionally, note that the variable cruise control function is unavailable when the sensors are obscured by heavy rain or dirt. In such instances there is no normal cruise control available as a redundancy. Personally, I would rather have normal cruise control over the variable speed option and this is one of the most frustrating things about the car.

- Ergonomics - the cruise control function buttons should be located on the right hand side of the steering wheel (as they are on a Kia Sportage) so the driver's right hand does not have to come off the wheel at any time. This is particularly annoying as the left hand is primarily used to control most other functions from the centre console screen, gear stick and heating dials meaning that the driver is not in full control of the vehicle when doing so.

- Traffic Recognition System - this is poor and needs updating. It doesn't recognise important UK traffic signs such as 'National Speed Limit' signs meaning that it alarms on the motorway as it thinks the speed limit is 60 mph rather than 70 mph. The speed at which any sign is recognised is significantly slower than the Kia Sportage I owned previous to our Dacia Bigster.

- Rear Windscreen Wiper - there is a really annoying clicking noise that emanates from an area near the glove box whenever the rear wiper is active, reminiscent of cars from the 1980s...

- Side Mirrors - the blind spot monitor frequently records spurious readings, particularly at night or when in the fast lane of the motorway.

- Handles - there are no ceiling mounted handles provided in the rear for passenger stability and to aid access and egress from the vehicle.

Let’s face it for the price who can complain. It is filled with all the stuff you would expect in a high end vehicle. So overall I’m really chuffed, it runs fine, it does the job I got it for, it’s a really good motor. Now there are sacrifices, I know this.and accept that, but there are a couple of areas which I think don’t fall into the budget trimming and are pure faults.

1. Door storage .. not enough insulation, they become extremely cold in winter and actually froze a bottle of water.

2. Front camera, loss of visibility and therefore loss of key safety features. After extensive research and trials I have found that it is fine at night, fine when driving with sun behind, but driving into sun… boom no visibility. The camera needs protecting from the sun, a design fault. Renault dealer say they can’t do anything unless the fault is present when they have it!! Doh! Well that’s a parity stupid response because as soon as you turn out of the sun it reverts back. Dacia are you trying to duck the issue?

3. Engine growl, bit of an angry bear, the insulation from engine to passenger compartment is lacking terribly. Sounds as if the big ends want to leap out the engine.

4. Hands free phoning. Very hit and miss. Sometimes it works fine, other times it tells you that you can’t use the function as you are moving? Something amiss there?

5. The satnav is far too bright!! Very hard to see and read. Bit fiddly to set destinations, not as simple as it should be To be honest the satnav in my previous dusters and stepways were far better to read and follow. Even Waze gives better detail.

6. Pillars are a bit wide and produce some frightening blind spots. Checking for oncoming traffic at junctions is a hazardous event.

1500 miles extreme 155. Love it but wish Dacia would sort out the niggles for me.

Overall the Bigster 1.8 Extreme is great I'm near 5000 miles with it up to now. I had 2 dusters in the past with 0 problems at all. so I knew what brand I was buying:-

1. Its big., loads of boot space and perfect for me

2. Comfy.

3. Fantastic on fuel.

4. looks good.

5. Drives well, not too soft on the suspension and ok on corners.

6. Can be quite nippy when needed.

7. Internal dash is set up well

8. I really like the U clip light for the boot very handy indeed

However there are a couple of niggles mainly due to the vehicle soft where

1. The cup hold is almost useless. needs a free upgrade i think

2. The tech isn't refined and I get invalid warnings often.

3. Water gets inside on the rear wiper mount (will be contacting the dealers about this on the first service, but its not a lot).

4. The engine grumble is loud at times and can stay in one gear too long now and then.

5. Heater not the best, can remain cold some times even when engine is warm

Saying that, I Like it, and perhaps a soft where update will resolve the management system issues.

Would I recommend it ? Absolutely yes, compared to its competitors and the class it now drops into its a good car that costs a lot less, Well done Dacia

Owned 3 months car has plenty of space and a very large boot. Drive is good and little body roll. Fuel economy was around 64mpg but this has dropped to around 54mpg possibly due to cold weather, as driving style has not changed. Parking can be a challenge as spaces long enough are few and far between. Boot is large but not flat so longer items may be off the deck. Main issues are the infotainment and digital information. Messages flash up very day saying the front camera is not working, or safety equipment has been activated, lane discipline is a nightmare on country roads as is activates all the time. Radio cuts out for a few seconds almost daily. Settings can change from switching off to starting, eg fan speed can change, or you have it set to show fuel consumption and when you get back in it is on water temperature. The other main issue is the engine noise, normally the engine noise is reasonable, but when about to change gear the engine revs hard. If the battery to the hybrid system is low the engine goes into an horrendous roaring noise at it attempts to recharge. My sons Bigster also does this. Not sure why Dacia thought such an issue was acceptable in this day and age.

I love the size, it feels big on the roads and I like that. The profile is quite slim which makes it easier to get into spots and the interior is plain and simple. What I asked for and the hybrid engine is mostly brilliant!

Sadly the tech and various other safety features aren’t up to scratch and actually have become a hindrance. The cruise control and parking sensors just don’t work well at all and have become slightly dangerous in certain situations I.e. the cruise control will stop working quite rapidly and jolt the breaks on while driving and in some situations the parking sensors have no idea where objects are. I have seen on an owners forum online this is an extremely common and recurring problem.

That being said, I do really like my Bigster. It’s really practical, the hybrid engine has saved me a lot of money in petrol although it can be very noisy when it’s charging the battery and that took some getting used to. it does feel fun to drive and enjoy it although I’m still (after 3 months) adapting to the size difference.

The IT center console appears to be temperamental in cold conditions, 0 degrees or below. It cycles round rebooting, black screen which makes it difficult to switch on heated seats and steering wheel, with also the radio disappearing for up to 2/3 days.

Occasionally the warning sensors come on for no reason, which can be a bit annoying when driving.

Not having a heated windscreen is creating a daily build-up of condensation inside the car and in freezing conditions I am having to scrape this off with a car scrapper (something that wasn't a thing in my old car).

Apart from these little niggles, the car drives smoothy and caters for my family of 5, the seats are comfortable with the boot space being it's best feature.