Sandero Stepway customer reviewsSandero Stepway seen through the eyes of those who drive it every day

I expected, perhaps naively, that the latest mid range Stepway, titled the Expression, would have by now have achieved broadly the same level of spec as the four year older Expression of the same title, which was at the time top of the range.

Unfortunately not, and it's not even close.

Whilst I expected a drop in the technology levels between mid and top range, its is the basic comfort and driving experience that disappoints the most.

The driver footwell is so cramped, it feels like you are driving a compact. Where the former Expression had a very ample foot rest to be position your left foot on and space to stretch your leg when not needed, the new Expression has neither. Instead, there is space only to drop your left foot down in front of the clutch pedal, and the foot rest, such as it is, is tiny, suitable only for the size of feet of a child, and the pedal is positioned partially under the flaring of the centre console, so it is almost impossible to make us of it at all.

The arm rest is fixed to the driver seat, meaning it reclines with the seat, rendering it unusable when the seat is dropped back.

The seats feel smaller and narrower, meaning there is a feeling of being squeezed upwards and outwards of the chair, particularly for anyone of a larger size, exacerbating the existing feeling, if not reality, of the cabin being smaller on size and cramped.

The head rest angle is very poor, meaning you have to lean too far back to make use of them, negatively impacting the driving position and comfort of the neck.

The safety features such the speed indication and warning system is wildly inaccurate, meaning you either have continuous intermittent warning sounds for speeding, or you have to disable it and along with it, some of the other now mandatory safety features on all new cars.

Some of the odometer and might features are simplified meaning you don't have quite the same level of journey monitoring you had with the former model of the same name. A minor point I admit but a drop off in comparison as it was a feature I utilised given my high mileage.

Performance is very sluggish given its near identical engine type.

MPG was also very poor for the first four months, even on ECO mode, costibg me far more in fuel, something that has for some reason now improved dramatically, beyond even that of the former model now.

Perhaps the engine has settled down to some degree, but i was not anticipating such a varying degree in efficiency.

The outer trim is more basic and not surprisingly looks cheaper and not as polished as the former, but that is to be expected.

Wheel covers rather than alloys. Again, to be expected.

Overall, it's adequate, but where as I found the 2021 Expresssion rather surprising and quite impressive in most regards, this slightly misleading mid range version of the same name, underwhelms in all respects and does nothing particularly well, save for the latest MPG results on LPG.

Dacia really should have changed the name to make it more obvious that it is absolutely no comparison to the 2021 model.

Given the proce difference, avoid the Expression and go with the Extreme.

I opted for the Expression as the slightly different spec did not seem that much, but it is the unlisted details such as those I have listed that make it such a significant drop-off in comparison to Extreme.

Although please note, I did not test drive either model, I bought on spec as I did in 2021. Therefore I can not guarantee that the top of the range Extreme is equivalent to the 2021 top of the range Expression.

Buyer beware and definately test drive them

Automatic gearbox is good

Folding mirrors would be better

Gas struts fitted to boot and hood top would be an advantage

Heated front screen would be especially good in winter

Just love the Dacia

Great drive

It is made for common sense safety and everyday use.

It has tactile nobs instead of touch screen buttons for demist, ventilation and temperature. This is the safest and easiest option.

The ECO setting really saves fuel and therefore money.

Steal wheel rims make sense for a driving school car.

It's very good value for money

A really good radio.

The phone link SATNAVE works really well.

The lines in the rear camera are more helpful than many cars.

It is easy to switch off the lane assist and speed limiter. I know that these "safety devices" are law and have to be fitted. I have driven different types of car that have these "safety devices" fitted. They are dangerous. For it to go peep at you if you break the speed limit is obviously a good thing. When the camera sees a speed limit on another road and thinks it applies to you - then unpredictably slows the car down is very dangerous and happens all the time.

This happens a lot in cars I will not name that have a bad reputation for it.

Having to be on your guard to prevent the lane assist from running you into the oncoming traffic is something you can do without. Again There are cars with a bad reputation for it being difficult to turn this off and for the steering being difficult to overpower.

I being easy to disable these "safety devices" on the Dacia is very much a plus.

A spare wheel is good for a driving school. If you do have a puncture your back on the road properly and it will protect you from a hard back end shunt.

Plenty of room in the engine bay. At present I only do driver maintenance on it and take it to the dealer for servicing.

The could do better:

The windscreen wipers are unpredictable and can turn themselves off even when at full speed and this was not just a faulty car. It has happened on a number of Dacia Stepways. You have to fiddle from time to time to get them to work again.

The way that you change from tyre pressure to MPG, to fuel ranger left, to engine temperature etc. is not easy. Things like clock setting as well. These menus could be made much easier to use.

I like cabin vents that have volume and direction controls separate.

All cars these days have a very big A pillar. I know this is to prevent you getting a headache if you roll the car. Better visibility around the A pillar would make you less likely to roll it in the first place.

The top range KIA Rio had a directional headlight as well as the front headlight instead of using the fog light to light up the curb that you are turning in towards. When I had a Rio I really liked that feature.

The additional technology (like all the eco settings and driver assists) is too intrusive and impossible to switch off permanently. Whilst some people might like having all these features turned on by default every time they get in the car, it is a seriously irritating inconvenience for those of us who don't, having to turn them off manually every time you start the engine! Apart from this it's a good car and I'm very happy with it. Is worth also noting, the 3-cylinder TCe90 engine is also quite growly compared to a traditional 4-cylinder engine. I can live with this because it's no noisier than a diesel engine and the performance remains good, but it is something the buyer should be aware of.

To date the car has not been used that much, so it's difficult to give a full impression, that said it starts when I ask it to and gets me to where I need to be.

One issue I noticed is the front camera intermittently becomes unavailable at which time several emergency and safety related driver assistance features become disabled, my issue is mainly that there is no audible alert to the driver that these safety related systems have become unavailable.

I'm currently in correspondence with Dacia UK about this issue.

It’s ok. But it’s basic. I knew that but it feels cheap when you’re driving it too. Bit noisy - crap in the cold, it’s jumpy when you start on the morning. Takes ages to warm up, stereo jumps and goes weird when you pass another car in the motorway. I know it’s only £17k. But it’s still £17k. For what it is I’d say it’s overpriced.

Love the upgraded reversing camera so much easier to reverse park. Don’t like the backward step of having to connect your phone by a wire to use the car play features instead of it automatically connecting via Bluetooth. Don’t like that the speedometer doesn’t automatically come on stays on mileage until change to speed manually