Dacia Sandero Stepway (2013 – 2020) Review

The Dacia Sandero Stepway is the slightly more upmarket version of Britain’s cheapest car. Upmarket in the sense that it comes with more features as standard, plus a raised ride height and beefier styling over the standard Dacia Sandero. It pitches the supermini against compact crossovers such as the Nissan Juke and Renault Captur, along with jacked-up small cars like the Suzuki Ignis and Fiat Panda City Cross. Standard kit includes 16-inch alloy wheels, a DAB digital radio, air-conditioning, remote central locking and electric front windows. Not exactly lavish, but if you’re after more equipment, you can upgrade from Essential to Comfort or SE Twenty trim.

The Dacia Sandero Stepway is a car without rivals. Too big to be a city car, too small to be a family hatchback, and not boxy enough to be a compact SUV. Does this make it a bit of an oddball? Maybe, but there’s a reason why this is Dacia’s best-selling car in the UK.

As the name suggests, the Stepway is based on the standard Dacia Sandero. The raised ride height, body cladding, chunkier tyres and roof rails give it to the look of a small SUV without the running costs you’d associate with a 4x4. Let’s face it, few people actually venture off-road, so the Sandero Stepway is no less relevant than the raft of SUV tribute acts on sale today.

Its chief competitor is the regular Dacia Sandero. Place the cheapest Sandero alongside the most expensive Sandero Stepway and you’ll see a price of difference of around £5,000. Not quite the bargain you may have seen in the adverts, but even the top-spec Sandero Stepway is comfortably cheaper than an entry-level Ford Fiesta or Vauxhall Corsa.

So what’s the catch? Well, there isn’t one. If you’re not fussed about a premium badge, soft-touch materials and the latest technology, the Dacia Sandero Stepway makes a great deal of sense. Whether you’re paying cash or financing your car via a PCP deal, few cars are as affordable as the Sandero Stepway. Just don’t expect a discount from your local Dacia dealer.

There are three trim levels on offer in 2020: Essential, Comfort and SE Twenty. Because there’s no Access model – Dacia’s headline-grabbing basic trim – all versions come with a reasonable amount of standard equipment.

This includes 16-inch alloy wheels, black wheelarch extensions, raised ride height, roof rails, tinted windows, two Isofix points, DAB digital radio, air-conditioning and Bluetooth.

The Comfort trim offers the best value for money. This mid-range model features a seven-inch touchscreen media system with sat-nav, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, steering column-mounted audio controls, rear parking sensors, cruise control and a leather gear knob. The flagship SE Twenty trim boasts a suite of cosmetic upgrades, electric rear windows and a rear parking camera.

As for engines, you can select from a lethargic SCe 75 1.0-litre petrol engine, a punchy and efficient TCe 90 turbocharged petrol unit, or a TCe 100 Bi-Fuel. New for 2020, the Bi-Fuel pairs a petrol engine with an LPG conversion to deliver lower running costs and a combined range of around 600 miles.

There’s no denying that the Dacia Sandero Stepway is showing its age. Launched in 2013, the car lacks the latest safety and connectivity technology we take for granted in 2020. Having said that, a facelift in 2017 keeps things current and there’s no denying this is an incredibly cheap car to buy and run.

While some cars offer loads of options that will leave you flummoxed and bamboozle you with different driving modes, the Dacia Sandero Stepway is refreshingly simple. You just get in and drive.

The raised ride height and chunkier tyres mean that it’s capable of dealing with the worst of Britain’s roads. That’s to say potholes, speed humps and raised manhole covers. You also get a slightly more commanding view of the road ahead, with good all-round visibility.

The Sandero Stepway feels most at home in the city, where the benefits of light steering and good visibility rise to the fore. It starts to feel a little out of its depth on a motorway, where you’ll notice a high level of wind and road noise, but it’s no worse than many other small cars.

There are three petrol engines on offer, badged SCe 75, TCe 90 and TCe 100 Bi-Fuel. Pick of the bunch is the TCe 90, which is the best-selling engine in the Group Renault range. Although a 0.9-litre three-cylinder unit might sound weedy on paper, the turbocharger helps to give it real zip, in and out of the city.

The TCe 100 Bi-Fuel features the same 0.9-litre petrol engine, but with the benefit of an extra 10hp and LPG. It always starts on petrol power, before switching to LPG when it’s ready. The LPG tank is mounted in the boot, so there’s no impact on the luggage capacity.

Once you’re out of LPG, the Sandero Stepway switches to petrol, so you don’t need to worry about running out. By using petrol and LPG, around 600 miles can be covered between refills, so it’s perfect for high-milers. We’d avoid the non-turbocharged SCe 75, as making progress is too much like hard work.

The regular Dacia Sandero was awarded a four-star safety rating when it was crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2013. That’s a long time ago, so the Sandero would be unlikely to achieve the same impressive score in 2020.

What the car lacks is the suite of driver assistance systems that are becoming commonplace, even in city cars and superminis. We almost take the likes of blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping assist and adaptive cruise control for granted in 2020.

Standard safety equipment includes multiple airbags, three height-adjustable rear headrests, tyre pressure warning light and two Isofix points in the rear.

The absence of a diesel engine or four-wheel-drive means you’re unlikely to tow anything larger than a small trailer in the Sandero Stepway. However, it’s worth noting that a 1.5-litre diesel engine was available in the past.

If you intend to tow in a new Sandero Stepway, the Bi-Fuel model is your best bet, as it offers a 580kg unbraked towing capacity. The TCe 90 is rated at 555kg, while the SCe 75 is 540kg. All three models have a maximum braked towing capacity of 1000kg.

A removable tow bar is available from Dacia, either as an individual item or as part of a touring pack. The latter also features roof bars and a vertical net.

Although the 40mm raised ride height doesn’t make it an off-roader, it’s certainly useful over speed bumps and for mounting drop kerbs. You also get front and rear skid plates and black wheelarch extensions, which are ideal if your morning commute is like riding the dodgems.

Roof rails are also standard across the range, which is handy if you’re planning to add a set of roof bars and a roof box. Dacia offers a 400-litre roof box, which is the kind of carrying capacity you’d associate with a family SUV.

Space in the cabin is okay, but nothing more. Although there are five seats, we’d only recommend the middle rear seat for occasional use and for people you don’t like. The boot offers 320 litres of luggage capacity, which is nine litres more than you’ll find in a new Ford Fiesta.

If we were writing the end-of-term report for the Dacia Sandero Stepway, we’d conclude this section with ‘must try harder’. That might seem a little harsh, but we know the importance of soft-touch plastics and premium materials to some buyers.

Some of the plastics are cheap, others are bordering on nasty. Switches press and dials turn with the reassurance of a novelty gift you might find in a Christmas cracker. Having said that, the satin chrome interior accents make the Stepway feel a touch more special than the regular Sandero. But only a touch.

It’s worth noting that the materials are hard-wearing and robust. We’ve seen enough Sandero models with 100,000 miles on the clock to know that these cars don’t have a best-before date.

If you’re a fan of basic audio systems, you’ll love the entry-level Essential model. There’s no infotainment system, just a set-up that looks straight out of the 1990s. In fairness, it does come with a DAB digital radio, 12v socket, USB port, aux-in and Bluetooth, and it’s also very easy to use on the move.

Upgrading to Comfort and Essential adds a seven-inch touchscreen media system with voice-controlled sat-nav, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and audio controls mounted on the steering column. The display looks a bit retro, but the menus are clear and logical. The SE Twenty model features a rear-view camera.

The Dacia Sandero Stepway range kicks off at £9245 for the Essential trim and non-turbocharged SCe 75 three-cylinder petrol engine. This might seem expensive in the context of the basic £6,995 Sandero Access, but it’s worth remembering the extra kit. Besides, the cheapest Sandero you’d actually want to buy costs £7995.

It’s worth upgrading from the SCe 75 to the TCe 90 turbocharged petrol engine. It costs £10,145 in Essential trim, or £10,545 if you opt for the TCe 100 Bi-Fuel version. We’ll explore this LPG option in the next section.

Comfort trim adds £1000 to the price of the Sandero Stepway, so you’ll pay £11,145 for the TCe 90 and £11,545 for the TCe 100 Bi-Fuel.

Finally, it costs just £400 to upgrade from Comfort to SE Twenty. It’s £11,545 for the TCe 90 and £11,945 for the TCe 100 Bi-Fuel. Expensive? At £5000 more than the price of the basic Sandero, yes, but not so much when you consider that you have to pay at least £16,640 for a Ford Fiesta or £16,415 for a Vauxhall Corsa.

Dacia is one of an increasingly small number of car manufacturers happy to embrace the budget end of the market. Even a basic Hyundai i10 is more expensive than a top-of-the-range Dacia Sandero Stepway. This certainly puts things into perspective.

If you’re buying a used Dacia Sandero Stepway, the cheapest cars cost £3,500. For this price you’re looking at a 2014 car with around 100,000 miles on the clock. Proof that these cars are pretty good at holding their value.

Unsurprisingly, the Sandero Stepway is a cheap car to buy on a PCP deal. Prices start from just £129 a month over four years, rising to £179 if you opt for the SE Twenty with the bi-fuel engine.

At the time of writing in July 2020, LPG costs 46p a litre, while a litre of petrol costs 113p. That equates to a near £2400 saving in fuel over an average four-year PCP deal.

Officially, the TCe 100 Bi-Fuel engine will return 47.1mpg in Essential trim or 46.3mpg in Comfort or SE Twenty guise. This drops to 37.6mpg or 37.1mpg respectively when running on LPG. However, the 50p a litre price difference gives LPG a clear advantage.

The SCe 75 returns 46.3mpg, although you’ll struggle to match this figure if you press the engine too hard. Better, we think, to opt for the TCe 90, which offers a more achievable 44.8mpg.

Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) costs £205 in the Bi-Fuel model or £215 for the other versions. This is for year one. In year two, the rate drops to £140 or £150 for the Bi-Fuel and standard petrol models respectively.

Insurance isn’t expensive, with the Essential trim slotting into group three. This means it should cost no more to insure than a city car. All other models slot into group nine, so you should have little trouble arranging cover.

Because the Sandero Stepway isn’t offered with Dacia’s basic Access trim level, even the cheapest Essential trim is worth a look.

That said, we’d favour the mid-range Comfort model, if only for the benefit of a seven-inch media display, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, cruise control and rear parking sensors. These will make the Sandero Stepway a much easier car to live with over the course of a four-year PCP deal. When powered by the TCe 90 engine, it’s arguably all the Sandero Stepway you could ask for.