New Dacia Jogger review: Big news from the bargain basement

If you have a big family but a small budget, Dacia’s new Jogger will come as great news. The Sandero-based Jogger is the cheapest seven-seater you can buy, in fact you would normally have to cough up at least twice the car’s £14,995 starting price to accommodate as many people.

And not only is it cheap – it is also cheerful. With its one-litre, three-cylinder engine, it is not going to set the world on fire when fully laden, but it is punchy enough most of the time, and with its good six-speed manual gearbox, decent steering and willing personality it is fun to drive.

My test car was a top spec Extreme SE TCe 110, and came with cruise control, heated front seats and sat-nav, which knocked the price north to £18,300. But this is still good value because you get a lot of car for the money.

With three rows of seats to accommodate, boot space is puny at 170 litres. But the third row can be tilted forward to create more space or removed completely quite easily. The middle row can also be tilted forward, creating, in essence, a van.

The seats are a little firm but reasonably supportive, the middle row just about big enough for adults but the third row is best reserved for children. Legroom is reasonable and headroom excellent and there are some well-designed folding tables for middle-row passengers.

The styling is a bit mixed. It’s good-looking at the front with sleek headlamps and elegant daytime running lights. The back, with its Volvo-like lights, is a bit boxy and where the two ends meet, by the B-pillar, there is a 40mm step, which makes it look like the front and back were designed by different people who hadn’t been talking to each other.

The simple and well-designed cabin includes a mobile phone holder attached to the infotainment screen, and there is a USB port conveniently near. However, it is a bit close to the steering wheel and you could easily knock it inadvertently with your hand. But it is removable.

There are some scratchy plastics in the cabin, but Dacia have sensibly improved the feel of the interior by using a cloth-padded panel across the dashboard, which softens the look.

Dacia is claiming fuel consumption of 48.7mpg, which I can easily believe from one 200-mile journey in which the Jogger seemed to barely sip its fuel. But there were only two people on board at the time, and fully laden, with such a tiny engine, fuel consumption would go from a sip to a guzzle.

With its small engine the Jogger has to be light, so the doors close with a bit of a clang, the sat-nav graphics aren’t the greatest and the radio sounds a bit tinny.

My test car had its own foibles – a stop-start system which didn’t always stop, a clock which frequently did stop, although it later corrected itself, and a blind spot assist system which chose to warn about some cars but not others.

Slightly irritating as that was, it didn’t change my mind about the Jogger. It is a cheerful and pleasant car which is brilliant value.

In fact, Dacia has a finance scheme which will get you in a new Jogger for £195 a month, after you have paid a deposit of £195. Cheap enough for you?