Dacia Jogger review

Dacia has delivered a fantastic family car that offers seven-seat flexibility and plenty of practical space, all at a price which means that you won’t have to break the bank to put a brand new model on your driveway.

The Jogger is brilliant in its simplicity and, with no other new seven-seater car offering anywhere near this value for money, it should grab the attention of family buyers. Yes, it’s quirky-looking and a little plain inside, but it’s good to drive, comes with efficient hybrid engine tech and is virtually unbeatable as an overall package.

About the Dacia Jogger

At a time when the cost of living is spiralling and many families are having to reconsider their financial priorities, it’s refreshing to see companies like Dacia keeping an unwavering, laser-focus on making practical, quality cars at an affordable price.

Lining up between the Sandero Stepway and Duster SUV in the Dacia range, the front-wheel-drive Jogger is an estate/MPV hybrid that is unbelievably cheap to buy, even undercutting some new city cars. True seven-seater rivals don’t really exist at this price point, so buyers will really only have the alternative of looking towards used examples of mainstream SUVs such as the Kia Sorento, Skoda Kodiaq and SEAT Tarraco.

Of course, the elephant in the room is the Jogger’s one-star Euro NCAP safety rating, although Dacia is refreshingly candid about where it sees the Jogger’s position in the wider automotive market. The Romanian manufacturer has stated that the Jogger is its safest model to date and the low NCAP score was a ‘direct result of conscious decisions made by the company’. It also believes that Dacia customers are not willing to pay for electronic aids that would improve the car’s rating. 

This straightforward approach has certainly struck a chord in the UK, with the manufacturer doubling its sales volume through 2022 compared to the previous year. The Jogger (our 2022 Family Car of the Year) is well set to build on this impressive performance.

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Based on the Sandero supermini, the Jogger’s front-end looks pretty similar to its smaller stablemate, although a stretched wheelbase and a higher roof line at the rear mark it out as the more practical proposition. 

Initially, Dacia offered just a single engine option for its seven-seater model; a 108bhp 1.0-litre, three-cylinder petrol unit mated to a six-speed manual transmission, but has since added a 138bhp full hybrid version to the range with a multimode automatic gearbox.

Three available trim levels underline the simplicity of the range. The entry-level Essential (not available with the hybrid model) includes rear parking sensors, cruise control, air-conditioning, a DAB radio and Bluetooth, but we’d recommend upgrading to the mid-range Expression (previously named Comfort) trim which adds useful modular roof bars, electrically-adjustable door mirrors, front parking sensors, climate control and an eight-inch media touchscreen. The top-of-the-range Extreme SE's main benefit, aside from items such as diamond-cut alloy wheels, floor mats, boot protection and a central armrest, is the inclusion of integrated sat-nav with an enhanced audio system and an extra USB port.

The Jogger range starts from around £17,000, while the most you can possibly spend is a little over £24,000 if you opt for the top-spec Extreme SE hybrid model with the only two options on the price list: metallic paint and a spare wheel.

For an alternative review of the Dacia Jogger, visit our sister site carbuyer.co.uk...