Dacia Jogger review

The Dacia Jogger is 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, available with efficient hybrid engine tech and is virtually unbeatable as an overall package. It's no wonder that we named it our Family Car of the Year in 2022 and 2023.

Our choice: Dacia Jogger TCe 110 Expression

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. This straightforward approach has certainly struck a chord with British motorists, as the Romanian brand has managed to shift more than 250,000 cars since it launched in the UK a decade ago. 

Sitting in between the Sandero Stepway crossover 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 Hyundai Santa Fe.

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. Dacia 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. 

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Following Dacia's brand refresh in 2022, the Jogger now features a sharper front-end that looks very similar to that of its smaller stablemate, the Sandero supermini. Of course, beyond that, the stretched wheelbase and a higher roof line at the rear mark the Jogger 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. The Jogger Hybrid 140 features a 1.6-litre petrol engine and two electric motors under its bonnet, a 1.2kWh battery and 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 with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity. The top-of-the-range Extreme trim'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.

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Among the plethora of accessories Dacia makes for the Jogger is what it calls the ‘Sleep Pack’. It’s a box that replaces the third row of seats in the Jogger’s boot and unfolds to provide futon-esque slatted support for a mattress. The basic Sleep Pack also includes storage bags for the third-row seats and blackout blinds for the car’s windows, while the ‘Sleep Pack Ultimate’ adds a huge Dacia-branded four-person tent which connects to the boot of the Jogger.

The Jogger range starts from around £18,000, while the most you can possibly spend is a little over £25,000 if you opt for the hybrid powertrain, Extreme trim and 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...