There's a lot that can be said about the Dacia Sandero, but let's start with the sordid business of money. The cheapest Sandero - a remarkably basic vehicle, it's true - costs just £5995, thereby undercutting the bottom-dollar Perodya Myvi by a four-figure sum, while the most expensive (not including options) is listed at £9795.To put that figure into perspective, here are some of the city cars currently available on the UK market: Citroen C1, Peugeot 107, SEAT Mii, Skoda Citigo, Toyota Aygo, Volkswagen up! Each of these ranges has at least two versions costing more than £10,000 (the up! has eleven).And yet the Sandero has more luggage room not only than these cars but than the Citroen C3, Fiat Punto, Ford Fiesta, Kia Rio, Mazda2, Renault Clio, SEAT Ibiza, Skoda Fabia, Vauxhall Corsa, Volkswagen Polo and indeed any other non-estate supermini you can name.Basically what I'm trying to get at here is that the Sandero is a cheap car. The 1.5 dCi 90 Ambiance tested here is, at £8395, one of the less cheap variants thanks largely to its diesel engine which, however, gives the Sandero a 99g/km CO2 rating that makes it exempt from Vehicle Excise Duty and the London congestion charge.It's also a better choice than the two petrol engines in the range for fuel economy, though if your annual mileage is low and you never drive into London you'd probably save money by picking one of those instead.The test car was quite noisy and rather clumsy to drive, and to begin with I imagined that this was down to the characteristics and weight of the diesel engine. But no. I've also tried a Sandero with a 1.2-litre petrol engine, and it's noisy and clumsy too! I can't understand this, because Dacia's mechanically similar Duster SUV is very refined by comparison, while still being extraordinarily inexpensive.The handling is better than the ride, and in fact the Sandero is actually quite good fun on a twisty but flowing A-road. Quick, too. Okay, the 0-62mph time is 12.1 seconds, and that's not very exciting, but pressing the accelerator pedal produces an eager response. Still, I can't help thinking that the Sandero would be a more suitable car for its potential customers if it were less fun and slower but quieter and easier to drive.It could also do with more passenger space (Dacia's claim that it has room for five adults being, at best, questionable) and better rear visibility (the window design back there is fashionably awful).Ambiance is the middle of three trim levels for the Sandero. For £8395, or quite a bit less if you choose one of the petrol engines, the Ambiance gives you a lot of simple equipment denied to the cheaper Access, such as wheel trims, remote central locking, a 60/40 split folding rear seat, a radio with MP3/CD player, an auxiliary input, a USB connection, Bluetooth connectivity, electric front windows, various styling tweaks and lights for the luggage compartment and glovebox.If you want to adjust the door mirrors, you have to do it by hand. Now, I like very basic cars, and if they're really cheap I'm happy to lean across to fiddle with the passenger mirror if required. By the time a car costs £8395, though, I think I'd like to be able to do this with the least possible effort.And when I say £8395 I really mean £9290, since that's what the test car was worth on account of its optional 15" alloy wheels (£425) and metallic paint (£470). To this, if I'd been buying a car for myself rather than borrowing one from the Dacia test fleet, I would have added £50 for a spare wheel rather than rely on the standard tyre repair kit which, as we all know, is exactly the kind of thing that killed the dinosaurs.There are two accessory packs. One is called Protection, costs £430 and consists of an alarm, rear parking sensors and a boot liner. For £280 you can specify Touring, which includes a front central armrest, a luggage net for the boot and transverse roof bars.And, as with all current Dacias, you can upgrade the warranty from the normal three years/60,000 miles to five years/60,000 miles for £395 or seven years/100,000 miles for £850. Second only to putting reasonably good cars (though I prefer the Duster myself) on sale at very low prices, this extendable warranty is surely one of Dacia's very best ideas. Engine 1461cc, 4 cylinders Power 74bhp Transmission 5-speed manual Fuel/CO2 74.3mpg / 99g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 12.1 seconds Top speed 107mph Price £8395 Details correct at publication date
