Dacia Jogger review: award-winning family car that’s great value

Quick verdict

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

Dacia Jogger: price, specs and rivals

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 between the Dacia Sandero Stepway crossover and Dacia Duster SUV, 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 only have the option of looking towards used examples of Volkswagen Touran, or 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 as a result of not fitting all the safety equipment required by the safety organisation in order to chase a five-star rating. The company has stated that the Jogger is safer than the model it replaced, but said candidly that omitting certain features was a ‘direct result of conscious decisions made by the company’ because they believe Dacia customers are not willing to pay for electronic aids that would improve the car’s rating. 

The company has stuck with that belief despite having to add various additional safety features to comply with European law. Notably, it also hasn’t increased the price of the Jogger (and various other Dacia models), even though all versions now come with traffic sign recognition software, lane departure warning and lane keep assistance, a more advanced autonomous emergency braking system, a driver monitoring system, and automatic headlights.

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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.

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 just over £18,000, while the top-of-the-range version in hybrid form is around £24,000. The options list is refreshingly simple, consisting of just metallic paint and (in the case of petrol versions) a spare wheel.

The Jogger is much lighter than a bloated seven-seat SUV, so it feels well suited to urban journeys for a car of it's carrying capacity. Its light steering makes parking easier, and there’s decent grunt from the little 1.0-litre petrol off the line to nip into gaps in the traffic. The Hybrid 140 also copes well in town and predominantly runs in electric mode, making it the more refined of the two in the city. You will have to work the 1.0-litre harder on the motorway, and there’s a little bit of wind noise to contend with at speed. Read more about the Dacia Jogger's engine, performance and drive…

The 1.0-litre version is reasonably efficient; we achieved 45.4mpg as part of our real-world testing, which isn’t far off the official combined WLTP economy figure of 48.7mpg. The Hybrid 140 does even better, getting a figure of 56.5mpg, and we saw around 50mpg from this version on our test without trying too hard. A low on-the-road price means no additional surcharges to pay in yearly road tax. Company car drivers will be better off with the Hybrid 140 because of its lower emissions, and private buyers will be pleased to know the Jogger range manages to hold on to its resale value rather well. Read more about the Dacia Jogger's MPG, CO2, and running costs…

The chunky exterior styling and extensive use of black plastic body cladding suggest that the Jogger has been built to shrug off the effects of family life. The robust interior isn’t going to win any awards for style or plushness, but it is refreshingly functional. It’s all highly logical and easy to use, which is more than can be said of a lot of modern family cars. Mid-range Expression is our favourite trim because you get an eight-inch touchscreen that works well, and you can utilise your own apps for music and navigation. Read more about the Dacia Jogger's interior, design and technology…

Seven seats make the Jogger a highly versatile car, and the rearmost seats are easy to remove, turning it into a van for a house move or an IKEA flatpack trip. We’ve found that it is possible to fit three adults across the second row, plus another pair of adults in the third row. The raised rear roof design and big back doors help with access, while mid-range models and above have a flexible roof bar system in case you need to fit a roof box to make up for the Jogger’s small boot when all seven seats are occupied. Read more about the Dacia Jogger's boot space, comfort and practicality…

The Dacia brand only managed a disappointing 26th place out of 32 manufacturers in the 2023 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, which suggests the band has some work to do to improve its ranking. Some recent upgrades to the list of standard safety equipment are welcome to see, considering that the Jogger only gets a one-star Euro NCAP rating. It’s a shame that seat belt reminders for the third row still aren’t fitted, which means it’ll continue to be penalised, even if retested. Read more about the Dacia Jogger’s reliability and safety…

Should you buy a Dacia Jogger?

If you’ve had a bad experience with buying used cars in the past, and want the reassurance of a new car warranty (which can be extended up to seven years or 75,000 miles through routine franchised Dacia dealer servicing), plus you need seven seats, then there isn’t anything to touch the Dacia Jogger at this price point. The closest alternatives are van-based MPVs such as the Ford Tourneo Connect and Volkswagen Caddy Life, but those cost significantly more to buy. So does the ageing Volkswagen Touran, although the pay-off would be you will benefit from much greater refinement with the Touran. 

The Jogger comes with all the things you’d need to tackle family life, such as its highly practical and robust interior, has lots of versatile features (such as the handy roof bars), and cost about as much to run as a family hatchback despite being huge inside. Overall, we think the whole package is good enough to warrant being called the best family car you can currently buy.