Long-term test: Dacia Bigster Journey hybrid 155

Verdict

Dacia’s Bigster is a great car to live with day-to-day. It’s rugged and spacious, but not so posh that you can’t throw DIY materials in the back. It returns excellent MPG without much effort and the in-car safety tech passed our real-world test, too. Excellent value overall!

• Mileage: 5,066 miles
• Efficiency: 56.9mpg

Being a child of the seventies, much of my early playtime was split between Action Man and Tonka toys. For anyone not in the know, most Tonkas were bright yellow, predominantly metal (so almost unbreakable) motoring workhorses. Our Dacia Bigster is Indigo Blue (£650), not yellow, but it reminds me of those good old days of tough toys.

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The styling is a mix of off-road and urban. Its bumpers and wheelarches are protected by flared, moulded Starkle – a recycled, unpainted plastic designed to rebuff scratches and chips thanks to its speckled appearance. It looks the part, too, with the crisp white Dacia logos set against the boxy trim and roof bars. All this reinforces the company’s get-out-and-about branding and is very well thought out.

To be fair, I haven’t actually been kayaking or abseiling of late, but I have been enjoying the great outdoors with my grandchildren on day trips, bike rides and allotment visits. Our Bigster has a massive 612-litre boot that can fit in an awful lot with minimal effort; bikes and assorted compost bags are an easy fit.

Used - available now

2026 Dacia

Bigster

AutomaticPetrol1.8L

Cash £28,995

View Bigster

2026 Dacia

Bigster

210 milesAutomaticPetrol1.8L

Cash £27,500

View Bigster

2026 Dacia

Bigster

AutomaticPetrol1.8L

Cash £29,025

View Bigster

2026 Dacia

Bigster

3,500 milesAutomaticPetrol1.8L

Cash £28,000

View Bigster

The side cubby, where the jack for the space-saver wheel (£200) is clamped, still has enough room to take a 2.5-litre tin of paint with no risk of spills; the roller parcel shelf clips in and out easily and can be stored at the base of the rear seats, too. Even so, the Bigster should really be called the Tallster, because the car is all about height, not width. The headspace in the rear is as impressive as the knee room; even with the driver’s seat set for my six-foot-one frame, there is plenty of room to spare.

The space in the boot recently allowed me to stop and collect a wooden pallet abandoned on the roadside for my allotment compost heap. 

I dropped the centre part of the 40:20:40-split rear seats and propped the pallet up using cardboard to protect the seats. This allowed my two adult passengers to travel in slightly bemused comfort until we got home.

I’ve been upfront about getting excellent MPG figures from our SUV without really trying that hard. I don’t drive very quickly and use energy recovery or ‘B’ braking mode, but that’s about as far as my hypermiling efforts go. While figures have dropped off a fraction, from 59.3 to 56.9 MPG, that’s mainly due to me hitting the air-conditioning hard during this long, hot summer, I reckon.

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Recently, I received an email and odometer photo from a happy reader running his hybrid Bigster and getting an impressive 67.6 MPG by cruising at 65 mph, plus using eco mode and the braking mode only when slowing or descending hills. That would be enough for about 700 miles of range from a 50-litre tank.

Both this reader and I struggle with the noise when the car switches from EV mode and the engine kicks in – and I found this especially obvious after spending a long weekend with a premium and silent BMW iX3. However, it wasn’t the engine noise or comfortable ride that I especially missed when returning into our Dacia from the £62k BMW, it was more the general level of finish.

For example, the handle on the Dacia’s driver’s seat is fine and fit for purpose, even if the lumbar support is a bit cheap and pointless. Neither is very glamorous, but as they say, it’s hard to sit in economy after flying first class.

Despite the value focus of some of Dacia’s tech, it’s great to know that it does work. Last month, I approached a junction only to have someone cut a corner at speed, arriving in front of me on the wrong side of the road. This caused the emergency brake assist to deploy the anti-lock brakes, and the car stopped just before a head-on collision. Thank you, Dacia. 

Now onto our August camping trip, when my family will really test out whether the Bigster can live up to its name.

Dacia Bigster Journey hybrid 155: second fleetwatch report

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Summer adventures have highlighted some of the Bigster’s most useful features, especially when the temperature climbs

Our frugal hybrid family SUV has been working overtime at weekends. Recent summer day trips to the coast and a local lavender farm have been cool and comfortable with the excellent climate control taking the heat out of the situation. 

Old-school dash buttons control air-flow and temperature as well as adjusting the direction of the blower. The retractable blind over the panoramic sunroof gives shade, and the refrigerated storage box can keep small drinks and snacks cool.

Dacia Bigster Journey hybrid 155: first fleetwatch report

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The Bigster’s enormous boot has proved even more versatile than expected on a recent trip to the beach

Our big Dacia continues to tick all the boxes for a practical family SUV. Even without the rear seats folded, I can get a folded buggy and my two grandchildren’s bikes into the back, with plenty of space to spare for picnics and beach gear. 

The underfloor space provides storage for coats, shoes, a camping blanket and a pop-up tent shelter. Not that we need it, because the boot works perfectly well as a makeshift changing room for swim suits.

Dacia Bigster Journey hybrid 155: second report

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We were already impressed by our SUV’s value-for-money, but it turns out to be extremely frugal to run, too

• Mileage: 4,345 miles
• Efficiency: 59.3mpg

Within weeks of collecting the keys to our Dacia Bigster 155 hybrid, I was out attending photoshoots as part of my job as creative director. The two biggest were the recent PHEV SUV mega test and, some weeks earlier, the BMW iX3 five-car group test. While moving cars around and setting up shots, I was struck by the size and complexity of many of these SUVs. Familiarity eases angst, but just finding the start buttons was a task on some, not to mention the layers of touchscreen menus. Plus, the list prices were eye-watering –  many costing more than double our £30k Bigster.

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It does make you wonder if it’s all necessary. I’m finding our value-driven SUV refreshing in its simplicity. The name Bigster alludes to having the practicality of a bigger Dacia, but it sits on the same platform as the Duster and Jogger. That means the Bigster isn’t especially wide, making it easy to manoeuvre in town and park in a standard supermarket bay with room to get in and out. I can fit almost anything I need into the boot (and under-floor space) without dropping the seats. When I do flip the rear-seat levers, there are 1,977 litres to use.

In three months, I’ve racked up a couple of thousand miles and found driving both comfortable and stress-free, although lacking any real excitement. The Bigster might be at the cheaper end of the market with only a three-star Euro NCAP rating, but it still has plenty of safety tech. Features include emergency brake assist, lane-departure warning and lane-keep assist. There’s even a door-open warning and driver-attention alert should I doze off. Recently, the audible blind-spot warning saved a food delivery driver who zipped up my inside as I was turning left.

There is also a warning sound when the speed limit is exceeded, easily done with blanket 20mph zones across South London, where I live. However, I haven’t found the noises intrusive, and many of the Dacia warning alerts have adjustable volume and sensitivity controls, plus they can be switched off. I do find the parking camera especially good, with a side curb view to avoid clipping the 19-inch semi-diamond-cut alloy wheels. The whole family rates the panoramic opening sunroof and its retractable blind – it’s great for cooling the grandchildren and saving their eyesight on warmer days.

Our Dacia’s economy is outstanding. We have the self-charging hybrid in mid-range Journey trim, and without really trying, it’s exceeding the combined WLTP figure of 58.0mpg. I’m currently getting 59.3mpg in mild conditions, between needing heating and any power sapping air-con requirements. 

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Most shorter journeys are done via the electric motor, travelling at less than 20mph, but it is loud when the battery is depleted and the engine kicks in. I drive in B (brake) mode; this isn’t one-pedal driving, but it recuperates power quickly via regenerative braking and keeps urban EV driving efficient. My only complaint is that there have been a couple of minor interior rattles. I traced one to the ‘You clip’ phone holder on the dash, which needed slight rotation to quieten down. 

Rattles also extend to the audio system. I’ve had to turn the bass down, because it struggles with some deeper voices on podcasts and the occasional hip-hop track. Despite my intention to never ever give him up, Barry White is off the playlist. The radio has dropped out on occasion, too.

But the biggest Bigster bugbear so far is clipping in seatbelts. I struggle to get my hands down the side of the centre console to clip in; it’s narrow and tight, much like accessing the door bins. With the rear belts too, my family has found it tricky to clip in, because the buckles sink into the seat recesses. It’s not a big deal for adults, but it is awkward when fitting booster seats. 

With holidays looming, it’ll be good to see how my family and the Bigster sync with Dacia’s brand message of enjoying the great outdoors.

Dacia Bigster Journey hybrid 155: first report

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New SUV joins our fleet and starts life with a road trip to Kent

• Mileage: 3,351 miles
• Efficiency: 57.8mpg

Usually in the first report on a new long-term test car, you might expect a gentle introduction, but not this time. Within an hour of our new Dacia Bigster arriving at my London home in February, my wife and I had packed the massive 612-litre boot (well, half of it) and we were on the road for a peaceful week exploring Kent.

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I was pleased to find our Bigster was a self-charging hybrid in Journey trim. That mid-range specification adds £1,500 to the cost of the entry-level Expression edition, but brings a powered tailgate, heated seats, and a heated steering wheel, all of which were switched on immediately to counter the cold weather.

Our test car arrived pretty much full of fuel, so having taken some readings pre-departure, I had intended to give a breakdown on fuel efficiency and costs. Events in the Middle East mean that the cost figures are already out of date, but I’ll come to the MPG later.

My first impressions included how much Dacia’s interior quality and tech have moved on since I tested – and loved – a Jogger that we had on our fleet back in June 2022. 

I’m aware that Dacia’s focus on value comes with a certain level of economy in its materials and build quality. However, the interior of our Bigster is clearly a step up from what I experienced in the Jogger. The new car’s cabin is well laid out, comfortable and really quite stylish, matching the rugged exterior styling. 

Tech-wise, I’m delighted that our Journey specification provides not only the 10.1-inch infotainment screen, but also a matching 10.1-inch configurable dashboard display. This is great for general info, which is easily accessible through buttons on the steering wheel. It also shows the Bigster’s powertrain switching between charging the mild-hybrid battery and pure-electric running. However, the engine can sound a bit agricultural when it kicks in after a stretch of silent running.

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Despite the car having a ‘Youclip’ smartphone holder on the dashboard, a sat-nav system is included on every Bigster. Its ‘here’ software is a bit slow to fire up, and although it can be overridden with Apple Carplay and Android Auto systems, I’ve stuck with it. It has simple destination entry and clear guidance and coped with all our needs for the week zipping back and forth across farm lanes and B-roads on day trips from our rural base to Broadstairs, Canterbury and Folkestone. 

Despite some shocking weather during the trip, the Bigster was comfortable thanks to its decent ride. Some of the deeply worn farm tracks caused a fair degree of body roll, but motorway driving was smooth, and the hybrid system ran on EV power alone over good stretches at high speed, helping to boost the car’s economy. We racked up close to 600 miles on less than a tank of fuel (50 litres) – and I’m delighted with the resulting 57.8mpg.

That offsets some of the more value-focused areas of the Bigster. The hard plastic in the boot arrived scratched, showing that it will mark and age over time. I also found it tricky to fit my grandchildren’s car seats to the Isofix mounts hidden behind cheap zips in the material – I ended up using clips from the seat maker. Also, the kids’ feet are already marking the cloth on the back of the front seats.

However, it’s worth noting that, were it not for the metallic Indigo Blue paintwork (£650), this Bigster would come in under the £30k mark. That’s outstanding value for a good-looking rugged SUV intended for outdoor pursuits. The next six months should be fun.

*Insurance quote from AA (0800 107 0680) for a 42-year-old in Banbury, Oxon, with three points.

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