Car of the Year Awards 2026: Best small car for value
When you're out and about and need a room for the night, you don’t necessarily want to pay a fortune for a five-star hotel with gilt taps and hot and cold running room service. Something functional and comfy is fine if the price is right. And the Dacia Sandero’s price is very right; it’s undercut only by Dacia’s own Spring, which is a very basic electric car, and the Citroën Ami – a quadricycle with a 26mph top speed.
But the Sandero is a proper small car, and a very capable one. Sure, there’s a fair bit of body lean in bends, but the steering is accurate enough and the relatively soft suspension is good at soaking up bumps.
The Sandero has just had an engine upgrade, with a new TCe 100 replacing the TCe 90 that we tested for awards purposes. With a bit more grunt than before, the new engine offers stronger performance, with only a tiny drop in fuel economy. The Sandero will still cost more to run than the Toyota Aygo X, though.
Of course, there are a few compromises at this price; the Sandero isn’t as smart or robust inside as the Aygo X, you don’t get as much equipment and its Euro NCAP safety rating is poor. However, it’s relatively practical and spacious in the back seats.
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