Dacia Logan MCV (2013-2020) Review

Cheap and cheerful, the Dacia Logan MCV is a spacious estate car with low purchase and running costs

Strengths & weaknesses

  • Cheap: new from £8,495
  • Low running costs
  • Huge boot
  • Rough and ready design
  • Built to a cost - and you can tell
  • Rising prices: used to start at £6,995 new
Dacia Logan prices from £5,921.

Essentially an estate version of the Sandero supermini from Dacia, the Logan MCV conforms to the Romanian brand’s formula of low-priced practicality.

With prices starting at just below £8,500 – lower than most city cars – the Logan MCV has been available in the UK since the middle of 2013, offering buyers a more-than-competitively priced load-lugging car with a huge boot and, if powered by a diesel engine, low running costs, too. If buying new, however, bear in mind the much higher cash and finance costs, to make sure that you cover enough miles for the fuel cost savings to warrant the higher initial cost.

Of course, building a car to a budget does mean that corners have been cut and compromises have had to be made, but if buyers can overlook those, they can pick themselves up a car that is something of a bargain.

Design is perhaps the most obvious example of the compromises made in the production of the Logan MCV. The exterior design is basic and somewhat slab-sided. It's not unattractive, but it could be fairly described as plain. This is not a car you'll long to get into in the morning.

Inside, things aren’t much different: functional and lacking in any sort of flair, the Logan MCV’s cabin can’t match the relative refinement of the likes of the Skoda Fabia Estate or Seat Ibiza ST (now only available used). The materials are clearly at the inexpensive end of the scale, but fit and finish isn’t bad.

Practicality is an area where the Logan MCV comes up trumps, though. The cabin is spacious, with good levels of headroom and kneeroom. Even more impressive is the boot, which offers 573 litres with the rear seats in place and 1,518 litres if they’re folded down. To put this into context, the Fabia Estate offers 530 litres - although it is a much shorter car - and even the far larger Volvo V90 can only manage 560 litres (although there’s more space with seats down).

There are two petrol engines and a diesel, all of which are inexpensive to run, to some extent: the dCi 90 diesel, for example, can officially return 80.7mpg and has CO2 levels that make it exempt from vehicle excise duty for pre-2017 models - but you're unlikely to achieve that economy figure in the real world.

What the Logan MCV can’t offer on the road, however, is any sense of engagement. This is not a fun car to drive – but, then again, who buys a budget estate for its exciting drive? It is consistent in its lack of excitement and it doesn’t feel in any way unsafe – indeed, all versions have a strong suite of electronic active safety features.

The ride quality is better, with an ability to soak up the worst excesses of British roads: however, it can feel a little too bouncy at higher speeds and there’s also noticeable body roll around corners.

Equipment is pretty basic, especially in the cheapest Access trim (which isn’t a popular option among British buyers, who tend to opt for the highest Laureate specification). But a series of revisions in late 2016 saw the introduction of features such as DAB digital radio and parking sensors.

There aren’t as many supermini-based estates on the market as there were a few years ago, but the Logan MCV makes a strong case for itself, especially for buyers who want the practicality of its load-carrying ability and low costs.

Key facts

Warranty 3 years / 60,000 miles
Boot size 573 litres
Width 1733mm
Length 4492mm
Height 1519mm
Tax From A (£0) to C (£30)

Best Dacia Logan for...

Best for Economy – Dacia Logan MCV dCi 90

The only diesel version of the Logan MCV is by far the most economical and cheapest to run, with an official fuel consumption figure of 80.7mpg and vehicle excise duty-exempt CO2 emissions of 90g/km.

Best for Families – Dacia Logan TCe 90

For families who don’t necessarily do high mileages, the turbocharged petrol variant is a good option, as it offers a good compromise of efficiency (57.6mpg) and performance (0-62mph in 11.1 seconds).

Understanding Dacia Logan names

Trim level Ambiance

There are three trim levels – Access, Ambiance and Lauréate – that rise in basic price as more equipment is fitted as standard.

Engine TCe 90

There are three engine options. The two petrol units are a turbocharged TCe 90 and non-turbo SCe 75, with power expressed in PS (decimal horsepower), while a dCi 90 diesel engine rounds off the range.

Dacia Logan Engines

TCe 90, SCe 75, dCi 90

The turbocharged, three-cylinder 0.9-litre TCe 90 is the smallest of the trio of engines, but its turbocharger enables it to produce 90PS and hit 62mph from a standing start in 11.1 seconds, before heading on to a top speed of 109mph. Fuel economy of 56.5mpg and CO2 emissions of just 116 g/km are also decent, if not exceptional, helped by the stop/start system and the Logan MCV’s lightweight nature (it tips the scales at just 1,038kg when fitted with this engine). Performance, as the figures suggest, is modest, but nobody buying a budget supermini estate would expect anything else.

Next up is another three-cylinder unit, a 1.0-litre SCe 75 unit that produces 75PS, this lower power reflected in its slower 14.7-second 0-62mph time. Introduced at the end of 2016 as part of the mid-life refresh of the model, it replaced the previous 1.2-litre engine, reducing fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by up to 10%, with 53.3mpg and 120g/km. It’s clearly not a quick car, but the experience of using it on the road is otherwise not unpleasant. The thrum from the three-cylinder engine isn’t too intrusive and the car cruises comfortably on the highway, as well as coping well in urban driving.

The only diesel option is a 1.5-litre 90PS dCi engine that is used widely across the Renault model line-up, so it's very much a known quantity. It’s not the most refined diesel on the market, but it’s not too noisy in the Logan, especially when it’s warmed up and operating at cruising speeds. Performance is perfectly adequate, with a 0-62mph time of 11.8 seconds and a top speed of 107mph. Economy is impressive, with an official fuel consumption figure of 80.7mpg and CO2 figure of just 90g/km, making it exempt from vehicle excise duty.

 

Fuel

Fuel economy

Power

Acceleration (0-62mph)

Top speed

SCe 75

Petrol

52.3mpg

75hp

14.7s

98mph

TCe 90

Petrol

57.6mpg

90hp

11.1s

109mph

dCi 90

Diesel

80.7mpg

90hp

11.8s

107mph

Dacia Logan Trims

Access, Ambiance and Lauréate

In keeping with the relatively simple nature of Dacia’s product offering, the Logan MCV is available in just three trim levels.

The base Access trim is deliberately left very basic, in an attempt to reduce costs to bring it in under the £7,000 barrier. Equipment therefore includes standard features including LED daytime running lights, tinted windows, airbags, Isofix points for child seats in both outer rear seats, 15-inch steel wheels, 60:40-split folding rear seat, plus a suite of safety features that includes ESC (Electronic Stability Control) with ASR (Traction control) and Hill Start Assist (HSA), Anti-lock braking system (ABS) and Emergency Brake Assist (EBA).

Stepping up to Ambiance adds air conditioning, electric front windows, Aux and USB inputs, DAB/FM/AM radio, Bluetooth, remote central locking, Stop and Start (on TCe 90 and dCi 90 versions), and an anti-intruder automatic door-locking system. There’s also an optional Height Adjustment Pack (for £50) that includes driver’s seat, steering wheel and front seatbelt height adjustment.

The range-topping (and highly popular) Lauréate trim adds a 7-inch touchscreen-vases multimedia system, including satellite navigation and rear parking sensors; cruise control and speed limiter; front fog lights; heated and electrically adjustable door mirrors; and height-adjustable driver's seat and steering wheel.

Dacia Logan Reliability and warranty

Logan MCV owners love their cars, if the 2016 Driver Power survey is any measure. The model came a very highly placed 13th overall in the most recent survey, also coming in 15th for reliability.

Dacia was also third in the list of most reliable manufacturers, which is real testament to how owners consider their real-world dependability. A combination of the simplicity of the models and the tried-and-tested Renault mechanicals that underpin Dacia’s cars appears to be striking a chord with consumers.

All of which almost makes a warranty academic. However, in the seemingly unusual event of a claim, Dacia’s warranty lasts for three years, or 60,000 miles, which is fairly standard across the car industry (although Hyundai and Kia offer five- and seven-year warranties, respectively).

Used Dacia Logan

The Logan MCV is a cheap car to start with, so you might expect used examples to be an even bigger bargain. As it doesn’t have a lot of initial value to lose, however, such bargains aren’t easy to come by. If you carefully shop around, you might find that new cars with the latest features added in the late-2016 facelift are actually a better buy.

In terms of used examples, we found that BuyaCar has a two-year-old Logan MCV in Lauréate trim, powered by the 1.5-litre dCi diesel engine (which costs £11,395 new) and with just over 16,000 miles on the clock, available for £7,431, a saving of almost four grand.

There are also a number of nearly new cars with low mileages, but it’s worth checking prices and exactly which additional fitted options (none of which are hugely expensive, relatively speaking), as some prices are even more expensive than brand new cars.

   

List price

BuyaCar new

1 year old

2 years old

3 years old

Best for economy

Price

£11,395

N/a

£9,995

£7,491

N/a

Dacia Logan MCV dCi 90

Save

 

N/a

23%

34%

N/a

Best for families

Price

£9,995

N/a

£9,490

N/a

N/a

Dacia Logan MCV TCe 90

Save

 

N/a

5%

N/a

N/a