Options too cheap to pass up
Anyone who wants as much space as possible for as little money as possible will very quickly end up with the Dacia Jogger. This remains the case even after the facelift, although you have to pay a significant premium for a version with a third row of seats.
Dacia Jogger Eco-G 120 Essential (5-seater) – €25,200
The facelift of the Dacia Jogger doesn’t involve much. Just like with the Sandero, on which the Jogger is based, it involves adjusted light units, new colors, and adjusted bumpers. However, quite a lot also changes under the hood. Moreover, Dacia seizes the opportunity to thoroughly reshuffle the price list, providing more than enough reason to once again bring the Jogger, perhaps the ultimate Dacia, to this stage.
The Jogger is, as always, essentially an extremely extended and raised station wagon version of the Sandero. This makes it exceptionally spacious and even suitable for seven seats, although this is not standard. Without a third row of seats, you can slide no less than 829 liters of luggage behind the rear seat, or up to 2,094 liters if you remove that seat. The SUV-like trim that is optionally available for the Sandero under the Stepway label is, by the way, standard on the Jogger.
The Jogger’s basic engine is still a small turbo engine that runs on both gasoline and LPG. However, it is a new unit with 20 hp more and a larger LPG tank, which at least partly compensates for the slightly increased starting price. When configuring the Jogger, you first have to choose between the 5-seater and the 7-seater. The third row of seats is therefore not a separate option, but is presented by Dacia as a separate variant with its own price list. The first difference immediately becomes apparent: the five-seater is available as the inexpensive Essential, while the seven-seater immediately starts as an Expression. As a result, the starting price of the Jogger with seven seats is immediately €3,000 higher than that of the five-seater. With the same equipment, the difference is much smaller at €1,000.
However, this section is called ‘Back to basics’ for a reason, so today it will be a five-seater Jogger in Essential trim. The biggest exterior difference is the color. With the Expression, the striking ‘Rouge Terracotta’ is standard, but it is not available with the Essential, so this car comes in white, which costs an extra 200 euros on more expensive versions. Further differences: the Essential does without the contrast-colored ‘lower lip’, without painted door handles and exterior mirrors, without privacy glass, without front fog lights, and without black ‘decorative elements’ on the doors. It does, however, have a striking antenna that is hidden on the more expensive variants. Both Expression and Essential come with 16-inch steel wheels with hubcaps. LED headlights and taillights are also present regardless of the version.
Above the Essential, below the Expression. Big difference!
Dacia calls the upholstery of the Expression ‘Expression’ and that of the Essential ‘Essential’, but in the configurator, we see no difference in the seats. In both cases, the seats are upholstered with a tasteful combination of black and dark blue, but in the Expression, that dark blue also makes its way to the dashboard and door panels. In the Essential, that’s just black plastic, which immediately makes things look plainer. The fact that the aluminum-colored decorative elements of the Expression are also just black in the Essential also contributes to this. However, we see more differences. For example, the basic Jogger lacks two USB-C ports in the front, the center armrest is missing, the steering wheel is just plastic, and we miss the two window buttons for the rear windows and the buttons for electric mirror adjustment.
The elephant in the Essential room, however, is the missing touchscreen. In the cheapest version, you will have to rely on your phone for navigation and other functions. Moreover, the audio system is very basic, with two instead of four speakers.
What does the basic Jogger have? Air conditioning, fortunately, and unlike the Dacia Spring. It also always has cruise control and, of course, central door locking with remote control. Light sensors and rain sensors are also always present, so the Jogger driver doesn’t have to worry about those.