I bought a Dacia Spring…

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Discussion

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,709 posts

169 months

Thursday 6th March
quotequote all
Since my Citroen Ami died and was rejected, I’ve had a small electric car shaped hole in my fleet.



Enter my 2025 Dacia Spring 65 Extreme…. Possibly the least extreme vehicle ever.

About 150 miles in and liking it so far, but time will tell whether I’ve made a grave error.

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,709 posts

169 months

Thursday 6th March
quotequote all
There’s a lot of talk online about these - mostly on the subject of it being dangerously slow. People see the 19.1s 0-60 time of the 45 model and that’s all they can talk about.

The 65 is much more like an equivalent small ICE but with instant torque and less noise.

Tophatron

436 posts

232 months

Friday 7th March
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I do like these and have done since I first saw a Renault Kwid in India several years ago (price new in India was around £3k for a petrol version).

However I can't help but think the Leapmotor T03 is an all round better proposition as a cheap EV (the monthlies are around the same as the Spring) - if only the T03 didn't look so cheap and awful.

Certainly will be interesting to see how you get on with the Spring.

P675

398 posts

43 months

Friday 7th March
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Would be interesting to see how much they could sell an electric Jogger sized car for

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,709 posts

169 months

Friday 7th March
quotequote all
Tophatron said:
I do like these and have done since I first saw a Renault Kwid in India several years ago (price new in India was around £3k for a petrol version).

However I can't help but think the Leapmotor T03 is an all round better proposition as a cheap EV (the monthlies are around the same as the Spring) - if only the T03 didn't look so cheap and awful.

Certainly will be interesting to see how you get on with the Spring.
Monthlies might be similar but the cash price is £3k more than I paid for this - and I’d rather st in my hands and clap than deal with Stellantis again tbh.

Pistonheadsdicoverer

611 posts

57 months

Friday 7th March
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P675 said:
Would be interesting to see how much they could sell an electric Jogger sized car for
Given the fact that the electric Scenic is available for £314 on PCH (23,1,5000) , an electric Jogger will have to be at most £250 to make any sense. That's Astra territory.

Austin_Metro

1,352 posts

59 months

Friday 7th March
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I saw one of these on the road last week - had no idea they existed. Following this with interest … more pics and thoughts pls OP.

Pistonheadsdicoverer

611 posts

57 months

Friday 7th March
quotequote all
Austin_Metro said:
I saw one of these on the road last week - had no idea they existed. Following this with interest … more pics and thoughts pls OP.
Electrifying did a video comparing both of them.
The T03 came on top due to its sheer amount of features.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzDh_15DtSY

Austin_Metro

1,352 posts

59 months

Friday 7th March
quotequote all
Pistonheadsdicoverer said:
Electrifying did a video comparing both of them.
The T03 came on top due to its sheer amount of features.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzDh_15DtSY
Thanks!

Mezzanine

9,956 posts

230 months

Friday 7th March
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Interesting to see how you get on with this.

Wondered what happened to the Ami - sounds like it didn’t end well!

Mammasaid

4,554 posts

108 months

Friday 7th March
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Mezzanine said:
Interesting to see how you get on with this.

Wondered what happened to the Ami - sounds like it didn’t end well!

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,709 posts

169 months

Friday 7th March
quotequote all
I’ll likely be putting it to a pretty inappropriate test this weekend - I need to collect two bulky things 210 miles away.

Mammasaid

4,554 posts

108 months

Friday 7th March
quotequote all
Toaster Pilot said:
I’ll likely be putting it to a pretty inappropriate test this weekend - I need to collect two bulky things 210 miles away.
According to all the EV sceptics, you'll not be back for at least 7 days...smile

FourGears

323 posts

66 months

Friday 7th March
quotequote all
Pistonheadsdicoverer said:
Given the fact that the electric Scenic is available for £314 on PCH (23,1,5000) , an electric Jogger will have to be at most £250 to make any sense. That's Astra territory.
Hybrid Jogger with £1k down is £300 a month.

Astra is more

Amateurish

8,049 posts

233 months

Friday 7th March
quotequote all
Pistonheadsdicoverer said:
P675 said:
Would be interesting to see how much they could sell an electric Jogger sized car for
Given the fact that the electric Scenic is available for £314 on PCH (23,1,5000) , an electric Jogger will have to be at most £250 to make any sense. That's Astra territory.
You can lease a Spring for £160 on those same terms

TheDeuce

26,812 posts

77 months

Friday 7th March
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Apparently before some discounting elsewhere the Spring 45 was actually the UK's cheapest new car - and it's an EV!

Ok, it's a terrible one (the 45), but still, if someone just wants a reliable new car to get them to work and back for literally a few quid in running costs a month, why not? I guarantee there are people out there running an old shed that's just as slow and probably spending more on running it each month than they could lease/PCP a brand new Spring for!


It'll be interesting to see how you get on, OP.

kambites

68,834 posts

232 months

Friday 7th March
quotequote all
TheDeuce said:
Ok, it's a terrible one (the 45)...
Is it?

Sure it's not going to appeal to petrol-heads; or to anyone who wants to drive on NSL roads; or to people who want to impress their neighbours; but it seems to me that 90% of the idiot parents I see every morning stopped on double yellow lines half a mile from home dropping their kids off at my daughter's primary school would be better off in a Spring 45 than their current Range Rover/Model-Y/whatever.

Of course they (and their children) would be even better off getting off their arses and walking. hehe

TheDeuce

26,812 posts

77 months

Friday 7th March
quotequote all
kambites said:
TheDeuce said:
Ok, it's a terrible one (the 45)...
Is it?

Sure it's not going to appeal to petrol-heads; or to anyone who wants to drive on NSL roads; or to people who want to impress their neighbours; but it seems to me that 90% of the idiot parents I see every morning stopped on double yellow lines half a mile from home dropping their kids off at my daughter's primary school would be better off in a Spring 45 than their current Range Rover/Model-Y/whatever.

Of course they (and their children) would be even better off getting off their arses and walking. hehe
Hang on... You quoted part of what I said and then added the other stuff I said in your own words!!

Yes, it's a perfectly sensible car if it's all you need, it could probably replace half the cars on the roads of the UK without causing anyone to drive any slower or less far than they already do smile

kambites

68,834 posts

232 months

Friday 7th March
quotequote all
TheDeuce said:
Hang on... You quoted part of what I said and then added the other stuff I said in your own words!!
Yeah sorry I wasn't disagreeing with the main gist of your post, just objecting to event the statement that it's an objectively "bad" car. It's a bad status symbol but for a significant number of people it would probably be a better "car" than many much, much more expensive vehicles they're driving now.

Toaster Pilot

Original Poster:

14,709 posts

169 months

Friday 7th March
quotequote all
Tbh I’ve no idea why anyone would buy the 45, especially when you can buy a pre reg 65 for less than it costs.

The lack of CCS alone being a pretty good reason to avoid it.

Edited by Toaster Pilot on Friday 7th March 21:05