By Gareth Butterfield 
As a motoring journalist who has been around a while, the fact that new cars have become cripplingly expensive in recent years is not lost on me.
But here’s a genuinely interesting new car from a brand that’s bucking that trend, to some extent. For just over £25,000 you can have a big SUV from the same segment that will happily walk the tightrope across the £40,000 “luxury tax” threshold if you tick too many boxes.
And I get it, £25,000 is still a lot of money, but this is a LOT of car. It’s the Dacia Bigster, and it’s Dacia’s biggest and most expensive car. It’s essentially a bigger version of the new Duster, and the new Duster is an excellent car, so that’s a fine starting point.
It even looks a lot like the Duster, especially if you see it from the front and rear, but it’s the side profile that shows off the extended platform, with everything quite a bit longer. The bigster is also a little bit taller than the Duster but, interestingly, it’s the same width. And that’s important in a world marred by shrinking parking spaces.
You also get a decent amount of equipment for your money, along with your enormous boot and capacious interior. Highlights include a powered tailgate, a panoramic roof that actually opens, and dual-zone climate control.
Sure, these are standard fare on most of its rivals, but let’s not forget that prices for the Bigster top out at the point other brand’s base models begin.
I know what you’re thinking at this point. The extreme cost-cutting will mean it has an agricultural powertrain, but you’d be wrong. There are three engine options, two mild hybrids and a full hybrid.
None of them are especially exciting, but this is a car for people who look at economy figures before power output, and in that regard, the Bigster scores pretty high. For a car of this size, at least.
Of course, there are compromises in squeezing this much value for money out of such a large vehicle, and they’re mostly felt in the interior.
This is the most well-equipped car in the Dacia range, but that doesn’t mean you’ll be cossetted in fine leather, with a mountain of tech at your fingertips.
But neither is the Bigster an exercise in utilitarian minimalism. There are two digital displays, a stubby, modern gear lever and, in the right trim, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, wireless phone charging and high beam assist.
The interior’s fabrics and plastics are designed to be hard-wearing, and this makes it a great family hack. The extra legroom in the rear adds to that versatility, as does the enormous boot.
Obviously, it doesn’t drive with the same finesse of some of its rivals, but it’s better than you might think on the road. Sure, it rolls a bit, and it’s not what you’d call refined, but this is a functional car for functional people, and it carries out its tasks with a rewarding sure-footedness.
The full hybrid system is also a highlight, if you can afford to reach the dizzying heights of the Bigster payscale, and you’ll be rewarded with silent cruising at low speeds in town, and genuinely surprising range and economy figures in the wider world.
Using Dacia’s online configurator, it’s quite a challenge to send your specced up dream Bigster north of £30,000, even with the top spec models, and at its poshest level of trim, it’s a genuinely likeable car.
For many it’ll make more sense in base-spec, which is where the likes of Duster and Sandero have always excelled, but the hybrid powertrain is so good, and the posh add-ons in top trim levels are such a nice thing to have, you’ll find temptation might take over.
And, there’s the ridiculous thing. Even the very best Bigster can be had for £30,000. Try speccing up a top-level Tiguan and see what happens to the price.
This is an honest car for honest money, and if for some reason you think the Duster is just a bit too small, you’ve now got the perfect excuse to keep your Dacia dealer on your Christmas card list.
