'Carl and his Sandero Stepway- Owner Profiles - Dacia Day 2014'

Dacia have published another video clip this one is just about Dave. Have to say he does look good.

Dave's famous

So Dave made his small screen debut this week after Dacia released to video to the National Dacia Day 2014 at Beaulieu Motor Museum.

Dave's first frost

A bit chilly at home this morning, time to get the scrapper and de-icer out from the Dacia goodie bag.

Dave leaves.........

Don't panic he's not going anywhere, just a few photos of Dave enjoying the amazing Autumnal colours.

Another milestone and great customer service

So while we were out and about at the weekend Dave reached another major milestone, 12000 miles. (and yes I did stop at the side of the road to take the photo)

Obviously I knew this meant it was time for his first service but I had a dilemma, Dave's supplying dealer is near 100 miles from home so not really an option for me, however I have a number of dealers nearby.

Now which one to choose? Either one that is part of a large group or a smaller family owned franchise? I would always tend to use the smaller business as I feel they tend to offer better customer service and an ex work colleague recommended them.

So I dropped Dave off yesterday and they provided me with a Renault Clio as a courtesy car (note to self when given the choice of cars next time DONT choose the Clio, underpowered and cramped compared to Dave), and collected him first thing this morning. Fully serviced and the nearside weather seal replaced under warranty.

I have to say what brilliant customer service by Jaybee Motors near Banbury and I think Dave has found his new 'doctors'.

McDacia here we come.

To quote the great men themselves...............

Elwood : It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark... and we're wearing sunglasses.



Jake : Hit it.


Or in this case.......

 It's 388 miles to Knockhill, we got a full tank of diesel, no cigarettes, it's dark......and the sunglasses are on the dash.

Time for Dave's journey to the McDacia meet to begin.

Autumn's here and getting excited.

Well it's been a bit quiet for Dave over the last couple of months. After the Dacia day he has been doing his duty as a daily commuter Monday to Friday and has now clocked up nearly 10,000 miles.

My Saturdays have been mainly working at the lock and Sundays have been out on the bike with Lewy and Albert, so Dave hasn't really had any adventures.

However we are getting quite excited about the 11th October.......

So what's happening on the 11th???

It's going to be a great day and also a chance for Dave to do a circuit of the track (albeit stuck behind the marshall's safety car). And promises of CAKE from the organiser.

I've heard a rumour that Dacia UK will be coming and hopefully bringing some goodies too.

If you fancy joining us pop over to the DaciaForum McDacia Day forum and sign up.

For us it's going to be a mad weekend as I won't get home from work until 11pm, then grab a quick 5ish hours sleep before leaving home at 5 a.m. for the 390 mile drive to Knockhill. So not many photos on the way up, but hopefully loads at Knockhill and a few more on a leisurely drive home on the Sunday.

See you there!!!!!

Dave and friends at Dacia Day

An early start Saturday morning and an 8am meeting with fellow enthusiast at Chieveley Services just off the M4.

Then head south on the A34 before joining the M3 and the M27

Then cross country through the New Forest

Before finally arriving at Beaulieu.

What a great location for a car show, with lovely facilities and a great display area.

It was great to see such a good turnout for the first ever UK Dacia Day.

And a big thank you to Andy Hieron and his team from Dacia UK for their support, their cars and of course the goodies too.

It was really great to meet and finally put faces to the names from DaciaForum and exchange ideas and experiences with the various models.

The weather was amazing and everyone appeared to enjoy the show.

Camera crews were on hand filming the cars and interviewing many of the owners.

As the day came to a close it gave me a chance to finally look around the museum and the Top Gear displays while Lewy looked after Albert. I returned to a very excited girlfriend telling me to quickly go and get Dave as she had managed to get permission for me to bring him down to the museum area for some unique photos.

I would like to personally thank some of the Beaulieu staff Jon Tee and Chris Palmer for arranging the photo opportunity and Brian Wood for giving Lewy a special guided tour of the museum and a lovely chat about her favourite car Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Dave in front of the Top Gear display building.

And with a beautiful classic bus outside the main motor museum

And another thank you for Chris for taking this great photo of me, Lewy, Albert and of course Dave

As you can see I was grinning from ear to ear.

What a fantastic day which wouldn't have happened without the hard work and dedication of D&M and Nick from the Daciaforum.

Roll on 2015 and hopefully a bigger and better show as the Dacia family grows.

Dave does Didcot......

Don't panic it's not a low budget remake of a dodgy porn film.

Since I have had Dave his daily commute to work has been up and down past the Didcot cooling towers, a great landmark that can be seen for miles around.

Didcot A was constructed for the Central Electricity Generating Board between 1964 - 1968 at a cost of around £104m, it was built on a former MoD ordnance depot and covered approximately 300 acres.

It ceased operations in March 2013.

So what has this got to do with Dave?

Well in the early hours of Sunday morning the three southern cooling towers are due for demolition by controlled explosions.

Dave will miss the landmarks particularly when driving north on the A34, so we have taken a few shots to remember them by.

Busy morning, new products and duck news

So those of you who read my blog frequently will know that Dave was dropped off at a secret location at the beginning of June for some research and development. Well today I revisited the company and I can now reveal what it was all about.

Those of us of a certain age will remember RGA bodykits back in the 80's, well the company have moved away from bodykits (although they do still have all the original moulds), have rebranded themselves, Richard Grant Mouldings and specialise in the design and manufacture of bumper protectors and sill guards.

Well Dave spent his overnight stay being measured and used as a basis for the newly designed protector for the 2013 onwards Sandero and Sandero Stepway, I got the call yesterday to tell me it was all finished and ready to be collected (and fitted).

Apparently Mr Grant wasn't happy with the initial design and suggested they redesigned it with the ridges to give it a more rugged look, they produce it in 4 colours, black, carbon fibre, brushed silver and plain silver, I went for the latter as I thought it would match the front and rear underbody panels. I think it looks quite good.

On the way back I thought I would pop into Tiggywinkles to see if they had any updates on Carl the duck.

Carl did have a broken wing and was very undernourished, they have been feeding him up and have this week released him from the hospital cages into the holding duck pond where he can be with other ducks while his wing heals and he continues to build up his strength.

Thank you to all the staff at Tiggys, you are brilliant.

They are back n black

Dave got his trims back today, I decided not to do it myself but rather pay for a professional job, glad I did they look stunning, well done RCS at Challow, top job.

Dave gets blinged

An early start for me today to drop Dave off at Bling Bling Tinting

Rear door glass, quarter lights and tailgate glass all tinted to 15%.

Great service by Andy, top man and a great job thanks.

Looking good at the back.

And looking good from the side.

Now those of you who follow Dave's blog may have noticed something else different in the photos.

When he finished the tints he fitted these side protection strips for me too, my eyesight is getting worse and I couldn't see the line properly that they were supposed to follow, once again Andy showed  he really knew his stuff and produced some very clever tape to enhance the line.

So if you need some tints give him a call......he does wrapping too......mmmm I wonder.

Water, wind and wildlife!

Well the water was me working on Saturday at the lock, the last day of the Henley Festival and lots of boats going through the lock, however the biggest job of the day was wildlife and turned out to be trying to rescue an injured duck that had come into the lock with a broken wing.

A quick phone call to St Tiggywinkles wildlife rescue based in Buckinghamshire and the sent a wildlife ambulance to come and collect him, easy you would think, he is in a lock and can't fly, nice simple enclosed space, no chance Hambleden is one of the biggest locks on the Thames and that little duck knew every nook and cranny of it to hide in. After about 90 minutes he was finally caught thanks to some quick handywork with the net by a boater.

It turns out that when they rescue an animal they name it after the caller while it is in the hospital recovering, so good luck to Carl the Duck and wish him a speedy recovery.

Of course Dave had to be involved and escorted the animal ambulance from the lock to the road.

This also gave a chance for another quick photo on the way back this time with the wier in the background.

And as for the wind, well actually wind deflectors, these fabulous Heko ones arrived from Poland during the week and managed to fit them on Friday, they are beautifully finished and very easy to install, like most things they need getting used to, they are very good with deflecting not only the wind but also stopping the rain falling inside the cabin if the windows are partially open.

My only gripe if any is they appear to increase the blind spot on the drivers side as they are smoked, something I will have to be extra careful with.

The Mumbles III.....Hands across the Severn!

So we loaded the bikes onto Dave this morning and heading out, we ended up at Pembrey Country Park, what a beautiful location, loads of woodland for Albert and cycle paths around the park. However we went slightly off track and ended up in Pembrey Forest and cycling through the sand dunes, not one of our brightest ideas, it was extremely hard work.

Albert however was having a whale of a time, especially as the RAF were buzzing the area, every time one flew Albert thought he would chase it.....3 hours later he still hadn't realised he would never catch a Tornado on afterburner.

So after checking in on facebook where we were I got a message from a fellow Dacia Forum member from the area, we were already on the way back to Mumbles when I got it, so didn't expect to see each other, I still don't know how but we actually bumped into each other.

Dave and Big G's Stepway

So a very quick Anglo Welsh mini meet....hands across the Severn.

Day 2 at The Mumbles

And Dave gets the morning off while Lewy and I cycle from Mumbles to Swansea and back, nice little 10 mile ride along the promenade, after waking up to rain, the morning gradually brightened up and after a refresh it was time for Dave to join in the fun.

A short 15 minute drive from The Mumbles and we arrived at Oxwich Bay, the tide was well out by now so after parking up we took a very excited Albert down to the sea for his favourite game of fetch. He has never been quite so deep in the sea and enjoyed springing through the water to get to his ball, although a couple of times he was caught out by small breakers and became surf dog! After walking the half the bay in the water he was fairly worn out and just walked back by Lewy's side.

The bay looks amazing.

And of course it wouldn't be Dave's blog without him making an appearance.

Hello Mumbles

So today was time to head off for Dave's first summer holiday, a week in the beautiful Mumbles, South Wales.

As Lewy runs her own business she can never leave her work behind totally and has to have her own mini office of paperwork and equipment to hand even when we are away.With that in mind it was time to try out the roof box. Well the box was full, as was the boot AND the back seat, all that plus the two bikes on the carrier made quite a heavy load for Dave.

I was still pleasantly surprised to find that despite all that onboard Dave still managed a very reasonable 50 mpg on the journey down, which was via the hills and valleys rather than using the motorway. Enroute Dave reached another mileage milestone.

The drive down was a real mixture of bright sunshine and torrential rain, so when we finally arrived at The Mumbles first job was to get some lovely fresh scollops from the local fish monger, second job was to collect the keys to the apartment, third job was a brisk half....

So after a walk down the seafront it was back to the apartment to unload and unpack, before heading off to Port Eynon for an amazing fish and chip supper, sat by the beach with amazing views out to sea.

 

Today I....................

Finally got Dave's full size spare wheel and tyre. Worth bearing in mind if you order the spare wheel kit on the Stepway that you only get an emergency spare wheel, basically a 15 inch standard Sandero wheel and tyre with stickers on it.

 

 

Goodbye Dave

I now know how a parent feels the first time they drop of their child for the first day of nursery or school.

I have just dropped Dave off at a secret location somewhere in Bedfordshire for a company to carry out some research and development work so they can extend their product range to include the Dacia Sandero Stepway.

Made worse by the fact that he is having to stay overnight, it will be his first time away from home without me, hope he is ok.

Photo locations and something really exciting

On this lovely sunny May morning I decided to take Dave out to scout around for some photo locations, had two in mind fairly close to where I live.

Location one was a disused quarry site that I had tried to photograph previously a few years ago with it's derelict buildings and great backdrops, however the site owners had a strict no photo policy due to health and safety issues and the fact the location had appeared on a well known derelict buildings photography website.

I was surprised to see a lot of heavy vehicle traffic on and off the site and went to investigate, I found the site office and was told the site is once again operational, however I have been given permission to go back and photograph Dave on the site.

On the way out I stopped just to grab this quick shot on the way out.

One out of one, good result so far.

My second location was an airfield that had a track, rally and off road course on site, was enquiring about photo locations, however what I have ended up with is something more exciting for all the Dacia Duster and Stepway owners out there.

I had a full tour of the site and they have a number of great 'Off Road' courses for the 4x4s and also a couple of 'Soff Road' course (Soft Off Road) for the Stepways. The company was already considering offering 'Club Days' where a group can hire the facilities, with an instructor, marshal and medic staff and I am waiting for them to come back to me with some prices.

With the 1st UK Dacia Day at Beaulieu coming on the 26th July having an off road day may appeal to quite a few owners too.

So all in all a great morning out.

A wet and windy weekend

What a horrible weekend for weather, cold, wet and windy, not much chance of any adventures for Dave. However did manage to get a few more accessories that I had been looking at.

I've been using a Thule hang-on towbar mounted bike carrier for a number of years, it's starting to show it's age a bit and is a bit of a pain strapping the bikes on securely, not to mention having to fit a trailer board each time for the lights. I was thinking about treating myself to another Thule but this time a 'sit on' type carrier.

While checking out that well known auction site I came across a Mont Blanc 2 bike carrier, it looked nice and sturdy, tilt mechanism and lights built in. Managed to win the auction for less than £60, when I collected it I managed to find the model number and it is an Explorer 2, it's an obsolete model now but originally retailed at over £320, bit of a result as it's in as new condition.

Looks good too.

When Dave was ordered Dacia offered the option of a Touring Pack which included a central arm rest, boot luggage net, floor mats and roof bars, cost £245. I knew I wasn't going to use the arm rest (very small and flimsy and got in the way), the luggage net was very small and the floor mats could be bought at a fraction of the cost.

Once again I turned to the DaciaForumUK and there was a discussion about the Lidl roof bars and how many of the members had bought them for their Dusters and Stepways. However as with many deals in Lidl they weren't always in stock and you have to wait for them to reappear as a special offer, well they appeared again last week, so I popped along and pick up a set....£26.99 and they are locking too, now that's a bargain.