I have a thing for the Dacia Duster...

[Roboticarm]

That looks great, never see. One with the side steps, tints and the chunky door guards before. Makes it look tough

[renmure]

Roboticarm said:

That looks great, never see. One with the side steps, tints and the chunky door guards before. Makes it look tough

Thanks.. that was a daft pic for me to use since it was half way through fitting what I think they call the off road pack so there was also wheel arch protection to go on...

[CAH706]

Looks great and that colour is really smart

[James-jupp]

How are you getting on with the duster? Has the smaller engine worked for you? It must be cheaper on road tax / insurance too?

Im thinking of doing the same thing, ive got a 2000 megane coupe at the moment, thats getting a bit .. tired. The seats are ripped, the a/c doesnt work.. It always starts tho, and i like driving it. After 255.000km its probably getting close to its time to retire. A airbag warning light is keeping it off the road at the moment.

Ive seen dusters here for around 10k with a few km on them. Whats the deal with the 1.6 petrol? Its the same k4m engine as the megane and qashqai isnt it ?

[Hugo Stiglitz]

Dashnine said:

Relatives have one - had a lift in it - nasty interior plastics, noisy (as it had to thrashed to make any progress), uncomfortable and was generally taken aback that a modern(ish) car that's still on sale could be that bad.

All down to your expectations and requirements I guess, would have thought just about anything else must be better if not cheaper.

Edited by Dashnine on Monday 29th March 12:28

This sadly.

If it was solid plastic, durable I'd get it. But they are very thin plastics. Plus 99% of them are two wheel drive and the 4x4 with a bogstandard old clio engine exactly cheap anymore which brings it full circle, why spend that much on such a cheap interior?

I still like the look of them but not at the pricing.

[Dave Hedgehog]

Hugo Stiglitz said:

This sadly.

If it was solid plastic, durable I'd get it. But they are very thin plastics. Plus 99% of them are two wheel drive and the 4x4 with a bogstandard old clio engine exactly cheap anymore which brings it full circle, why spend that much on such a cheap interior?

I still like the look of them but not at the pricing.

weak ncap rating as well

[Luke-36]

Fantastic cars and yours looks great!

People commenting on interior/ plastics/ etc... The interior is fine and very durable… wipes clean so great for dogs/ kids. Mine gets hammered and its been totally fine. I'm not sure what people expect for a brand new SUV, with 3 years warranty/roadside assistance, at sub <16k depending on trim? An entry level Clio is the same price?

For the same size/ specced car from a generalist brand, you're talking 20k+ for a crap spec, and if you want a brand new 4x4 i can't find a brand new one in the 20k bracket? Jimny unobtainable/ discontinued...

[MYOB]

Dave Hedgehog said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

This sadly.

If it was solid plastic, durable I'd get it. But they are very thin plastics. Plus 99% of them are two wheel drive and the 4x4 with a bogstandard old clio engine exactly cheap anymore which brings it full circle, why spend that much on such a cheap interior?

I still like the look of them but not at the pricing.

weak ncap rating as well

I hit one last week pulling out of junction. I hit the side of it. Completely my fault.

I couldn't believe the amount of damage I caused caving the doors in whilst I had a cracked bumper. Poor guy couldn't even open the doors on the right hand side.

[Clifford Chambers]

MYOB said:

Dave Hedgehog said:

Hugo Stiglitz said:

This sadly.

If it was solid plastic, durable I'd get it. But they are very thin plastics. Plus 99% of them are two wheel drive and the 4x4 with a bogstandard old clio engine exactly cheap anymore which brings it full circle, why spend that much on such a cheap interior?

I still like the look of them but not at the pricing.

weak ncap rating as well

I hit one last week pulling out of junction. I hit the side of it. Completely my fault.

I couldn't believe the amount of damage I caused caving the doors in whilst I had a cracked bumper. Poor guy couldn't even open the doors on the right hand side.

Progressive deceleration, looks like both cars crumple zones did the job. Everyone walked away, only pride hurt, no cars turned over.

[Chainsaw Rebuild]

Good luck with it op. I looked at one for a friend and decided an older Honda CRV was a much better car.

[MYOB]

Clifford Chambers said:

Progressive deceleration, looks like both cars crumple zones did the job. Everyone walked away, only pride hurt, no cars turned over.

I understand about the crumple effects but I barely touched the vehicle. Mind you, my weight was about 3tn!

[renmure]

James-jupp said:

How are you getting on with the duster? Has the smaller engine worked for you? It must be cheaper on road tax / insurance too?

Ive seen dusters here for around 10k with a few km on them. Whats the deal with the 1.6 petrol? Its the same k4m engine as the megane and qashqai isnt it ?

I'm getting on great with it. Had it a week and done 1000 miles so far... but that really isn't planed as my normal use for it because I did a 750 mile round trip over the weekend in it which was mainly motorway and duel carriageway. Tax is £150 and it cost £130 to add it to my insurance for the year. Win/win really.

That trip showed that the cruise control was really effective and whilst I stuck at around 75mph the engine never struggled anywhere. The trip computer says I averaged just over 44mpg which isn't bad either. All in all, about 12 hrs of driving over 2 days and I didn't start feeling uncomfortable of have any gripes about the seating position or driving position. All the tech stuff worked worked well and the integration of the Dacia stuff and Apple Car Play was as good as my previous experience in my Honda Type R.

I personally don't think I'd have one if it was an only car in the household but it isn't. In saying that, I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be for lots of folk. I'm still impressed.

[croyde]

As to crumple zones etc

Someone on the Mustang 6g forum took his 2016 through a hedge and into a field after he left the road.

Him and his son walked away but the car looked like it had been dropped from the moon.

It hadn't even turned over but I guess it had absorbed all the impact allowing the occupants an injury free end to their unexpected final destination.

[Clifford Chambers]

MYOB said:

Clifford Chambers said:

Progressive deceleration, looks like both cars crumple zones did the job. Everyone walked away, only pride hurt, no cars turned over.

I understand about the crumple effects but I barely touched the vehicle. Mind you, my weight was about 3tn!

3k kg v 1,1k kg. Nobody hurt, definitely a win win.

On a more serious note, if you'd T-boned something with a girder built into side, would you have turned it over?

[fflump]

croyde said:

As to crumple zones etc

Someone on the Mustang 6g forum took his 2016 through a hedge and into a field after he left the road.

Him and his son walked away but the car looked like it had been dropped from the moon.

It hadn't even turned over but I guess it had absorbed all the impact allowing the occupants an injury free end to their unexpected final destination.

Good result-avoiding St Peter's Gates being their 'unexpected final destination'!

[ACCYSTAN]

I know of one of the very first Dusters sold in the Uk (one of the early Indian built ones that rust) , 1.6 petrol and it’s still going strong with over 80k on the clock.

Surprisingly few issues in its lifetime, it had some issues within the first 6 months (electric issue and rust issue), then nothing other than the usual wear and tear items.

Dacia switched the UK dusters to its Romanian factory by 2015 due to the rust issues with the India factory.

[James-jupp]

over here theres first gen models on sale with 300,000 km (diesel) - and they still want €4500 for them..

I´ve seen petrol 1.6 (the k4m engine) on 170,000 km.

[Hugo Stiglitz]

James-jupp said:

over here theres first gen models on sale with 300,000 km (diesel) - and they still want €4500 for them..

I´ve seen petrol 1.6 (the k4m engine) on 170,000 km.

Wheres over here?

On the continent they keep cars going rather than stop servicing them or look after..

[AbarthTwins]

This is my 1.5 Laureate, 2015 model.
This one came with the medianav 8 inch screen, cruise control, eletric mirrors, aircon etc. Basically the top spec model at the time.

Picked it up early 2020 for under £6000, 21k miles! on the clock. Original wheels with plenty of tread on them too. Even came with a towbar. It was barely driven, must have been a second car or something.

Have done a few upgrades

1. Swapped out medianav for a andoid auto carplay kit, installed it myself £100
2. Wind deflectors £25
3. Black led side repeaters £25
4. Sun shades for all rear windows x5, £30
5. Plastidipped front and rear dacia badges (wanting to fully decrome it really)

Planning on getting a stone deflector for the bonnet, as well as perhaps repray the alloys black. Also planning on getting a racechip to raise the HP from 107 to 138. According to those that have it MPG goes through upwards of 60mpg.

The car has been an absolute dream, its done 10k miles since I got it and hasnt missed a beat.


Do look at getting them second hand, early ones watch out for rust and issues with water ingress. I did have to remove the water bung from the passnger side wheel arch as it had become blocked and caused water to get into the passenger footwell. Easy 20min job to do though and only need a 10mm socket.

[Tomthespesh]

AbarthTwins said:

1. Swapped out medianav for a andoid auto carplay kit, installed it myself £100

What unit have you got and how easy was it to install?

The medianav is something I want to swap, but I've seen most of them then say the controls behind the steering wheel then don't work.