Another Duster
Discussion
Arrived in Spiez, Switzerland. The polar opposite from our home town, I.e. it's beautiful and peaceful.
Car covered 700 and odd miles completely trouble free.
A few points I'd note. Cabin noise while not intrusive is on the loud side for a modern car, you notice that you have to raise your voice to speak to the back seat passengers. The fuel tank is annoyingly small at 40 litres usuable, I think its quite a bit bigger but the gauge drops to zero around 45 litres and you don't want to be pushing it in unfamiliar territory, 60-65 litres would be much better.
Fuel economy has suffered, set the cruise to 85mph through France and we've got the towball rack attached. Haven't worked it out but I'd guess 33-35mpg using mental maths. Fuel in France is expensive, €1.90 and the supermarkets we went to were not much cheaper. More expensive than Switzerland which surprised me.
I also miss radar cruise control. Particularly in Switzerland where everyone seems to obey the limits pretty rigidly so you're in a constant elephant race.
Other than that I can't fault the car, quick enough, comfortable enough, enough creature comforts.
There are millions of the things, particularly in France.
Years since I've had a car properly covered in flies.
Car covered 700 and odd miles completely trouble free.
A few points I'd note. Cabin noise while not intrusive is on the loud side for a modern car, you notice that you have to raise your voice to speak to the back seat passengers. The fuel tank is annoyingly small at 40 litres usuable, I think its quite a bit bigger but the gauge drops to zero around 45 litres and you don't want to be pushing it in unfamiliar territory, 60-65 litres would be much better.
Fuel economy has suffered, set the cruise to 85mph through France and we've got the towball rack attached. Haven't worked it out but I'd guess 33-35mpg using mental maths. Fuel in France is expensive, €1.90 and the supermarkets we went to were not much cheaper. More expensive than Switzerland which surprised me.
I also miss radar cruise control. Particularly in Switzerland where everyone seems to obey the limits pretty rigidly so you're in a constant elephant race.
Other than that I can't fault the car, quick enough, comfortable enough, enough creature comforts.
There are millions of the things, particularly in France.
Years since I've had a car properly covered in flies.
Edited by ChocolateFrog on Monday 10th April 19:38
PositronicRay said:
Looking on autotrader there's a preregistration auto in dusty khaki.
I showed it to Mrs Ray instead of her orange one. Doesn't like green, tòo dull and khaki sounds too military.
That's, that then.
There's a khaki Sandero (I think) that seems to pass me everyday. I showed it to Mrs Ray instead of her orange one. Doesn't like green, tòo dull and khaki sounds too military.
That's, that then.
Edited by PositronicRay on Sunday 9th April 08:46
Waiting for the newness to wear off before I decide how much I like it but I think it looks good on first viewing. I'm a big fan of proper colours, aka not white, black and shades of grey. Ironic really as I've owned quite a few white and and silver cars.
I was looking at the configurator last night to replace my 2020 Comfort LPG. I can’t see how it’s a nearly £20 k car now. A few new badges and lights. No built in Sat Nav just a phone mirrored system that needs connecting with a cable? They need to reign it in or they will soon lose customers.
We're back from a mini tour of France, Switzerland, Italy and Germany.
The Duster was brilliant on the whole. Just shy of 2000 miles, no I didn't fancy a detour to get those extra few miles.
Added 20% to the mileage in a little over a week.
Didn't take too many pictures, the OH does that on holiday and if I'd asked her to take pictures of the car I would have got that look.
We topped 2000m atleast 4 times and held our own against the Italian locals. It's quite fun to hussle even 4 up and with the towbar rack on, the engine is pretty eager and has enough power to keep up with the Panda 4x4 driven on their door handles. It obviously falls over in the corners but that's half the fun.
A couple of pics I/we did get.
Yes that's our BBQ cover doing an admirable job of keeping the weather off the buggy. Believe it or not we were in a proper blizzard about half an hour before that shot. Passed through the Grand St Bernard tunnel and the sun was out.
Circa 1500m on the way up. I've skied in shorts and a t-shirt in the mid April so -8 was a bit of a shock. We technically should have had the Cross Climates on too. Was fully envisioning a tug from Swiss plod but we didn't see any luckily.
Plenty of French police though.
Switzerland was nice as you'd expect but neither of us would rush back. The prices are just astronomical. I knew it would be expensive but most things seemed easily 3 or 4 times more than the UK and it's hard to justify. £25 for a fast food meal and the services for example or £5 for a jar of baby food.
Didn't offer much more than places like the Tirol in Austria,Bavaria in Germany or the Dolomites in Italy.
We actually drove back through Alsace and the Vosges Mountains which was part of France i'd not been to before. We think we'll head back there camping later in the year. 8hrs door to door plus the ferry/train and from what we saw it looked lovely.
The Duster was brilliant on the whole. Just shy of 2000 miles, no I didn't fancy a detour to get those extra few miles.
Added 20% to the mileage in a little over a week.
Didn't take too many pictures, the OH does that on holiday and if I'd asked her to take pictures of the car I would have got that look.
We topped 2000m atleast 4 times and held our own against the Italian locals. It's quite fun to hussle even 4 up and with the towbar rack on, the engine is pretty eager and has enough power to keep up with the Panda 4x4 driven on their door handles. It obviously falls over in the corners but that's half the fun.
A couple of pics I/we did get.
Yes that's our BBQ cover doing an admirable job of keeping the weather off the buggy. Believe it or not we were in a proper blizzard about half an hour before that shot. Passed through the Grand St Bernard tunnel and the sun was out.
Circa 1500m on the way up. I've skied in shorts and a t-shirt in the mid April so -8 was a bit of a shock. We technically should have had the Cross Climates on too. Was fully envisioning a tug from Swiss plod but we didn't see any luckily.
Plenty of French police though.
Switzerland was nice as you'd expect but neither of us would rush back. The prices are just astronomical. I knew it would be expensive but most things seemed easily 3 or 4 times more than the UK and it's hard to justify. £25 for a fast food meal and the services for example or £5 for a jar of baby food.
Didn't offer much more than places like the Tirol in Austria,Bavaria in Germany or the Dolomites in Italy.
We actually drove back through Alsace and the Vosges Mountains which was part of France i'd not been to before. We think we'll head back there camping later in the year. 8hrs door to door plus the ferry/train and from what we saw it looked lovely.
Also Petrol was more expensive everywhere we went, which for some reason came as a bit of a shock.
Particularly France where it's over 2€ a litre anywhere actually convenient. Italy probably the cheapest but still more than the UK at €1.70 odd, although diesel looked cheaper.
Guess we'll see the fuel duty escalator reappear soon and I won't complain too much when I see petrol for £1.4X.
Particularly France where it's over 2€ a litre anywhere actually convenient. Italy probably the cheapest but still more than the UK at €1.70 odd, although diesel looked cheaper.
Guess we'll see the fuel duty escalator reappear soon and I won't complain too much when I see petrol for £1.4X.
Couple of weeks back I returned home from Portugal in my diesel Connect van. Derv was cheapest in Portugal....unusual.....little more in Spain, almost cheap in Andorra at 1.37e/litre, France was more expensive than Spain but still cheaper than GB!
But I did stock up with gin in Andorra at 3.39/litre, compare that in your local GB supermarket!
But I did stock up with gin in Andorra at 3.39/litre, compare that in your local GB supermarket!
Had a quick look for a larger fuel tank along the lines of the ones you can buy for overland Landcruisers but it doesn't seem like it's a thing.
There's absolutely tons of room for one under the 2WD version and a 800 mile range would be great.
I guess that if a company was yo develop one it would be for the 4WD version anyway.
There's absolutely tons of room for one under the 2WD version and a 800 mile range would be great.
I guess that if a company was yo develop one it would be for the 4WD version anyway.
We've had our Duster a year now, 20k miles. Aside from hitting a sheep when a few weeks old, an early oil change and then the A+B service at my local independent 5k ago it's been great.
Our use is heavy on tyres and they're down to 3mm and frequently rotated. Not sure if we will replace them before or after the holiday to France in the summer but the performance in the wet is lower as you would expect.
It's been used for A framing
A snowy house move the van couldn't get through
Green laning
And all the family stuff you expect with three young kids.
Still getting 55MPG. Hoping it will last.
Our use is heavy on tyres and they're down to 3mm and frequently rotated. Not sure if we will replace them before or after the holiday to France in the summer but the performance in the wet is lower as you would expect.
It's been used for A framing
A snowy house move the van couldn't get through
Green laning
And all the family stuff you expect with three young kids.
Still getting 55MPG. Hoping it will last.
loserone said:
We've had our Duster a year now, 20k miles. Aside from hitting a sheep when a few weeks old, an early oil change and then the A+B service at my local independent 5k ago it's been great.
Our use is heavy on tyres and they're down to 3mm and frequently rotated. Not sure if we will replace them before or after the holiday to France in the summer but the performance in the wet is lower as you would expect.
It's been used for A framing
A snowy house move the van couldn't get through
Green laning
And all the family stuff you expect with three young kids.
Still getting 55MPG. Hoping it will last.
This is ace, good to see it getting used properly. Our MPG is nowhere near that but we do lots of short trips - can I ask what tyres you are using please? ThanksOur use is heavy on tyres and they're down to 3mm and frequently rotated. Not sure if we will replace them before or after the holiday to France in the summer but the performance in the wet is lower as you would expect.
It's been used for A framing
A snowy house move the van couldn't get through
Green laning
And all the family stuff you expect with three young kids.
Still getting 55MPG. Hoping it will last.
47mpg from the last tank, measured at the pump. I've seen a noticeable improvement over the last 2 or 3 tanks without changing my driving style.
It's at around 15000 miles now so it's possible the old adage of an engine loosening up is proving true. Not that I've ever really believed that one.
On the mileage note I'm tempted to do another interim oil change. Massively overkill at 5000 miles but when it's under 40 quid and half an hour all in for the correct spec oil and a good filter it almost seems silly not to.
We're off to Europe again next week and we'll be fully loaded with the roof box and towbar rack so probably worthwhile.
No other issues to report
It's at around 15000 miles now so it's possible the old adage of an engine loosening up is proving true. Not that I've ever really believed that one.
On the mileage note I'm tempted to do another interim oil change. Massively overkill at 5000 miles but when it's under 40 quid and half an hour all in for the correct spec oil and a good filter it almost seems silly not to.
We're off to Europe again next week and we'll be fully loaded with the roof box and towbar rack so probably worthwhile.
No other issues to report
I did the oil change in the end. Dragged the 3 year old out to help, get them started early and before he doesn't want to be seen dead with me.
Was a touch worried as he had the impact gun and was looking for anything he could to undo.
Then took it for its second Eurpoean road trip of the year. Another nearly 2000 miles to Alsace and back. Didn't miss a beat although with the tent on the towbar it does make the front a bit light. I also cringe when we hit a bump at motorway speeds knowing what forces are going through the towbar, didn't seem phased though.
The only pictures I got.
Fast forward to today and the car hadn't been touched since before we left. It was filthy but had covered 2500 miles since its last wash.
It seems insect like to ricochet off the roof box and weld themselves to the roof. Given it a good dig out this morning but I didn't get them all. Picked up a few more stone chips, the paint does seem thin and quite soft, to be expected at the price point I guess.
Clean again.
I bought some Turtle Wax ceramic spray based off a youtube recommendation. Wouldn't recommend it personally, it blooms really badly. Used it 2 or 3 times and it's happened everytime.
Need to stop being lazy and get the Bilt Hamber Double Speed wax out which is excellent.
Was a touch worried as he had the impact gun and was looking for anything he could to undo.
Then took it for its second Eurpoean road trip of the year. Another nearly 2000 miles to Alsace and back. Didn't miss a beat although with the tent on the towbar it does make the front a bit light. I also cringe when we hit a bump at motorway speeds knowing what forces are going through the towbar, didn't seem phased though.
The only pictures I got.
Fast forward to today and the car hadn't been touched since before we left. It was filthy but had covered 2500 miles since its last wash.
It seems insect like to ricochet off the roof box and weld themselves to the roof. Given it a good dig out this morning but I didn't get them all. Picked up a few more stone chips, the paint does seem thin and quite soft, to be expected at the price point I guess.
Clean again.
I bought some Turtle Wax ceramic spray based off a youtube recommendation. Wouldn't recommend it personally, it blooms really badly. Used it 2 or 3 times and it's happened everytime.
Need to stop being lazy and get the Bilt Hamber Double Speed wax out which is excellent.
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