All-new Dacia Duster now available to order
Everyone's favourite compact SUV starts at £18k - so expect to pay £25k for the one you want
Dacia fans rejoice: the all-new Duster is available to order now, priced from £18,745. On a four-year PCP deal, the manufacturer reckons you’ll pay just £193 a month. True, that gets you the Bi-Fuel version in Essential trim, which does without niceties like the 10.1-inch Media Display and alloy wheels - but it does come with a dash-mounted button to switch between its dual 50-litre petrol and LPG tanks. With both filled, Dacia says you might get 800 miles up the road. One for the low-cost connoisseur, certainly.
Of course, if past performance is anything to go by, the vast majority of UK buyers will skip straight over that 100hp option and decide whether they prefer the prospect of a mild hybrid three-cylinder 1.2-litre petrol engine with 130hp or a four-cylinder 1.6-litre petrol engine that adds a brace of electric motors for 140hp. The former is the only one that can be had with the option of all-wheel drive; the latter, Dacia claims, can be driven in all-electric mode up to 80 per cent of the time in cities. Decisions, decisions.
Predictably, the turbocharged triple is a bit cheaper - but not by much. Select it in Expression trim (which adds 17-inch alloy wheels and the infotainment screen) as a front-drive Duster, and you’ll pay £20,375. Go for 4WD and it’s £23,445. The Hybrid is £24,245. Probably though, most people will skip over that too, because the 18-inch wheels and keyless entry and parking sensors and satellite navigation and wireless phone charger that they expect to find in a new car are all located in the Journey trim, which starts at £22,945 for the 1.2 and ends at £25,945 for the Hybrid. Probably the midway point here - the Journey TCe130 4x4, which adds Terrain Control and Hill Descent for £25,145 - is the PH sweet spot.
Finally, for anyone really pushing the boat out - and plenty of Duster buyers did previously - there’s the familiar Extreme grade, which adds a bit styling nuance into the mix (you get the modular roof bars and bronze-coloured wing mirrors and synthetic leather upholstery) for £23,745 onwards. The most you can pay for a 2024 Duster is £26,745. All will be slightly larger by default than the previous version because the car is now on the CMF-B platform and arguably better looking as Dacia leans into the SUV design cues that it previewed with the Bigster concept. Expect it to be better to drive, too - and on every street corner when deliveries kick off in November.
But I really like these, wouldn't mind an Expression in White for £21,245. That sounds a lot, but I paid that for a Subaru Impreza Turbo 25 years ago!
But I really like these, wouldn't mind an Expression in White for £21,245. That sounds a lot, but I paid that for a Subaru Impreza Turbo 25 years ago!
Thats ill conceived given the roll out of new ai cameras!
Sold 3 years later for £9,300 but that value for money is pointless when a new one is now over £20k.
Even looking at the Essential, at least mine had a decent radio that connected to my phone, that's a £9k rise in price in 3 years. Bonkers.
Nearly double the price.
Thats ill conceived given the roll out of new ai cameras!
Thats ill conceived given the roll out of new ai cameras!
No buyers remorse as to the Alpine, in answer to the previous poster.
You dont need the phone to control the radio. All done via a stalk on the column and info comes up inbetween speedo and rev counter. Also connects to your phone if you want for calls/spotify.
They do have an App that can also act as a screen if you want. (Fits in a handy slot in the middle of the dash if you so wish )
Genius design
More of a pity that AWD isn't available on the cheap non-hybrid spec.
You dont need the phone to control the radio. All done via a stalk on the column and info comes up inbetween speedo and rev counter. Also connects to your phone if you want for calls/spotify.
They do have an App that can also act as a screen if you want. (Fits in a handy slot in the middle of the dash if you so wish )
Genius design
1)My partner likes to change radio stations about once every 30 seconds when I am driving. When I explained that it didn't have any controls for the radio and you had to put your phone in a holder on the dash she wasn't very happy.
2)The radio only had two speakers
3)It didn't have the black stickers on the bottom of the doors
4)I couldn't put up with manual mirrors, I have not had them since a 205 GTi back in 1996
5)No vanity mirrors on the sun visors
6)Didn't have the material on any part of the dash or door cards.
I thought none of this mattered but when I thought about it I realised it did.
Not having any sort of screen or radio controls was the real killer. No idea who would buy the essential Sandero Stepway now as the next trim level up is only £1K more and you get a £500 dealer contribution. If you go for the PCP, the expression is actually less each month than the Essential.
Seriously you would have to be crazy to buy the essential now.
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