Dacia Duster, 999cc of Throbbing Fun
Discussion
My former Duster is desperately trying to keep in touch. Lying in bed yesterday morning and daughter dropped the post on my lap. NIP from Northamptonshire Constabulary, at 00:18 hrs on 01/08/23 it went through a speed camera on the M1.
Fortunately I sold it at 16:54 hrs on 31/07/23 and had informed DVLA online immediately. Another fortunate thing was I had screenshots of payment from Motorway, DVLA notification and confirmation of collection by Ecomotive logistics driver at the same time. I popped it all in a nice return letter along with the collection drivers name and phone number.
It wasn’t the last picture of the car I expected to see.
It was a loyal servant.
Fortunately I sold it at 16:54 hrs on 31/07/23 and had informed DVLA online immediately. Another fortunate thing was I had screenshots of payment from Motorway, DVLA notification and confirmation of collection by Ecomotive logistics driver at the same time. I popped it all in a nice return letter along with the collection drivers name and phone number.
It wasn’t the last picture of the car I expected to see.
It was a loyal servant.
Not a Duster but I just dropped the oil and changed the filter on the Mrs Stepway @ 8K
Not a terrible job, the under tray has too many bolts though think its trying to identify as a German premium brand.
Oil was £40 and genuine filter £20.
Lost of magic dust in the housing as others have mentioned, suppose thats the filter doing its job.
Not a terrible job, the under tray has too many bolts though think its trying to identify as a German premium brand.
Oil was £40 and genuine filter £20.
Lost of magic dust in the housing as others have mentioned, suppose thats the filter doing its job.
I did an oil and filters change on my friend's mark one Duster 1.5 diesel for him the other day. Christ almighty, there's some stupid design going on under the bonnet. He has the one where the air filter is screwed in to the engine cover. Two screws on top and two screws underneath which means you can't access them in situ and the cover has to come off.
To me, at least, it was not obvious how the cover came off. You have to disconnect a couple of hoses and basically just give it a good yank and it's off, but when it's a friend's car you don't want to be too harsh in case you break something.
You have to do that anyway to get to the oil filter which lives underneath the air filter and is otherwise inaccessible.
Then there's that stupid undertray design with hidden bolts inside the front bumper but Dacia gives you an access hole for the sump plug which works just fine if you're on flat ground, I imagine, but with the front wheels up in the air on ramps so I could see what I was doing, I had to fashion a funnel of sorts to make sure the oil flowed into the oil pan rather than all over the other side of the undertray.
That's when I realised that the last person who did an oil change used a ridiculous amount of force to do up the sump plug. I had to use a breaker bar to get it off, it was on so tight.
When the oil had drained fully, I had trouble getting the plug back in and that's when I noticed that the thread inside the sump had been damaged, presumably when the previous idiot used a million Nm on the air gun.
Got there in the end, but what a faff. I told my friend unless he upgrades to the same Duster as I have he's not coming back next year.
To me, at least, it was not obvious how the cover came off. You have to disconnect a couple of hoses and basically just give it a good yank and it's off, but when it's a friend's car you don't want to be too harsh in case you break something.
You have to do that anyway to get to the oil filter which lives underneath the air filter and is otherwise inaccessible.
Then there's that stupid undertray design with hidden bolts inside the front bumper but Dacia gives you an access hole for the sump plug which works just fine if you're on flat ground, I imagine, but with the front wheels up in the air on ramps so I could see what I was doing, I had to fashion a funnel of sorts to make sure the oil flowed into the oil pan rather than all over the other side of the undertray.
That's when I realised that the last person who did an oil change used a ridiculous amount of force to do up the sump plug. I had to use a breaker bar to get it off, it was on so tight.
When the oil had drained fully, I had trouble getting the plug back in and that's when I noticed that the thread inside the sump had been damaged, presumably when the previous idiot used a million Nm on the air gun.
Got there in the end, but what a faff. I told my friend unless he upgrades to the same Duster as I have he's not coming back next year.
Bought the facelifted 2023 SE Extreme in khaki last month and haven’t looked back since (I removed the rear view mirror - just kidding!). I tried the 1 litre demonstrator which felt a little under-powered so bought the 1.3 which has bags of pick-up in all gears. I learned with my last purchase to buy a month before the new reg comes out so the top spec Extreme with all the whistles and bells inc. climate control, 17” black alloys and all-round cameras was a shade under 21k all-in. Terrific value. I noted the manual recommends a 1500 mile running in of the engine which I’ve now done so looking forward to some more high spirited fun!
I wish I'd had my Duster when offroad in Thassos a few weeks ago.
Although my rental Jimny was amazing on the really really tough stuff, it was very uncomfortable on gravelly tracks and on metalled surfaces too.
I missed my Duster's ability to smooth out slightly rough tracks yet be a brilliant road car.
Although my rental Jimny was amazing on the really really tough stuff, it was very uncomfortable on gravelly tracks and on metalled surfaces too.
I missed my Duster's ability to smooth out slightly rough tracks yet be a brilliant road car.
Bridgie Bloke said:
Bought the facelifted 2023 SE Extreme in khaki last month and haven’t looked back since (I removed the rear view mirror - just kidding!). I tried the 1 litre demonstrator which felt a little under-powered so bought the 1.3 which has bags of pick-up in all gears. I learned with my last purchase to buy a month before the new reg comes out so the top spec Extreme with all the whistles and bells inc. climate control, 17” black alloys and all-round cameras was a shade under 21k all-in. Terrific value. I noted the manual recommends a 1500 mile running in of the engine which I’ve now done so looking forward to some more high spirited fun!
Good choice 👌 We love ours
So much so I'm thinking of buying another
bungz said:
Not a Duster but I just dropped the oil and changed the filter on the Mrs Stepway @ 8K
Not a terrible job, the under tray has too many bolts though think its trying to identify as a German premium brand.
Oil was £40 and genuine filter £20.
Lost of magic dust in the housing as others have mentioned, suppose thats the filter doing its job.
Mine was spotless the second and third time I changed the filter. Not a terrible job, the under tray has too many bolts though think its trying to identify as a German premium brand.
Oil was £40 and genuine filter £20.
Lost of magic dust in the housing as others have mentioned, suppose thats the filter doing its job.
Did surprise me how much glitter was present in the first one even though I was expecting some.
Edited by ChocolateFrog on Sunday 20th August 12:20
Mike230 said:
I fully expect to get flamed here, but, is it just me or would that look amazing lowered?
Believe it or not there's a modified Dacia FB group. Seems to be mostly occupied by Geralds but there's a few decent looking efforts from Eastern Europe where there is more of a scene.
croyde said:
Just read on a Duster Forum about people complaining that the digital Speedo setting on the central screen doesn't reappear by default when the car is restarted.
Digital Speedo! I'm sure I've never seen that. Av mpg, do, current mpg, range etc but no Speedo.
Mine has a digi speedo amongst the options. Can’t recall if it’s MPH or KMH though.Digital Speedo! I'm sure I've never seen that. Av mpg, do, current mpg, range etc but no Speedo.
blueST said:
Mine has a digi speedo amongst the options. Can’t recall if it’s MPH or KMH though.
Interesting. Mine's a 2021 Essential but I thought they all came with the same clocks with the screen in-between.I upgraded it to have cruise just by swapping the speed limit button for a limit/cruise one and the ECU recognised it and hey! I had cruise.
So I presume that the electronics are the same across the range.
I'm on my second Duster.
My first was the 1l LPG model, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but became less so as the local LPG places either shut or stopped selling it.. Great little engine though, really peppy, and surprisingly good on the motorway.
During Covid, my garage rang up and said if I upgraded to this years model I could save money on the monthly payments as second hand values were so strong. So I did the man maths and decided to upgrade to the top spec model with the 1.5 Diesel and four wheel drive. For me this is the perfect wagon. It's used as a reliable get to work machine, it's big enough to haul pretty large items, and is a general utility machine. It drives well and has a surprisingly good stereo.
I got both of mine in white as I think it looks good, and I didn't see the need to spend the extra £500 for a colour!
My first was the 1l LPG model, which seemed like a good idea at the time, but became less so as the local LPG places either shut or stopped selling it.. Great little engine though, really peppy, and surprisingly good on the motorway.
During Covid, my garage rang up and said if I upgraded to this years model I could save money on the monthly payments as second hand values were so strong. So I did the man maths and decided to upgrade to the top spec model with the 1.5 Diesel and four wheel drive. For me this is the perfect wagon. It's used as a reliable get to work machine, it's big enough to haul pretty large items, and is a general utility machine. It drives well and has a surprisingly good stereo.
I got both of mine in white as I think it looks good, and I didn't see the need to spend the extra £500 for a colour!
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff