Another Duster
Discussion
Yes I jumped on the bandwagon.
Traded in my 61 plate Touareg for a new Duster, the cost to change being not that much in the grand scheme of things, I could have got money back if I'd gone for the basic spec Essential in UN white, dropped my PH card on that one.
That said I've done it all wrong and gone for top spec, in Dacia parlance that's Prestige. 1.3 petrol turbo and 2WD, which with a set of all season/winter tyres will be enough for me. The additional £4k seemed almost a no brainer to me for things that I'll actually appreciate, heated seats, cruise, 360 degree camera, nicer interior, bigger infotainment screen with Android Auto etc. All for the cost a lower/mid spec Fiesta.
The one thing I'd happily not have with the higher spec is the diamond cut alloys but that will be sorted with a swap to steels and all season tyres in the winter.
It'll be the only new car I ever own and I'm hoping I'll keep it a long time to offset the depreciation.
It's currently sat on my drive with a whole 10 miles on the clock.
Here's a shot of it before collection yesterday in gleaming Fusion Red.
Traded in my 61 plate Touareg for a new Duster, the cost to change being not that much in the grand scheme of things, I could have got money back if I'd gone for the basic spec Essential in UN white, dropped my PH card on that one.
That said I've done it all wrong and gone for top spec, in Dacia parlance that's Prestige. 1.3 petrol turbo and 2WD, which with a set of all season/winter tyres will be enough for me. The additional £4k seemed almost a no brainer to me for things that I'll actually appreciate, heated seats, cruise, 360 degree camera, nicer interior, bigger infotainment screen with Android Auto etc. All for the cost a lower/mid spec Fiesta.
The one thing I'd happily not have with the higher spec is the diamond cut alloys but that will be sorted with a swap to steels and all season tyres in the winter.
It'll be the only new car I ever own and I'm hoping I'll keep it a long time to offset the depreciation.
It's currently sat on my drive with a whole 10 miles on the clock.
Here's a shot of it before collection yesterday in gleaming Fusion Red.
I'm most excited at the fact not a single 'technician' will have had a chance to tamper with it and then break/bodge things back together, leave out every other tab or screw etc. Every single clip, screw and bolt should, theoretically atleast, be in place and as I'm the only one that will touch it outside of MOT's and tyre changes it should stay that way.
Macron said:
Self servicing?
Are these belt or chain?
Looks great in red!
Belt I think.Are these belt or chain?
Looks great in red!
I haven't paid for service or maintenance work since about 2001 when still at school I realised garage bills were expensive.
Well that's not entirely true I paid £100 circa 2005 for someone to patch up the wiring loom on a Volvo S40 because it was sitting under the radiator and had corroded, it was wet and horrible at the time and as a student I didn't have a garage or even a driveway to work on.
The Rotrex Kid said:
ChocolateFrog said:
Macron said:
Self servicing?
Are these belt or chain?
Looks great in red!
Belt I think.Are these belt or chain?
Looks great in red!
I haven't paid for service or maintenance work since about 2001 when still at school I realised garage bills were expensive.
Well that's not entirely true I paid £100 circa 2005 for someone to patch up the wiring loom on a Volvo S40 because it was sitting under the radiator and had corroded, it was wet and horrible at the time and as a student I didn't have a garage or even a driveway to work on.
Norton850 said:
Renault group are expecting three price hikes in the coming months so i was told this morning so while my deal wasn't superb i did get £400 off retail, mats and a full tank thrown in.
Placed my order 2nd January so all in all just under 3 months..
I got similar discount, which is to say almost nothing. Went to the cheapest local dealer on Carwow but it was a disaster. Couldn't test drive the 1.3 engine, wouldn't sell me a red one and couldn't get past the fact I didn't want it on finance. She asked how much I could afford per week and when I said that was irrelevant she said she couldn't go onto the next page of the order without putting something down so I walked out and just went to my local dealer. Placed my order 2nd January so all in all just under 3 months..
I think a new Duster is due next year and I'm betting the price will rise quite significantly.
First job was to get some more underseal and cavity wax on the car while it was still spanking clean.
I've used Bilthamber's cleaning products and thought they were pretty good so I went with their stuff.
Pleasantly surprised that there's a fair bit of seam sealer and underseal from the factory, many of the holes I used already had a promising drip of wax.
Shiny, shiny.
Messy job, my hair and eyes won't be rusting any time soon.
Focused on the wheel arches, sub frames and every nut and bolt that I'm likely to have to undo at some point in the future if I do keep it long term.
Will be interesting to see how it compares in a couple of years time to an untouched one.
I've used Bilthamber's cleaning products and thought they were pretty good so I went with their stuff.
Pleasantly surprised that there's a fair bit of seam sealer and underseal from the factory, many of the holes I used already had a promising drip of wax.
Shiny, shiny.
Messy job, my hair and eyes won't be rusting any time soon.
Focused on the wheel arches, sub frames and every nut and bolt that I'm likely to have to undo at some point in the future if I do keep it long term.
Will be interesting to see how it compares in a couple of years time to an untouched one.
Been getting to know the Duster a little better over the last week.
The fuel gauge being digital reads full for 120 miles before it moves, makes it feel cheap to run.
What I thought was the button to turn off the internal sensors actually turns on the blind spot warning system, seems to work pretty well.
Having Spotify in the car is something of a novelty for me.
Interesting to compare it to my OH's new ID3 (arrived within a week of mine), a car almost exactly twice the price. Some things are definitely better on the Duster, most notably the steering wheel buttons which on the ID3 are paino black haptic buttons and feel awful to use, the Duster has proper buttons that feel so much nicer to use.
Biggest annoyance so far is a lack of clutch foot rest, seems a miserly oversight on a medium sized car.
Put some helicopter tape over the cills to try and mitigate heel scuffs, the cills are higher than you expect and they're easy to catch.
The fuel gauge being digital reads full for 120 miles before it moves, makes it feel cheap to run.
What I thought was the button to turn off the internal sensors actually turns on the blind spot warning system, seems to work pretty well.
Having Spotify in the car is something of a novelty for me.
Interesting to compare it to my OH's new ID3 (arrived within a week of mine), a car almost exactly twice the price. Some things are definitely better on the Duster, most notably the steering wheel buttons which on the ID3 are paino black haptic buttons and feel awful to use, the Duster has proper buttons that feel so much nicer to use.
Biggest annoyance so far is a lack of clutch foot rest, seems a miserly oversight on a medium sized car.
Put some helicopter tape over the cills to try and mitigate heel scuffs, the cills are higher than you expect and they're easy to catch.
yellowbentines said:
I rented a Duster in Iceland recently and covered about 1000 miles in it through snow and ice storms. I was impressed, despite it's 170,000 kilometres on the clock in the hands of countless tourists it was faring very well indeed.
Interesting that you put the tape on the sills, as the only visible rust on the car I hired was in that spot - a thin rusty line right along the upper face of the sill visible when you opened both front doors - I assume there is a seam weld right along there so worthy of preventative maintenance.
There really wasn't anything I didn't like about it and I could easily live with one, it just fitted the brief of a good value all rounder.
The finish is quite poor in that area.Interesting that you put the tape on the sills, as the only visible rust on the car I hired was in that spot - a thin rusty line right along the upper face of the sill visible when you opened both front doors - I assume there is a seam weld right along there so worthy of preventative maintenance.
There really wasn't anything I didn't like about it and I could easily live with one, it just fitted the brief of a good value all rounder.
You can feel what I assume is weld spatter, it also feels like there's little or no lacquer there.
I suspect my fix is just for cosmetic scuffs, I've heard that they can rust there but bet its coming from the inside out, hopefully I got enough cavity wax in there to help.
Edited by ChocolateFrog on Friday 8th April 10:15
Bought some OEM mudflaps.
Pro's and cons to having them, trap dirt, increase drag slightly, vulnerable off-road however I can mitigate some of that by not going off road and keeping them clean.
It's been out in the rain twice and looks like this, so hoping they help a little.
Rear with and without, cost was £80 all round.
Pro's and cons to having them, trap dirt, increase drag slightly, vulnerable off-road however I can mitigate some of that by not going off road and keeping them clean.
It's been out in the rain twice and looks like this, so hoping they help a little.
Rear with and without, cost was £80 all round.
Andy665 said:
ChocolateFrog said:
The rear drums already have orange spots on them so I'm going to put some more durable black paint on them.
Think I've got some POR15 chassis paint laying around somewhere, if not it'll be hammerite's finest.
I have used BH Atom-Mac on my brakes / hubs etcetc after every wash for the last few years, quick spray immediately after washing and kept all looking factory freshThink I've got some POR15 chassis paint laying around somewhere, if not it'll be hammerite's finest.
Norton850 said:
ChocolateFrog said:
Will be interesting to see how it compares in a couple of years time to an untouched one.
I will not be doing any of the preventative measures to my very newly acquired Prestige auto that you are doing so we must compare.I must say i am surprised what a comfortable and capable car the Duster is and i do plan to trade mine in for a new one in approx 2 years.
Maybe the Bigster....
The stereo is way better than you'd expect for the money and the engine feels stronger than the figures suggest. In 160Hp guise it would make a decent warm hatch.
Someone mentioned on the Duster Facebook group that the new 1.3's have a lower spec turbo than earlier 1.3's, not sure on the truth of that but it feels strong enough, would be a shame because I was under the impression the only difference between mine and the 160hp versions was software.
blueST said:
Norton850 said:
Do you let the engine idle a minute or so to let the turbo run down,is this even a thing anymore? I remember doing it on a Renault 5 turbo i had years ago and I still do it..
With stop/start I still worry about this, bit hope they've found a solution. It can't be good for the turbo blasting along a road and then the engine suddenly shutting off when you pull up at a set of lights.Don't bother using stop/start though. I'd rather a few extra pounds in fuel over replacing the starter and battery years sooner than I otherwise would have to.
smifffymoto said:
When I have traded in cars in France,the book price is the price.Dealers don’t usually even come outside to check it.As long as it has 4 wheels and can move under its own power they are happy.
Brings to mind the Carnage a Trois TGT episode 
Do they just assume they're all equally trashed.
A quick wash while the toddler naps, it's first by me,
Diamond cut wheels aren't for me, what ballache to properly clean.
Gave the BH Atom-Mac a try so will see how we get on with that.
I'm going to give it an initial oil change at a 1000 miles, which will be in a couple of weeks.
Diamond cut wheels aren't for me, what ballache to properly clean.
Gave the BH Atom-Mac a try so will see how we get on with that.
I'm going to give it an initial oil change at a 1000 miles, which will be in a couple of weeks.
Edited by ChocolateFrog on Sunday 1st May 17:13
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