Dacia Duster, 999cc of Throbbing Fun

[Calite]

Picked my 1.5 diesel 4x4 up on Friday. Got 500 miles on it already, love the thing.





I foresee some 16" alloys and BFG All Terrains in my near future.

[Turn7]

Not going to plough through the whole thread, but Im considering one of these for a daily that I can not worry about.

Whats the pic of the models in engine/economy/interior and are they genuinely reliable and as tough as they look?

I want somehting I dodnt have to fret over, can throw stuff into and not worry about .

[PositronicRay]

Turn7 said:

Not going to plough through the whole thread, but Im considering one of these for a daily that I can not worry about.

Whats the pic of the models in engine/economy/interior and are they genuinely reliable and as tough as they look?

I want somehting I dodnt have to fret over, can throw stuff into and not worry about .

They use standard Renault bits, no better no worse. The difference is you're starting with a newer car for the money.

[croyde]

I got mine in '21, a 1.0 3cyl. Perfect, no problems, sipped fuel, could cruise up with the Mercs and BMWs on the motorway, nippy in town and even good off road (gentle).

Big tyres and bouncy suspension is great on our crappy roads. Carry 5 in relative comfort or load up with rubbish.

Sold exactly 3 years later with 16k miles and it only cost me £1200 in depreciation.

If I could afforded to have two cars I would have kept it.

[blueST]

Has anyone seen the new Zen warranty offer? As fas as I can see it is applied retrospectively as long as your car is less than 6 years old. For each main dealer service you get an extra 12 months of warranty up to 7 years. I think similar to how the 10 year Toyota one works. I've not read the small print, but seems like a decent offer if you can stomach dealing with the dealerships for servicing.


https://www.dacia.co.uk/maintenance/dacia-zen.html

[Turn7]

Soo, which is best engine for longevtity and economy, and which is best interior ?

Hoping to try and look at a few tomorrow.

[blueST]

I have the less is more philosophy with these. Base Essential trim level have everything I need, but no frills at all except AC. The 1.0 is adequate for the job unless you want to tow something heavy. Just an honest cheap car, essentially a last gen Renault. Be prepared for blower fan failure, it's very common. Bi-fuel is worth a look if you have a filling station handy, but don't expect the dealerships to know anything about how to fix or maintain the gas system.

[ChocolateFrog]

Turn7 said:

Not going to plough through the whole thread, but Im considering one of these for a daily that I can not worry about.

Whats the pic of the models in engine/economy/interior and are they genuinely reliable and as tough as they look?

I want somehting I dodnt have to fret over, can throw stuff into and not worry about .

1.3 petrol for me but there's arguments for the diesel and 1.0 litre too.

They're definitely reliable and reasonably robust.

[Norton850]

ChocolateFrog said:

1.3 petrol for me but there's arguments for the diesel and 1.0 litre too.

They're definitely reliable and reasonably robust.

Rattles, cheap interior and poor paint quality are major drawbacks but the wife's car hasn't suffered the heater fan issue, early next year it will be going to make way for something new again.
Personally i don't rate them and we won't have another but as a stop gap it worked for us...

[PositronicRay]

Norton850 said:

Rattles, cheap interior and poor paint quality are major drawbacks but the wife's car hasn't suffered the heater fan issue, early next year it will be going to make way for something new again.
Personally i don't rate them and we won't have another but as a stop gap it worked for us...

I hadn't noticed any rattles.

[brough74]

Im on my second duster now first one was a 2018 prestige 1.5 dci 4x4 which i kept for 4 years and got a great deal at trade in. Only 1 issue in all that time which was the adblue sensor which was replaced for free. Second one is an extreme 1.5 dci 4x4 which ive had since last september, so far so good. Used everyday and it can be fun to hassle it along, both ive put tuning boxes on. I would say go for it, mine has been from motorways to off road on mud tracks and everything in between and can tow my trailer with ease.

[Turn7]

I have been looking at a lot online, and whilst there are many key points the Duster scores on, the interior just looks to cheap for me.

Having spent the afternoon looking around, I kow think a Yeti will fulfill my use case a lot better.

Thanks for the replies though chaps.

[jamesson]

PositronicRay said:

Norton850 said:

Rattles, cheap interior and poor paint quality are major drawbacks but the wife's car hasn't suffered the heater fan issue, early next year it will be going to make way for something new again.
Personally i don't rate them and we won't have another but as a stop gap it worked for us...

I hadn't noticed any rattles.

Same here. No rattles whatsoever in mine.

[croyde]

Mine was rattle free in the 3 years I had it.

[PaulWoof]

Maybe this is the best thread to ask.

Im looking for a cheap all rounder although these days nothing is "cheap" and its looking like you are paying around £5-6k for a 7 year old duster with reasonable mileage.

my driving will be once a week 150 mile round trip to the office and the rest relatively short 2-3 mile drives.

Anyone able to explain the various cut off dates in terms of facelifts/new gen. I thought it was 2017 but see a load of 17/18 plate cars without the different front wings/rear lights.

Any particular petrol/diesel engine considered to be the best? not particularly fussed for 4x4

[BenS94]

PaulWoof said:

Maybe this is the best thread to ask.

Im looking for a cheap all rounder although these days nothing is "cheap" and its looking like you are paying around £5-6k for a 7 year old duster with reasonable mileage.

my driving will be once a week 150 mile round trip to the office and the rest relatively short 2-3 mile drives.

Anyone able to explain the various cut off dates in terms of facelifts/new gen. I thought it was 2017 but see a load of 17/18 plate cars without the different front wings/rear lights.

Any particular petrol/diesel engine considered to be the best? not particularly fussed for 4x4

I'd go for the 1.3 TCe if you can, the 1.0 TCe would be up to the job, but the 1.3 will just give you that bit extra. I think you could even get away with a diesel thanks to the long trip - very punchy and good on fuel. Just AVOID the 1.2 TCe and the 1.6 SCe (1.6 is alright but a bit antiquated now)

[PaulWoof]

Thanks, Seems the 1.3tce only came in with then second gen which puts it outside of the cheap run around budget. Are there any particular diesel engines to avoid?

[BenS94]

PaulWoof said:

Thanks, Seems the 1.3tce only came in with then second gen which puts it outside of the cheap run around budget. Are there any particular diesel engines to avoid?

There is only one I think, the 1.5 DCi thats been around for YEARS, personally I've not heard of many issues, just injectors occasionally.

[Calite]

BenS94 said:

PaulWoof said:

Thanks, Seems the 1.3tce only came in with then second gen which puts it outside of the cheap run around budget. Are there any particular diesel engines to avoid?

There is only one I think, the 1.5 DCi thats been around for YEARS, personally I've not heard of many issues, just injectors occasionally.

Was part of why I bought mine, had a Nissan 1.5 dci NV200 I covered over 100k miles in with very little problems (couple of sensors). Duster adds the 4WD system from the 1st gen x-trail which had a great rep in its day.

Interior feels solidly built & is a nice alternative to the current theme of weak feeling soft touch everything, the HVAC buttons, whilst looking fantastic, do feel decided French, although I'll take them over a touch screen any day of the week. I love the neoprene type material they put in the seats of the latest model extreme.

I'm up at nearly 7k in mine since picking it up at the start of April. It's been a fantastic little workhorse.

Edited by Calite on Monday 27th May 20:19

[S600BSB]

Anyone know when orders open for the new Duster?