Dacia Duster, 999cc of Throbbing Fun

[anonymous-user]

Silenoz said:

The Play doesn't have the touchscreen, so a Sandero for the same money would have this as a bonus. Depends how important that is, but £11.5k for a brand new Clio is great value.

Am I right in thinking that the finance APR rate for Renault is 4.9% and 6.9% for Dacia as well?

The clio only has the five speed gearbox but the new Dacia has the six speed.

Still amazingly cheap considering I paid £8800 for a new 3 door Clio back in 2003 and the five door was another £500 (from memory)

[politeperson]

Dacia seems to be killing it with the new Sandero.

Clios, Aygos, Ups, 107s and all the other little cars are all fine in there own way as well.

Only one problem with small cars.

They all lack the inherent greatness and excitement of a Duster.

[croyde]

I'm on day 5 of being amazed by the 'basic' radio in the Essential.

Today finding out it plays music from my USB stick although I can't work out how to find individual tracks.

It's 900 songs from my old 2003 iPod. I could search when attached to my Sony head unit in my Beemer.

[Silenoz]

Joey Deacon said:

Am I right in thinking that the finance APR rate for Renault is 4.9% and 6.9% for Dacia as well?

The clio only has the five speed gearbox but the new Dacia has the six speed.

Still amazingly cheap considering I paid £8800 for a new 3 door Clio back in 2003 and the five door was another £500 (from memory)

Having just looked at the ONS RPI calculator, the £6500 I paid for a pre-registered Clio 1.2 Liberte 3 door in 2000 is within a few pounds of the £11.5k for one of these Play models. Amazing really, given how much more car the new one is.

[Mikebentley]

Yep, my Clio Grande 1.2 3 door in 1998 was £7200.00. I call my Duster The Mighty Duster. Went to my local dealer today to get a new key coded. The supplying dealer had lost it and posted a new replacement. They then arranged and paid for my local dealer to code it.

Anyway the service I recieved was excellent. Car was also given a complete valet and they carried out a “health check” as they called it. It was nice to be told it was 100% ok in every aspect. I ordered a paint touch up stick whilst there. Only £11.25 and discovered my car is Cosmic Grey.

[Mikebentley]

Croyde, Oppo and Clifford how are the Dusters going. I just read some old Top Gear etc reviews of the 1.0Tce and the “spoilt” journos were not exactly glowing about the engine. This is not my experience and the baseline figures do not really represent the actual drive. Apparently one article suggests the LPG conversion adds over 60 KG but LPG use does increase performance figures.

Mine is plenty quick and engaging enough for its purpose....then there is the matter of value for money. A £12k car can only ever lose £12k.

[Clifford Chambers]

It's fine.

Mrs CC's car really, she was worried about parking, but now she's realised it's no bigger than a hatch she's OK.

Positive comments re the colour too.

Oh I've had to mod it, I ordered the car to come with bootliner and rubber floor mats.
Mrs CC likes to wipe her shoes on entry, so wet soles don't slip on pedals.

So I've fitted a (drivers only) carpet mat.

A satisfactory car that fulfils the brief.

Edited by Clifford Chambers on Sunday 14th February 12:44

[vikingaero]

I've just spent 2 enjoyable hours reading this thread.

To think that I spent 3 times as much on a Passat Estate in Jan 2020, when in all honesty a Duster would have been just as adept as a family wagon.

For those of you considering a 4WD variant, I can attest that my friends Duster has dragged us up many Welsh mountain track without ever getting stuck.

[croyde]

I'm afraid to say the new Duster has let me down.

I'm getting on and thought that the move from my 3 series to the Dacia would stop me driving like a dwat and would no longer allow me to outbrake others into roundabouts or do quick overtakes.

I was soooo wrong. This car is fun yet I'm now on 35.5mpg driving in London

[OppoLocksmith]

Mikebentley said:

Croyde, Oppo and Clifford how are the Dusters going. I just read some old Top Gear etc reviews of the 1.0Tce and the “spoilt” journos were not exactly glowing about the engine. This is not my experience and the baseline figures do not really represent the actual drive. Apparently one article suggests the LPG conversion adds over 60 KG but LPG use does increase performance figures.

Mine is plenty quick and engaging enough for its purpose....then there is the matter of value for money. A £12k car can only ever lose £12k.

All good thanks Mike, we're still only on 100+ miles but it's returning decent mpg on short journeys. I do need to remember to go and check tyre pressures at some point. Engine seems to have plenty of character and I'm still surprised by the overall quality of the car, panel gaps are impressive and the clunk of the doors etc. What is a revelation after driving my Fiesta St is the ride comfort and ability to float down the road, my dads a long term Citroen man (and still has a 2CV) and in some ways it remind me of the ethos (in a good way).

[andburg]

croyde said:

I was soooo wrong. This car is fun yet I'm now on 35.5mpg driving in London

is that an improvement over the last car?

[croyde]

andburg said:

croyde said:

I was soooo wrong. This car is fun yet I'm now on 35.5mpg driving in London

is that an improvement over the last car?

The 90s BMW was doing about 18mpg over the same journeys.

Only time I've seen that kind of mpg in the Beemer was a long motorway journey keeping to 70 and with a lot of 50 average speed restrictions thrown in. Brim to brim the car returned 31mpg.

[MC Bodge]

Mikebentley said:

I call my Duster The Mighty Duster.

Coincidentally, I called my Icelandic rental Duster the same thing. Having demonstrated its abilities to wade rivers, climb gravel, drive over rocks and perform four wheel drifts steering on the throttle on dusty sweepers.

[davidif]

MC Bodge said:

Mikebentley said:

I call my Duster The Mighty Duster.

Coincidentally, I called my Icelandic rental Duster the same thing. Having demonstrated its abilities to wade rivers, climb gravel, drive over rocks and perform four wheel drifts steering on the throttle on dusty sweepers.

Reminds me of the YouTuber Hubnut with his mighty Dacia!!

[Mark-t]

I've just put a deposit on a throbber!

When I enquired on Saturday it was one of two remaining pre-reg cars within the Renault network, apparently.

Quick question (and sorry if it's already been covered) but what are the service intervals?
For those who have purchased pre-reg cars, when does the time sequence start? For example, if they are early serviced, does that year start from car registration or when purchased? I'm curious in the interest of keeping the warranty.
I'll be asking the dealer when I pick it up, hopefully before the weekend, but I thought I'd ask the knowledgeable bunch in this thread

[Clifford Chambers]

Mark-t said:

I've just put a deposit on a throbber!

When I enquired on Saturday it was one of two remaining pre-reg cars within the Renault network, apparently.

Quick question (and sorry if it's already been covered) but what are the service intervals?
For those who have purchased pre-reg cars, when does the time sequence start? For example, if they are early serviced, does that year start from car registration or when purchased? I'm curious in the interest of keeping the warranty.
I'll be asking the dealer when I pick it up, hopefully before the weekend, but I thought I'd ask the knowledgeable bunch in this thread

I think it's annually or 12k, time starts from 1st registration. I was thinking of getting a local garage to mine. Plenty of space so probably do my own once the warranty expires.

Edited by Clifford Chambers on Tuesday 16th February 08:35

[kdri155]

Although I don't own a Duster I do have a 65 plate Logan MCV with the very same 3 cylinder engine, purchased when 6 months old with 3600 miles on, initially ran as a family car, but two years into ownership had it licensed as a taxi to replace my C4 Picasso.

Mileage is now just under 150k car has been utterly reliable, oil change at every 10k, plugs at every 40k plus the usual air and pollen filters, everything still works but I have made some mods such as repositioning the stop start switch, fitting a one touch window module.



I intend to keep it for a couple of more years then replace it with something from Renault or Dacia.

[croyde]

Yep, annually or every 12k. Good point about one year from first reg for service though.

Means mine is next Sept, not Feb.

[politeperson]

kdri155 said:

Although I don't own a Duster I do have a 65 plate Logan MCV with the very same 3 cylinder engine, purchased when 6 months old with 3600 miles on, initially ran as a family car, but two years into ownership had it licensed as a taxi to replace my C4 Picasso.

Mileage is now just under 150k car has been utterly reliable, oil change at every 10k, plugs at every 40k plus the usual air and pollen filters, everything still works but I have made some mods such as repositioning the stop start switch, fitting a one touch window module.



I intend to keep it for a couple of more years then replace it with something from Renault or Dacia.

150,000 miles on a 999cc engine with zero issues. That is brilliant.

[OppoLocksmith]

Mark-t said:

I've just put a deposit on a throbber!

When I enquired on Saturday it was one of two remaining pre-reg cars within the Renault network, apparently.

Quick question (and sorry if it's already been covered) but what are the service intervals?
For those who have purchased pre-reg cars, when does the time sequence start? For example, if they are early serviced, does that year start from car registration or when purchased? I'm curious in the interest of keeping the warranty.
I'll be asking the dealer when I pick it up, hopefully before the weekend, but I thought I'd ask the knowledgeable bunch in this thread

Welcome to the cult Mark-t, sounds like you've snapped up another bargain.

My understanding was it start from date of registration but let us know if your dealer says anything different. What spec did you go for?