Another Duster
Discussion
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.Norton850 said:
Wacky Racer said:
Just for interest, I checked how much Cazoo would give me for my 4 month old Comfort auto, 2,000 miles...they said £18850.
I paid 19250.
I wonder where we will be in a couple of years when it's time for me to trade in.I paid 19250.
I had a good chat with the sales guy during handover and he said things are dire with waiting times now 4 months minimum meaning many won't wait and the trade in price being up and down they are struggling to fix a price.
Renault are due to increase Dacia prices again soon too...
Another note i did look around a Jogger...jeez it's cavernous
Some trade ins we are gambling a bit on pricing up for a 6m lead time, if on finance we are generally doing what we call "drop to match" (basically depreciating the car in line with the settlement figure going down so the equity remains the same), however we will re-evaluate the value when the new car comes through and if the value has gone up we will run with the revised higher value, others we are refusing to do so, such as a guy recently with a Jaguar XE which dropped £1500 between March to April alone, when prior to March it had remained static for many months after rising.
Edited by HTP99 on Saturday 9th April 11:02
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.
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