Dacia Duster - my first ever brand new car
Discussion
So bit of a back story...
After selling the E class I've been torn on what to do. As a petrolhead I've man mathsed my way through loads of daily drivers including:
- Cayenne Turbo
- Macan S
- 197 Clio
- e46 M3
- Mk7 Golf GTi
List goes on, all great cars but each one cost a lot to run against a special car... Incidentally the MK7 caused me the most issues!
Anyway I wanted another but couldn't bring myself to spend the £16k or so on a Mk7.5 GTi and still have to pay for any fixes etc and just the general running costs of a nicer car.
So I started looking around at what I could get to throw my mountain bike on, was fully warrantied and had any form of charm. Anyway kept coming back to a new Duster, my mother in law had an older one and loves it and the new design feels back up to date.
I'd never ever though about a brand new car before but off I totted to Dacia Tunbridge Wells for a chat.
DEALER VISIT
The dealership experience was great and James was so accommodating answering all my questions and showing real product knowledge. I've had some right shoddy experienced at really high end places but this was quite the opposite.
I took a little 1.2 TCE out as this felt like the right car for me, it handled really quite well, the little three cylinder is punchy and the car was was quite comfortable.
I also tried a Bigster but didn't feel like it offered me anything more for the money.
Discussed figures with James and came to a deal I was happy with where in paying less each month than my ULEZ payments in the Merc.
SPEC:
Extreme - I wanted this spec as it came with heated seats and a heated wheel. Didn't want to give this luxury up.
Engine - 1.2 TCE - reviews said this was the best suited to the car as the full hybrid and auto could be a bit uncouth.
2wd - The 4wd car absolutely would be cooler but it hurts the economy and is quite a lot more expensive so dodged that even though I really did like the idea of a go anywhere vehicle.
Colour - wanted a metallic colour, didn't fancy just grey or black so went for Cedar Green.
My car will look like this, which I think is really quite handsome. Overall I'm super pleased and it'll make a great companion to do Caterham.
DELIVERY
Car should arrive later this month.
After selling the E class I've been torn on what to do. As a petrolhead I've man mathsed my way through loads of daily drivers including:
- Cayenne Turbo
- Macan S
- 197 Clio
- e46 M3
- Mk7 Golf GTi
List goes on, all great cars but each one cost a lot to run against a special car... Incidentally the MK7 caused me the most issues!
Anyway I wanted another but couldn't bring myself to spend the £16k or so on a Mk7.5 GTi and still have to pay for any fixes etc and just the general running costs of a nicer car.
So I started looking around at what I could get to throw my mountain bike on, was fully warrantied and had any form of charm. Anyway kept coming back to a new Duster, my mother in law had an older one and loves it and the new design feels back up to date.
I'd never ever though about a brand new car before but off I totted to Dacia Tunbridge Wells for a chat.
DEALER VISIT
The dealership experience was great and James was so accommodating answering all my questions and showing real product knowledge. I've had some right shoddy experienced at really high end places but this was quite the opposite.
I took a little 1.2 TCE out as this felt like the right car for me, it handled really quite well, the little three cylinder is punchy and the car was was quite comfortable.
I also tried a Bigster but didn't feel like it offered me anything more for the money.
Discussed figures with James and came to a deal I was happy with where in paying less each month than my ULEZ payments in the Merc.
SPEC:
Extreme - I wanted this spec as it came with heated seats and a heated wheel. Didn't want to give this luxury up.
Engine - 1.2 TCE - reviews said this was the best suited to the car as the full hybrid and auto could be a bit uncouth.
2wd - The 4wd car absolutely would be cooler but it hurts the economy and is quite a lot more expensive so dodged that even though I really did like the idea of a go anywhere vehicle.
Colour - wanted a metallic colour, didn't fancy just grey or black so went for Cedar Green.
My car will look like this, which I think is really quite handsome. Overall I'm super pleased and it'll make a great companion to do Caterham.
DELIVERY
Car should arrive later this month.
Shinyfings said:
I still have my 22 plate purchased new. The car is great (for the money) but watch the dealers who can live up to all our expectations of main dealers. I have found Orpingron (Renault owned) to be good. Tunbridge Wells and Dartford I won t be visting again.
So far the Tunbridge Wells dealer has been absolutely fine and if I'm honest way ahead of the experience I had with Porsche Tonbridge. They didn't try and sell me anything I didn't want which was positive, however the salesman was a genuine enthusiast which I think helped. He had a Renaultsport Megane and his old man had a Caterham R500.
We'll wait to see what happens but as long as the car functions as it should I'll be happy!
mdk1 said:
That s does look nice, I ll follow with interest,
What didn t you like about the Bigster? As I m tempted to go and have a nose at one.
Wasn't so much I disliked it just felt quite a bit more money for just a larger boot really. At sub £25k (just) this Duster feels like gold value. Over £30k suddenly feels not 'cheap' anymore. What didn t you like about the Bigster? As I m tempted to go and have a nose at one.
Don't get me wrong it was a cool car and the electric tailgate etc is a win.
Joehow said:
mdk1 said:
That s does look nice, I ll follow with interest,
What didn t you like about the Bigster? As I m tempted to go and have a nose at one.
Wasn't so much I disliked it just felt quite a bit more money for just a larger boot really. At sub £25k (just) this Duster feels like gold value. Over £30k suddenly feels not 'cheap' anymore. What didn t you like about the Bigster? As I m tempted to go and have a nose at one.
Don't get me wrong it was a cool car and the electric tailgate etc is a win.
Joehow said:
Wasn't so much I disliked it just felt quite a bit more money for just a larger boot really. At sub £25k (just) this Duster feels like gold value. Over £30k suddenly feels not 'cheap' anymore.
Don't get me wrong it was a cool car and the electric tailgate etc is a win.
I seem to recall previous threads not that long ago with people getting some bargains at £12k ishDon't get me wrong it was a cool car and the electric tailgate etc is a win.
Still think though they are all the car anyone really needs, not sure if an Evoque at twice the price is twice as good.You mentioned not getting the 4x4 version, I reckon a set of all seasons on yours would be better than the 4x4 version on normal tyres for the type of winters we get. Hired a Punto to get through some really bad snow in 2010 it performed really well and that was just on normal tyres.
Mr-B said:
I seem to recall previous threads not that long ago with people getting some bargains at £12k ish Still think though they are all the car anyone really needs, not sure if an Evoque at twice the price is twice as good.
You mentioned not getting the 4x4 version, I reckon a set of all seasons on yours would be better than the 4x4 version on normal tyres for the type of winters we get. Hired a Punto to get through some really bad snow in 2010 it performed really well and that was just on normal tyres.
Yep I think I'll be popping some decent all seasons on there. Made a huge difference running cross climates on the E Class and that's probably the worst sort of car in the snow / ice in being a big torque rich automatic Still think though they are all the car anyone really needs, not sure if an Evoque at twice the price is twice as good.You mentioned not getting the 4x4 version, I reckon a set of all seasons on yours would be better than the 4x4 version on normal tyres for the type of winters we get. Hired a Punto to get through some really bad snow in 2010 it performed really well and that was just on normal tyres.
Mr-B said:
Joehow said:
Wasn't so much I disliked it just felt quite a bit more money for just a larger boot really. At sub £25k (just) this Duster feels like gold value. Over £30k suddenly feels not 'cheap' anymore.
Don't get me wrong it was a cool car and the electric tailgate etc is a win.
I seem to recall previous threads not that long ago with people getting some bargains at £12k ishDon't get me wrong it was a cool car and the electric tailgate etc is a win.
Still think though they are all the car anyone really needs, not sure if an Evoque at twice the price is twice as good.You mentioned not getting the 4x4 version, I reckon a set of all seasons on yours would be better than the 4x4 version on normal tyres for the type of winters we get. Hired a Punto to get through some really bad snow in 2010 it performed really well and that was just on normal tyres.
I did the same thing 3 years ago, also with a Duster.
There's pros and cons.
The warranty fits into both categories. I'd never had a car with a warranty so in my naive mind the car gets a niggle, you take it in the next day and it's all sorted with a wash and apology that afternoon or maybe the next day. The reality is it's atleast 2 visits, one for diagnostics and one to actually fix. They're often weeks apart, months if you're unlucky. The other issue I came to was the only significant failure I had was 6 weeks outside the warranty.
Another niggle is how precious you get over an immaculate car even if it is just a Dacia. That could just be a me problem but seeing new car park dings and scratches despite taking precautions is really disheartening.
That's about it though, most other things are positive, mainly having no previous owners that have messed with the car and sloppy mechanics that leave every unsighted fixing and fastening out to save time.
I did wonder at what point in a cars life the interior light collects a dead fly or two having always bought cars with them pre installed. Again that seems to align with the warranty.
There's pros and cons.
The warranty fits into both categories. I'd never had a car with a warranty so in my naive mind the car gets a niggle, you take it in the next day and it's all sorted with a wash and apology that afternoon or maybe the next day. The reality is it's atleast 2 visits, one for diagnostics and one to actually fix. They're often weeks apart, months if you're unlucky. The other issue I came to was the only significant failure I had was 6 weeks outside the warranty.
Another niggle is how precious you get over an immaculate car even if it is just a Dacia. That could just be a me problem but seeing new car park dings and scratches despite taking precautions is really disheartening.
That's about it though, most other things are positive, mainly having no previous owners that have messed with the car and sloppy mechanics that leave every unsighted fixing and fastening out to save time.
I did wonder at what point in a cars life the interior light collects a dead fly or two having always bought cars with them pre installed. Again that seems to align with the warranty.
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