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Should we buy a Dacia Duster or a Suzuki Vitara?
We live in Northern Europe where winters are long and full of snow and the rest of the year is rather rainy as well, so we would like to buy a small 4x4 for our family.
We do not want to spend too much, so our two main candidates are the Suzuki Vitara 1.4 Booster Mild Hybrid and the Dacia Duster 1.3 TCe 130hp, both with 4x4 and manual transmission. We might consider a small hybrid such as the new Toyota Corolla Cross (the Yaris Cross has a very small engine once the battery reserve is gone).
About three or four years ago some car journalists complained about the Duster driver's seat padding, as after a few months some of it was gone or thinned, so the vehicle was uncomfortable to drive for more than an hour. Has this problem been solved?
Regarding the Vitara 4x4, I was very surprised to read in the owners' review on this website that if you have to use the spare tyre, then the ABS has to be replaced and sourced from Japan. Was this an isolated case, or is it the standard situation should you have to use the spare (emergency) tyre?
As there are so many issues with deliveries of so many products nowadays, we are wondering whether it would safer to order a Duster rather than the Vitara, as we see many more Dusters in Europe than Vitaras. Would it be right to say that Duster's sales level is several times that of the Vitara's?
Can both cars run on 95 octane petrol permanently or not?
Is there anything else we should bear in mind?
We do not want to spend too much, so our two main candidates are the Suzuki Vitara 1.4 Booster Mild Hybrid and the Dacia Duster 1.3 TCe 130hp, both with 4x4 and manual transmission. We might consider a small hybrid such as the new Toyota Corolla Cross (the Yaris Cross has a very small engine once the battery reserve is gone).
About three or four years ago some car journalists complained about the Duster driver's seat padding, as after a few months some of it was gone or thinned, so the vehicle was uncomfortable to drive for more than an hour. Has this problem been solved?
Regarding the Vitara 4x4, I was very surprised to read in the owners' review on this website that if you have to use the spare tyre, then the ABS has to be replaced and sourced from Japan. Was this an isolated case, or is it the standard situation should you have to use the spare (emergency) tyre?
As there are so many issues with deliveries of so many products nowadays, we are wondering whether it would safer to order a Duster rather than the Vitara, as we see many more Dusters in Europe than Vitaras. Would it be right to say that Duster's sales level is several times that of the Vitara's?
Can both cars run on 95 octane petrol permanently or not?
Is there anything else we should bear in mind?
Asked on 25 October 2022 by Santiago
Answered by
Lawrence Allan
A quick note regarding the Yaris Cross - it does not drain its battery reserve as such, rather the engine and battery/electric motors work in tandem to maintain charge and give full performance regardless of the battery state. You can never 'flatten' the hybrid battery in that respect.
On the Duster, we did hear some isolated complaints about the seat padding but the model was facelifted and updated last year with a new seat design. In our experience we've not seen this issue reoccur. We do not have an answer of the delivery time difference between the Duster and Vitara for your market, it will vary from country to country - but yes the Duster is the more popular car.
On the Vitara spare wheel: there is an issue with some Suzukis where if you use a space saver spare tyre and then go back to the full-size wheel and tyre it can cause error codes. This is due to the space saver being a slightly different diameter and confusing the systems. Forum posts suggest there is a procedure to reset the fault codes, however, so you shouldn't require a replacement ABS sensor.
Finally, both cars are perfectly able to run on 95 fuel too.
On the Duster, we did hear some isolated complaints about the seat padding but the model was facelifted and updated last year with a new seat design. In our experience we've not seen this issue reoccur. We do not have an answer of the delivery time difference between the Duster and Vitara for your market, it will vary from country to country - but yes the Duster is the more popular car.
On the Vitara spare wheel: there is an issue with some Suzukis where if you use a space saver spare tyre and then go back to the full-size wheel and tyre it can cause error codes. This is due to the space saver being a slightly different diameter and confusing the systems. Forum posts suggest there is a procedure to reset the fault codes, however, so you shouldn't require a replacement ABS sensor.
Finally, both cars are perfectly able to run on 95 fuel too.
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