Dacia / Duster - SUV recommendations

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Mon 29 Jun 2020 08:12
Dacia / Duster - SUV recommendations - piuzzo_steve
Hello all.

A few years ago this forum recommended we buy a Peugeot 108 and it’s been excellent. Therefore, I thought I’d get your feedback and suggestions as we add another car to our family.

Some background; I used to have a large enough company car for family use. COVID-19 has recently cost me my job and car so we need something big enough for family use (the 108 with a 2.4 family, dog and two small bikes is stressful to pack let alone drive!).

My wife likes the higher driving position of an SUV and my previous x-trail worked well.

Our ideal car would be a Qashqui but with a budget of £8-9k options are limited / come out aged or with high mileage.

We have seen several Dacia Dusters with our budget and surprisingly my wife likes them when we looked around a forecourt yesterday.

Many are 1.5 diesels. Due to our low mileage (currently) I’m concerned after being bitten badly with a Peugeot engined Fiesta TDCi’s injectors,ERG and DPF. Are the Dacia diesels suitable for potential longer term 5-10m mileage or should I head towards petrol?

Any other feedback on the Duster’s which seem incredible value? We’re not expecting the refinement of a Qashqui obviously!

We also like the look of Peugeot 2008 (preferably 1.2 puretech petrol) and a few come within budget but they didn’t seem to offer the same value.

The only petrol, low usb mileage / aged Qashqui we have found has the twin cam Renault engine which I have read can be troublesome. The fact that it’s considerably cheaper than others raises my eyebrows www.evanshalshaw.com/search/details/nissan/qashqai.../

We live in semi-rural Northamptonshire for ideas red usage.

Many thanks in advance.
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Mon 29 Jun 2020 08:25
Dacia / Duster - SUV recommendations - daveyK_UK
The 1.5 diesel Renault engine is one of the few diesels I would take the risk with long term

Duster itself is okay, nothing special but neither is the price

You may get a 18 month old petrol Duster in access base trim for £9k if you have time to wait for one to show up on the market

Although most Duster Access trim models tend to go to private buyers who keep them long term.

Same is true with the other basic Dacia access models, they tend to be purchased with a view to running them into the ground where as the higher trim models tend to show up at 3 years old.

Edited by daveyK_UK on 29/06/2020 at 08:27

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Mon 29 Jun 2020 08:29
Dacia / Duster - SUV recommendations - badbusdriver

Given a choice between a Qashqai and a Duster, i'd take the Duster all day long. It is much more reliable, and far better value for money. While the 1.5 diesel isn't that prone to problems relating to the emissions equipment, i think i'd aim for a 1.6 petrol.

Have you actually looked at a 2008 in the flesh?, it is based on the 208 supermini and as such isn't that big.

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Mon 29 Jun 2020 09:13
Dacia / Duster - SUV recommendations - piuzzo_steve
The 2008 didn’t seem big enough but was in range. We’d all but ruled it out.

We can get a 1.5 diesel in Laureate Prime Spec (special edition) with 50k miles for £8K.

There’s a petrol with 35k for £8.5k (& further away).

The one thing we need is air con and I believe only higher end spec versions generally have this?

Also, is the 1.2 TCe petrol engine suitable / reliable enough?

Edited by sgreenwood on 29/06/2020 at 09:46

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Mon 29 Jun 2020 10:05
Dacia / Duster - SUV recommendations - Archie35

I had a Duster as a hire car for a week a couple of years ago - a petrol automatic (in Riyadh of all places). I was fully prepared to dislike it, but actually it was quite a decent little car. Pretty basic inside, but nippy enough, and the slightly elevated driving position worked well for the usual Riyadh traffic and parking chaos. Clearly a week is not long enough to do a proper test, but I've driven far worse cars.

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Mon 29 Jun 2020 18:51
Dacia / Duster - SUV recommendations - badbusdriver

Problem with the 1.2TCe is there are so few of them, they only came out at the end of the 1st gen, but didn't carry on into the 2nd gen (which did subsequently get the new 1.3TCe, but not straight away). On Autotrader there are only 46 of them for sale nationwide!. Using a random Northampton postcode, i think i have spotted the 1.2 you mention (Motorvogue Bedford?) and it is a fine looking example. As this is a dealer, it should be a fairly safe purchase (the ad does mantion a 12 month warranty). Reliablity wise, i'm not too sure, Renault engines can be hit or miss (as is the case with a lot of manufacturers), but my mate has had one for a couple of years now and AFAIK, has had no issues with it.

Had a look for some alternatives with a higher driving position (not neccessarily an SUV) in the area,

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20200221755...1

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20200610998...1

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20200610999...1

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20191204504...1

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20200612004...2

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20200506920...1

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Mon 29 Jun 2020 20:37
Dacia / Duster - SUV recommendations - piuzzo_steve

Thanks for the replies. Some great suggestions.

Expanding the search to estate cars has brought up this which was recommended as ‘basic bang for buck’ by a colleague. Any good ? - I haven’t noticed any around but can see that for the money it’s spacious (not as big as a Duster) and low mileage. Equivalent models from other makes seem more expensive ....

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201903266269631?radius=50&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&advertising-location=at_cars&model=TIPO&price-from=8000&price-to=10000&sort=relevance&postcode=nn142pt&year-to=2020&make=FIAT&page=1

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Mon 29 Jun 2020 20:56
Dacia / Duster - SUV recommendations - _

Thanks for the replies. Some great suggestions.

Expanding the search to estate cars has brought up this which was recommended as ‘basic bang for buck’ by a colleague. Any good ? - I haven’t noticed any around but can see that for the money it’s spacious (not as big as a Duster) and low mileage. Equivalent models from other makes seem more expensive ....https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201903266269631?radius=50&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&advertising-location=at_cars&model=TIPO&price-from=8000&price-to=10000&sort=relevance&postcode=nn142pt&year-to=2020&make=FIAT&page=1

Quite a good bargain left of field choice.

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Mon 29 Jun 2020 21:35
Dacia / Duster - SUV recommendations - badbusdriver

Expanding the search to estate cars has brought up this which was recommended as ‘basic bang for buck’ by a colleague. Any good ? - I haven’t noticed any around but can see that for the money it’s spacious (not as big as a Duster) and low mileage. Equivalent models from other makes seem more expensive ....

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201903266269631?radius=50&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=Used&advertising-location=at_cars&model=TIPO&price-from=8000&price-to=10000&sort=relevance&postcode=nn142pt&year-to=2020&make=FIAT&page=1

That Fiat does look something of a bargain!. A bit of an unloved child in this country, perhaps unfairly. But it does fulfil a similar niche to the Dacia, that of basic no nonsense transport for those who are not concerned with what badge is on the car. And while it isn't as tall as the Duster, it taller than the likes of a current Focus or Golf so might still meet with SWMBO's approval!.

The figure for the Duster's dimensions are slightly misleading, if you look at one from the front or rear, you can see how obviously flared the wheel arches are. The cabin itself isn't actually that wide, so bearing in mind the overall width of the Duster is only 12mm more than the Tipo, it's cabin is likely to be narrower (i'm thinking specifically across the rear seat with three up). As for the length, this being the estate version of the Tipo, it is 23cm longer than the Duster and has over 100 litres more boot capacity.

As far as i know the 1.4t engine in the Fiat is quite reliable (not sure about the rest of the package), so definitely worth consideration.

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