NEW Dacia. £5995 Would you buy one?

[Split_Pin]

I'd consider the lack of radio to be a blessing. All the wiring is in place, so with minimal effort you can stick in some decent speakers and a nice bluetooth headunit instead of the mono FM radio cassette with no aux socket you'd normally encounter in a base model car. 

 

I thought about that as theres a grand wee place near me called Skidz that undid all the damage caused by the fool who fitted a prehistoric hands-free kit to my Corsa and only charged a ton, including a nice Kenwood head unit, but wouldnt that void the warranty?

[Split_Pin]

Just put a deposit down on an new Duster 1.6 Access.

 

Its the basic model, no radio, steel wheels but its really quite decent inside. Its also a big car. Any colour you like as long as its Alpine white.

 

Despite the poorer NCAP rating, its actually cheaper to insure than our current Chevy 1.2.

 

Its a long order time from India though so we won't get it till September/October.

 

I'm quite looking forward to it.

[Lacquer Peel]

Iain, did they try to push you into a plusher model?

[Hendry]

Just put a deposit down on an new Duster 1.6 Access.

 

Its the basic model, no radio, steel wheels but its really quite decent inside. Its also a big car. Any colour you like as long as its Alpine white.

 

Despite the poorer NCAP rating, its actually cheaper to insure than our current Chevy 1.2.

 

Its a long order time from India though so we won't get it till September/October.

 

I'm quite looking forward to it.

Where are you getting it from? Arnie Shark?

 

Dusters seem to be selling ok I've seen quite a few now although maybe that's because there's a dealer 2 miles down the road from me, and contrary to the belief in this thread that the base model will be hard to come by, most of them have been, either white or dark blue. Not seen many Sanderos outside of dealer premises though. 3 I think so far. No base models yet and all a kind of powder blue colour.

 

Did see a Duster base model in Asda earlier which oddly had Renault hub caps on it

[Hendry]

Ps I just googled the Duster and found the UK Dacia forum where people who've bought them are saying they are rusting already!

[dollywobbler]

Jeepers. Cheap for a reason then! I hadn't realised they were assembled in India. No wonder they're ridiculously cheap. I did cast an eye towards our local Renault dealer this morning and even considered nipping in to have a closer look at a Duster...

[skoda_fan]

Nor had I. I had been starting to think they may be worth a look as being worthwhile brand new East European shite. Am put off now though (Indian built cheap rusting Renaults...hmmm!)

[Split_Pin]

LP they tried to push me into a Sandero Stepway, which I didn't want as its the same size as the Chevy and I don't like how it looks like a Streetwise.

 

Rusty bolt heads and rubber trim metal internal strips doesn't worry me.

[dollywobbler]

It was the talk of corrosion in the sill seams that worried me!

[Novanick1]

i really like the look of them, i suggested it to my dad for his next car, what worries me though is that the sandero is 4 star euro ncap but the duster is only 3! not good in todays world

[Lacquer Peel]

Don't crash then.

[Rusty_Rocket]

I totally approve of these value cars and think you should always go for the base model for maximum effect- that makes the most sense I think.  Mind you, I just went on the quite-convincing Dacia website, specced-up a Duster to maximum horn status and it came to over £17k...  

Must say, I've only spotted one Dacia down here in Kent since the comeback..

[KruJoe]

These have actually reached Yorkshire!

 

 

 

The Sandero Stepway was on the double yellows outside Skipton NatWest where all the local blue badge coffin dodgers park. Check out the 'Dacia Elf' sticker, in an 80's Renault stylee!

 

 

This week I also saw a white Duster with black bumpers - proper made my day that did.

Not quick enough on the draw to pap it though, unfortunately.

[skoda_fan]

Just had a butchers at that forum. Besides early corrosion there are tales of long and indefinite delivery times, bad customer service, and water ingress. Doesn't sound good. Can't help feeling that in the real world a new Kia is probably a better bet (though admittedly much more boring!)

[Lacquer Peel]

And much more expensive.

Dacias have a good reputation in contintental Europe.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

I thought about that as theres a grand wee place near me called Skidz that undid all the damage caused by the fool who fitted a prehistoric hands-free kit to my Corsa and only charged a ton, including a nice Kenwood head unit, but wouldnt that void the warranty?

No, it wouldn't void the warranty - they know you're going to fit a radio, you don't have to drill holes in the bodywork or even modify the wiring.

[Split_Pin]

Yeah the dealer said that would be ok. All the speakers and wiring is there so its just a plug in job.

 

As LP said, the cars have a good rep in Europe and this attracted me to it.

[Hendry]

I also didn't realise the Access model came equipped with central locking and electric windows until I looked at Dacias website.

 

There was a poster explaining all the different Duster trims and what equipment they had in Parks Renault in Motherwell when I was in getting warranty work done a couple of months ago and they werent listed on the Access spec list, it was only when you got to the Ambience model it listed them. Which makes no stereo even weirder, I'd consider a radio to be above them in the pecking order.

[Spiny Norman]

I quite like the idea of choosing your own stereo, or in the case of a Dacia, ramming the old Saisho one you've been using since 1989 into the slot with half a fag packet to stop it rattling, and joining up all the wiring with Scotchlok.

 

I'm seeing a lot of these in Glasgow, they've really taken off round here, particularly the Duster.

[wuvvum]

Reading that Dacia forum, it sounds like on the base model you have to pay extra for a spare wheel. 

[Spiny Norman]

Reading that Dacia forum, it sounds like on the base model you have to pay extra for a spare wheel. 

Not uncommon nowadays, even on cars that cost five times what the Dacia costs.

 

You can sort of see the logic, given most people nowadays have neither the ability nor inclination to change a wheel themselves, so why bother fitting one?

[Wilko220]

I think in later MGRs they just gave you a can of tyre weld. That would have seriously cheesed me off if I'd just spent 30k-plus on a new top of the range ZT or something.

[Split_Pin]

My existing Chevy doesn't have a spare either.

[oman5]

Mrs Oman picked up her new dacia sandero last week. it will definitely be future shite once they've been around for a few years. if you are the sort of person who was happy to run around in a pug 106 diesel, the sandero is its spiritual successor. Its a  1.5 diesel and if you sit at 60 its doing 70+ mpg which makes it good in my book. free road tax too. Performance wise, its quicker than the 306 dt it replaced and has tons of room. I like it.

[Split_Pin]

Sounds grand! This is going to sound unbelievable, bit I have cancelled our Duster order as we can't afford it any more. Dire times.

[Split_Pin]

Sounds grand! This is going to sound unbelievable, bit I have cancelled our Duster order as we can't afford it any more. Dire times.

[Split_Pin]

Sounds grand! This is going to sound unbelievable, bit I have cancelled our Duster order as we can't afford it any more. Dire times.

[Micrashed]

Iain, I cant believe you have cancelled your Dacia order, are these dire times?

 

Re the spare wheel, the Zafira we had came with a glorified tin of tyre weld and a pump only.

[trigger]

My mates had his Sandreo Freeway a few months now and he's had no problems and it's proved it's self to be a very capable car for the money, the dashboard is still dire to look at though.

[oman5]

We did actually order ours with a spare wheel (its an optional extra, NO sandero comes with one as standard) and it was delivered without one, just a kind of plug in compressor with a tin of tyre sealant, meaning we got a refund. however you do get a 3 year warranty with breakdown cover thrown in which also covers tyre fitting if you can't fix your puncture.

 

Ours is a diesel, but we also test drove the 0.9 litre turbo petrol. for an old fart like me who remembers 957cc fiestas, it was incredible, punches well above its weight with a nice 3 cylinder thrum. 0-60 is about 11 secs, impressive.