Dacia Duster

Fizman

Was listening to Matt Cooper about this and he had Anton Savage on as well as the CEO (or some other senior position) of Dacia Europe. I'm sure it can be gotten on podcast or some sort on the site.

They seem to be holding their own in the stats department from what I recall, albeit (according to Savage), you know you are not driving an expensive car when you are inside it.

Fizman

Found it:

http://media.todayfm.com/listenback/98/tuesday/3/popup

Forward to 22:00.

delthedriver

Spoke with dealer today, now 4 month waiting list for cars. Dealers have already sold out their allocations for Jan feb Mar April. Also anticipating price rise to include increase in Vrt, probably looking at €800/1000. Well done to those who got their orders in early!

MidlandsM

delthedriver wrote: »

Spoke with dealer today, now 4 month waiting list for cars. Dealers have already sold out their allocations for Jan feb Mar April. Also anticipating price rise to include increase in Vrt, probably looking at €800/1000. Well done to those who got their orders in early!

many of them will probably get a call from their sales guy looking for the extra VRT.........you just wait!

..and re; a waiting list......Hmmmmmmmm, a tactic to see if they can up the list prices......

Hellrazer

delthedriver wrote: »

Spoke with dealer today, now 4 month waiting list for cars. Dealers have already sold out their allocations for Jan feb Mar April.

Any idea what the allocation was.I'm still convinced these are going to sell by the bucket load.

paddy25c

the allocation was 400 for the first quarter , all of them are sold & one of them is mine , as for other contributors who have voiced concerns about reliability, the engine & gearbox are tried & tested . its the same gearbox as in the qashqai & its a renault 1.5 DCI engine that has been around for years with no problems , & remember its been on sale on the on mainland europe for the last few years with little or no problems . i did my homework on this before i committed to buying it & all reviews of it have been positive . i bought it because my skoda fabia 1.9 diesel will be 12 years old in january & i wanted to move up to an '08 for the cheaper tax & i could not walk away from it for that price , its exactly what i want a cheap , rugged , simple car with no frills , i went for the alternative (basic) model with steel rims & non-metallic paint in un white . i think ill call it the panzer. ( yes i know its not german )

Le Lapin

I bought one and waiting for it in Jan. Looking forward to it. The positives of this car far outweigh the negatives.

Lutecia

paddy25c wrote: »

the allocation was 400 for the first quarter , all of them are sold & one of them is mine , as for other contributors who have voiced concerns about reliability, the engine & gearbox are tried & tested . its the same gearbox as in the qashqai & its a renault 1.5 DCI engine that has been around for years with no problems , & remember its been on sale on the on mainland europe for the last few years with little or no problems . i did my homework on this before i committed to buying it & all reviews of it have been positive . i bought it because my skoda fabia 1.9 diesel will be 12 years old in january & i wanted to move up to an '08 for the cheaper tax & i could not walk away from it for that price , its exactly what i want a cheap , rugged , simple car with no frills , i went for the alternative (basic) model with steel rims & non-metallic paint in un white . i think ill call it the panzer. ( yes i know its not german )

I suppose Renault (Dacia) Ireland has done a good job then.
Dacia UK was braging about the fact they had 1000 orders last week. 400+ just for Ireland seems to be pretty good numbers in comparaison.
I went in Kearys (Cork) last saturday; poor salesman was alone in the showroom :
Me "What about the Duster ?" Him :"it is oversold"
Me "And the Sandero ?" Him : "waiting for the budget so we can adjust the pricing" so can't take orders for that one either.
Price reveal is supposed to be on the 24th of this month for the Sandero.

Cantona's Collars

Myself & the missus were impressed when checking out the Duster initially and I had a good look at it again at The Ploughing Championships where it drew a lot of attention.

We are contemplating selling our own cars & investing in one as "the good car" & getting a small,cheap runaround as the 2nd car.
You cannot argue with the price for something that's well rated in reviews & tests plus it gives a bit of presence on the road when compared to a car of similar value.

MidlandsM

paddy25c wrote: »

the allocation was 400 for the first quarter , all of them are sold & one of them is mine , as for other contributors who have voiced concerns about reliability, the engine & gearbox are tried & tested . its the same gearbox as in the qashqai & its a renault 1.5 DCI engine that has been around for years with no problems

what, no problems?>>>> ermmmmm......lots of problems.....

paddy25c

like?

colm_mcm

Off the top of my head, turbos, fuel pumps, injectors,
Qashqais post 2010 seem to have issues with dpf's

pburns

I really wanted to like these but it's USP is supposed to be value (and ignore the egg carton interior plastics and cheap finish). However with all the hype there will be zero discounts, bottom dollar given for trade-ins and inflated s/h prices.

And white won't be the new black for long if it becomes the cost conscious buyers non-metallic colour of choice...

Lutecia

MidlandsM wrote: »

what, no problems?>>>> ermmmmm......lots of problems.....

You're right, but for the earliest engines. I blew a fuel pump in one of these, but that was a 01 Clio, so very early version of that engine, caused by a Delphi part 5K of repairs (Renault paid 90%). A mate got the same issue with a 01. After 04-ish it was solved and to be honest haven't heard of any really bad feedback on recent models despite the thousands that are on the Irish roads now.
Mercedes is actually putting it on the 2013 A-Class (as A180CDI), their engineers considered that engine strong enough as per Mercedes standards. So I wouldn't worry too much.
They don't advertize too much obviously but yes basically same 1461cc 110hp that you find on the Duster.

Leonard Hofstadter

Lutecia wrote: »

Mercedes is actually putting it on the 2013 A-Class (as A180CDI), their engineers considered that engine strong enough as per Mercedes standards.

If you believe that, you'd believe anything. You sound like someone who has fallen for the marketing hook, line and sinker.

The real reason Mercedes is putting that engine into the A180 CDI (and it's only the manual model, the auto has a different engine) is because Mercedes and Renault recently signed a powertrain agreement, like every other car company, it's all about money.

paddy25c

these are more or less the same arguments i heard 8 years ago when i baught my skoda fabia & i had no problems with it

colm_mcm

Except the fabia was a generation ahead of the polo when it was launched and wasn't nearly as cheap as the established rivals of the time like the punto and Clio

MidlandsM

colm_mcm wrote: »

Off the top of my head, turbos, fuel pumps, injectors,
Qashqais post 2010 seem to have issues with dpf's

to name but a few ......these units are not bulletproof as alluded to, by a long shot.

paddy25c wrote: »

like?

... as above...dpf, turbos, fuel pumps, injectors, and electrical safety sh!t going wrong too.

Lutecia wrote: »

Mercedes is actually putting it on the 2013 A-Class (as A180CDI), their engineers considered that engine strong enough as per Mercedes standards. So I wouldn't worry too much.
They don't advertize too much obviously but yes basically same 1461cc 110hp that you find on the Duster.

...yeah, and that would be the way of merc these day, and for a long time now, Shure merc has'nt built a daycent car or van in over a decade!

captainspeed wrote: »

If you believe that, you'd believe anything. You sound like someone who has fallen for the marketing hook, line and sinker.

The real reason Mercedes is putting that engine into the A180 CDI (and it's only the manual model, the auto has a different engine) is because Mercedes and Renault recently signed a powertrain agreement, like every other car company, it's all about money.

thats all, money..........its the same with Renault Lorries, they're all volvo underneath......same carry on. Its just business.

There are some people who will pop on the rose tinted glasses and stick their fingers in their ears on hearing these realities........its always the same with these cheap purchases.

Stallingrad

I ran a that 1.5dci (2006) for 5 years and the engine never missed a beat, 100% reliable, the gearbox went bang though...

Bobo78

MidlandsM wrote: »

to name but a few ......these units are not bulletproof as alluded to, by a long shot.



... as above...dpf, turbos, fuel pumps, injectors, and electrical safety sh!t going wrong too.



...yeah, and that would be the way of merc these day, and for a long time now, Shure merc has'nt built a daycent car or van in over a decade!






thats all, money..........its the same with Renault Lorries, they're all volvo underneath......same carry on. Its just business.

There are some people who will pop on the rose tinted glasses and stick their fingers in their ears on hearing these realities........its always the same with these cheap purchases.

Ok thats true, but what other diesel cars are out there that don't give this kind of trouble and how much they cost when new??

At least this Dacia is very good value for money especially in these days.

paddy25c

colm_mcm wrote: »

Off the top of my head, turbos, fuel pumps, injectors,
Qashqais post 2010 seem to have issues with dpf's

ah! that must be there are so few qashqais on the road .... wait a moment

MidlandsM

paddy25c wrote: »

ah! that must be there are so few qashqais on the road .... wait a moment

yep, you are totally correct Paddy, with a high mortality rate!

but it seems you can't be told or advised.......have you ordered one?

lemas

Realistically only time will tell if this "Shockingly affordable" price is actually the bargain it purports to be. However even if it gave a bit of bother (I'm not aware of a brand that is completely issue free), with the standard 3-year warranty offered for the price, you are getting a lot of car with somewhat debugged hardware/technology having gone through several generations in other guises.

delthedriver

Bobo78 wrote: »

Ok thats true, but what other diesel cars are out there that don't give this kind of trouble and how much they cost when new??

At least this Dacia is very good value for money especially in these days.

Yes Dacia are great value, in their price band with a 3 year standard warranty. They provide a great alternative to the second hand crap cars for sale in Ireland with clocked mileage and lack of service history. Refer recent consumer programme on RTE .To buy one of these secondhand types one should be offered black glasses and industrial ear muffs by the shiny suited garage man. I am happy to stick with the rose tinted glasses

MidlandsM

delthedriver wrote: »

They provide a great alternative to the second hand crap cars for sale in Ireland with clocked mileage and lack of service history.

but only uninformed ediots buy clocked scrap ..... and you're not one of those are you?

Leonard Hofstadter

MidlandsM wrote: »

but only uninformed ediots buy clocked scrap ..... and you're not one of those are you?

+1, besides, that's what the UK is for, plenty of cars with proper engines and spec with the all-important full service history.

MidlandsM

Can I just say, I hope they are a BLINDING little SUV, and reliable for all who ordered one, and are considering them.....because if they are, I'll get a few out of the uk, and flog them here for a killing! lol

Leonard Hofstadter

It says a lot about the priorities of the average Irish motorist that they've (allegedly) sold 400 Dusters here while in the UK they've "only" sold 1,000 of them. On a pro-rata basis they should have about sold over 10,000 of them in the UK at this stage, although the UK figure is obviously distorted by the fact that the registration plate change isn't until March and the Irish one is obviously in January.

I swear the registration plate system has got to be the worst invention ever, if there was no year identifier, people might actually become far less obsessed with the age of their cars and therefore actually buy nice cars with nice engines and decent spec, the same as people in the rest of the developed world do.

Pottler

I was "abroad" last week and there were loads of new Dusters knocking about. They look quite well in white.

colm_mcm

Pottler wrote: »

I was "abroad" last week and there were loads of new Dusters knocking about. They look quite well in white.

Until they get all dusty, then you throw them out and buy a new one.

lemas

colm_mcm wrote: »

Until they get all dusty, then you throw them out and buy a new one.

You know that's kind of exactly how some might see it over three years, consumable.

Pottler

lemas wrote: »

You know that's kind of exactly how some might see it over three years, consumable.

They looked no more disposable than any other small suv to me, pretty solid all round, actually, the rest just comes down to badge foolery/snobbery.

Bobo78

+1

lemas

Pottler wrote: »

They looked no more disposable than any other small suv to me, pretty solid all round, actually, the rest just comes down to badge foolery/snobbery.

Totally agree with you, I'm just saying at the price and finance deal they're offering, €149 / month you can hand it back or trade in and get a new one in 2016; where's the free beer?

Either way there's often a micro-margin sometimes between very naff or very cool, the cool wall if you will; these things are definitely on the cool wall. You talk of badge foolery they're the badge of austerity the Troika should supplement

Cosmo K

The Dacia Duster.....it's the thinking man's Octavia........

MidlandsM

lemas wrote: »

Totally agree with you, I'm just saying at the price and finance deal they're offering, €149 / month you can hand it back or trade in and get a new one in 2016; where's the free beer?

its not that simple the lots more outlay upfront and balooning...

lemas

MidlandsM wrote: »

its not that simple the lots more outlay upfront and balooning...

Ah come on, live a little! You can have a 4WD for <20k in band B tax (225) and 50MPG, you'll save a few quid on the juice. Unless your looking for a new mini?

Leonard Hofstadter

Jaysus lads, a lot of people being VERY enthusiastic about what is a thoroughly unsophisticated and unremarkable vehicle. It's the new poverty spec Toyota if you will. I wonder why there is so much promotion of the anti-car person's ideal car on a site which is supposed to be about liking cars?

dr.fuzzenstein

captainspeed wrote: »

Jaysus lads, a lot of people being VERY enthusiastic about what is a thoroughly unsophisticated and unremarkable vehicle. It's the new poverty spec Toyota if you will. I wonder why there is so much promotion of the anti-car person's ideal car on a site which is supposed to be about liking cars?

It doesn't always have to be gold-plated Lamborghinis with jet engines.:D

cabb8ge

New car on driveway for low price, fantastic idea ??, after one year owner see cheap and nasty car on drive one year old, not good idea than. I see mention of badge snobb in posts here, Duster only appeal to people wanting new car, that another type of snobb.

HJL

Cosmo K wrote: »

The Dacia Duster.....it's the thinking man's Octavia........

Or the guy who drives an Octavia, and one day decides to go out and buy something mad . . . but not quite as mad as a vRS.

repsol

cabb8ge wrote: »

New car on driveway for low price, fantastic idea ??, after one year owner see cheap and nasty car on drive one year old, not good idea than. I see mention of badge snobb in posts here, Duster only appeal to people wanting new car, that another type of snobb.

Wanting a quality brand of car does not make you a snob! I cannot for the life of me see why anyone would want to buy a Dacia.Saying its got Renault bits does nothing to help its case either.I had the misfortune recently to have to drive a brand new MG in the UK.It was a hire car and the Ford I had ordered was unavailable.It was like driving a 25 year old Opel Ascona! S**t doesn't even come close.The fact that it had 5 miles on the speedo when I collected it was little consolation as was "the new reg".All these cheap cars are crap. If your budget will not stretch to a decent brand new car, buy a 12 month old one.Any saving will be eliminated by shocking residual value.

lemas

repsol wrote: »

Wanting a quality brand of car does not make you a snob! I cannot for the life of me see why anyone would want to buy a Dacia.Saying its got Renault bits does nothing to help its case either.I had the misfortune recently to have to drive a brand new MG in the UK.It was a hire car and the Ford I had ordered was unavailable.It was like driving a 25 year old Opel Ascona! S**t doesn't even come close.The fact that it had 5 miles on the speedo when I collected it was little consolation as was "the new reg".All these cheap cars are crap. If your budget will not stretch to a decent brand new car, buy a 12 month old one.Any saving will be eliminated by shocking residual value.

Can't agree with you. The difference between a similarly specked competitor for the 4WD version could easily mean spending 50% more (~10K). Is the intrinsic value of the perceived quality brand really worth that? I think the big brands have been taking the piss for years in this country. At that price is depreciation/residual value somewhat negated if the car gets the family from A to B relatively cheaply. The "bits" in this car run in other brands like Nissan. The alliance between the two manufacturers Renault and Nissan that is, espouses engine/gearbox reliability as one of their core competencies. As regards the poor MG, calling it an Ascona is very poor form, the Rothmans Ascona was a class rally car Anyway, I don't see the point in your comparison given your sample size of one MG; haven't a number of people on this thread driven the Duster and said it was surprisingly good? There are a fair number of reviews out there that on average give it a 3 out of 5 star rating. That's not bad, it's statistically above average and for the money which is rock bottom does that not imply value?

lemas

OSI wrote: »

Bahahahahaha! Live a little? By buying the cheapest tat I can find? I wonder do all these people buying Dusters also live in Portacabins? I mean, why buy proper house with decent materials and the conveniences of a modern home, when you could have a brand new portacabin for half the price!? Sure what's the difference, it's still somewhere to live right?

No thanks. I don't pick the cheapest house my bed will fit into. I don't pick the first girl in the bar that looks capable of bearing children. I don't buy the cheapest TV that lets me watch RTE, and I certainly don't buy the cheapest car that will fit mine, and my family's posteriors into.

That's a strong personal view you have and indeed an interesting metaphor. A lot of folks in France and Germany would disagree and actually bought that 'cheapest tat'. Even in 2012 Ireland the value of building materials have a minimal influence on the price of houses, location is still the big factor, that's like a badge isn't it?

delthedriver

MidlandsM wrote: »

Can I just say, I hope they are a BLINDING little SUV, and reliable for all who ordered one, and are considering them.....because if they are, I'll get a few out of the uk, and flog them here for a killing! lol

Nice thinking ! People will only pay what they are worth. Where is the killing to be made?
Why would anyone buy a secondhand imported Duster for almost the same price as a new one?Don't expect their residuals to collapse in year 1, supplies will be slow enough coming here, French an Spanish market demand is even larger than ROI
Are we missing something.?
I have been happy to wait until January for the arrival of 2 Dusters

MidlandsM

delthedriver wrote: »

Nice thinking ! People will only pay what they are worth. Where is the killing to be made?
Why would anyone buy a secondhand imported Duster for almost the same price as a new one?Don't expect their residuals to collapse in year 1, supplies will be slow enough coming here, French an Spanish market demand is even larger than ROI
Are we missing something.?
I have been happy to wait until January for the arrival of 2 Dusters

well, if they are so scarce, and the need is there, I'll fill it........

delthedriver

MidlandsM wrote: »

well, if they are so scarce, and the need is there, I'll fill it........

Good on you friend.
I admire your enterprising thinking.
God knows we need more enterprise in this country of ours.
Best wishes,

Padraig Mor

MidlandsM wrote: »

well, if they are so scarce, and the need is there, I'll fill it........

They're cheaper in Ireland than the UK......

MidlandsM

Padraig Mor wrote: »

They're cheaper in Ireland than the UK......

in a year or 2, they'll be worth fcuk all in the uk, thats when i'd bay, not new.....



anyways, I'm tottling around in a fluence today with this world famous trouble free well proven 1.5 dci engine..........

.....what a guttless gruff unit ............. Ughhhhhhhhh ........

dr.fuzzenstein

OSI wrote: »

Bahahahahaha! Live a little? By buying the cheapest tat I can find? I wonder do all these people buying Dusters also live in Portacabins? I mean, why buy proper house with decent materials and the conveniences of a modern home, when you could have a brand new portacabin for half the price!? Sure what's the difference, it's still somewhere to live right?

No thanks. I don't pick the cheapest house my bed will fit into. I don't pick the first girl in the bar that looks capable of bearing children. I don't buy the cheapest TV that lets me watch RTE, and I certainly don't buy the cheapest car that will fit mine, and my family's posteriors into.

What you hear a lot in this country is "I don't "do" Lidl, Aldi, Ryanair, Dacia, etc... because it's cheap"
It's simply idiotic snobbery to dismiss a product on price alone.
To me the spiritual predecessor of the Dacia is the Lada Niva, it was the cheapest, nastiest Russian offroader money could buy, but the Germans bought it in their droves.
Same goes for the Duster, Germans will like it because if it's cheap and any good, they will buy it.
You say people who buy something because it's cheap are idiots, I say people who won't buy something because it's cheap and for no other reason are retarded snobs.
It's simply a hangover form the Celtic Tiger era and will soon die out as people realise that E60k wages and buying a brand new 520d every three years are as extinct as the FF bribery tent at the Galway races.