[blackwasp]

The Renault Duster was launched back in 2012. It had the first-mover advantage among monocoque "car-like" SUVs and had quite a healthy run in India. Initially, only the manual diesel and petrol variants were launched. Over time, the automatic, diesel AWD and petrol CVT came in. As of today, the Duster gets just a 1.3L turbo petrol engine as the old Renault-Nissan 1.5L diesel isn't BS6 compliant. This means those wanting the diesels or ATs can get a good deal on pre-owned Dusters.

The Duster is nothing but a rebadged Dacia product that is sold internationally. The Dacia brand is synonymous with low cost cars that have simple, robust underpinnings. The Duster will please all and excite none. That said, the capable Duster AWD has an insane fan following and you'll see multiple travelogues as well as off-roading trips right here on Team-BHP itself.

Positives

• Robust, abuse-friendly build & construction
• Mind-blowing ride quality. Comfortable over any kind of road. Still the benchmark in this area
• A competent softroader. AWD system can take you places no 2WD can. 210 mm GC (FWD = 205 mm)
• 109 BHP turbo-diesel is fast as well as fuel-efficient. 84 BHP diesel offers excellent driveability
• Balanced handling & dynamics
• AMT variant is a convenient city commuter
• Safety kit includes dual airbags, ESP, ASR, ABS, EBD, BA, Hill Hold & understeer control
• Practical boot (475 - 1,064 liters of cargo capacity)

Negatives

• Felt old at launch and feels vintage today!
• Drab, outdated cabin. Interiors look cheap in many areas. Weird ergonomics too
• Many owners have reported niggles, while a few have suffered major problems too (e.g. injectors)
• AMT is jerky and suffers from slow gearshifts. Used Creta AT, in comparison, is butter smooth
• 1.6L petrol is unimpressive. Better to go for the 1.5L diesel
• Mediocre rear seat legroom. More like C1 segment sedans than C2 (has good width though)
• Poor NVH insulation. Engine, road & wind noise are prominent inside the cabin
• Renault's after-sales service quality is a hit or miss

Related Threads

• Official Review

• Samba's Duster AWD

• PapaBravo's trip to Sandakphu in a Duster AWD

• rohanak1's petrol Duster

• HillMan's 85 PS RXL

• suchit23's Duster RXL

• Neil Roy's red Duster 110 RxL

Mod Potential:

Average. We don't recommend getting much, except for good A/T tyres for the AWD, and a remap if you really want one. You might also want to spend some money and make the cabin a better place (plush seat covers, modern head-unit, good mats).


Source

Availability:

Good, as the Duster was a popular model, especially in the initial years. Lots of examples available across India.

Here are some examples on sale (2014 38,255 diesel MT, 2016 74,000 diesel AWD, 2016 20,010 km diesel AWD, 2017 21,000 km diesel AMT, 2017 24,000 petrol CVT).

Pictures of the 2016, 74,000 km done Duster AWD with an asking price of Rs. 6.25 lakh:

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Indian Car Scene. Thanks for sharing!

Voted yes, but only for the AWD version. If you have to drive on bad roads, mountain roads or tour India, there is no car like the Duster AWD. Big fan of its mechanical capability. Has niggles & a sad cabin, but I can live with that. With premium A/T tyres, the AWD is surprisingly capable! They reduced the turbo-lag when these came out, while the AWD's all-independent suspension further improves the S-Class matching ride comfort . Would get one and tour Maharashtra / India like PapaBravo does

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Voted no. Not a strong one, but not confident to say yes nevertheless.

We had window-shopped for it once in 2014 as one of the contenders - but was rejected by the family without even a TD - thanks to the spartan interiors for the price tag.

An AWD version with a sweet pricetag from the pre-owned market sure makes it a sweet deal, to fight against the family and get one - but I have heard quite a bit about the injector issue on the 110PS motor and how that can leave the owners stranded on trips - someone I know via a close friend was stranded in quite an unpleasant way as well.

Put both factors together - And I won't be confident enough to go ahead with the deal - unless a well maintained low mileage example comes up for a sweet price.

[libranof1987]

Voted No, unless you do drive a lot on bad roads, where this car shines.

I doubt any car, in this price range and some more, comes close to the Duster on ride comfort. The damn thing just glides over broken roads, even on stock tyres. And it is one of those cars that can actually seat three adults in the rear.

While one may overlook, albeit grudgingly, at how ridiculously outdated and dull the interiors are, the awful a/c is a complete downer. Heard the Duster also suffered from quick-to-wear-out brake pads (20k kms is the norm for even Manuals). Then, there's the state of Nissan/Renault in India.

[AirWind]

Voted No!

Having extensively driven my friends Fluence 1.5 DCi, I did check the Duster as a replacement for my mk1 Octavia in 2014, but one peek of the interior left me puking, it didn't feel worthy of 17L OTR (yes, that is Bangalore), I walked away without even a TD! I took a wise mans advise (Thanks to our mod @ajmat) and went ahead picked up a VW Jetta for slightly more and very happy with that decision!

It felt outdated at launch and it feels obsolete today!

[ramki.grandhi]

Voted NO!
For below reasons:
1) I'm into petrol cars, and duster's petrol engine isnt impressive
2) Interiors is a deal breaker. Especially the un-ergonomic steering controls, dash, steering, not even a single wow aspect in cabin. 6-7 lacs hyundai cars have better interiors.
3) Service isnt great in my area, they arent trained well.
4) Poor nvh levels.
5) Not sure about newer models, but old ones have very poor ncap ratings.

If renault launches duster with turbo petrol, i would give a benefit of doubt and do a test drive to decide, if i wanted one. But this is irrelevant to current thread.

[xjosephjacob]

Voted Yes for the AWD ! Though not a strong one considering the injector related issues in some of the 110 ps had with our desi-diesel. We've never had an injector failure, but there's one thing that we did- always filled up from the same company owned pump.

Cozy interiors of modern cars are inviting for sure, but taking someone from point A to point B in a magic carpet is something only the Duster AWD can do, and that's when you totally forget everything but the road and those brilliantly tuned abuse friendly mechanical's. The AWD has always been fun in the city as well with zero turbo-lag, sharp throttle response and those short 1-2-3 gears. Even after 1.3 lac kms of abuse on stock suspension, this thing is still our go to guy for family trips over the two pretty looking modern alternatives that we have in our garage. Dad and mom says, it's simply more comfortable.

[Iyencar]

Voted no because of the darned injectors. A used Xuv500 AWD is a more sensible beater over this.

[FunCar]

Well-written. A car that is sold more than 200,000 units in India cannot be ignored in the used car market. Moreover, way back in 2012, it was Duster that created a segment and a sensation! The so-called new compact SUVs (read Brezza, Venue and even Ecosport) are all a space compromise and just hatchbacks with increased ground clearance. Creta is a good package but overpriced. It is Duster that is the one to look for a great SUV at a greater price. I would prefer a Diesel manual AWD or a Petrol automatic (not more than 3 year old and not run more than 50K).

[PrideRed]

Well this is a bit of confusion. Duster is a great no-nonsense car. Very capable and 110PS is powerful as well. Downside however are reliability and A.S.S. I don't have a great experience with Renault service and they are pricey as well. That said an AWD Duster is actually a good replacement for Thar if you forego the road presence. If I find a low usage piece, I would probably pick it up.

[2000rpm]

Voted NO, because of the interiors.

Also, the prices these cars ask for in used car market are not really low. They dont make a value for money deal, if you factor in the after sales and reliability risks.

[bansal.sushant]

While I would like to own one, voted NO!

This does not seem like a good family car, so unless there is some major shift in requirements, I would not be going anywhere near this car.
I was scrolling the pictures attached and I was like "damn, this looks sexy", and then saw the interiors! They spell CHEAP and outdated. Cars 10 year old and <10L (when new) have better interiors.

This does seem fit for someone who drives a lot on bad roads or just covers great distances and only cares about utility.

Side note: How come most cars is this series are Diesel ones? (or at least the better variat is the Diesel one). Considering the 10 year ban in NCR, a Diesel car, more so used, does not make sense for any low running family.

[shobhit.shri]

I just wanted to say that I absolutely love the idea of this thread. Please do another one for Skoda Octavia.

I am on the sidelines on this one just because I am not comfortable driving an SUV, even a compact one, in the city.

[Sheel]

I like the Duster AWD for everything, I can live with the interiors too.

Deal-breakers are

- Not very efficient A/C.

- Constant worry of injectors packing up.

- Hard clutch [have driven the 6 speed 110PS Duster].

For all other things, Duster almost fits the bill, wish seats were a bit more supportive though. The Renault's ASC is another story.

[Nithesh_M]

If the Duster had the interiors from the Kicks atleast they would sway a lot of Creta customers towards them.