Team-BHP - Renault Duster : Official Review

Quote:

Originally Posted by snkjr (Post 2978669)

I have crossed 2100 km in about a fortnight now. Have the following to report: -

1. I'm consistently getting ~20 km-pl, however please note that about 1800 km have been on the highway. Also, AC/heater has been on almost 98% of the time. Also see my point about tire pressure below.

3. Turning the AC off after it has been running continuously and keeping the air blowers on, there is a really foul stench resembling smelly socks coming from the blowers. I gotta get to the bottom of this as it's really unpleasant and has never happened on my previous vehicles.

4. I am yet to detect any evidence of outside odors creeping in. It hasn't happened to me and I have been through really filthy, dirty areas and certain stretches where the dust was so thick you couldn't see what's right in front of you during daytime.

6. I had the misfortune of meeting with an accident.

Sorry to hear about the accident. Not a nice thing to experience on a vehicle that is just out of the showroom but that is the condition of our traffic. Even I drive under 100 kph but still have idiots who fall on me. Unpleasant experience but we learn to live with it.

I have this problem of odour creeping in if the air circulation is set to 'outside air'. No problem with internal circulation. However, after a month of owning the car I hate getting into it in the morning now.

The reason; a wet dog smell from damp carpets. I thought it was the A/C leak but I found that the rear carpet area is also wet. Since there is a definite 'hump' under the front seats I can't figure out how the dampness got at the back. I'm trying to dry it out completely before testing for leaks when washing. I was thinking of a possibility of the door beadings being inadequate to prevent water seepage when using a high pressure wash system. It seems a lot of Duster owners have this problem that it requires a separate thread :Frustrati

Rajesh

Recently adopted an orphaned LPG Esteem along with driver. Since the car is giving up the ghost, I decided to upgrade, and practical hatches are giving way to desirable sedans and SUV's as probable choices, Sunny and Duster hoving into view.

Sedan
The ride is so good! The longer wheelbase makes so much difference

SUV
1. The potholes don't matter! Long wheelbase, large diameter tyres take care of that.

2. No sunburnt neck and shoulders!
The extended roof eliminates that! Carrying around extra seats is a price worth paying for the benefit.

Just ordered the entry level diesel Duster after reading official AND user reviews. It's a five seater, so less dead weight! Thanks, guys, for the education!

PS Delivery expected in 9 months. By that time, teething problems of bad sealing leading to water entering should be solved for this baby.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BUXX (Post 2980288)

Thats really cheap of Renault to remove the 5th alloy so clandestinely... I have a Sept fitted RxL(O) and the 5th is indeed an alloy...
How much could the damn thing have cost them.. 4-5k???

Look at it this way buddy. Lots of cars come with a steel-rim spare tyre. My Punto came like that. The French are an eccentric lot aren't they? They'd have packaged the first Dusters without realizing that they were sending them out with alloy spare wheels. Now that they have realized it, they are correcting their mistake!

Besides, when they have saved 4 alloy rims, they can roll out Dusters faster for those who have booked & have been waiting endlessly for models with alloys as option. lol:

Quote:

Originally Posted by engrohit (Post 2980546)

Also issues related to HU (FM reception & BT connectivity), door beading (hopefully) and external odour.

Am i asking too much? :Frustrati

I do not know what BT issue you people face. None of my contacts hear a echo from my side.

Phone connects fine (I have a Nexus One) and it works like a charm. I keep phone under the handbrake because it is not a huge phone.

One Observation.

On 27th September there was a news that Duster booking has crossed 18000. See the link below:

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/...cle3942633.ece

Since the launch in July, Duster deliveries are as below monthwise : July+Aug+Sept+Oct+Nov = 1194+3184+4211+5406+5251= 19246.

Also, considering 350 nos. or some more have been exported to UK as reported recently, Renault must have cleared all the booking that have been made till Sept arithmatically, barring few exception of certain versions like petrol etc which were introduced later or not yet introduced.

But what you actually see is that those who booked popular models 85PS RXL, RXL(O) also have not been delivered with the car.

This shows that there is something more that does not meet the eye. As many pointing out, 110 PS RXZ is the model available off-the shelf now. Why will a company overproduce a model that does not have any pending order when some other model has pending orders since 4 months?

Anyone has an answer?

RAMESH

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumeshmani (Post 2980762)

Wont it be a issue during wheel rotation if the spare has a steel rim instead of an alloy wheel?
Will sticking to just rotating 4 wheels be appropriate?

I think that will not be an issue if you get your balancing and alignment done when you go for rotation. They will have to take out the tires to put it inside out. I guess the spare wheel can be rotated with the rest at that time. Assuming that the new cars come with steel wheels that are fitted to the lower end models I guess it will not be a problem.

Seems logical but if the spare wheel is of a different size like in the Nano then it remains under the boot!

Rajesh

Quote:

Originally Posted by woodcrawler (Post 2980398)

Sorry to hear about the accident...

I have this problem of odour creeping in if the air circulation is set to 'outside air'. No problem with internal circulation...

I was thinking of a possibility of the door beadings being inadequate...

Quote:

Originally Posted by engrohit (Post 2980546)

Also issues related to HU (FM reception & BT connectivity), door beading (hopefully) and external odour.

@woodcrawler - thanks for your condolences :) . But seriously, I'm comfortable now that the accident has happened. The damage isn't too heavy either, so.

I would like to state again that I have yet to face any incident of external odors coming in. Hasn't happened to me yet - fingers crossed.

Also, my issue of foul smell from the AC vents is different from what others have reported.

Regarding the beadings - I think it's a non issue apart from the quality of the beadings provided on the body side. I may be wrong but does not even the Tata Safari lack beadings on the doors?

@engrohit - I would like to report that I have no issues at all with BT connectivity. The party at the end of the line hears me loud and clear, and they are loud and clear to me - no echos, no interference. I would suggest that anybody having issues with BT connectivity could maybe try with a different phone if only to eliminate doubts? I do not listen to FM radio much so won't be able to comment on that though.

So my Duster has the first scratch of infamous Bangalore traffic.

A joker temp traveller drive came diagonally near KR puram bridge from right most lane to left most lane, in the process brushing with me.

Luckily I was driving at around 5 kmph, so the damage is just a scratch. I do not know where the hell is lane discipline in this country. Why can't RTO have periodic road tests for drivers(Yellow plate drivers and private drivers too).

Now, how do I fix it? Can the magic rubbing compound people talk about fix the scratch. I guess scratch is more of white paint from traveller on my right hand side front door.

The scratch length is around 12 cm in length.

Any help?

Quote:

Originally Posted by acroback

Take it to a good paint shop. I guess a bit of rubbing compound will remove it. From your post, looks like the TT is the loser inspite of rubbing on to your car. :-D

Quote:

Originally Posted by acroback (Post 2981471)

Pradip

Just check whether scratch has taken off the paint or it has another layer of TempoTraveller's paint. If latter is the case, then I can help you. I've the compound which can remove such marks.

Regards

Rakesh