[ampere]

I think its also the time where they beef up equipment levels of the base diesel. Esp making ABS standard across variants would be a welcome change.

[thalavoy]

Originally Posted by acroback

First things first :-
Just returned from a 800 Km long weekend trip to Wayanad ( amazing place BTW).
+ Ride quality was good.
+ No fatigue at all, I was the single driver.
+ impressive mileage of 19kmpl over this 800 Kms(includes ghats, climbs, city traffic, highways etc )
+ very good breaking control at high speeds. Stopped within ~2 secs from 90 kmph to 0kmph (thanks to a handicapped dog on Mysore's ring road).
+ Torque is great for ghats, you can do most of the terrain in 3rd and 4th gear. Rarely needed 2nd gear, 1st only once.

- It sucks to drive in rainy season, somehow all the mud is splashed on the car. Perhaps side effect of wider tyres.
- Annoying bluetooth gave headaches.
- Wind noise at 100 kmph is prominent.

Second service experience :-
The car returned from 2nd service before the trip.

Some points everyone should make note of :-
- Renault Whitefield people tried to scam me, by charging me for oil filter which they never changed. And they flatly refused to accept their mistake. I have the old filter for proof though. How did I find that out? Simple, like most of the new car parts filters too have QC checks marked via colors. They were intact when I asked them to show me what they changed. This meant, they never changed it in the first place.
- Car returned with 3 minor scratches on the bonnet.
- Engine bay was not even dusted with high pressure air (or with a cloth) because I refused 3M's coating for engine. It was filled with dust on delivery. Despite me pointing it out, Whitefield renault employees just turned their face around and did nothing.
- As expected, car was cleaned at the last time and I was still able to find some junk when I looked under seats.
- Somehow car managed to run 34 Kms during servicing. Either they are testing duster to make sure customer is happy or used it as a test mule. Not sure what it can be.
- They charged for removal of rear bumper for painting (left rear side was scratched ) but did not fix the wireless sensors properly while fixing it back. Reason, "Saar, bumper need to be opened again to do that, so we will not do it. Plus it is working fine saar".

I do not know who is responsible for this? The service Manager just gave orders from his cozy cabin to his crew and never showed his smug face to me. I asked to be taken to his cabin so that I can talk to him. I gave him a feedback, and he was smug about it. "Yes yes we agree it is mistake but we did not do it on purpose, so not our fault".

In short, he did not care about my ramblings.

How I feel? Annoyed, I get a Car which costs like 13+ Lacs in Bangalore and I am being treated like a moron. It felt like talking to a wall.

Once my warranty is over, I will avoid going back to these people again unless something critical needs to replaced. I would do all oil changes myself, but then warranty period stops me from doing it.

Please do send a mail to customer care @ Renault.
After my 2nd service, I was still getting engine (extra) sound @ 1500 RPM.
After complaining to the service station, nothing happened.
I then sent an email to Renault customer care. I got a call immediately from Renault. I explained them the problem. The following work day, I got a call from senior technician from the service station. I told that person I will bring the car 2 or 3 days later. But he insisted on seeing the problem that day itself, came to my office with another technician. The problem was fixed immediately.
So, complaining works. Please send a mail to Renault. Make sure you send it once or twice and put copies to top management addresses. It worked for me.

[TheTeacher]

Your experience makes me pause now; Duster is (was?) on my shortlist. Despite competition increasing (Ecosport), Renault dealers are still behaving arrogantly?

Which Duster do you have, acroback? The 85ps or 110ps?

Thanks.

[acroback]

Originally Posted by TheTeacher

Your experience makes me pause now; Duster is (was?) on my shortlist. Despite competition increasing (Ecosport), Renault dealers are still behaving arrogantly?

Which Duster do you have, acroback? The 85ps or 110ps?

Thanks.

I have a 85 PS RxL (O).
But Car is just fine with some niggles.
Unfortunately, the attitude of dealership and service department is appalling to say the least.

But, what can I do? Renault does not even have any other service center in Bangalore. Monopoly is ruining the Duster experience for customers like me.

[shabash]

Had a quick question to Duster owners who have the OEM Sat Nav system. Have anyone upgraded the maps on the same? If so how did you do it? My maps seems to be out of date. Compared to my Map my India GPS this is prehistoric.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

[volkman10]

Duster accounted for 4,523 units,of sales for Renault in June.
There could be a dip in sales due to the initial eurhoria of Eco sport.

Cheers!

[sumeshmani]

Originally Posted by shabash

Had a quick question to Duster owners who have the OEM Sat Nav system. Have anyone upgraded the maps on the same? If so how did you do it? My maps seems to be out of date. Compared to my Map my India GPS this is prehistoric.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions

I did try to check this. The Renault site said it will cost more that 6K (119USD) for the map update.
It was not clear if the 6k was for only the map-updates or for a new system.
I could not get more info and was planing to check with the service/sales people during my next visit.
Please do let me know if you get more info. I too find the map a little old. I am not able to add many destinations.

https://renault.naviextras.com/shop/...kageCode=61395

[Oreen]

Well I was gunning for the 85 Duster and also waiting for the Ecosport to arrive and arrive it did with a lot of hoopla. I went and test drove it. While I had instantly fallen in love with its looks (tail-gate mounted spare wheel, futuristic interiors) and the price, test driving the two back-to-back made me go for the Duster. These are the things that made me decide in favor of the Duster:

Ride and handling better than the Ecosport. My personal feeling.
Suspension is decidedly better than the Ecosport. Whereas in the Ecosport I could feel the judder of high-speed-crossing-of-a-hump right on to the steering, the Duster sailed over a similar one without any fuss.

Driving an Ecosport after having driven a Bolero made me feel like am in a really small car. The lack of visibility due to the A-pillar can't be ignored. It isn't confidence-inspiring at all. But driving a Duster after a Bolero made me grin from ear to ear. It is not much smaller and there's excellent visibility. Turning radius is SO much better than that of a Bolero.

The rear seat of an Ecosport was thumbed down by three of my generously endowed co-test-drivers (including my wife). They could easily fit into a Duster rear seat without much ado.

Yes, the Ecosport is offering a bang for your buck. The loaded Titanium diesel is available for 10. 5 lakhs on road, which is the same price as the Duster 85 RXE, which has almost nothing to offer. It is hugely overpriced and expect Renault to offer huge discounts by the end of this year because they are already pretty shaken by the launch of the Ecosport. The behavior at the Renault Whitefield (Bangalore) dealership has changed almost overnight. They are ready to allow insurance from outside even.

Overall, for the kind of driving I will do (mostly city) and occasional highway, and being basically a Bolero driver who isn't used to ANY frills at all, this Duster 85 RXE is a huge improvement. Am sure I will never learn to use any of Ford's Microsoft features and voice controls.

ABS should have been good, but I am a confident driver and there are two schools of thought about ABS. (Okay, can't afford, so grapes are sour, one can say.)

Why the RXE instead of the 85 RXL (O)? Well, again, economics. It is a whopping 3 lakhs more for ALMOST EVERYTHING that I wouldn't need. I will get alloys, ICE, and seat covers done from outside and also change to Yokohama Geolander A/T tyres if I can afford to.

So there you go. Booked a Woodland Brown 85 RXE at Renault Whitefield today. Mods that am fantasizing about (but will not go for for practical reasons):

Roof lights
Spare wheel on the rear door
Upsize Maxxis M/T tyres

Am I missing not having bought the Ecosport? Not really. Am smiling, kind of. 10.5 lakhs for a bare-bones sturdy car that's frugal on the highway and easy to drive in the city with my choice of ICE and seat covers. Reasonable buy. Now to look for a buyer for the Alto K10!!!

(Forgot to mention that GTO's review of the 85 really helped me decide. Thanks, GTO, that was a brilliant review.)

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Oreen

Why the RXE instead of the 85 RXL (O)? Well, again, economics. It is a whopping 3 lakhs more for ALMOST EVERYTHING that I wouldn't need. I will get alloys, ICE, and seat covers done from outside and also change to Yokohama Geolander A/T tyres if I can afford to.

I was thinking why not the RXL and why the RXE? The key component which I thought you should get in the RXL should be ABS. But looks like its not available. Its optional. So that way its a logical choice for RXE. Because rest aspects on the (O) pack over the RXL ares mainly features and and not any key essential part (apart from ABS/Airgags)

Surprisingly the 110 RXL has ABS!

[Oreen]

Yes, I would have loved to be able to afford the 110 RXL with ABS, which is 13.39 lakhs on road in Bangalore. But even that is nearly 3 lakhs more than what I am buying. I also have a bigger bike to buy, so spending all the moolah on the car will make my wait for a bigger-capacity bike only that much longer. But am still grinning. It's after almost 2.5 years that I am buying a new car. The Alto K10 (2.5 years) served me really well, but it was like a Scooty and I could never really fall in love with it. So that is going and the Bolero (10 years!!!) is staying. People are finding that strange, but the emotional attachment with the Bolero is more, inexplicable but true. Am sure I will fall in love with my Duster too and keep it for long.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Oreen

Yes, I would have loved to be able to afford the 110 RXL with ABS, which is 13.39 lakhs on road in Bangalore.

I meant the RXL 110 has ABS, but the RXL 85 does not. So from that point of view, it does not make sense to buy the RXL 85, but only the 85 RXL option. That way as per your need, your choice of RXE is apt. And surely 85 is way better than 110 to drive in the city. Only place where you feel it runs out of steam is open 4-lanes. Where three digits are easy for long stretches, but you can easily feel that the 85 lacks the grunt. But for sedate driviving, it is absolutely brilliant for highways. Zero fatigue and a true cruiser. The only fly in the ointment is the wind noise. If Renault can find some solution, that would be great.

[Oreen]

Originally Posted by ampere

The only fly in the ointment is the wind noise. If Renault can find some solution, that would be great.

I put Wurth body pads in my Bolero doors and engine compartment. This brought down all kinds of vibrations and outside noise considerably. The doors close with a good THWACK too. But the NVH levels of the Bolero was pretty good anyway. Now it is silent apart from the A/C fan noise. When you say wind noise, where does it enter from? Aren't the window glasses soundproof enough? If I find the wind noise too much, I might try putting Wurth body pads on the Duster too. For 8k (I think four sheets), they are really worth it. But not sure where the wind noise in a Duster comes from. Let's see.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Oreen

I put Wurth body pads in my Bolero doors and engine compartment. This brought down all kinds of vibrations and outside noise considerably. The doors close with a good THWACK too. But the NVH levels of the Bolero was pretty good anyway. Now it is silent apart from the A/C fan noise. When you say wind noise, where does it enter from? Aren't the window glasses soundproof enough? If I find the wind noise too much, I might try putting Wurth body pads on the Duster too. For 8k (I think four sheets), they are really worth it. But not sure where the wind noise in a Duster comes from. Let's see.

I really cannot figure out from where the noise enters. A video review said through roof rails! I cannot understand that. The NVH levels are pretty good. I got my doors damped (both inner and outer linings). However that does not solve the problem though. (Gives the door a heavy feel. Thats all).

[Tgo]

I got the wheel alignment done at 15300 km today and found out that the 5th wheel is not an alloy. Got duped here. I specifically remember being shown and told that the RXZ (O) 110 comes with alloy mounted spare wheel. I guess no one got it ever. Can someone comment on this?

Even to those who want to know how the vehicle would age.. all the four doors have started creaking and the rubber boot under the hand brake has fallen inside the console somewhere....

[ampere]

Originally Posted by Tgo

I got the wheel alignment done at 15300 km today and found out that the 5th wheel is not an alloy. Got duped here. I specifically remember being shown and told that the RXZ (O) 110 comes with alloy mounted spare wheel. I guess no one got it ever. Can someone comment on this?

I bought in the first lot. My fifth tyre is an alloy. I did check it out during PDI and confirmed. Looks like later on they cut that part too. Dont know where all they will cut corners.

Even to those who want to know how the vehicle would age.. all the four doors have started creaking and the rubber boot under the hand brake has fallen inside the console somewhere....

Mine is at the same odo reading 15k+. Feels fresh even today. Dont see anything amiss yet. But I did damp all the four doors (both inner and outer linings). Not sure if that is helping.