Team-BHP - Renault Duster : Official Review

Took another test drive of the Duster (110) today. Came away doubly impressed with the ride. This time I took it on the broken road followed by the highway. It sure feels planted - I was going at a fair clip, changing lanes.

However, the dealer today gave me a new price list. The ex-showroom prices he is showing now are about Rs. 12000/- higher for each variant! How is this possible? Can the dealer increase prices on his own? I didn't argue as anyway the price at time of delivery is valid. But can someone explain how to find out the real ex-showroom price? Is there any document I can demand to see? The Renault India website is still showing the old prices.

Oh, and by the way, I have already booked the 85PS base model ;) I know, I know, I have not seen or TD'd the variant yet. I know, I know, it lacks safety features. But there is no other offering that will take me on the broken roads I have to travel so often, plus my budget is limited. Well, I got the dealer to give me free mud flaps. He would definitely have agreed to more free accessories, but I was a fool not to pursue it further.

Quote:

Originally Posted by isldhn

Sir,where did you get this photograph from?? I got to know from the showroom staff that the interiors are grey black in colour instead of beige black as shown in this picture.

Where they are supposed to be.
From Renault India Website.
Same picture is in Duster brochure also.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkaile

As per Overdrive, Duster has crossed 10000 bookings. We Indians are a frenzied lot. Same thing was seen for the XUV before it fizzled out in favour of Duster. So Duster seems to be ruling the roost, till the next competitor (read Ford Ecosport, Chevrolet etc.) launches something in a couple of months.

Have to admit that the suv'ish car is a dapper. Saw a Mettalic Woodland Brown on the road recently and it just looked fab, much better than the Yeti in flesh.

I guess it is really tough for any company to beat reanult in duster range. If toyota comes with a vehicle in that range then it might be possible. Did some enquiry with some logan owners. All were very happy about the vehicles maintainance. Cars had run between 1 to 2.5 lakhs. Very reliable and reasonable to maintain. Duster must be little more to maintain.
renault now does 60% localisation and in future it is set to become 80%. So instead of decreasing the price, what if they include abs and airbags as standard. They have received so many bookings even though renault is not a popular brand in india. With more mouth to mouth good review about the brand after using it,will only increase. We can see the results in a year.

The renault showroom in chennai still say that they have not received the 85ps diesel for test drives. I dont know why it is taking so long. I am starting to think whether there are some issues with the cars which are being taken care of before they send out the vehicles. I don't see any other reason why this could happen. I just hope it doesn't have any serious issues like the XUV had.

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Originally Posted by Neil Roy (Post 2853548)

Iam hunting down my SA everyday to the point that he is starting to hide from me.
My bank is also asking me if I'm sure that the vehicle will be on road. What is Renault doing? Does anybody have any information? I'm yet to see any vehicles other that the demo vehicles on road. At least did anybody receive any allotment no. with VIN? Please share.

Hello Neil! Like you, I had also pre-booked my 85 RxL (O) on 20th June or so. On calling up the SM at Renault Mount Road last week, I was told my variant/colour (woodland brown) will be available for delivery somewhere between 13th and 17th August.

Hope this helps!

Quote:

Originally Posted by werfish (Post 2855228)

85 BHP vehicles are available in Bangalore for test drive,so would not be any problems with vehicles.moreover 85 and 110 BHP vehicles for delivery are already at the dealers yard.

Visited Renault Palace Orchard and had a test drive of 85Ps (RXL) and found that engine sound is almost not there. Just to re-confirm about this issue, I test drove 110 Ps also and both looked same in performance.

Further I checked with the SA and he told that Delivery was supposed to start from 28th July but now it has been postponed to 5th August.

To my surprise, he told that those who booked in January-February will get delivery is first lot. When I put a counter question as to how Renault booked vehicles in January-February and to this he was not having any answers and according to him, those who booked in July will get their vehicle in December or January next year.:Frustrati

Just a couple of interesting points -
1. Check out these scanned pics from the Duster review in Hindu's Smart Buy of 25th July - the 4x2 RXZ version Duster has the front bull-bars, additional fog-lamps and and those side attachments. The reviewer has not commented on these and he appeared unaware that is perhaps the first pic of an Indian Duster with these accessories.

2. Check out the Safety section on this spec sheet released earlier and uploaded on Team-BHP. It appears that the RXZ earlier was supposed to have had impact-sensing door unlock. That feature is now missing from the latest spec sheets! Clerical error by the marketing team or a deliberate cost-cutting measure?

To all our Team Bhpians in Chennai, this is exactly my situation. The dealers here are not very forthcoming here with any confirmed commitment.Dealer has been giving delivery commitment from July 15th, so I'm not taking anything for granted till I see the Vehicle in flesh. In fact my Father is telling that because it is the month of "AADI", which is considered to be an inauspicious month in the Tamil Calender, Renault is holding delivery till August 15th.One of the many theories to rationalise this behaviour from Renault.
Duster 85BHP Demo not being made available to Chennai showroom is also inexplicable, when the same variant is available for all other parts of the country.
Another slightly disturbing thing to note is that ex-showroom prices in Bangalore, which is more than 400 Kms away from the Renault oragaddam plant is Rs.103369/- for 85 RXL(O), whereas the ex-showroom price for the same variant in Chennai which is just 50 Kms away from the plant and that too within the same state is 1016760/- Something just does not have the right ring to this present scenario. Wish someone would clarify.

I though with the plant being close to Chennai, it would be much more hassle free and clear on when the vehicle will be available for delivery. Contrary to that, this seems to be the place with the most confusion and uncertainty.Not sure if this is attributable to the dealer or manufacturer.

After reading posts from others in Chennai who have booked before me (i booked on July 5th), i have decided to tone down my expectations on delivery availability, gonna hang back until the SA calls.

Best'o Luck for all folks who are eagerly awaiting.

Separate note, Rigid Rotor's post of Hindu's review vehicle sporting bull bar, side step and cladding is really interesting. Wish these would be offered and made official on the website soon.

TD'ed the 85 PS duster yesterday in Bombay. Didnt find the cabin noise excessive at all. The engine felt excellent in normal traffic, you can stay in 3rd even at relatively low speeds. Was not able to take it to an open stretch, to see if the lack of sixth/additional 20-25hp hurt.

The interiors are slightly different from as the 110, you get the same piano black on the centre console, but a beige finish on the door panels. the missing rear AC makes leg room look even better at the back. fabric is the same.

The RXL(O) is 12.34 OTR in mumbai. Is definitely overpriced, but am going with it. It feels incredibly more planted than the scorpios/xuvs, and the higher ground clearance feels nicer than the suspension bottoming vento/city ride. 1-1.5lac cheaper would have been awesome.

I had made a deposit on the duster two month back, and will get priority, yet the sales exec was clear that deliveries were unlikely to pick up steam before mid-end august. he assured me there was no 'on' where higher paying customer will jump the queue.

The orange/brown colour seems most popular, red is nice could have been a little brighter. The white td vehicle looked really dirty, so am going with the silver colour. black looks mean, but will be too difficult to maintain.

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Originally Posted by micrographics (Post 2855424)

December will be too late. By then we will know more about Eco-sport , Mini xylo and Chevy's Compact SUVs.
I think lot of people will move on , if Eco-sport offers a better package in terms of engine performance and interior quality. Right now people are sticking on to Duster's ride quality , GC and Suspension superiority even though the price doesn't make much sense.

I waited for July since without doing a TD, booking didn't make much sense. It is disappointing if we need to wait until Dec/Jan . !!