[xjosephjacob]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

At 90 kmph, the 85ps Duster just doesn't feel as comfortable as old gen swift D. As I am still in running in period, I didn't try to push it any further either.
Your inputs are reassuring as I would like to have a decent top end performance.
One thing I am sure - it cannot match old gen Swift D's highway performance.

If I remember correctly, I'd mentioned the same in one of my replies to you while you were looking for an upgrade. If the benchmark for your mid/top end grunt/ highway performance is Swift, Duster 85 is never going to bring a smile on your face.

Duster 85 is NO match for Swift. This is coming from someone who owns both, and have driven almost 20,000 km in Duster 85. It definitely is uncomfortable above 90-100 kmph; there are no two ways about it. And that awful wind noise dampens the whole experience. 1300 kg pulled by just 85 old school horses speaks it all !!

Solution- Keep the rpm in 1900-2100 range, and watch the FE stats shoot up to insane levels. Apart from city drivability, this must be one of the strong reasons why you chose 85 ps right.

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by xjosephjacob

If I remember correctly, I'd mentioned the same in one of my replies to you while you were looking for an upgrade. If the benchmark for your mid/top end grunt/ highway performance is Swift, Duster 85 is never going to bring a smile on your face.

Duster 85 is NO match for Swift. This is coming from someone who owns both, and have driven almost 20,000 km in Duster 85. It definitely is uncomfortable above 90-100 kmph; there are no two ways about it. And that awful wind noise dampens the whole experience. 1300 kg pulled by just 85 old school horses speaks it all !!

Solution- Keep the rpm in 1900-2100 range, and watch the FE stats shoot up to insane levels. Apart from city drivability, this must be one of the strong reasons why you chose 85 ps right.

I do remember your response

It was not an easy decision to let the Swift go and buy 85ps instead of 110. I had a budget of 12 L which is the absolute maximum I was ready to spend. With this budget I could have bought 110ps RxL but would miss out on Airbags and would be left with no funds for other upgrades like Alloys, Seat Covers, better speakers etc. With an average monthly running of 1400 kms, I would have to also spend around 1000-1200rs extra per month on fuel expenses due to lower FE of 110ps.

So with 85ps RXL Plus, I get:
1. All safety features
2. At only 11.2x L on-road, I save enough money for all upgrades and accessories
3. Lower monthly running cost - which will be considerable as I am planning to keep the car for next 7-8 yrs

I took a longer test drive of 110ps during the decision making process and found the 6th gear to be virtually useless in Kerala roads and my usage pattern. With all other factors same, It was a head vs. heart decision and in the end practicality won!

[amit1234singla]

A quick question to duster owners, when you bought it new, how many km's did it take for engine oil to turn black (roughly, for a diesel one)?

The reason I ask is, my 2.5 month old 110 RxZ has just completed 6,500km's and engine oil color is still clear like when it was new (well almost like new). Having owned and used two diesel cars for last 5 years for over 2 lac km's, I find this very very unusual. Even for a new diesel car, the oil color turns black in about 2-3k km's.

There does not seem to be anything wrong as such, no oil consumption, or low oil pressure light or black smoke or loss of pick-up etc. but engine oil color not turning black for a diesel car does not seem right. I am worried something may not be right.

[Esu Junior]

Originally Posted by amit1234singla

A quick question to duster owners, when you bought it new, how many km's did it take for engine oil to turn black (roughly, for a diesel one)?

The reason I ask is, my 2.5 month old 110 RxZ has just completed 6,500km's and engine oil color is still clear like when it was new (well almost like new). Having owned and used two diesel cars for last 5 years for over 2 lac km's, I find this very very unusual. Even for a new diesel car, the oil color turns black in about 2-3k km's.

There does not seem to be anything wrong as such, no oil consumption, or low oil pressure light or black smoke or loss of pick-up etc. but engine oil color not turning black for a diesel car does not seem right. I am worried something may not be right.

Hi amit
My 1.5 months old 110 RXL has clocked 4k.Oil is still clear.I have a figo tdci whose oil turned black within 500kms of running.Another gem of an engine is innova.Even after crossing 1k on odo oil never turns black.I think more black smoke,oil will also turn black.

[DieselLover]

3 weeks into ownership and today is a bad day in my life. Had the first major accident in 10+yrs of driving :(
I was returning to Ernakulam from Thrissur in the morning and somewhere near Aluva one of the cars in front apply sudden brake. The innova following that car also brake suddenly and stops without issues. I was behind the innova and also stopped on time. However, there was a Dzire behind me who was late to apply brake and slams into my Duster. The force of the impact was so great that the duster jumps and hit the Innova.
End Result:
Innova - damaged rear bumper and broken brake light assembly

Duster - Damaged bonnet (bent in an inverted U shape), broken front bumper, broken front grill, broken head light assembly (RHS), damaged front right fender, broken rear bumper, slightly bent rear hatch door. Apart from this the drivers door and rear left door also seems to be out of alignment.

Dzire - Front is completely smashed. Radiator assembly is broken. Coolant and Engine oil leaking all over the place.

The innova was a cabbie travelling to Kovalam and he wanted to leave quickly. It was anyway not his fault. Myself and Dzire guy reported the accident at the near by police station and applied for GD entry. We decided to claim insurance. We were both travelling with family/ kids and wanted to move on quickly.

My question to owners - Any idea what would be the expected charge and time to fix the damage at Renault A.S.S?. Apart from the body damage the car was driving well and couldn't notice any issues or warning lights. I have bumper to bumper insurance.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

My question to owners - Any idea what would be the expected charge and time to fix the damage at Renault A.S.S?. Apart from the body damage the car was driving well and couldn't notice any issues or warning lights. I have bumper to bumper insurance.

Thank the bumper to bumper insurance. The general price for repair work, for the Duster is extremely high. Thats what I have seen members mentioning here. Time to fix ? I have no idea.

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by ampere

Thank the bumper to bumper insurance. The general price for repair work, for the Duster is extremely high. Thats what I have seen members mentioning here. Time to fix ? I have no idea.

Yes. I have been searching internet and repair costs seems to be very high. Some say even the bumper cost 15k +

Thanking my stars for the the bumper to bumper insurance which was not really a planned decision. Hoping Renault would not take more than 2-3 weeks for repairs.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

Hoping Renault would not take more than 2-3 weeks for repairs.

The other thing I would suggest is to maintain is to maintain a good working relationship with the service centre. A week here or there still should be OK in terms of delivery compared to the quality of work you need. And the good relation ship, helps a long way, esp, if you have to deal with the guys long term. My experiences have been quite good on this front.

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by ampere

The other thing I would suggest is to maintain is to maintain a good working relationship with the service centre. A week here or there still should be OK in terms of delivery compared to the quality of work you need. And the good relation ship, helps a long way, esp, if you have to deal with the guys long term. My experiences have been quite good on this front.

Took the car to A.S.S today.

Total estimate for repairs - 1L + (approx)

Payable from my side - 1500-2000 (approx)

Estimated time - 1 month.

[BUXX]

^^ I expect this to be Renault's Achilles' Heel. Quoting one month for repair is just frigging too much- final time in body shop is likely to be longer. Pathetic !

[Neil Roy]

Originally Posted by DieselLover

3 weeks into ownership and today is a bad day in my life. Had the first major accident in 10+yrs of driving :(
.........

Duster - Damaged bonnet (bent in an inverted U shape), broken front bumper, broken front grill, broken head light assembly (RHS), damaged front right fender, broken rear bumper, slightly bent rear hatch door. Apart from this the drivers door and rear left door also seems to be out of alignment.

................

Hi,
At the outset, very sorry to hear about your accident and thank God your entire family is safe . That is one good thing going for the Duster.
My concern is the damage to the Duster. Any idea as to why the driver door and the diagonally opposite rear left door are misaligned after the accident? This may sound rude but pics will give us a better understanding. Unless the monocoque shell is warped due to impact(highy unlikely scenario) I cannot understand why this has happened.
Anyways, I have taken 100% depreciation insurance for my Duster for the last 2 years and loving the security blanket that it provides. The front grill assembly alone costs around Rs.25000/- so no surprises as to high estimate costs.Hope your Duster comes home as good as new very soon.

[DieselLover]

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

Hi,
At the outset, very sorry to hear about your accident and thank God your entire family is safe . That is one good thing going for the Duster.
My concern is the damage to the Duster. Any idea as to why the driver door and the diagonally opposite rear left door are misaligned after the accident? This may sound rude but pics will give us a better understanding. Unless the monocoque shell is warped due to impact(highy unlikely scenario) I cannot understand why this has happened.
Anyways, I have taken 100% depreciation insurance for my Duster for the last 2 years and loving the security blanket that it provides. The front grill assembly alone costs around Rs.25000/- so no surprises as to high estimate costs.Hope your Duster comes home as good as new very soon.

Thanks Neil. The impact was diagonal - the front right side of the duster hit the Innova and the Dzire hit me on the rear left side. The driver door misalignment was due to the right fender moving slightly backwards due to the impact. There are no issues with left rear door. I got it checked today at the dealership and it seems to be working fine now. The rear hatch door is bent slightly and is not closing properly. I have frontal pic which will be uploaded soon.
The costs are simply too high and even a minor body work could easily cost 5 digit figures. I would highly advice any prospective buyers to get Zero dip insurance for this car. Saw one less than 3 month old duster at dealership which was declared total loss :(

[kaustuv123]

The 2nd service (10,000 Km) has been done last week. The details for the same are provided below.
1) Engine oil has been replaced with Synthetic oil: Elf Evolution SXR 5W40 (Total Cost Rs 3711.75. The per liter rate is Rs 742.35 and the tax amount is Rs 538.20).
2) Air Filter has been replaced (Cost for the same is Rs 719.04 including tax of Rs 35.95).
3) Oil filter has been replaced (Cost for the same is Rs 515.23 including tax of Rs 25.76).
4) Clutch pedal has been replaced under warranty (Cost of the same is Rs 1588.57. However, I didn't have to pay anything as this has been done under warranty). The clutch has become much lighter now.

[::CMS::]

Originally Posted by kaustuv123

Clutch pedal has been replaced

Why did they replace the clutch pedal?

Originally Posted by Neil Roy

The front grill assembly alone costs around Rs.25000/- .

Not only that, there is a frame on which the grill is fixed, it costs 18K. So all together ~43K just for the grill assembly, a sure candidate on a front impact along with the bumper.

[HillMan]

Originally Posted by kaustuv123

4) Clutch pedal has been replaced under warranty (Cost of the same is Rs 1588.57. However, I didn't have to pay anything as this has been done under warranty). The clutch has become much lighter now.

Is this for 110ps Duster?
I know they replace the clutch pedal assembly which has additional spring to counter the clutch heaviness to make it feel lighter.