Team-BHP - Renault Duster : Official Review
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Quote:

Originally Posted by Nitinz (Post 2883710)
...RXL 110 PS Option Pack has ABS, Alloy Wheels, Airbags over the normal Variant.

It is basically same as RXL 85 PS Option Pack but with 110 PS Engine...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nitinz (Post 2884410)
...I was also in doubt but they have the variant offered in the price list . Tomorrow I would call Gurgaon Dealer to verify further.

I dont think the company offers anything called a 110 RXL(O). Should be a mistake by the dealer. Please check the attached screenshot. Also note that 110 RXL comes with ABS as standard, so how can some one add this to the optional pack again?! :Frustrati

Renault Duster : Official Review-duster.jpg

Quote:

Originally Posted by DRIVEN-TWEEL (Post 2882345)
Hi guys.

I had the ac leakage again on the driver side. This time it was not too much. Got it repaired. Last time they checked the drain pipe which was jammed under the body and now they fixed it by removing the dash. I got really upset. They told me it won't trouble again.


Hi DRIVEN-TWEEL,
Hope you can help me here. I too have a RXL 110 Duster and loving it. But, on the driver side floor mat,Iam noticing water traces just below the Rubber strip provided. So I was wondering if you too faced the same symptoms when you had seepage due to AC water. Iam also posting this issue publicly so that it will be useful to our other forum members as well. I am planning to give the vehicle to workshop only after your feedback as I trust our forum members' experience more than the service station's expertise:)

Renault India provides a toll-free number, an SMS code, and an email on its website under the "Contact Us" section. I have been seeking answers to a few of my queries and have a few complaints against my local dealer. Lately, my emails are going unanswered and the phone queries are meeting with the same template-produced answers.

In my last email I even stated that a non-response would result in my cancelling my Duster booking - this was met with a non-response! It's totally unbelievable and unacceptable in today's consumer centric market :mad:. I am seriously considering cancelling my booking now. No company should be allowed to be indifferent and apathetic to consumers and their concerns.

It's obvious they are no longer interested in selling me the car, I guess the initial rush about the Duster has gone to their head. Before I cancel my booking, I intend to ask someone higher up in the Renault India hierarchy why they are not interested in answering my queries and why they are not interested in selling me a Renault car.

However, the Renault India websites does provide any information about a way to escalate issues.
  1. Does anyone on the forum have an email or a phone number of someone in the sales or the customer services departments at Renault India? Or contact details of any person who can direct my query to the proper individual at Renault India?
  2. I think there should be a thread where members can post such contact information for not just Renault India, but all other vehicle manufacturers. Of course such information should not breach an individual's privacy, and should be their business information and not their personal information.
Regards, and thanks in anticipation of any information you may be able to provide.

Renault is becoming another Skoda. They are unable to scale for the volume of booking they are getting. I seriously doubt on their capability to handle periodic maintenance volumes or teething issues that may arise in a new product.

snkjr - If renault is not responding to your queries as potential customer how are they going to help you out in any issue you may face post purchase. Think about it.

Would like to add my small experience when I wanted more information regarding the much-awaited Duster, so much so that I wanted to book it at one stage:

1) Filling up the form on the website - no response. I filled up the forms three times, no reply ever.

2) I chanced upon the dealership one rainy morning and found the Duster there. It had arrived there just the evening earlier. Gave my number to the sales rep. She never called back.

3) I went there again and got a test drive of the 110 ps car after filling up a form declaring that I would pay for damages in case I damaged the car on the test drive. They are the only dealer who do it in Siliguri. No issue, even though the test drive is done on a route that is practically empty.

4) No call back after test drive. Not even one.

5) Then I called back telling them that I would want to test drive the 85 ps vehicle as soon as they had it in stock. One evening a gent called up saying that the 85 ps had arrived and he would give me a test drive the next day.

6) The next day when I went there, the 85ps specimen was there all right. But the sales rep told me no test drive. I told him of the call from the showroom; she said there must have been some confusion.

7) Meanwhile I test drove the Skoda Rapid, VW Vento, Honda City and Fiat Linea T-Jet. All of them were willing to give me a test drive, reach the TD vehicle to my door step. [VW actually let me drive a brand new vehicle (top model Pearl Blue or something they had), cause I liked it so much! I decided not to buy it; too bad for the guy who would buy it though.] The Tata-Fiat guy actually made me speak to the territorial sales manager and the production manager at Pune after the TD to ask any questions I had.

With such pre-sales "service," what should I be expecting post sales ? I stayed away from Renault. I had even got interested in the Fluence and was willing, at one stage, to stretch my budget for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil Roy (Post 2884574)
...But, on the driver side floor mat,Iam noticing water traces just below the Rubber strip provided. So I was wondering if you too faced the same symptoms when you had seepage due to AC water....

Could you post a pic of the interior you found the water trace? I am sure that would be much more helpful for others also to check whether they are experiencing any similar issues.

I think if Tata releases its Storme, some of the potential Duster buyers would end up buying (at least booking) it, as I keep hearing about unresponsive Renault dealer/manufacturer.
But for people looking for a small/compact SUV, no other vehicle in sight. Quanto? May be a segment lower, just looking at the price point.

Just now left my Duster at workshop for AC seepage problems. Thanks to DRIVEN-TWEELclap: for his sharing his similar experience which I escalated to Renault Khivraj. They have assured that they will get in touch with Renault Service at Calicut and try to adopt the same approach to my Duster. They also said that they will commence repairs only after getting prior permission from RENAULT India, which is re-assuring.Maybe Renault is trying to identify potential problem areas , which makes us early bird owners guinea pigs, I guess.
Iam attaching the pics for your reference.This is the right side floor mat below the steering wheel.
Renault Duster : Official Review-29082012019.jpg
With regards to the indifferent attitude shown by Renault and their dealers, the car as of now more than makes up for it and thankfully there is a sense of pride among the service personnel of Renault Khivraj, which is extremely re-assuring.I've already visited them thrice, and barring the first time when the service personnel could not solve a non-technical issue, I've had no issues with their commitment or intent to solve Customer issues. Workmanship, i can comment only after seeing how they solve this A/c complaint.Ownership review is on the way, once this AC issue is solved and I have already clocked 2200 kms and loving every centimetre of road covered and every second of time spent in/on/for Duster.
Personally,right from the time Renault announced their prices, I sensed that RENAULT is greedy, indifferent and callous to Indian market.If you read my all previous posts, even before the pricing was announced, you will clearly see through their attitude to INDIA.But, they do make pretty good reliable cars. Anyways Jill has to come tumbling down once the competition arrives. So, my personal opinion is that problem lies with the Manufacturer and not with the dealer. From what I've heard, Renault has the same attitude which they are dishing out to us to the Dealers and that is why the dealers are not able to commit to the customers.:Shockked:
As for all you guys who booked and mentioned that Renault has not called, they have not called me either. This is after being one of the first owners in Chennai and the first owner to go for 2000Km service and the first owner to have a burst wanderer tyre at 110Km/hr .

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil Roy (Post 2886115)
This is after being one of the first owners in Chennai and the first owner to go for 2000Km service and the first owner to have a burst wanderer tyre at 110Km/hr .

Burst tyre. Please elaborate on this. How it happened and how you reacted to the situation.

I don't think it is fair to blame Johy because he was offered a showroom vehicle to TD. It happens everywhere, and at least he has the honesty to accept it and feel bad about the practice in general.

What's with personal attacks, man?

Btw, I test drove the diesel 85 in Bangalore on Sunday and was very impressed with its linear torque delivery. I drove really slow in third gear and it still moved without any turbo lag. However, sudden acceleration in third gear is missing, although a quick downshift to second can again make the car pick up speed fast. In fact even in the XUV I found the same lack of power in third gear, so not holding this against the 85 Duster at all.

Given the 1.5 engine's superb longevity (Logans on the road), I want a black 85 Rxe as soon as I can sell off my Bolero. Let's hope the Mahindra service centers start accepting Dusters for service too lol:

Quote:

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

I dont think the company offers anything called a 110 RXL(O). Should be a mistake by the dealer. Please check the attached screenshot. Also note that 110 RXL comes with ABS as standard, so how can some one add this to the optional pack again?! :Frustrati

Hi

Company does offer 110 RXL (O) , I confirmed the same with Renault customer care, it is for the time being offered at select dealerships only.

dealer could have offered a customized solution but Airbags can only be factory fitted. Though Gurgaon Dealership was completely clueless. I was reassured by response from Customer care.

So finally I am going for it and should get the Gentle Beast by Sunday !!

Cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nitinz (Post 2887962)
Hi

Company does offer 110 RXL (O) , I confirmed the same with Renault customer care, it is for the time being offered at select dealerships only.

dealer could have offered a customized solution but Airbags can only be factory fitted. Though Gurgaon Dealership was completely clueless. I was reassured by response from Customer care.

So finally I am going for it and should get the Gentle Beast by Sunday !!

Cheers

I guess, There must be some mistake here :)

I don't think there is options pack in 110RXL, it is being offered with 85ps.

Waiting for your beast to come, Please post the pics of your duster as soon as you get one, Really wanted to see, If there is options pack being offered with 110RXl :)

Anyone here heard of it ?

Cheers,
Sameer

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nitinz

Hi

Company does offer 110 RXL (O) , I confirmed the same with Renault customer care, it is for the time being offered at select dealerships only.

dealer could have offered a customized solution but Airbags can only be factory fitted. Though Gurgaon Dealership was completely clueless. I was reassured by response from Customer care.

So finally I am going for it and should get the Gentle Beast by Sunday !!

Cheers

Hey nitinz,

The real test of the pudding is in the eating. So let's wait till you get your car. Not sure if you mentioned it before, what is the ex-showroom price quoted for this variant? By how much is it undercutting the RxZ variant of 110 Bhp?

Rxl 85 Bhp was 8.99
Rxl 85 Bhp O pack was 9.99
Rxl 110bhp was 9.99
Rxl 110 Bhp O pack ??
RxZ 110 Bhp was 10.xy

(all prices ex-showroom Delhi)

One reason I thought that the RXL 110 option pack was not offered was to ensure that RxZ 110 sells. Since most people were unhappy with the placement of the rear ac vents in the RxZ and the additional features that RxZ offers on top of RxL O would not make much sense to go for economically.

I am pretty sure people who have booked the Rxl O 85 bhp & who do a lot of highways would be keen to change their bookings if Rxl O 110 is made available at a lesser price.

Eagerly awaiting your finding and all the best for your delivery. Hope you have a great time!.

Regards,
Abhi

@ Nitinz,
Does this mean that 110 RXL(o) is just 110 RXZ minus the rear AC monstrosity? Boy, you are lucky. Do share the price difference.
@Oreen,
No offence to your Bolero, but please upgrade to 85 RXE as soon as possible. It is a far more safer vehicle.I had totalled a bolero and happy to come out alive and I can safely say that the Duster is a far more safer, predictable braking and maybe even rugged vehicle. Having clocked more than 2200 Kms on the Duster, I say, go for it.
@ HSR and maybe to even all other members on the forum,
My rear MRF wanderer just burst on its own when I was doing around 110-120Km/hr on the highway. All I could hear was the periodic soft thud somewhere in the rear.No weaving or out of control theatrics.In fact the speed itself did not drop drastically. I pulled over and only when I got out, I saw that I had a rear flat. That shows the Duster's stability at high speed rear tyre failure, and I am pretty impressed.The vehicle was loaded to it's maximum (5 adults + luggage).Still dont know how the Duster will behave in case of a front tyre blowout.
As far as the reason for tyre burst, MRF says it is stone impact. I dont really buy that story as Iam not convinced how I can have a inner wall stone impact on a rear tyre when going on a straight line at such high speeds. Does it mean that the stone disappeared on its own for the front tyre and reappeared for the rear tyre?
Anyways, now for the present. This is what happens when providence meets ingenuity or stupidity.Had to give the Duster to workshop for two days to check for AC seepage and I thought why allow that to go to waste and what came out was "India's first Dual Tone Duster" , customized by KHIVRAJ PEARL for yours truly . It did not come out as good as I thought but, it is still work in progress. So your thoughts.
Renault Duster : Official Review-picture-014.jpg

Renault Duster : Official Review-picture-015.jpg

Renault Duster : Official Review-picture-016.jpg
A request to all Duster owners, please check on your coir floor mat on the driver side for any signs of water sweat or seepage. It has happened to two of our forum members including me.
A huge thanks to KHIVRAJ PEARL service team for indulging all my whims and fancy patiently and pleasurably. As I said before, there is a huge sense of pride on their service approach to DUSTER. All my doubts about poor A.S.S have vanished into thin air.
Cheers

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neil Roy (Post 2888295)

Congratulations Neil on the new look for your Duster. Please share the cost details.
Has your dealer got hands on the accessories?


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