[woodcrawler]

Originally Posted by Dr.Nishath

Was gonna book this car this week , but now the fact that it isnt abuse friendly with such parts and the rattling seems to be overshadowing the pros that include great driveability and a suv for 13 lakhs (the 85 rxl with option pack model ) in bangalore. So do all of you people here who have had experiences with this car feel i should go ahead and book it or go for an alternative?

Originally Posted by //M

I have been waiting to buy the Duster for quite some time now. Finally decided to book the 85 PS (O) but all these stories about the rattles and squeaks are not convincing. Now I am clueless and back to square one. I really love the Duster as a vehicle but all this issues plus no dealer in my city are forcing me to look elsewhere (read Ford EcoSport). Still in a state of dilemma whether to go ahead with the Duster or wait for the EcoSport.

Originally Posted by BUXX

I face the same "issue" and it has also been highlighted in the official review as well, I think.

The steering does has a pretty violent throwback in the opposite direction to the turn/curve and you have to be conscious of that fact when taking curves or flyover loops.
........
Another of the Duster's quirks. and very unnerving.

I have had the pleasure and then the frustration of owning a Duster RxL(O) from the 1st of November. Of the 60 odd days the car was in my ownership it has been in the service center for some 12 days (I will tell you why shortly).

It is a lovely car to drive and I have driven it in places where there have been no roads. It has come out unscathed so far. I'm yet to come across any rattles in my car yet and I hope I never will. I did find my fuel gauge getting stuck initially and I've sorted out the issue now. Though the manual says that the fuel tank capacity is 50 liters it can hold almost 65 liters. I have this habit of filling up my tank till the brim and the float was getting stuck. According to the service guys it is better to take out the key while filling. You can check if the tank is full by switching on the ignition once the auto-cutoff in the fuel dispenser cuts the first time. After that you can fill up a couple of liters and stop.

I have had the experience that BUXX mentioned; the steering going one way when it hits some uneven strip on the road. I think that isn't such a serious problem if you keep to your speed limits, especially on curves. I have had similar experiences on my father-in-law's Gypsy, when driving around his coffee plantation.

One of my major problems has been water leakage into the passenger compartment (see a separate thread here). That is the reason my car has spent 12 days out of 67 in the service center. Hopefully, it will be sorted out this week.

Over all, it is a pleasure to drive. If you are looking for a car that drives like a sedan on the highway and also do an occasional trip off road, the Duster is not a bad choice. If you are looking for something a 20+ lakh SUV will give, or for 7-seater look elsewhere.

Renault's response system to customer complaints is a rather frustrating affair. I got them to respond after sending a mail on Renault's international portal. This, after mailing Renault India many times, and posting on their FB & Twitter page

I believe all new cars have teething troubles in India because they take us for granted. Renault launched the Duster with much fanfare but their after sales is not up to it yet. I'm sure they will improve over the next few months.

I'd suggest you wait till March or later to make a decision

Regards,

Rajesh

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by Schoudhury

Is a 4X4 in the pipeline for Indian Customers by any chance.
The reason why i ask is this

"Car & Bike Show on NDTV
How much should the Renault Duster 4X4 be priced at? SVP"

Cheers

Yes, to counter Ecosport. Expected launch time Mar-Apr 2013 as per some reports I read.

[narayan]

How will the 4X4 counter the Ecosport ? Isn't the Ecosport going to be priced lower than the Duster anyways ?

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by narayan

How will the 4X4 counter the Ecosport ? Isn't the Ecosport going to be priced lower than the Duster anyways ?

Great question!

I think it's just an additional version that will merely broaden the variant-list and give the consumer more options to choose from, from the Duster portfolio. I believe they may introduce new colours too? There is a picture of the UK-spec Dusters and some of them were in colours that aren't available here so I'm speculating based on that picture. I'm not sure.

[nitinr30]

A collegue of mine got a petrol duster last week. A friend of his had booked it but didn't want to take the delivery soon, so he took it in his behalf. (And I read somwhere here that customer name was attached to vin no from the factory itself,so no such swap was possible, isn't it?). More so, he even got the color changed by paying additionsl 15k to the SA. It certainly has good looks and smooth ride, though interiors felt cheap. The boot is huugeeee. He had infact put it a soft mattress and his family of 6 did a long drive with youngest kid easily sleeping in the boot. During our carpool, I crazily thought to slip in the boot-bed and did a 13km ride back home. Wasn't that bad I say. Btw, I'm 5'8 and not too short/thin. If I decide to go for it over Ford Ecosport, it will surely be the boot space. Will be riding it in next few days and get a better feel of ride quality.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by narayan

How will the 4X4 counter the Ecosport ? Isn't the Ecosport going to be priced lower than the Duster anyways ?

Not technically. Its all about bringing some hype & (try to) take the lime light. This strategy shows Renault is quite worried about Ecosport launch. I believe they have priced themselves away from Ecosport (unless Ford really screws up pricing) and the 4x4 may not make much sense.

But 4x4 might tempt some Ecosport customers to buy Duster as that will be another USP for Duster.

[AWD]

Im pretty much at the brink of cancelling my ~2 months old Duster booking. As it turns out, Renault has lots of ground work to do yet. The vehicle has to improve & so does the spares availability & service options.

To top it all, the initial euphoria is over & Im no more bowled over by the vehicle. Its just another car now!

Im also appealing to Renault to offer ABS in lower variants too.

[Dr.Abhi]

Originally Posted by nitinr30

A collegue of mine got a petrol duster last week. family of 6 did a long drive with youngest kid easily sleeping in the boot. .

I didnt get you exactly, I mean really the 6 year old kid sleeping in the boot while travelling
Was the parcel tray removed?
Was he/she lying unattended while travelling?

[nitinr30]

Originally Posted by Dr.Abhi

I didnt get you exactly, I mean really the 6 year old kid sleeping in the boot while travelling
Was the parcel tray removed?
Was he/she lying unattended while travelling?

Not sleeping literally, I mean lying around and reading comics. And my bad, the kid is 9yr old. Point was that the boot is huge and even I could fit it easily.

[Dr.Nishath]

Originally Posted by narayan

How will the 4X4 counter the Ecosport ? Isn't the Ecosport going to be priced lower than the Duster anyways ?

went for a second TD at the trident renault in bangalore...i've been following the duster for long and in spite of the few niggles,i am finding it difficult to peel myself away from it.had a chat with a friendly sales rep and found out that the january price revision will make the rxl{o} 85 costlier by another 25 grand atleast..he also said that another revision at the centre in april will make diesel cars across all brands dearer by a lakh...any truth to this??

now the waiting period for the rxlO 85 is 3-4 months long and with the price revisions the duster slowly slipping away from my budget!

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Spotted the 4*4 on test today. Assuming its the 4*4 only due to the masking on the right side below the rear windshield.

Few obervations.

1. Top of the line model. Had reverse parking sensors, reversing camera, chrome door handles, body colour with black mirrors (Not silver), alloy wheels etc.

2. Tyres somehow look different than the normal variant. Could not note down the specifications.

3. Could not get a look at the interiors, though i spot something above the IRVM. Could not understand what it is though. Something black, clearly above the IRVM and the internal map lights.

Sorry for the hazy pic. Mobile camera at night.

[.anshuman]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

Spotted the 4*4 on test today. Assuming its the 4*4 only due to the masking on the right side below the rear windshield.

I doubt if it is 4wd, i guess that is torsion beam rear suspension in the picture, 4wd comes with independent rear suspension with 2 prominent rear suspension arms to accomodate the rear differential.

[raul]

Duster onces again comes tops - this is the second roundup done by bsmotoring, this time including Storme.

While one might ordinarily be happy, given Renault's trigger happy ways, hope this is not one more reason to tinker with the prices.

[woodcrawler]

Originally Posted by AWD

Im pretty much at the brink of cancelling my ~2 months old Duster booking. As it turns out, Renault has lots of ground work to do yet. The vehicle has to improve & so does the spares availability & service options.

To top it all, the initial euphoria is over & Im no more bowled over by the vehicle. Its just another car now!

I'm also appealing to Renault to offer ABS in lower variants too.

I don't think you should be giving up on the Duster just yet AWD. All companies have teething troubles. I agree their service setup and back up systems are below par but they should improve over the next few months.

I have had my Duster in the garage for 12 days now out of the 70 days I've owned it. Mainly due to the Niagara like water leak into the passenger compartment. They have taken a month to respond properly but they did respond. I guess, in their rush to get the Duster on the road before the Ecosport they forgot to put systems into place correctly.

If I were you, I'd still go for the Duster. It drives like no other car . If you have the patience Renault will catch up sooner than later. I'm sure they are getting a lot of knocks from all over to pull up their socks.

Happy New Year bro......and Happy Driving

[suchit23]

This is some interesting stats from Brazil. http://autos.maxabout.com/cars/news/...ster-in-brazil