15-02-2014, 12:27 PM
Hi,
Thanks Gary. Yes if Dacia's didn't catch on in the UK and the marque disappeared then it wouldn't bode well for those who have bought them?
I can very well understand your views ed in buying one of these Dacia's and running it till it drops; they do come with the manufacturers warranty of 3 years which can be extended at little cost so if all you want is basic transport and cover lots of miles these cars are bang on.
Yesterday in order to avoid sunburn here in Yorkshire I spent a lot of time reading car reviews on the web covering both Dacia and Skoda cars.
I really did fancy buying a Dacia Duster at first but looking more deeply into these cars and reading the reviews I think it highly likely Bron and I will be buying the Skoda Fabia in August when our current Aygo reaches three years old.
Most of the Duster reviews were very good indeed but one or two gave the Duster the thumbs down. One guy running the basic petrol engined Duster complained that he could only achieve 20 mpg?
Thin paint was mentioned a few times leading to early rusting.
As a buyer looking at the Duster it does look exceptional value for money and given its size it is in basic model. If I like a white car then OK but because these are fully stripped out other colours will set me back around £495? All Dusters are not 4WD which surprised me; 4WD will add another couple of grand to the price?
Metallic paint and 4WD still only brings the Dusters price up to the Skoda Monte Carlo and on face value the Duster would appear better value?
In order to gain decent mpg the Duster would have to be a diesel model. Bron and I only travel 7,000 miler per year which throws up a major problem. The PARTICULATE FILTER. A modern diesel needs to cover long journeys in order to keep the particulate filter working correctly; short journeys destroy these filters by sooting them up.
I've just been browsing YouTube looking for particulate filter information and there are lots of videos on the subject. Apparently these particulate filters are monitored and once they start to soot up diesel is automatically injected into the filter and ignited the very high temperature achieved then burns the soot allowing the soot to be exhausted as ash which is much less harmful to the environment. So far the particulate filter then should be self cleaning and not a problem? However if I've got this right; un-burnt diesel can end up in the engines crankcase thereby diluting the lubricating oil and even worse the turbo could suffer very expensive damage? I'm not an expert on these matters only just trying to avoid an expensive mistake but I have heard of diesel engine particulate filters so thought I'd do a bit of research; here is a sample YouTube video which is of interest;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSPQ3Gktpl8
Another consideration for us is that a Duster would need to live on the driveway whereas the Skoda would squeeze into our garage; about a month ago I left the Aygo on our driveway thinking I'll turn the garage into my full time workshop but the following morning I spent quite a while scraping deep frost from it which I disliked immensely; that night I put the Aygo away again and it's seldom been frosty since then; just my luck but it brought it home to me that most winters living here have extended periods of frost; ice and snow; it just won't stop raining now so any car on our driveway would suffer this terrible weather.
Skoda are now very well regarded cars and the marque has been around forever. The Dacia is relatively new to our shores and any new car will possibly be OK at first but what happens when these reach three years old and get some mileage on them?
Perhaps Bron and I are missing out on a very good car in not buying a Duster but safer than sorry for us. We won't cry about buying a Skoda Monte Carlo because I believe the Skoda is going to be the better car choice for us; given our yearly mileage a diesel is unsuitable which is a pity otherwise a Duster could well have appeared on our driveway in August.
Kind regards, Col.
Thanks Gary. Yes if Dacia's didn't catch on in the UK and the marque disappeared then it wouldn't bode well for those who have bought them?
I can very well understand your views ed in buying one of these Dacia's and running it till it drops; they do come with the manufacturers warranty of 3 years which can be extended at little cost so if all you want is basic transport and cover lots of miles these cars are bang on.
Yesterday in order to avoid sunburn here in Yorkshire I spent a lot of time reading car reviews on the web covering both Dacia and Skoda cars.
I really did fancy buying a Dacia Duster at first but looking more deeply into these cars and reading the reviews I think it highly likely Bron and I will be buying the Skoda Fabia in August when our current Aygo reaches three years old.
Most of the Duster reviews were very good indeed but one or two gave the Duster the thumbs down. One guy running the basic petrol engined Duster complained that he could only achieve 20 mpg?
Thin paint was mentioned a few times leading to early rusting.
As a buyer looking at the Duster it does look exceptional value for money and given its size it is in basic model. If I like a white car then OK but because these are fully stripped out other colours will set me back around £495? All Dusters are not 4WD which surprised me; 4WD will add another couple of grand to the price?
Metallic paint and 4WD still only brings the Dusters price up to the Skoda Monte Carlo and on face value the Duster would appear better value?
In order to gain decent mpg the Duster would have to be a diesel model. Bron and I only travel 7,000 miler per year which throws up a major problem. The PARTICULATE FILTER. A modern diesel needs to cover long journeys in order to keep the particulate filter working correctly; short journeys destroy these filters by sooting them up.
I've just been browsing YouTube looking for particulate filter information and there are lots of videos on the subject. Apparently these particulate filters are monitored and once they start to soot up diesel is automatically injected into the filter and ignited the very high temperature achieved then burns the soot allowing the soot to be exhausted as ash which is much less harmful to the environment. So far the particulate filter then should be self cleaning and not a problem? However if I've got this right; un-burnt diesel can end up in the engines crankcase thereby diluting the lubricating oil and even worse the turbo could suffer very expensive damage? I'm not an expert on these matters only just trying to avoid an expensive mistake but I have heard of diesel engine particulate filters so thought I'd do a bit of research; here is a sample YouTube video which is of interest;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSPQ3Gktpl8
Another consideration for us is that a Duster would need to live on the driveway whereas the Skoda would squeeze into our garage; about a month ago I left the Aygo on our driveway thinking I'll turn the garage into my full time workshop but the following morning I spent quite a while scraping deep frost from it which I disliked immensely; that night I put the Aygo away again and it's seldom been frosty since then; just my luck but it brought it home to me that most winters living here have extended periods of frost; ice and snow; it just won't stop raining now so any car on our driveway would suffer this terrible weather.
Skoda are now very well regarded cars and the marque has been around forever. The Dacia is relatively new to our shores and any new car will possibly be OK at first but what happens when these reach three years old and get some mileage on them?
Perhaps Bron and I are missing out on a very good car in not buying a Duster but safer than sorry for us. We won't cry about buying a Skoda Monte Carlo because I believe the Skoda is going to be the better car choice for us; given our yearly mileage a diesel is unsuitable which is a pity otherwise a Duster could well have appeared on our driveway in August.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
