Renault Duster Diesel: An Owner’s View – Venkat Talks About His Duster

A lot (in fact more than that) has been talked about Renault’s Duster, the latest revelation from the French Car Maker. None of the cars for the past many months have been successful enough to create this kind of a curiosity wave all across.

You have already read a lot about the car at MotorBash, here is a quick owner’s view in the form of an interview of Renault Duster RXZ DCi owned by Venkat Chaitanya M from Hyderabad.

MB: First of all Congrats to you for having got your hands on Renault’s Duster. Your first words about HER?

Venkat: Thank you so much. Well, mighty impressed with the sheer size. Duster as such is segment first in India. The build quality is indeed good.

 

MB: Please share your Duster’s ownership period and approx odometer readings.

Venkat: Mine is a Duster RXZ Dci. It has been just 2 weeks that we have owned the car, the odo reads close to 300 kms. We have taken Duster out for a long drive as SUV’s are quite comfortable for highway drives.

 

MB: Which showroom did you purchase it from? How was your buying experience?

Venkat: We brought the car from Renault Hyderabad. The experience has been really well. Right from the booking to the delivery we were well received.

 

MB: Out of so many SUVs in the Indian market-available and upcoming, what motivated you to choose Duster? What other cars/SUVs did you consider buying?

Venkat: To be frank, we were looking out to buy a sedan. But Duster suited the budget we allocated. The choices were between Skoda Rapid, VW Vento, Nissan Sunny and Ford New Fiesta.
Duster was a wild-card entry – something special, it opened a new option as it’s an SUV and there’s nothing like it in the market currently

 

MB: What cars/SUVs have you owned in the past? Tell us a little about each of them?

Venkat: We have been owning a fleet of cars from ages. We also had an Ambassador Mark 4, Premier Padmini and a Standard Van.
Our horrifying experience was with TATA Estate. The car was pretty huge and used to break down whenever it felt comfortable. We spent a fortune over it.

Currently we own Renault Pulse, SX4, Figo,Duster,Innova,Punto, Swift and Fabia (all diesels). Of all I like Figo the most. Ford build cars around sheer driving experience. They are drivers darlings. They drive the way the individual expects them to be driven.

We used to own a Hyundai Verna and had a very bad experience in terms of handling and driving experience. The ownership experience was the worst.

 

MB: How is your ownership experience of Duster so far? How do people react to seeing a Duster and obviously you onboard. Tell us about its road presence.

Venkat: Duster’s road presence is just splendid. Its definitely a head turner. Its quite attractive considering its size.

 

MB: How is Renault’s servicing and spare parts availability and their costs?

Venkat: Duster is pretty new now, but since we own a Pulse, the servicing of a Renault has never troubled us yet. 

 

 MB: Tell us about Duster’s comfort and handling?

Venkat: Duster is a supreme handler when it comes to bad roads. It eats all of them for dinner. You don’t feel that the roads are dotted with potholes.

 

MB: Which Indian-available SUV would you buy if there is no other constraint?

Venkat: Fortuner! Its different and from the Quality house of Toyota.

 

MB:Which is your dream SUV? Why?

Venkat: Nothing in particular.

 

MB: What is your take on the upcoming immediate rival – Ford EcoSport?

Venkat: I’m sure to see that baby beast from Ford in my garage the moment its launched. No comparison with any other SUV in the market. Ecosport has a sheen for itself. An SUV needs to have the butch looks and it dawns that all over it!

 

MB: What’re the drawbacks you felt about the Duster so far?

Venkat: Renault should have concentrated on few issues such as the positioning of the side view mirror adjusting knobs, place under the hand break. That’s a bit irritating.

Next, is the lack of AUTO AC even on the top end. Even if the knobs are present, it’s had to use considering the positioning of the gear, hampering the adjustment of the AC.

 

MB: Please share the specific qualities or pros of the car you just adore.

Venkat: I’m a Ford fanatic. The reason is simple.  I love cars that allow the drivers to drive a vehicle the way they want, not having a mind of its own. Ford’s are built strong and have very effective steering wheel. Their cars feel planted on the road, even at high speeds.

 

MB: Who should buy this SUV and who shouldn’t? Please advice potential buyers…

Venkat: Any individual who is willing to spend a budget of over 13 lakhs and is bored of sedans, Duster suits his pocket well.

Duster has the renowned k9k engine which is slowly becoming famous on the lines of Fiat 1.3 multi jet.

The k9k engine is powering cars like Pulse, Micra, Sunny, Fluence and now Duster. The diesel engine is well refined and one of the most trouble free engine in the country.

Duster has all the ingredients an Indian buyer aspires at that price point – size, mileage and looks !!!

 

• To know all the details of Duster including variants, specs, trims and On-Road Prices, click here
• Check out picture gallery of Indian Renault Duster  here 
• View Renault Duster against Ford EcoSport in Pics here
• And finally, check a list of all upcoming SUVs here 

We thank Venkat for sharing his views on his Duster. Since, the car is pretty new, we would again trouble him for a more detailed ownership review sometime later. If you are considering buying the Duster and have questions, drop them in the comments section below.

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