Long-term report: Third-generation Dacia Duster offers so much bang for its buck

‘Dum Dum Dum. Another one Drives a Duster’: It was an advertising jingle so catchy that a good decade on, I still catch myself singing it whenever Queen’s ‘Another One Bites the Dust’ finds its way onto my radio.

It ticked all the boxes for an annoying advert earworm but unfortunately, for several years, the quality of Dacia’s compact SUV was unable to match that of its marketing. Sure, the first and second generation Dusters were good for their price but ultimately, I could never quite shake the feeling that the cars were cheap for a reason.

This new car, however, has changed that completely.

I have been living with the third-generation Duster for two months now and have been absolutely blown away by just how much bang you get for your buck. While recent weeks have brought fewer motorway miles, the Duster has excelled as an inner city runaround.

It offers a comfortable ride, ample space in all five seats and enough boot room for whatever errand your average town throws up. One such errand took me to my local cinema to watch the re-release of Star Wars Episode III (what a wild life I lead) and the Duster’s raised driving position offers a high ground over other motorists that Obi-Wan Kenobi could only dream of! If you get that reference, then you are my kind of person, but if not, just take my word for it that it is mightily impressive.

The Duster has been impressive on fuel, too. In what has admittedly been a slightly quieter period, a full tank of petrol has lasted the best part of a full month with consumption averaging out at around the 45mpg mark. The car also has the handy feature of rating how environmentally friendly your driving has been after every trip.

At first, I found this fairly annoying – like having a judgemental Greata Thumberg living in the dashboard – but I have found myself going out of my way to check my score out of 100 before leaving the car. Anything over 90 and I feel like I’ve done my good deed and Greenpeace will be winging a letter of congratulations to my door first class. Anything lower than that and I feel as though I may as well have set fire to a baby polar bear!

Away from my stupid eco games, the Duster may not be filled with a huge amount of tech, but the majority of what it does have continues to work well. The only major exception to this has been the car’s infotainment system, which sporadically refuses to switch on when the car gets going. My other complaint from last month related to the Dacia’s wireless Apple CarPlay, which was about as dependable as Anakin Skywalker when told to stay in the Jedi Temple (I bet you didn’t think you were getting two Revenge of the Sith references in this review, did you?).

On one trip between Portsmouth and Gosport – an epic voyage of 9.5 miles – the CarPlay cut out no fewer than nine times, and yes, I did count! After this experience, I bit the bullet and bought a wire to keep in the car, which does seem to have brought the Duster back from the dark side, Darth Vader-style (last mention of Star Wars, I promise).

Overall, I have to say I’m really enjoying life with the Duster and am looking forward to a few more miles over the coming weeks and months. The latest model goes above and beyond its cheap and cheerful premise and I can’t see it being anything other than a major success for Dacia. Another One Drives a Duster? They could do a lot worse!