Dacia Duster Journey Hybrid long-term test: a family car that does everything you need

Verdict

These are very early days in my family’s life with the Duster, and tougher challenges will come, but initial impressions are excellent. It’s slotted into its role as a family ferry, and although this is the cheapest fleet car I’ve run for several years, I don’t feel as if I’m missing out on anything. Indeed, the question on my lips is: “Why would you spend any more?”.

• Mileage: 762 miles
• Efficiency: 53.4mpg

I’ve never been one for jumping on a bandwagon, but I’m certainly joining a big – and growing – crowd by embarking on life with a brand-new Dacia.

The brand enjoyed a record year in the UK in 2024, registering almost 32,000 new cars, and along the way found a home for the country’s 100,000th Duster since the original model first reached these shores in 2013.

Much has changed since then, but the third-generation Duster that I collected from Dacia’s flagship dealer in Brentford, west London, has much in common with its predecessor – not least its rugged charm and no-nonsense character. 

I already know I’ll find this new model fascinating to run, because I didn’t really like the original Duster. I thought it was crude and uncomfortable, while the fixtures and fittings – not to mention the tech – were clearly past-their-prime hand-me-downs from parent company Renault.

Used - available now

2021 Dacia

Duster

11,920 milesManualPetrol1.3L

Cash £13,995

View Duster

2022 Dacia

Duster

28,995 milesManualPetrol1.3L

Cash £14,995

View Duster

2022 Dacia

Duster

30,755 milesManualDiesel1.5L

Cash £13,587

View Duster

2023 Dacia

Duster

15,733 milesAutomaticPetrol1.3L

Cash £16,963

View Duster

But as soon as I stepped into the dazzling new Dacia showroom, it was obvious that things are very different now.  Dacia London West shares its site with a Renault franchise, and I walked past several gleaming new Renault 5s to get to the Duster. Yet the two brands’ cars sit very happily alongside each other. Is Dacia the poor relation? Absolutely not.

Likewise, as soon as I sat in my car in the handover bay, I could see that everything inside it was Renault’s latest technology. The 10.1-inch touchscreen and digital dashboard give the Duster a fairly modern look, and I know that the SUV sits on the same platform as the Jogger, and Renault’s Clio and Captur – all of which have won Auto Express awards in the past few years.

The Duster has followed in their wheeltracks, too, picking up the Small SUV of the Year award in 2024 – so signing up for six months in one was hardly a gamble for me and my family. Not least because I treated myself to a few luxuries.

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I collected the car from Matt Downing, Dacia’s Product Performance Manager, who told me that, while the company is renowned as a value-focused brand, most of its customers pick a high-spec Journey or Extreme model – as I’ve done. 

Apparently, I’ve also followed 70 or so per cent of Duster customers by opting for the full-hybrid powertrain. In part, buyers want the promised excellent fuel economy, but choosing this set-up is, for the time being, the only way to get yourself into a Duster with an automatic gearbox.

Despite all that, this is a car with a list price of less than £26,000 – lower than the most basic version of the Ford Puma – yet it comes with lots of premium tech. My car’s Journey trim includes all-round electric windows, a multiview camera, keyless entry, sat-nav and a smartphone charging pad, plus wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

So, once I’d taken delivery of the car, was the Duster as impressive on the Great West Road and beyond as it was in the glitzy showroom? To cut a long story short, yes. In fact, I’ve done a few hundred miles since these pictures were taken, and they’ve all been very pleasant. Admittedly, pretty much all of them have been around suburban south-west London – which plays to the car’s strengths – but I have no complaints.

The ride is smooth over the pothole-ridden roads, and the transmission is silky, switching neatly between petrol and electric power. The icing on the cake is that I’m getting more than 50mpg without making any great effort to drive economically. Given that the car’s official economy figure is 55.4mpg, this is very pleasing. Indeed, on one 19-mile round trip to play some sport in another part of London, I managed a record (so far) of 71.7mpg. If the car continues to hit these numbers, I’ll be very happy indeed.

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The practicality, too, is perfect for my three-person family. My wife and I have plenty of room in the front seats, and there’s enough space for our 11-year-old daughter in the back. I’ll test the boot with a tip run soon. 

I also like the way you can personalise the driver settings through the touchscreen, then apply them at the start of each trip with just two button presses. When you can get so much for so little it’s no surprise whatsoever that so many people are signing up to drive a Dacia.

*Insurance quote from AA (0800 107 0680) for a 42-year-old in Banbury, Oxon, with three points.