Dacia Duster: ‘You’ll be amazed at how good it is for the price’

Dacia Duster
Price £9,995
0-62mph 11 seconds
Top speed 105mph
MPG 44.1
CO2 145g/km

You don’t always get what you pay for – sometimes you get a whole lot more. The Dacia Duster is a Romanian car with a name that sounds like a cheery vacuum cleaner. The fact that it’s cheap won’t come as a surprise, but what will amaze you is just how good it is for the price. The car industry has spent decades persuading us that the only way is up; that we need to spend more to get smoother, glossier, quieter, swankier motors. More dosh = more posh. Dacia has had a good look at that business model, scratched its chin and said: “Tell you what, why don’t we build a car that’s not so smooth and not so glossy, that’s a bit noisy and has doors that make a strange rubbery sound when you open them, and then sell it for half the price?” This plain-as-day idea is now being grabbed with both hands by hard-pressed British motorists.

In its Ceausescu-era days, Dacia’s forensically austere cabins and hair shirt approach to driveability were a perfect foil for the dictator’s hardline ideology. Communists have no need of such western trinkets as quality and reliability. But then Renault took control of the brand and set about offering non-league models to a generation of motorists who’d only ever experienced premium cars they couldn’t afford.

Prices start at an astonishing £9,995. To be honest that gets you very little in terms of kit. It doesn’t even come with a radio. So expect to pay between £11,000 and £15,000 for some of the comforts we are accustomed to living with. But don’t despair at the tried and tested sales technique of sucking us in then stinging us with a long list of expensive extras. Instead, rejoice at the fact you are still getting a car that should cost another £5,000 at least.

For this second generation of the Duster, Renault has invested heavily in its Pitesti factory. More than half of the Duster components are shared with other Renault models (particularly the Clio). This sharing approach is one of the key factors in keeping costs down. Building them in Romania is clearly another.

The model may look similar to the outgoing one, but every visible panel has been tweaked and improved. The level of luxury offered is also creeping slowly upwards: options now include automatic headlamps, keyless entry, a blind spot alert and surround-view camera. The cabin fittings and displays bring more comfort, lower noise and better power steering. Engine choices are a non-turbo 1.6 litre 115hp petrol or a 1.5 turbo diesel.

To drive, yep, it’s on the sluggish side and, yep, it’s not the most refined car you’ve ever sat in and, yep, some of the safety features and driver aids are a bit outdated. But don’t think for one second Renault is cutting corners in what it’s offering with the Dacia. Last month it came a laudable seventh in the annual JD Power survey which tracks 177 possible problems in new cars. First was Hyundai, while down in 24th place was BMW, a couple of slots below Audi in 22nd. The Duster may be laughably cheap, but it’s a very serious proposition.

Email Martin at martin.love@observer.co.uk or follow him on Twitter @MartinLove166