Budget Duster is still cleaning up

Jack McKeown

When it was launched back in 2012, the Dacia Duster was named Scottish Car of the Year.

Dacia – the budget arm of Renault – had come up with a car the size of a Nissan Qashqai for less than the price of a Nissan Micra.

Prices started at not much more than £9,000 – although that version did not even come with a radio – and you could get a wellspecced four-wheel-drive diesel model for a little over £13,000.

It may not have had the polish of its main rivals but it cost more than 40% less, it looked good, used proven Renault parts and fairly well too.

It was a winning formula, particularly in rural Scotland where it gave good off-road performance with much better on-road manners than Suzuki’s Jimny, the only other cheap 4x4.

Fast forward six years and an all-new Duster has arrived in showrooms.

Pricing is still low, with the most basic Access model costing just £9,995.

It doesn’t have air con or a radio, although it now gets electric front windows.

I drove a Comfort model, which sits just below Prestige in the four-trim line-up and costs £13,395.

It comes with air conditioning, a seven-inch drove touchscreen infotainment system, cruise control, electric windows all round and a rear parking camera and sensors.

There’s plenty of space for four adults and the boot’s a roomy 445 litres (though that falls to 411 litres in four-wheel drive models). The suspension is comfortable and handling is fine too. It also has the high-up driving position SUV buyers like.

Four-wheel drive versions can handle some fairly rugged off roading, so they’re a great proposition if you live on a farm.

It’s far from perfect. A Nissan Quashqai is more refined. There are only five forward gears. My car made random electronic bonging sounds, even when I wasn’t changing lanes and was within the speed limit.

And the 1.6 litre petrol unit couldn’t pull the skin off a rice pudding: much better to get diesel model.

But all that and much more can be forgiven when you glance at the price point. An entry level Nissan Qashqai or Kia Sportage costs a full £6,000 more than my high spec Duster.

In fact, you’d need another £2,000 to buy a much smaller Nissan Juke or Kia Stonic. The Duster remains astonishing value for money. the 1.5 litre