Dacia Duster

HELLO £ 14,400 OTR/£15,050 as tested/£260pcm WHY IT’ S HERE Is the daily grind in a basic Duster more cheap than cheerful? DRIVER Tom Ford

IT DOESN’T MATTER WHETHER YOU’RE BUYING A £100K SPORTS CAR or a £5 meal deal, the concept of value for money matters. If you’re Dacia, a car shorn of glitz leaves you with nowhere to hide – there’s no argument that the company produces cars for a reasonable price, but are they value? Time to find out with a TopGear Duster.

So. It’s a 1.3-litre 4cyl – the new 130-ish bhp engine – with FWD (4x4 being an expensive-ish option), with a 6spd manual. We won’t spend ages listing options, because they consist of Desert Orange paint that you could do without (£500) and a spare wheel (£150), which I’d rather keep. Totting up means that without paint, this TCe 130 4x2 would weigh in at £14,550.

That’s a biggish car for little-ish money. To put it into context, a smaller Ford Fiesta 1.1-litre Ti-VCT Zetec with 85bhp would weigh in at £15,670. A Hyundai i30 S 1.0 T GDi (Golf sized) with 120bhp £17,130, a Skoda Fabia estate S from £14,160. And the Duster doesn’t look half bad – a kind of happy little box with a functional interior: you can see where cheap and robust has won out over more sexy/tactile trim, but everything seems fine.

The point, however, is paring down to the essentials for something that still feels like a proper family vehicle rather than military troop transport. So far, the Duster works. There’s something refreshing about just getting in a car and driving – not spending 20 minutes pairing and preening the 34 touchscreens and trying to find a comfortable position from the 2,347position, 94-way electric seats. We’ve done 1,500 miles so far, and I’ve not once worried about accidentally kerbing an alloy, parked it in public car parks and not been paranoid, moved people and stuff. It sets you free when your car is a little more utilitarian – like a works van.

Cheap and cheerful, or just cheap? We’ll find out. Stylish but pragmatic, y’see...