Dacia: an anomaly

[Tannedbaldhead]

Am perplexed by the brand's success in the current market.
It's not that I don't like them, quite the contrary but I can't see circumstances where I'll ever have one.
Firstly, if my gaffer was to come along and say "There u go mate. There's a nice Dacia Duster for you" or "Am replacing the Citroen Cactus pool car with a Stepway" I'd be reasonably happy. I also see the appeal of a dirt cheap 2nd hand Duster as a kid/spaniel/mountain bike transporting hack. I mean I REALLY see the appeal (as in I secretly want one).

Problem is, firstly, no fleet manager is going to touch one as Dacia offer no bulk procurement discounts and compared with Ford's, VAGs PSAs and Vauxhalls the Dacia is the expensive option.
As for the private PCP/Leaser? Look hard enough for the right deal and you can find yourself in a BMW 135i or Golf R for not that much more a month than a top of the Range Duster.
And my dream of the dirt cheap Duster hack? Dacia residuals are not falling off a cliff the way Soviet Block Ladas, Skodas and FSOs did when I was a lad.
Result is at every point a Dacia could enter my life there is actually always a cheaper alternative.
Question then is if Dacia buying is price based why would anyone buy one?

[MorganP104]

They make sense for the many, many people who see cars as transport, and want something that isn't flash, that'll be reliable, with a decent warranty.

In the same way that non-AV geeks want a TV that has a nice picture, decent sound quality, and that won't break the bank.

[Tannedbaldhead]

MorganP104 said:

They make sense for the many, many people who see cars as transport, and want something that isn't flash, that'll be reliable, with a decent warranty.

In the same way that non-AV geeks want a TV that has a nice picture, decent sound quality, and that won't break the bank.

I get that It's just if you read my OP (where I said I quite fancied one) you'll see that, in reality, for many, they don't work out as that cheap an option.

[kambites]

I suspect a lot are bought outright by cash-rich retirees and ultimately run into the ground by the initial buyer.

[Wills2]

A mid sized 4 x 4 for 15k (the Lauréate model) seems great value, what needs explaining?

[CaptainMorgan]

I dunno that the Dacia's target market are big leasers though? I know lots of people rent their cars now but they seem to be mainly people who change cars regularly and want something new all the time. They probably get bought and kept for a decent amount of time. What do the prices compare to the Golf R when bought?

[MC Bodge]

The Duster is sort of in its own market nowadays. I had a 4x4 in Iceland and was very impressed with it -it went and handled well on the rocks and gravel and was good at fording rivers, with nice 4 wheel drifts on dirt during some "exuberant" driving. (I saw and passed a few Suzuki Jimnys being driven quite carefully on the rough stuff, I suspect that they were not so composed) It was also quite good on the road, with a comfortable ride. I've no need for one at home, though.

The Sandero/Stepway is presumably seen as cheap by people who are either not aware of pcp deals or just want to buy a cheap,simple car and don't want to worry about keeping it pristine.

Edited by MC Bodge on Sunday 18th February 10:38

[Gary C]

Just had a look on auto trader and the cheapest dusters are 4.5k with 100k miles on the clock !

Far more expensive than I was expecting, for their list price, I was expecting 2-3k max with reasonable miles. They must be quite desirable on the second hand market.

[Janluke]

I live on a small estate of 18 houses. Four of my neighbours have them, 1 family and 3 youngish retirees. None of them are "car" people. The trade ins(that I remember)where 10 year old Volvo estate, 8 years old berlingo, ancient Nissan primera. Every one seems delighted with the car one being onto his second. Not heard of any reliability issues

[Earthdweller]

“As for the private PCP/Leaser? Look hard enough for the right deal and you can find yourself in a BMW 135i or Golf R for not that much more a month than a top of the Range Duster.”

I think you’re comparing apples with pears

The sort of folk that will buy a duster wouldn’t give two figs whether it could do 0-60 in 5 secs

I would imagine most will be bought with cash or hp rather than pcp

They are rather popular with people that want an all round car to do a job and will probably keep them longer than 24 or 36 months

[Tannedbaldhead]

Wills2 said:

A mid sized 4 x 4 for 15k (the Lauréate model) seems great value, what needs explaining?

Great value if you are walking into a showroom with £15k in your back pocket to buy a new car outright.
Any other procurement option and the Duster suddenly becomes expensive. They are also relatively expensive second-hand.

[crofty1984]

Earthdweller said:

They are rather popular with people that want an all round car to do a job and will probably keep them longer than 24 or 36 months

That's why my brother bought his. He's perfectly happy with it. I imagine he'll keep it until it's uneconomical to repair.

[deltashad]

They've been on the market in Romania a bit longer than the UK and are holding values here also. Even tatty rusty models command good money.
We rented one when going to the mountains for a small vacation, in honesty I didnt think it was that good, our friends used Kuga was much better.

[Capitalc]

Also not sure where you get your PCP figures from. VW are quoting £204 for a 1.0 Golf SE Nav with £1500 deposit. A Dacia 1.2TCE Prestige £196 per month on the same terms.

[MorganP104]

Janluke said:

I live on a small estate of 18 houses. Four of my neighbours have them, 1 family and 3 youngish retirees. None of them are "car" people. The trade ins(that I remember)where 10 year old Volvo estate, 8 years old berlingo, ancient Nissan primera. Every one seems delighted with the car one being onto his second. Not heard of any reliability issues

This is a real-world example of the point I was making in my first post.

Edited by MorganP104 on Saturday 17th February 16:03

[MC Bodge]

deltashad said:

They've been on the market in Romania a bit longer than the UK and are holding values here also. Even tatty rusty models command good money.
We rented one when going to the mountains for a small vacation, in honesty I didnt think it was that good, our friends used Kuga was much better.

In Iceland the Duster is highly regarded as the best of the smaller, cheaper offroaders (ground clearance, ramp angle, grip, wading etc) , but they have quite an unusual road system over there. If you don't need to go beyond gravelled roads, then many soft roaders areprobavly better.

[KevinCamaroSS]

I've just swapped my Jeep Grand Cherokee for a 19,500 mile Duster. My requirements were:

Economic
Comfortable
Not too expensive to buy
Cheap to run
Must have a spare wheel

It fulfils all the above and mine is an ex-demo with nearly all the extras on a Laureate base:

Leather seats - These are limited in adjustment but are very comfortable anyway
SatNav
Bluetooth
Cruise/Limiter
Rear Parking Sensors
DRLs
Also has the side and front protection bars (off-road package?)
Colour very like the old vRS blue on an Octavia

Cost me just £9K.

Value for money is the key to these. I have semi-retired and need to watch the funds, so it fits the bill very well indeed.

[ExPat2B]

The Dacia Logan is very good value.

If you compare the Logan Estate at 9500 total price on finance http://offers.dacia.co.uk/cars/loganmcv or 8500 bought outright, that same money buys you a 80 or 90 thousand mile Volvo V70 about 10 years old. I can see why people pick the Dacia.

[Blue Oval84]

Tannedbaldhead said:

Great value if you are walking into a showroom with £15k in your back pocket to buy a new car outright.
Any other procurement option and the Duster suddenly becomes expensive. They are also relatively expensive second-hand.

I think you're mistaken. Go price a five year HP (to own outright) finance plan on a Duster and then do the same thing on a competing vehicle (a Golf R isn't really a competitor), maybe try against a Ford Kuga or a Nissan Cashcow.

The Duster has a lower cash price, therefore a lower HP price.

The target market for Dusters etc. really aren't renting their cars in great volume I would guess, therefore cash purchase, bank loan, and HP will be the acquisition methods of choice.

[hutchst]

It's sold as a Renault in many of the places that I frequent