Hi!

I am Antonis, I live in Athens and we (I and my wife) are about to buy a second hand Duster with 4000 km on the clock, Aug-2010 model.
I wanted to participate at your forum.
I am sorry for not speaking Romanian,
I also apologise for any off-topics I shall made,


Regards to all of you,

Antonis

those goasts should not drink when they walk!!!

Very good news that there is a greek guy Markos....in the forum!!!

I shall stop writing right now, I must work, when I have time I 'll be back!!

By the way, if the mods think this topic should be moved somewhere else,
I apologise for the inconvinience, I couldn't find a section for new members,
I read the word "cafenea" and I thought it's like the greek word "Καφενείο"...means cafe place to chat...etc...and I thought..."that's the right place to introduce yourself".

I was aware that there is an english section... but I wanted to address regards to all the members!!


I look forward to chat to Markos...

Regards for now,

Antonis

Attention, Duster have another big problem, with greierashi..

Unde au disparut posturile???

Az' le vedem si nu e!

what is greierashi?
gear box???
what do you mean by writing "another"?
Are there other known problems?

Please inform me if I should proceed with buying a duster, because I have 2 chlidren, we are in the middle of an economic crisis in Greece and the last I want is to swap my suzuki jimny with a larger car that will need a visit to the garage every week!!!

My wife..will kill me....
I told her...I read good critics for this car...and is best value for money when it comes to SUV!!!

help please!!

Antonis, relax, the guys are just joking around. The car (aparently) has some problems with the squeacking of cheap plastic used for the interior (that's what "greierashi" means, roughly translated).

do you want to buy the diesel or petrol version?
"greierashi" refers to the small creaking noises inside the driving compartment, generated by poor material quality or lack of noise deadening materials.
The Duster offers good value for the money, as long as the car you want to buy still has manufacturer`s warranty you should not have any problems with it, keep in mind though that it`s not as capable as the Jimny in off-road trials.

ah.....

thanks guys!!
I nearly had a stroke...untill I read...this reply!!!
I am about to put 200 euros for 52 months plus our jimny to buy a second hand car (actually the demo car of the dealer) with 4000 km and registration on Aug-2010.

Yes..I do know that jimny is...like a tiny wrangler.
Ι am not expecting duster to be as good as jimny on the rocky surfaces, however I found out it's quite capable when compared to other SUVs cause it has very short 1st & 2nd gears despite the lack of "slow" gears as jimny has.

Don't care if the plastics are cheap and create creaking noises,
I know I didn't buy ML350 or Toyota Land Cruiser quality with 15000 euros....


And...by the way...jimny's plastics were really bad and creaky...it was giving thousands of various noises....even when driven on the road!!!

However..its electronics, engine,gearbox and transmission never failed me.

and the worst part was...when driving it with more than 140...on the highway....
I mean...it was reallllly bad...at that speed!!!

Not to mention...the lack of space in the cabin...and the inexistable trunk...capable of accomodating...1 packet of cigarrete....


By the way, I shall buy the petrol version with 1.6 lt 105 HP 6 speed gearbox.

I would not recommend you buying either the 1.6 or a demo car.

The 1.6 eats up a lot of fuel, about 13-14% in the city, and lacks the torque needed in climbing steep hills.
Demo cars are abused, especially the Duster which was featured in all kinds of trials by the Dacia dealers. Surely there was no running-in period for the car which could mean trouble for you later on.

I understand what you tell,
I have also been concerned wih the "testing" issue.

The dealer has reassured me that the first 1500 km were done by various administration guys with extra caution, the remaining for exhibitions (ie. right now it is parked as static demo car in a supermarket nearly 30 km away from my home)
and that it is in excellent condition as brand new.

They also have cut-off nearly 4.500 euros from initial price, that is I'll buy it 15500 euros with front inox pull-bar, rear inox bull-bar, side steps (I hate them...I'll take them off myself when I take the car back home), they also fitted rear electric windows, arm-rest, and all that are costing more than 1500 euros here as genuine accesories, and the price of the car itself is about 18000 euros will all extra costs included.

So, I though since they give me a nice price for our 7 years old jimny to take my chances...and see what happens

I know the diesel would be nicer and torque-ier...but...in Athens...you can't buy yet...Diesel, it's illegal.
Besides...it's even more expensive...and we don't use extensivelly the car to pay-off the extra cost via diesel consumption.

However, my feeling when I drove it up to 140 km on the high-way was that it's not bad, it feels like 2.0-2.3 petrol engines put on much heavier jeeps...like Ssang-Yong, Sportage...etc.

it felt...acceptably "alive", while if I compare it to jimny.....you can make a decent ride with >120 km without...jeperdising your...safety...

Besides...if I want to go really fast....I have a modified skoda octavia to do the job neatly and nicely...

"The dealer has reassured me that the first 1500 km were done by various administration guys with extra caution, the remaining for exhibitions (ie. right now it is parked as static demo car in a supermarket nearly 30 km away from my home)"

I don`t know exactly how things work in Greece, but here in Romania I wouldn't believe a thing. Anyway, you know better.
Have a test drive with a car, bring a mechanic friend and if all seems ok, buy it.

Why is diesel illegal in Athens? Is it also illegal in Greece?

well,

let's hope everything will be fine.
With respect to diesel, you can buy one provided you don't stay permanently at a large city like Athens.

They pretend to care for the air pollution...it's an ancient law that soon will cease!!
But I can't wait...because "soon" might take...anything from a few months...to few...years

Smart people!!!! They should adopt a law like this in Romania as well, we'll solve both of the problems, pollution and overcrowded places (80% off the car owners will comit a suicide right away!).

Hopefully not!

Bear in mind that the petrol version of the Duster has a very-very short gearbox, in order to compensate the lack of torque.
That makes it a bit unsuited for the long high-way journeys, due to fuel consumption and noise comfort.
You will also find yourself changing gears all the time, instead of... I don't know, petting your dog.

Say no to the dealer car.
4000km of test-driving is like a 80 year-old prostitute lady.

Oh my Goodness!!!
we just have bought the car....and the above post really made me feel better

let's hope I won't have problems.
However, if they tried to trick me...they are going to have quite a bad time cause I have another 2.5 years of warranty....
And...I can give them...a very difficult time....believe me....!!
It's pretty bad when you trick customers and the garage is next door to the show-room!!!
I have done it before (to my previous Ford Dealer) and I have no problem to do it again
I'll make them replace even the windscreen wipers... if I get really mad!!

Not true. Mine eats a maximum of 13 in the city, AC on. As for the steep hills, check out some of my clips on youtube and decide if the petrol engine has enough torque for climbing.

I've done my homework.
Indeed , You know what you are talking jay333,5!!

I have driven the 1.6 petrol engine, it has very short 1st & 2nd gears, however the remaining 3-4-5-6 are just fine.
If I am not mistaken, with 6th gear I have 100 km on the clock with something less than 2900 RPM, which this means that I can travel with 120-140 km without overspeeding the engine.
The same engine on Laguna (which probably is a heavier car) eats up 12 lt max in the city with the AC on and fairly aggressive driving.
On the other hand, in traffic jams the short 1st & 2nd are very very helpful in repetitive start-stop conditions because you literally can start with engine in idle speed, something which really benefits consumption under heavy traffic.
Once I have some statistics, I'll notify all of you (Hey!! DON'T you dare make fun of my statistics using the european joke "greek stats".... )

On a long term it also benefits the "greierasi" chapitre, due to the vibrations.
The engine's oiling system is also at it's best when doing so.

Oh man,

you are very pessimistic!!!
Do you really want to make my psoriasis...really worst ???
I should not be stressed...and you are making me full of stress now!!!

Hey man, Muttley is teasing you, a 2.5years of warranty will solve all the above mentioned problems. Greierashi (engl. crickets) are present on most of the over 4 years old cars, regardless of the manufacturer, if they start anoying you, just turn on the radio and they will be silent. Enjoy your new car and drive safely!

well I noticed that he is teasing me.
Don't worry, by the way, I have an octavia and I have a very good bass woofer..... for such occasions when I want to stop hearing annoying noises...

Antonis,

kali mera. kala ise?

I hope you already realized you made a good decision when you purchased the Duster. It is a very good car, I just bought my which is 1.5 dci 4wd. I will come to Athina on 10th of July. It will be my first long trip with this car. I think will fit perfectly with the beach in Glifada. Don’t you think?

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