Does the Dacia Duster have a wiper problem?
I read last year in a British review of the Duster 4x4, that the windscreen wipers are seriously inadequate, too small and too slow to deal with anything more than a light rain shower. I had been considering buying one until then. I drive a good deal on the M50 and even in a car with good wipers it can be a nightmare to get caught behind one of the thousands of HGVs using that road. It is akin to trying to drive while more than half blind, since the HGV creates its own mini Niagra of water and dirt.
So I decided to forget buying a Dacia Duster 4x4. Do you know if the situation is still the same now? The British site in question take cars on a week long test, and thus have a far better idea of what they are like long-term.
Cheers, DF Nolan, Dublin
David F Nolan (Dublin)Sep 2014 Filed under: choosing new car
Expert answer
Hi David,
OK, a couple of points to deal with there. I can well remember my first drive in the Dacia Duster, which was a left-hand drive 4x4 model and I happened to drive it from Galway to Waterford and back on some of the wettest days of 2012. I can honestly not remember feeling that the wipers were inadequate to the task, and I'm generally pretty sensitive to things like that, so I'd say you might be crossing the car off your list somewhat unfairly. I can certainly remember thinking that the Duster felt unusually well-planted on the road and sure-footed in what were truly appalling conditions.
Incidentally, it's worth noting that we also take almost all of our test cars on week-long tests, and occasionally even longer ones. The full CompleteCar.ie team also endeavours to drive each car personally so that we can put together a fully rounded opinion on every model, and we always try to drive them in as many different conditions as the prevailing weather will allow.
Neil Briscoe - Complete Car Adviser@neilmbriscoe