Dacia Duster (2017-2024) review

To an extent this car is being sold by the yard: a promise of lots of space for the money. So it proves, with enough room for three fully grown humans in the back. The boot is 478 litres in the 2WD, a useful third bigger than your average mid-size hatch. The 4WD loses 11 litres of that and more if you have the spare wheel option – and who'd want to venture off-road with only an inflation kit?

The new dash looks modern and straightforwardly handsome, and it's well-assembled. Sure, none of it is soft-touch materials, but that just adds to the sense of honest value. It still feels sturdier than some of the low-cost opposition. The switchgear and air con controls operate nicely enough too. You have to go to the second trim level before getting a leather-wrapped steering wheel, though. 

What changes did the facelift bring?

Drumroll please… a resting plate for your clutch foot. The media screen also grew an inch for that update (it’s now 8.0-inches) but at most trim levels the sat nav is plumbed through your phone, rather than native. Which is how most of us do nav anyway. The very base-spec ‘Essential’ trim does without a screen altogether.

The range-topping ‘Extreme SE’ trim is extreme only in the sense that it’s the most expensive – just over £20k – but it does come with fetching orange accents around the cabin, a nice grey exterior paintjob, black 17-inch wheels and matching electric mirrors.

Anything else to note?

Look around the cabin and you also find other simple, cost-saving solutions. The headlight levelling operates by an old school cable, not by an electric motor. Same for the air recirculation lever. The centre rear seatbelt is hung from the roof, so the seat-back doesn't need strengthening. No rear armrest either. The driver's seat height-adjusts but not the passenger's. The dash has high-mounted vents, and there are five of them so you can aim a couple between the front seats towards the back, saving Dacia from installing rear outlets.

The sat nav and multimedia system on the top versions (Journey and Extreme SE) isn't connected to live traffic, but it's simple to use and clear enough. As with the rest of the car, its simplicity frees your mind for higher things.