Dacia Duster review - Reliability & safety

Dacia doesn’t perform particularly impressively in our Driver Power customer satisfaction survey – in 2024 it came in 22nd place out of 32 manufacturers (an improvement from 26th in 2023 at least), but it’s worth noting that it performed better than parent company Renault, which came in 28th place. Across the board, Dacia’s reliability ratings were roughly average, with 20.9% of Dacia owners reporting an issue with their car in the first year.

It’s a very different story for the previous-generation Dacia Duster, however, because that car specifically came first out of the top 50 cars in the survey. Unsurprisingly, it came in first place in ratings for value for money, and it was also top for its infotainment system. A fifth-place finish for build quality and reliability was also impressive. While this may be an all-new generation, it wouldn’t be a surprise if it builds on that previous model’s accomplishments and more.

How safe is the Dacia Duster?

A Dacia sticking point has often been its lack of standard safety kit, both to keep costs down and ensure simplicity. The latest Duster does get notably more safety kit than before, including autonomous emergency braking, traffic-sign recognition (which we found worked brilliantly), a speed-limit alert, lane departure warning, lane keep assist and a driver attention alert. If you prefer to drive without these systems, each can be individually turned off.

However, the Dacia Duster received a fairly underwhelming three-star score from Euro NCAP when it was crash-tested. This was partly the result of its driver-assistance systems, while chest protection for the driver and rear seat passengers was only rated as marginal.

What are the Dacia Duster service intervals?

Dacia says service intervals vary depending on the model and engine, and these are yet to be confirmed for the latest Duster. The 1.0-litre engine used on other models is recommended to be serviced every 12 months or 10,000 miles, however, while the hybrid drivetrain also used in the Jogger is recommended one service within the same time period, but with an 18,000-mile cap. We recommend checking this directly with Dacia for specific confirmed information relating to your model and engine, however.

What is the warranty on the Dacia Duster?

In the second quarter of 2024, Dacia announced an impressive and competitive new ‘Zen’ warranty that covers its models for up to seven years or 75,000 miles, whichever comes first – so long as you keep the car serviced with Dacia. While that’s a very strong warranty, beating the industry standard of around three years’ cover, it’s not quite as strong as Kia’s seven-year/100,000-mile warranty, or Toyota’s warranty of up to ten years or 100,000 miles, so long as you keep servicing it with authorised dealers. Hyundai’s five-year warranty is also impressive, and there’s no mileage limit.