This will get a few of you going-CarBuyer.co.uk have just had their COTY awards and the overall winner is the Dacia Duster!.The car has hidden talents I presume.

or a brown envelope hidden in the glove box

I'm still trying to work out why people are comparing it to the Yeti.

Size wise it is bigger.

Cost wise it is much cheaper.

Safety wise it is no where near as safe.

And to be honest, is CarBuyer really that important?

COTY year awards are always interesting,

when the general buying public in the country they are being promoted in have not yet had the privliage or opportunity of receiving delivery of the vehicle, driving or making informed judgements.

Journalists and others with some degree of knowledge or not, or some agenda usually vote for COTY.

george

And how many other magazines also produce their own Car of the Year?

Cynical perhaps, but I don't hold any of them with any importance.

A radio as an optional extra, each to their own.

There are so many car comparison websites, magazines etc out there, everyone is going to have a 'favoured' car and for many different reasons.

Dacia/Renualt will be jumping with joy over this........

........ until one has a crash (with no one getting hurt obviously. Well maybe pride).

I allways enjoy the CarBuyer reviews on Youtube,dont try to blind you with science just give a good,decent opinion.

VAG will be happy with the results of Engine of the year 2012 for the 1.4 tsi Twincharger.

After all they are now having to replace with brand new engines enough faulty high oil usage ones

& coil packs etc.

Its not how things are, its how people look at things.

Failures should get as much publicity as successes, but that not how the Motoring Media seems to work.

george

Well,they are not completely mad,the Citigo got the best city car award and the Octavia the best family car award.

Why not get 100 'off the street' public, take them off for the day to somewhere such as Millbrook, hide all the badges and get them to compare like for like cars - didn't this used to happen :think:

Well,they are not completely mad,the Citigo got the best city car award and the Octavia the best family car award.

Octavia? Before its even been launched?!

Personally I think the Duster is a great bit of kit. No, I wouldn't swap my Yeti for one but I've seen loads of them on my travels and if you need a cheap 4x4 then it's a good option.

Did the Yeti not get City Car of the year award last year with 'Which' ?

(or i read it wrong as usual, and went on a rant about how that could be, & it bettered the iQ.)

george

Not City Car.

Yes sorry, spotted the post again,

it was top in the Which 'Ease of Driving'

So many COTY awards including the reliability one.

& Honest Johns.

http://www.briskoda....the-year-awards

george

It could be hailed the best car in the world but from the few I have seen it won't be something I ever buy.

I have often wondered how it can be car of the year when we are only a week into the third month?

I pre-ordered a Duster 2 wheel drive diesel Laureate with 'adventure pack' last September and was eagerly awaiting its promised delivery in March. However, when the rhd cars started arriving in January and actual UK specs could be viewed the choice was either to wait until March or buy a second hand Yeti. The cost of the Duster would have been £13450 but the part exchange offered for my wife's £15000 one year old (8000 mile) car was only £6500 which the dealership increased marginally to £7000.

Needless to say I opted to buy a 'more expensive' second hand Yeti and am really pleased with my decision. It appears that the 'headline' price of the Duster is very attractive but you are penalised on your part exchange vehicle.

The other reason I veered off from buying the Duster was that the rhd models have only recently had production start up in India and may not have the undoubted reliance of those that you see on the continent and are made in Rumania.

Only time will tell whether the Dacia pricing policy will attract potential Yeti buyers.

I'd expect the Duster to be an excellent utility vehicle e.g. construction sites, farms etc. Sort of "disposable 4x4" with low-budget drivetrain. Makes the Yeti look posh, and more importantly makes the rest of the Nissan Renault brand look posh!!!

Huh

I actually LIKE the look of the Duster.

Hmph!

Yes George, but you drive a Superb and play bass!!

It was on my list when we were buying recently, I really wanted to like it but 10 minutes in to the test drive and I decided I didn't. I think a base model Duster might make some sense but once optioned they start to become less of a bargain. Two minutes in a Yeti straight afterwards sealed my fate - no contest; White/Black 1.2 tsi Yeti Adventure on it's way :-)

My (new car) test drive list was interesting and varied and lasted a week!, included were; Duster, Audi A3, The new Golf, Defender 90, VW Up, Megane RS 265,the new Mercedes A series and the Yeti (told you it was varied - there's a reason).

Just for the record, the VW Up ran a close second (never tried the Citigo).

I pre-ordered a Duster 2 wheel drive diesel Laureate with 'adventure pack' last September and was eagerly awaiting its promised delivery in March. However, when the rhd cars started arriving in January and actual UK specs could be viewed the choice was either to wait until March or buy a second hand Yeti. The cost of the Duster would have been £13450 but the part exchange offered for my wife's £15000 one year old (8000 mile) car was only £6500 which the dealership increased marginally to £7000.

Needless to say I opted to buy a 'more expensive' second hand Yeti and am really pleased with my decision. It appears that the 'headline' price of the Duster is very attractive but you are penalised on your part exchange vehicle.

The other reason I veered off from buying the Duster was that the rhd models have only recently had production start up in India and may not have the undoubted reliance of those that you see on the continent and are made in Rumania.

Only time will tell whether the Dacia pricing policy will attract potential Yeti buyers.

Don't like the idea of it being made in India. A few years ago they made a copy of the Lister CS stationary diesel engine, later christened the Listeroid. The build quality was atrocious with poorly fitted bearings, flywheels out of true, castings with sand still embedded in them and swarf in the crankcases!

Fred

Don't like the idea of it being made in India. A few years ago they made a copy of the Lister CS stationary diesel engine, later christened the Listeroid. The build quality was atrocious with poorly fitted bearings, flywheels out of true, castings with sand still embedded in them and swarf in the crankcases!

Fred

If its like anything my company makes India I would be praying every time i used the brakes...

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