Dacia Duster Review 2025: Price, specs & boot space

If you're more concerned about a car's ability than the badge on its snout, the Dacia Duster is probably already on your short list. It's a comfortable drive, boasts a simple engine line-up, and has the ability to go further off the beaten track than most rivals, which all give it a strong appeal.

With this latest generation of Dacia Duster, we'd also argue it now has an understated credibility and neatly detailed style to draw in a more hipster crowd.

Some buyers will choose the all-wheel-drive version of the Dacia Duster based purely on their needs, and they'll get a fine small SUV with goat-like abilities away from the tarmac. For the rest of us, the front-wheel-drive version with the 1.2-litre TCe 130 engine and six-speed manual transmission is the sweet spot. Go for the Journey trim and you get the larger infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus a larger digital instrument cluster, automatic air conditioning, and 18-inch alloy wheels.

There's not much that is as rugged as the Dacia Duster in 4x4 spec, but it does have plenty of rivals when it comes to on-road driving. Prime among these are the Volkswagen T-Roc, Skoda Kamiq, and Ford Puma, which are all excellent to drive and sit in but will cost you quite a bit more.

The Suzuki Vitara comes close in the rugged stakes, but a Peugeot 2008 or Renault Captur are more likely alternatives. If you want an EV rather than petrol engine, there's the MG ZS EV or the forthcoming Vauxhall Frontera.

How well you perceive the Dacia Duster's quality will depend on your reference points. Compared to the previous generation model it's a noticeable improvement in fit, finish and feel. If, however, you've been tempted over from something like a Skoda, you might be a little disappointed.

There's nothing to quibble about with the way the Duster's interior is put together. There are no creaks or rattles, or exposed screws or fixings. However, the plastics are hard and unyielding. Where a Volkswagen or Skoda offers plenty of soft-touch materials, the Dacia sticks with simple, tough and plain plastics. It's in keeping with the car's nature and the blend of finishes is good, but it's an area where Dacia has room to do better.

If you want a decent infotainment set-up in the Dacia Duster, you will be looking past the base trim that misses out on the 10.1-inch colour touchscreen found in other versions.

With the entry-point Essential model, you get a meagre 3.5-inch display set inside an analogue cluster. It does come with Bluetooth connection and a USB port, but it is very basic. A space in the centre of the dashboard is reserved for your smartphone, which has to take on navigation duties.

The 10.1-inch infotainment set-up of the upper trims is far better. It has clear menus and icons, and set high in the centre of the dash. It can be paired to your smartphone with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, and the two highest trims also come with sat-nav included.

The Journey model comes with six speakers instead of four plus an Arkamys 3D Sound System. It's nice to have, but we'd trade that for a system that was a bit quicker to respond to our inputs when asked.

An often overlooked benefit of the raised ride height of SUVs like the Dacia Duster (rather than cars with SUV-like looks but hatch-like ride heights) is how easy it is to get in and out of the rear seats. Wide opening doors help here and the aperture is just big enough for adults to slot in without any contortions.

The higher than usual ride height also means it's less of an effort to fit a child seat into the Duster, and there are Isofix mounts in both outer rear seats.

The ride height offers up to 217mm of clearance, while the Duster sits at 4343mm long, 2069mm wide when measured from the tips of its mirrors, and has an overall height of 1616mm.

Lots of space for feet and a flat floor make it possible to fit three passengers across the rear bench. Dacia further helps out here thanks to the broad centre cushion, and everyone gets a three-point belt. Head room is good due to the high roof line, but elbow and shoulder space is limited when carrying three occupants back here.

Lift up the tailgate and the opening reveals a high load sill – a small downside of that higher than usual ride height. There's also a drop to the load floor from the sill, making it trickier when lugging bigger bags in and out of the boot. Still, the space is good with up to 517 litres of space – up from 430 in the previous model. The bi-fuel model has less space (453 litres) due to its extra fuel tanks, while the Hybrid 140 makes do with up to 430 litres. Fold down the rear seats, which split 60:40 and you have up to 1609 litres of cargo volume, although they don't quite fold down flat.

There are three engines on offer in the Dacia Duster. The least powerful is the 100PS 1.0-litre dual-fuel only offered in base Essential trim. It can run on petrol or LPG (liquid petroleum gas), though 0-62mph in 14.1 seconds will have most buyers looking further up the range. Frankly, unless you are a died-in-the-wool LPG fan, there's no point to choosing this engine, especially as LPG is increasingly disappearing from UK forecourts.

Much better is the 1.2-litre three-cylinder TCe 130 engine. It offers 130PS and uses a six-speed manual gearbox in both front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive models. We'd stick with the front-drive version as its 0-62mph of 9.9 seconds is a good bit perkier than the all-wheel-drive's 11.0 seconds. However, both suffer from the same initial lag before the turbocharger wakes up and helps the Duster to surge forward. You get used this trait, but it means the engine is not as smooth and linear in its delivery as most rivals. Nor is it as quiet as Ford or Volkswagen's three-cylinder engines.

For off-road work, the Dacia Duster 4x4 has a part-time four-wheel-drive system that sends power to the rear wheels when needed. It comes with selectable drive modes for mud and sand, snow, and another that divides power equally between front and rear axles. There's also assistance to let the car creep at low speed over rocky outcrops and a front camera to help see over sharp crests.

If you want an automatic gearbox in the Dacia Duster, you will be looking at the Hybrid 140 model. It uses a combination of 1.6-litre petrol engine and electric motor to produce 140PS, giving 0-62mph in 10.1 seconds. It's at its best when driving in EV mode, which it can for reasonably long periods at lower speeds even though it's not a plug-in hybrid. However, when the petrol motor comes into action, it's noisy and often makes a droning sound that undermines the Duster's refinement.

The Dacia Duster in Hybrid 140 form is a car of two halves. When driving in the EV setting, which it will do for much of the time at lower speeds, it's pleasingly quiet. However, when the petrol motor is needed it does this with a very audible gurn that spoils this model in our view.

The 1.2-litre TCe 130 motor makes a typical three-cylinder burr when revved harder. It's a bit louder than a Volkswagen T-Roc's motor, but nothing to stop us choosing this as the best engine in the Duster range.

We've yet to try the 1.0-litre petrol-LPG engine. When it comes to wind noise, there's more inside the Dacia Duster than in a Skoda Kamiq or Nissan Qashqai. Countering this is minimal road noise from the tyres, at least on the 4x2 models, which come with summer tyres. The Duster 4x4 models come with all-season tyres, which we've not tried on the road.

It's disappointing to note the Dacia Duster only scored three stars from Euro NCAP when tested in mid-2024. It only managed middling scores for vulnerable road user and safety assist, but it did do well for child occupant safety. Dacia has said it doesn't fit the latest safety systems to its cars – beyond those legally required – because it doesn't believe its cutomers want to pay extra for them.

All models come with two Isofix child seat mounts in the outer rear chairs, as well as front passenger airbag deactivation so you can fit a third child seat if needed.

There are twin front and side airbags, fatigue detection, lane keep assist, forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking. You also get rear parking sensors, cruise control with speed limiter, traffic sign recognition, stability control, hill start assist. Handily, there is also a configurable driver assist system that lets you disable unwanted safety function at the touch of one button - ideal for turning off lane assist when driving on narrow country lanes.

The 1.0- and 1.2-litre engines in the Dacia Duster are the same as in the previous model, while the Hybrid's drivetrain is used in other Renault models. All have a solid reputation for working without fuss or hassle.

Dacia as a company scored a hugely impress second place in the most recent HonestJohn Satisfaction Survey, with only Lexus a slim margin ahead of it.

The insurance groups for the latest Dacia Duster are slightly higher than the previous model, which could mean higher premiums than existing owners are used to. The basic 1.0-litre Bi-Fuel model sits in group 17 of 50, but all other models are in either group 24 or 25.

The first-year Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), or road tax to give it the more familiar name, is rolled into the price you pay for the car. This sum will be between £260 and £210 depending on the engine you choose.

In the subsequent years, you'll pay the standard rate per year for the Dacia Duster, which is £190 at the time of writing. The Bi-Fuel version and Hybrid 140 both enjoy a £10 reduction as they are classed as alternative fuel vehicles.

The starting point for the Dacia Duster range the Essential trim, which is only offered with the TCe 100 Bi-Fuel engine. Due to what's under the bonnet and its pared down spec, this is a model you'll probably want to bypass on the way to something better equipped.

What you get with the Essential are 16-inch steel wheels, roof bars, heated and electrically adjusted door mirrors, and rear parking sensors. You also have black cloth upholstery, electric front windows, manual air conditioning, a 3.5-inch radio display and four speakers.

Next in line is the Expression that adds the 10.1-inch infotainment screen, rear parking camera, and electric rear windows. It also comes with Denim style upholstery, soft feel steering wheel, automatic lights and wipers, grey mirror caps, and 17-inch alloy wheels. It has a height and reach adjustable steering wheel, too.

One rung up from this is the Journey trim that has sat-nav included with the infotainment, a multi-view camera, and front parking sensors. You also benefit from automatic air conditioning, a split parcel shelf, rear privacy glass, and 18-inch alloys.

At the top of the pile sits the Extreme model with its hill descent control for better off-road driving ability. Those in the front have heated seats, and the driver has a heated steering wheel. All of the seats are covered in synthetic leather upholstery, while the centre console has a sliding armrest. Outside, there are 18-inch alloy wheels, copper-coloured door mirror covers, and modular roof bars that make it easier to fit accessories to them.