2023 Dacia Duster Owner’s Manual

Look up "excellent cheap cars" online, and you will find a Dacia Duster somewhere in the first few results. This would be no surprise to those in the know, seeing that the Duster has consistently remained one of the best offerings under 10k, never failing to over-deliver despite its surprisingly low price.

The brand manages to keep the Dacia consistent. It costs low using a simple formula: this nameplate is built in Romania, a low-cost production zone, using platforms, engines, and other parts it inherited from old Dacia and Renault (Renault owns Dacia since 1999) vehicles while stubborn maintaining a spartan approach to the car’s interior.

One of the consequences of using an old platform is that the Duster is a little light on safety modern features, with no lane departure system or emergency braking; however, Dacia does include six airbags, with curtains, standard on every unit.

The Dacia Duster is also noticeably slow and unrefined, but that is only when you compare it with category rivals that retail for almost twice its price. At its price point, the competition gets considerably slimmer.

Dacia has also put some effort into facelifting the Duster as it approaches the end of the market cycle for its current, second generation. With the previous year’s release, Dacia added a new logo and a more updated front face to its trusty Duster, significantly modernizing its looks.

For 2023, we get a few tiny refinements that make the new Duster quieter, add an improved infotainment system, and upgrade the dashboard design. However, the 2023 model still doesn’t pretend to be anything it isn’t, and at this price point, a spartan setup is not a significant cause for concern.

Under the hood, the 2023 Dacia Duster has two gasoline options: a 1-liter turbocharged three-cylinder that makes 89 horsepower or a larger turbocharged 1.3-liter that can be tuned to make either 128 HP or 148 HP and can be paired with an automatic transmission, unlike the rest of the range. All three options come with 2-wheel drive.

Alternatively, you can pick a 1.5-liter four-cylinder diesel option that outputs 113 horsepower, or, if you are in Britain, you also get a bi-fuel option that uses a 99-HP three-cylinder petrol engine that also accepts LPG gas.