More Bang For Your Bucks
SA Country Life|April 2019

The new and improved Renault Duster keeps impressing, and it’s affordable to boot.

Stephen Smith
More Bang For Your Bucks

R255 900. That’s the entry price of the Duster range, and it speaks of the incredible value that this family-sized SUV offers. But it doesn’t tell the whole story of why the Duster has done so well for Renault locally (more than 15 000 units sold in South Africa since launch in 2013), and why it is still one of my best buys in the current car market. I’ve had a few adventures in Dusters – I drove one across Lesotho before they were launched locally, I’ve taken one fishing in the Midlands, and I’ve driven one to the farm on occasion. Every time I’m reminded of what a good country-life car this is, with an unrivalled ‘adventure for buck’ ratio.

This latest test car didn’t get to adventure, but did the tar thing every day, commuting and going back and forth from the hospital as Emily spent some time there producing our second child and getting to grips with her. So this time there are no fun photos of the Duster making use of its off-road potential, or its adventurous spirit, but at least I got to do with the Duster what most of its owners do on a daily basis.

A few months ago, the Duster was given a modernising and aesthetically revitalising facelift, and everyone who bought a Duster just before then must be quietly sobbing into their bowl of oats every morning.

Denne historien er fra April 2019-utgaven av SA Country Life.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra April 2019-utgaven av SA Country Life.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA SA COUNTRY LIFESe alt
The Little Car That Could
SA Country Life

The Little Car That Could

The new Hyundai Atos is proof that budget-friendly vehicles can be fun

time-read
4 mins  |
June 2020
SA Country Life

Cowboys Never Cry

GEORGE ROBEY rides the range outside Ficksburg with one of Africa’s great cowboys

time-read
5 mins  |
June 2020
Family Stays
SA Country Life

Family Stays

Make some beautiful memories at one of these countryside getaways

time-read
6 mins  |
June 2020
SA Country Life

Art from the Heart

Watching blacksmiths at the forge, painters at the easel, cabinet makers at the chisel, and wandering the woods with a famous calligrapher in small, bespoke gatherings is what the Prince Albert Open Studios project is all about

time-read
7 mins  |
June 2020
Lighthouse Over Yonder
SA Country Life

Lighthouse Over Yonder

A shipwreck road trip from Bredasdorp to Danger Point is a fine way to spend a day drifting over the Agulhas plain

time-read
8 mins  |
March 2020
Up and Away In The Amatolas
SA Country Life

Up and Away In The Amatolas

A burgeoning settlement of people enjoys the good life among the mountains, mists and forests of Hogsback

time-read
7 mins  |
March 2020
The Salt Shepherd
SA Country Life

The Salt Shepherd

ALAN VAN GYSEN finds out how a farm boy the Vleesbaai skaaplande became as dedicated to big waves as he is to sheep

time-read
7 mins  |
March 2020
Time Holds on Longer Here
SA Country Life

Time Holds on Longer Here

Do not blink as you take the R62 that runs through the Eastern Cape Langkloof, warns OBIE OBERHOLZER. You might miss the strip of tar to the tranquil village of Haarlem

time-read
9 mins  |
March 2020
Place of Refuge
SA Country Life

Place of Refuge

People have been escaping to the remote Winterberg mountains in the Eastern Cape for hundreds of years, writes MARION WHITEHEAD

time-read
5 mins  |
March 2020
The Place Of Roaring Water
SA Country Life

The Place Of Roaring Water

In Augrabies Falls National Park, cultural projects are creating a thunder akin to the mighty Orange as it plummets into its famous gorge

time-read
7 mins  |
November 2019