All the 3 Dusters performed brilliantly. Apart from a failed glow plug and a flat tyre.
BHPian Samba recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
When I bought the Duster AWD in 2018, I had two trips in mind. One was Sandakphu & the other was Winter Spiti. The Duster completed both trips with flying colours!
Now let me start with the negatives
1. It snowed all throughout the night, and the outside temperature was -11c. We went with 3 Dusters. Tried to start all the cars in the morning. The rest two started in the first crank, but mine refused to start. I immediately knew something was a miss. 2 to 3 times I put the ignition on for 30 secs and allowed the glow plugs to heat the cylinders, but still, the car was not starting. I put the OBD, and the rpm was not going over 280 to 300 rpm while cranking. I checked the error codes and voila! The culprit was detected. One of the glow plugs failed!
Just beside our homestay, there was a mechanic. Along with him, we poured some hot water on the diesel filter and primed the diesel filter valve. The engine slowly started to come back to life. But by then we have already cranked around 10 times. I was afraid the battery might drain out. So decided, not to take a chance and use the jump start cable. We put it on Bhpian Arays Duster, revved it to 2500 rpm and cranked my car. On the next 2-3 attempts the engine came to life.
The next two nights at Kaza, we kept the engine on from 11 pm to 7 am. After leaving Kaza, once the temperature was over 0 degrees C, the car started without any fuss, even with a failed glow plug.
2. On a steep downslope with a sharp turn, the road was covered with black ice. Even in first gear, Duster reached a speed of 25 km/hr. It fishtailed a bit. That was scary. Missed a low range at the time. With a low-range gearbox, I could have taken the downslope in a more controlled way, as on black ice we can’t touch the brakes!
Now the positives
I was in two minds. This year the Duster will turn 5 and here in West Bengal, we have to pay the road tax every 5 years & after 5 years the Duster will be out of warranty too. So whether to keep the car or sell the car. After this trip, I decided to retain the Duster.
Reasons
- The car is running more or less in a reliable way. Apart from some minor niggles, no major problems in the last 30,000 km.
- It’s a brilliant long-distance tourer.
- The car is robustly built. It can take rough terrains without a sweat.
- The 52L diesel tank gives a very good range.
- Got an mileage of 14+ km/L for the whole trip.
- Driving on snow or slush is just like a cakewalk. I do not even have to engage the 4wd lock mode. The auto mode did the job exceptionally well.
- The ESP & ABS worked like a charm on slippery surfaces.
- The heater kept us warm even at -15 c.
- This car is damn comfortable for long hauls. The driver just does not feel any fatigue even after driving for 1000+ km in a day.
- All the 3 Dusters performed brilliantly. Apart from a failed glow plug, and a flat tyre on Bhpian mountain_deep’s Duster, there were absolutely no issues with the cars.
Will write the travelogue shortly. Till then sharing a few pics from the trip.
And a mandatory wash after the trip. This time I tried My Carz Studio in Chinarpark, Rajarhat. They did an excellent job. They washed the car thoroughly and now it’s shining like new!
Keyword: How a snowy Spiti trip convinced me to retain my 2018 Duster AWD