Used Dacia Duster Sells for More than Brand New

The immense success the Dacia Duster model is experiencing on markets around the world has created a situation few thought possible a few months back: in France, a used Duster is selling for more than a brand new car, purchased from the dealership's parking lot.

The reason behind this unnatural situation is the fact that, because of the huge number of orders, the production capacity is capped and French customers may wait for as much as seven months to get their SUV. That means that if one orders the car now, they will only get it sometime in spring 2011.

This situation is slowly turning into gold for used car dealers, who have begun selling used Dusters (with the odometer at around 10,000 km (or 6,200 miles) for about EUR1,000 ($1,280) more than the recommended price.

According to Promotor, a Dacia Duster 1.5 dCi (110 hp 4x2) in Laureate trim sells at a Dacia dealer for EUR16,200 ($20,813), but can be found wearing a price tag which is EUR1000 higher. In the case of the Dacia Duster 1.5 dCi 85 hp, prices can be higher by as much as EUR2,500 ($3,200).

So, congratulations, Dacia, your Duster is a hit. But there's still a little something which won't let us be. If you are a French Duster buyer who waited for several month to buy one, why do you resell it after 10,000 km? And, as far as we can tell, there are quite a few Duster buyers trying to get rid of the car.

We tested the Duster a while back and found it to be “the world's cheapest modern SUV and the best Dacia in history at the same time". You can read all about it here.