[Dusteme130]

Just got a reply from Dacia UK to my question regarding heated seats and they have confirmed that new Duster Extreme will not have heated seats. This has now put me in a quandary as I doubt if I would be happy with no heated seats. May have to cancel which is a shame as I really liked the Extreme version. Don’t know if they will be included in the near future.

 

[zbob]

"I doubt if I would be happy with no heated seat"...FFS, what a bunch of pansies over there these days, presumably Essex is now below the -20 here in the dead of winter despite global warming... 😲 or do you drive naked 🙄

 

[Dusteme130]

"I doubt if I would be happy with no heated seat"...FFS, what a bunch of pansies over there these days, presumably Essex is now below the -20 here in the dead of winter despite global warming... 😲 or do you drive naked 🙄

When you've had the luxuries of heated seats and steering wheel it's hard to go back the way. My current BMW is voice controlled for most things, i.e. seat and steering wheel heating, oil temp, cabin heater etc, etc. I can live without that as it is not that important but some things are. I bet you wouldn't want to go back to a car without power assisted steering now would you? 😰

 

[vintagepaul]

Did Dacia say why they've dropped the heated seats from the standard spec?
I'm with you on the heated seats though , I usr them throughout the year so clearly I must be a pansy!!

 

[Dusteme130]

This is the email I received from them regarding the heated seats Paul. Best us pansies stick together I guess, clearly Romanian butts are made of leather .


Good Morning Alex,

Thank you for getting in touch.

I can confirm that the Heated Seats are not included in the Dacia Duster Extreme. All of the most up to date information on the model will be found on our website.

The brochure contains a disclaimer on the back page which explains that Dacia are able to change to specification at any time and the selling dealership will notify customers of this from their Sales Alerts.

I hope that this helps!

Kind Regards,
Emily
Dacia UK

 

[Dusteme130]

I should have added that I doubt very much if this has anything to do with the current chip shortage as the seat heaters must consist of only heater elements, wiring and a couple of switches. I am being cynical and thinking it is Dacias way of saving a bit of money to avoid increasing the cost, I would happily pay the extra as I am now on the point of cancelling my order much against my wishes. I wonder if this impending announcement tomorrow has anything to do with the heated seats delete, i.e. keeping the parts for the new model "Bigster" possibly! If that's the case and the engine choice, spec, pricing and delivery timescale was acceptable I may even consider ordering one of those but I think this will just be a pipe dream till some time next year.

 

[vintagepaul]

I should have added that I doubt very much if this has anything to do with the current chip shortage as the seat heaters must consist of only heater elements, wiring and a couple of switches. I am being cynical and thinking it is Dacias way of saving a bit of money to avoid increasing the cost, I would happily pay the extra as I am now on the point of cancelling my order much against my wishes. I wonder if this impending announcement tomorrow has anything to do with the heated seats delete, i.e. keeping the parts for the new model "Bigster" possibly! If that's the case and the engine choice, spec, pricing and delivery timescale was acceptable I may even consider ordering one of those but I think this will just be a pipe dream till some time next year.

If be surprised if it's a way of avoiding price increases, I think they've put the price of the duster up 3 times since December so they don't seem to have an issue with that.
I do agree that I can't see that heated seats would require any chips but I don't really know to be honest.
Would it be worth looking for a nearly new prestige (I know it's not an extreme but the key spec is the same) with the heated seats fitted?

 

[Dusteme130]

I did consider the Prestige option but it was the colour of the Extreme that caught my eye. i have the Urban Grey on order as I think it looks real nice with the black wheels. My current BMW is also grey with black wheels.

 

[vintagepaul]

I did consider the Prestige option but it was the colour of the Extreme that caught my eye. i have the Urban Grey on order as I think it looks real nice with the black wheels. My current BMW is also grey with black wheels.

It does look good in the grey, had the extreme been available when we ordered ours I would have gone for that too👍
It may be worth asking your dealer if they can hold into the order until the heated seats become available again as they may do. Between ordering and taking delivery of our duster Dacia removed the built in Sat nav from the spec due to the chip shortage and then reinstated it a few weeks later so they have form playing around with the spec!

 

[Dusteme130]

Thanks for that bit of advice about holding the order, I never even thought about doing that. I'll phone them tomorrow and see what they say as I don't want to cancel if I can help it and as you say they play around with the spec as I read somewhere that the MediaNav had been dropped but when I contacted Dacia they informed me it was still on the Extreme so this meant it had been re-instated. The Prestige has everything I need apart from the colour though I am drawn to the orange and I could always powder coat the alloys as I hate diamond cut wheels anyway. Another reason for the Extreme.

 

[HTP99]

I have had confirmation form the Dacia Commercial Operations Manager, heated seats haven't been discontinued on Prestige and Extreme SE.

 

[Dusteme130]

I have had confirmation form the Dacia Commercial Operations Manager, heated seats haven't been discontinued on Prestige and Extreme SE.

Thanks very much for that info mate! I can keep my order now. I wish my dealer was as efficient as you.

 

[Dusteme130]

E-mailed dealer last night to confirm I was keeping the order thanks to the update from HTP99. Phoned them this morning to confirm and take the mud flaps off and add side steps on plus front parking sensors. Dealer said I was looking at November delivery but adding front parking sensors would probably mean a December delivery all being well. I guess another few weeks will make little difference as then I'll have the spec I want.