DACIA DUSTER

This great-value SUV is an endearing all-rounder. We're sorry to see it go

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Cars are remarkable things. Over the past four months, I've travelled some 8000 miles on four wheels, completing a wide array of different journeys on various surfaces, and some other tasks besides.

This has included lugging five adults around the country; helping to transport an assortment of non- specific stuff for my parents' 100- mile house move; driving up steep coastal hillsides and clambering over rocky off-road terrain; and getting a good night's sleep in the boot atop a foldout mattress.

Notably, I completed this wide variety of tasks in the same car, my Dacia Duster, and it was excellent at all of them - and on top of my efforts, Matt Prior took it on a European excursion (see box).

When you boil all this down, the plucky SUV (ours costs £26,700) has proven to be one of the mightiest and most adaptable members of the Autocar fleet in recent times - and that's at any price point.

As I write this, the keys to the Duster - christened Diego by my wife - have just been handed back to Dacia, and I sit here feeling like a close family member has moved out. I honestly mean it when I say I'm feeling genuinely sad right now. So let's reminisce.