Dacia Duster crowned UK’s best car to own in Driver Power survey

The results are in, and the UK car buying public has voted for its favourite cars to own in the 2024 Driver Power survey. With thousands of responses detailing the real-world ownership experience of 50 different cars, we can confirm that this year’s winner is the Dacia Duster.

Driver Power is the UK’s most trusted and comprehensive car ownership survey, giving new car owners an opportunity to voice their thoughts on what their car is really like to live with. With 10 distinct categories covering everything from the buying experience through to long-term reliability, Driver Power provides potential car buyers with an insight into the ups and downs of ownership of some of the UK’s most popular models. 

Driver Power 2024 winner: Dacia Duster

Out of the 50 cars included in this year’s survey, the Dacia Duster small SUV came out on top. We’ve long been fans of the Duster at Carbuyer, with its back-to-basics, budget-friendly ethos scoring highly in our in-depth review. It seems that the UK car buying public agrees, as the Duster performed especially well in questions related to value for money. Other high points for the Duster included its intuitive interior controls and impressive cabin storage and boot space.

Driver Power 2024 runners up

While it was the Duster that ultimately took the top spot, a respectable second place was achieved by the Tesla Model 3. UK drivers were clearly impressed by its EV technology, with it clinching first place in the Powertrain, Economy and Running Costs and Safety categories. 

Toyota secured both third and fourth overall positions with the Yaris and RAV4, respectively, although neither came out on top in any one specific category. Instead, solid performances across all sections proved to be enough for the Japanese brand to win Best Supermini and Best SUV overall. Coming home in fifth place is the MINI hatch, another strong performer across the board.

Despite finishing outside of the top 10, the Skoda Kodiaq deserves an honourable mention for its first-place finishes in the Interior and Comfort, Practicality and Boot Space, and Reliability and Build Quality categories. Weaker results for its powertrain and economy hurt its overall score, but it remained a favourite among large SUV buyers. Similarly, Peugeot picked up two category wins; one for Best Exterior with the Peugeot 2008, and the other for Ride and Handling with the Peugeot 208.

Driver Power 2024 results

See below for the complete list of individual category winners and top-scorers by car segment.

Category Winners

• Best Powertrain - Tesla Model 3
• Best Value - Dacia Duster
• Best Exterior - Peugeot 2008
• Best Interior and Comfort - Skoda Kodiaq
• Best Ride and Handling - Peugeot 208
• Best Practicality and Boot Space - Skoda Kodiaq
• Best Safety Features - Tesla Model 3
• Best Economy and Running Costs - Tesla Model 3
• Best Infotainment, Connectivity and Electrics - Dacia Duster
• Best Reliability and Build Quality - Skoda Kodiaq

Top Cars By Segment

• Best City Car - Kia Picanto
• Best Supermini - Toyota Yaris
• Best Compact Family Car - Toyota Corolla
• Best Premium Compact Family Car - BMW 1 Series
• Best Small SUV - Dacia Duster
• Best Premium Small SUV - Volvo XC40
• Best SUV - Toyota RAV4
• Best Premium SUV - Jaguar F-Pace
• Best Executive Car - Tesla Model 3