Nissan Qashqai- any good?

[Dogbash]

Hi guys, my missus has now left her full time job as a hairdresser to go self employed as a mobile hairdresser.

We are looking at Nissan Qashqai's as a possible replacement for her Audi TT as the boot isn't big enough to carry round her gear in that. I also want her to be a bit safer as she will be driving a lot more miles.

Looking at spending approx. 7-10k on one. Seems we have a choice of 1.6L petrol or 1.5L diesel. I understand the diesel is a Renault engine. Are they any good? What sort of MPG can we expect? Also, are they reliable?

Thanks,
Andrew

[anonymous-user]

A mate of mine had the 1.6 but has now upgraded to the larger petrol engined +2 model. The 1.6 was pretty gutless and the head room in the back of the standard model isn't great.

[ED209]

They must be alright because living about 12 miles from the factory every bugger up here drives one, or could it be because of the huge discounts and stupidly cheap lease deals factory staff get?

[Steve H]

Go petrol. Unless she is doing proper distances there's a fair risk of DPF issues with diesel and only proper higher mileage drivers (20k+ pa) will really get much saving in an oil-burner.

[Roundozo]

I don't know if this helps but we had a similar budget and the Mrs also wanted a similar car.

We tested the;

Nissan Qashqai
Kia Sportage
Ford Cougar
VW Tiguan

Out of all four we went for the VW. Nissan felt cheaply built and we have had the 1.5dci in a clio before and it wasn't very good, it also felt underpowered. The Kia was ok but visibility was useless and i felt it was pricey for what it was. The Ford was a close second but in the end the towing weight sold it for us. I have a small boat and the Tiguan can tow 2 ton. It also felt a better build quality and was light and airy. We did have a few issues with it initially (bought second hand) such as throttle body needing replacing etc but once this was fixed the car has been fine for 1.5 years now.

[wiliferus]

I may be talking bks - but isn't the Renault 1.5 derv the engine that was snapping cam belts well before recommended intervals, and Renault are denying all knowledge?

[surveyor]

I've had a couple of them on Hire recently.

I presume that they were 1.6 diesel, obviously can't talk long term.

Performance was adequate, economy was rather good - I saw between 50 and 68 mpg depending on what bit of the journey I was on. Comfortable too.

Only negative that I had was the speakers were crap. I'd actually have one as a daily driver.

[Fastchas]

They are so common now as they are the No.1 choice of the DLA motability service. My disabled dad had a 1.5 dci auto/belt drive and as comfortable as it was, fk me it was awful to drive. Put your foot down to move off... the revs would climb but nothing happened!. Then it would start to move but the engine continued to scream until the car sort of caught up with the engine. Brand new but felt like a constantly slipping clutch.
And going up an uphill slip lane to join a motoway? Forget it! Totally underpowered.

[eltax91]

We had a similar story when our nipper was born. The Mrs wanted out of her Audi and into something more family suited. She has no care about cars other than what's inside. She doesn't give a hoot how it handles or looks or any of that guff.

We tested a 1.6 QQ but it's underpowered for the car. We didn't want a diesel as the Renault engines have a reputation for snapping belts and the short journies are too risky for the dpf.

We ended up testing an 08 plate 2.0 petrol. The engine is chain driven so no worries on the can belt interval. She's run it for about 30k now over 2 years. Taking it from 67k to 97k. A new commute saw mileage double in June last year. It's been utterly bombproof throughout.

The 2.0 petrol is a bit unrefined. I think it harks back to the primera days? But it huddles well enough when poked and the car handles 'ok'. Watch out for the tyres. As it's a soft roader in some guises (you can buy it with 4x4) I think tyre places love to talk women owners up to the 'suv' type tyres. As such ours came with 4 nearly new all terrain type tyres. These were awful in anything but very cold or snowy days and I felt were borderline dangerous at times. The wife would regularly spin up the fronts at junctions! I flogged all 4 to some green Laner I knew from my off road days and bought 4 normal car tyres. Hers are 215/55/16 which weren't easy to get! Much improved now though. It transformed the car.

Last year it had bottom ball joints advised on mot. I decided to get the arms changed. This is the only known weak spot of the car.

The mrs loves the raised driving position and feeling of safety. The boot is normal hatch size (it's not bigger than the MiL Almera for example). She easily gets the buggy, bags and other associated crap in there so I imagine a few hair products, a dryer and some scissors will be fine. With it being a taller body, the load space with the seats down is quite big!

The wife is averaging about 33mpg on a motorway commute. She loves the rear visibility and can park it anywhere. It has Bluetooth, rear parking sensors, cruise and climate. All she ever wanted. Coming from an Audi the only inferior thing in her mind is the plastic quality.

I've spent years trying to find her nice cars. She's had 4 or 5 that I talked her into and never got on with them.

I asked her recently what would she buy if someone wrote the car off (she'd just had a minor bump) and she said 'I'd buy another one'

That's as close as she gets to loving a car! Go for it id say!