Nissan Qashqai (2014 - 2021) Tekna 1.5 dCi 110 (07/17 on) 5d Owner Review

I have had this car from new as a company car and covered just over 28000 miles in the last 12 months. As I have spent so much time in this vehicle I thought I would write a review based on my ownership and broke this down into into sections. Cabin and driving position Most controls are well set out and in the right place. The center storage compartment on the other had is very awkward to access and retrieve items from as you have to bend your arm and hand back to access which sounds like a small issue but is actually really annoying. The car has all the safety tech like parking camera and sensors, lane correction, auto lights, auto brake etc, and all work as expected and been trouble free. The seats are very comfortable on long journeys and head and leg room good. I’m 6ft and fit no problem. I regularly drive 7hrs and get out feeling fine. Cabin can get noisy at speeds above 85mph. Economy Nissan quote 70+mpg!!!! Do not believe this figure! Sure this is achievable if you drive in 6th gear at 35mph downhill? Its far closer to 44mpg combined. Diesel is currently around £1.30 per litre and costs around £65 to fill from empty and returns around 520 miles per tank. Performance Here lays my biggest gripe with this car. The 1.5 diesel needs to be worked very hard when joining motorways to get up to speed or overtaking. It becomes extremely irritating on hills and you need to work the gearbox to retain speed. If you hit a large incline at 60mpg in 6th gear you will be doing 40mpg by the time you get to the top and will be holding up lorry’s and coaches. The only option is to drop down the gears and work the engine hard with disregard for mechanical sympathy and what long term damage you maybe inflicting on the engine. This also reflects why the fuel economy is not as good as Nissan say. The other gripe with the performance is how unbelievably sluggish it is when pulling out of junctions or roundabouts. If you are in city traffic environments and need to be reactive and pull out quickly then forget it. I have lost the count of the amount of times I’ve been caught out on junctions by the lack of acceleration. The only way to bring it into life is by rev’ing it and dumping the clutch to get it moving. Again really not good for clutch or gearbox but better than being crashed into. On the plus side when up to speed on motorways and A-roads on level ground it will cruise below 2000 revs at around 75mph and fuel economy improves. Brakes are strong without any fade and car handles surprisingly well and feels reassuring once you get used to the body roll. Build Quality/Reliability Overall I would rate the build quality as average. It has developed a few annoying rattles from the cabin. Also the interior plastics are already looking a bit second hand around cup holders, handles and gear stick. Seats and carpets have survived fairly well to date as expected for a 12month old car. The exterior however has suffered from the day to day elements, and the front bumper and bonnet and wing mirrors are plastered in stone chips, which I can only put down to ultra-thin paint. Also twigs and weeds from country lane driving have also caused surface scratches along the wings, again the paint must be super thin and doesn’t age well. It seems a real shame as every time its washed more and more surface damage becomes apparent. I have had no issues to date with the reliability of the car. All electronics and mechanical parts have been trouble free, although I have started to notice that gear changes are becoming a bit notchy which could be signs of the clutch degrading. To summarise This car has served me well for long journeys and proven reliable and comfortable for me and my family. It can be frustrating due to the lack of performance but this should come as no surprise considering the size of the engine in such a large car. Maybe look into other engine choice’s as I wasn’t able to choose. If I owned this car I would be horrified at the deterioration of the interior plastics and exterior paint chipping and how easy it is to scratch as this will de-value the car. I would also be really concerned at how hard you need to cane the engine and gearbox and problems this may cause over time. Something to consider if buying a second hand ex-fleet cars, as these are popular with the hire car companies and company car drivers due to low TAX. Personally I wouldn’t buy one given my experience and it brings very little excitement or joy to drive, but that said it is practical and does the job even be it very slowly.