NISSAN QASHQAI 2.0 Visia 5dr CVT (2010)

Not Great

This is a ridiculous car. We bought our Nissan Qashqai new (mistake number one) from a dealer we knew nothing about (mistake two) who were located an hour's drive away (mistake 3). The car is falling to pieces and we can't sell up because we'd lose so much money having bought it new. The dealer has turned out to be useless, worse than useless, rude and just basically ignoring us. And because they're so far away we have to do everything by phone and then take the car all the way there on the rare occasion we convince them to repair something under the warranty.

We've had two sets of suspension at the back since we got it (less than 3 years ago). The engine had some sort of foul up about a year in, apparently because I wasn't driving it firmly enough!! A flywheel also needed doing. Apart from that, the interior trim is just rubbish. It's falling to pieces, and bits of rust are appearing on the trim outside. I have to say the Nissan Qashqai has been an absolute disaster for us.

I begrudgingly rate it high for things like handling and performance, which is ok, apart from a bit of jitteriness sometimes - but this is so far down the long list of other complaints it probably won't ever be sorted. The 'running costs' are alright in terms of fuel, but the repairs are going to mount up horribly when the warranty expires, I just don't want to think about that.

It's reasonably powerful, and the stereo is good. That's hasn't gone wrong. Yet. It's good the way the parking camera screen comes up out of the top of the dashboard. That means you can still keep an eye on what's going on ahead of you. It has failed a couple of times when it's really cold though, and obviously it's not much use in heavy fog. That's when you start to regret buying a car with such a high rear windscreen and chunky rear pillars, very poor visibility.

Those are my half attempts at saying nice things about the Nissan Qashqai. All in all it has been a massive disappointment and we'll be glad to be rid of it. Sadly that won't be for quite a few years yet, and it may well cost us a lot in future repairs before it becomes more costly to keep it running. Don't buy new, don't buy from a dealer you know nothing about, and don't buy from someone who isn't local. ARGH!