Nissan Note (2013 – 2016) Review

The Nissan Note follows a very Japanese formula, maximising the use of space in a small package. It’s designed to seat four or even five adults in comfort, with a decent level of legroom and headroom and a spacious luggage area, but in a car not much longer than a Ford Fiesta. It all seems fine, until you examine cabin quality, which is not its strong suit. Read on for our full Nissan Note review.

The Nissan Note is full of clever ideas, like a sizeable under-floor storage area in the boot and a rear bench seat that can be moved forward and backward, depending on how much legroom or load space is required.

There’s a double floor in the boot, too, which gives more load space when it’s in the lower position or sits flush with the load lip to aid in loading bulky, heavy items. All very useful.

Unfortunately, it’s not all good news. The cabin is finished in a dull, hard plastic that doesn’t match the soft-touch material you get in European rivals. Furthermore, some of the best gear, like the sliding rear bench, wasn’t offered on base models.

On top of that, the driving experience isn’t enjoyable – the steering feels disconnected and the gearchange isn’t very accurate.

Additionally, refinement isn’t great – gearboxes can be heard whining, engines are a little gruff, and wind noise is noticeable at motorway speeds. When you can have a Ford B-MAX, or the excellent Honda Jazz, for similar money in the used market, it makes you question why you’d pick the Nissan.

There were two petrol engines to choose from – a 1.3-litre three-cylinder petrol with 80PS, and from December 2013 a more powerful, supercharged version with 98PS.

There was also a 1.5-litre dCi diesel with 90PS.

All offer decent, if not scintillating, performance, paired with reasonable fuel economy.

Four trim levels were initially offered – Visia, Acenta, Acenta Premium and Tekna – joined later by a Black Edition.

Even the entry-level model has a decent level of standard kit, but those who want the best technology will need a higher trim version.

Fancy a second opinion? Read heycar’s Nissan Note review.

The driving experience isn’t very good in the Nissan Note – the steering feels rubbery and disconnected thanks to inconsistent weighting and the gear change, while light, isn’t very precise.

On the plus side, the ride is compliant and fairly comfortable, although it is noticeably better in the petrol-powered car, perhaps because of its lighter weight.

On top of that, the brakes don’t have much bite and need to be given a firm shove to do their job.

The handling, regardless of engine, is fairly safe and predictable, but it’s not particularly noteworthy. Given the target market, that doesn’t matter too much – it’s unlikely to be driven particularly hard or fast.

The Nissan Note is offered with four combinations of engine and transmission – there’s an 80PS 1.2-litre three cylinder petrol and a 1.5-litre dCi diesel engine.

Later, those two were joined by a 98PS supercharged version of the 1.2-litre petrol, which can be paired with a CVT automatic transmission.

The 1.2-litre 80PS engine is the least expensive, and it offers a decent level of performance, plus pulls reasonably well. But it is necessary to plan ahead when overtaking or driving on the motorway.

The 1.5 dCi is much better in that regard with a healthy 200Nm of torque available from 1750rpm.

It’s more hushed at motorway speeds, and has more flexible in-gear performance, so changing down through the gears to overtake isn’t necessary.

Neither engine is particularly refined, however. They both sound noisy when starting up, and out on the road. At low speeds, the gearbox can be heard whining and at high speeds, there’s noticeable wind noise.

The Nissan Note recorded a four-star score from Euro NCAP when crash tested in 2013.

This was due to the car not having the Safety Pack kit of lane departure warning, blind spot assist and four-way parking camera as standard, except on the top-level Tekna trim.

All others had to have this equipment added as an option pack.

However, the Nissan Note does come with ESP traction control, speed limiter, six airbags and rear Isofix child seat mounts.

Even if you have a braked trailer and want to tow with the Nissan Note, you’ll be limited to a maximum of 450kg, which is a long way off most rivals.

If you’re looking for practicality above all else, then the Nissan Note should be up your street.

The cabin is upright and offers masses of headroom front and rear, with an adjustable rear bench that lets you choose between maximum rear legroom and maximum load space.

With the seats slid back, the boot has a 325-litre capacity. But that increases to 411 litres by sliding them forward with either the handle in the load area, or the handle in the cabin.

Additionally the rear seats can be folded to give a vast 2011 litres of capacity to the roofline. Sadly, the sliding rear bench is only available on Acenta trim and higher. 

What’s more, there is a double load floor – this has two heights, one to maximise space and another to make the load deck flush with the load lip.

The latter is ideal for loading heavy items, as they can be slid in or out without fouling anywhere.

The load floor can be partially folded to reveal an extra storage area with space for a couple of shopping bags.

Moving the load floor around is a little tricky at first, but it’s easy to get the hang of and it makes the Nissan Note more practical than typical small hatchbacks, although it’s not quite as well executed as the Honda Jazz.

While the cabin of the Nissan Note is among the most practical offered in a small car, it’s not without its problems.

There are no soft-touch plastics – everything is covered in an obviously hard-wearing, but very drab, grey plastic which doesn’t feel very sophisticated.

Add to that some cheap-looking details like the air vents and centre stack control switches, and the Nissan Note feels a bit low-rent. That’s not helped by the cloth upholstery, which feels thin.

Only the top two trims – Acenta Premium and Tekna – in the Nissan Note come with the Nissan Connect sat-nav and a 5.8-inch touchscreen system.

It includes DAB radio, but it feels dated and slow in operation by current standards.

If you don’t mind looking at a Nissan Note from early in this generation’s production lifespan, you could pick up a 10-year-old example with 80,000 miles on the clock from £4000.

That’s decent value for a small car that is practical and cheap to run.

If you’d prefer a model from the end of the Nissan Note’s lifespan, you’ll be looking at spending around £11,500 for a six-year-old car with a mere 15,000 miles to its credit.

The 1.0 and 1.2-litre petrol engines deliver more than decent combined fuel economy, according to Nissan’s original figures.

What we see in reality, thanks to our Real MPG data, is average consumption in the mid-40s, while the automatic gearbox-equipped 1.2 DIG-S registers around the 37mpg mark.

If you want a Nissan Note to cover miles in, then, you’re better looking to the 1.5 dCi turbodiesel version.

It claimed up to 80.7mpg when new, and Real MPG data shows it can achieve a decent 62.5mpg in mixed driving – more when used gently on the motorway.

Carbon dioxide emissions are good for this range of engines, with the 1.2 DIG-S and 1.5 dCi both offering figures under 100g/km.

Consequently, you can expect road tax for these to be free based on rates at the time of writing.

Insurance won’t upset your monthly budget too much, either, as the Nissan Note sits in groups 6 to 11, while servicing is on a par with its small car rivals.

As such, you shouldn’t be presented with any big bills. But it’s worth noting that the Nissan Note is not as reliable as other cars from the company’s range, such as the Nissan Micra.

The entry-level Nissan Note Visia comes with a CD player, USB and aux connectivity, Bluetooth, electrically adjustable door mirrors, stop/start, cruise control and tyre pressure monitoring.

It also has split-fold rear seats, electric front windows, daytime running lights, keyless entry and steel wheels. Air-conditioning was a cost option on Visia models.

In the Nissan Note Acenta versions, you get steering-wheel mounted audio controls, heated door mirrors, electric rear windows, air-conditioning and a sliding rear bench seat.

There are also 15-inch alloy wheels, front and rear armrests, adjustable load area floor, body-coloured exterior details and rear privacy glass.

The Nissan Note Acenta Premium gets climate control, automatic headlights and wipers, front foglights plus the Nissan Connect sat-nav and touchscreen system.

Options on this grade included the Safety Pack with an Around View monitor, and the Comfort pack with glass roof. Both are worth having on any used car you buy.

The Nissan Note Tekna added the Around View Monitor, i-Key with keyless start button, improved audio system, blind spot warning, lane departure warning, leather covered steering wheel, part leather seats and 16-inch alloy wheels.

Options included a styling pack with front and rear aprons, plus a spoiler.

The Nissan Note Black Edition that arrived in mid-2016 had sporty, body-coloured bumpers front and rear, side skirts, black bezel headlights and a black roof spoiler at the top of the hatchback.

Other upgrades included 16-inch alloy wheels, door handles and mirror covers, and gloss inserts around the daytime running lights.

Inside, the centre console was finished in gloss black, with a black gear shift knob and black headliner. Electric rear windows were included, and the Nissan Connect touchscreen infotainment system was an option.