Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute

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Wed 30 Dec 2015 17:50
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - fstopfitzgerald

After 25 years of commuting to London by train my company is relocating to the Home Counties, and I'm going to have to drive to work. Its about a 150 mile round trip (much of it on the M25) and I'll have to go probably 3 days a week, so I need to buy another car that can do 25,000 miles a year. (My wife needs our exisiting family car - a 10 year old Prius).

The most important criteria are:

• A decent sized boot for my greyhound (when I'm not driving to work)

• Really good fuel economy - I'm looking for at least 50mpg.

• Total monthly running cost no higher than my rail season ticket of £400pm (I may get a small compensation allowance on top but probably no more than £100pm).

• I haven't yet decided whether to get a new car on a PCP/PCH or a 3-4 year old one with a personal loan. Either way I need to keep the payment to around £250 as I'm guessing the fuel, servicing etc will be as much again on top.

I like the high driving position of 4x4/SUV type cars, so I'm drawn to the Nissan Qashqai 1.5DCi. The new one, according to the published figures, averages 74mpg, while a 2012 version claims 54mpg. (I'm assuming I can take 20% off these in real world driving).

I can get a new one for about £275 on a PCH, or the monthly payment on a loan for a used one would be about £200 - but on the used one I'd also have to factor in about another £70pm in tax (there's none on the new one), MOT and extra fuel for the lower economy. And that doesn't factor in the cost of any replacement parts.

The figures seem to point to a new one, although I'd never own it. But if I buy a 3 year old model with, say 30k on the clock it will have topped the 100k barrier after I've had it for three years so won't be worth much by then, and the maintenance may have started getting costly.

My questions:
• Is the Nissan Qashqai 1.5DCi a good choice for my needs? What alternatives would you recommend?
• Would you buy a used one or lease a new one?

Thanks!

Edited by fstopfitzgerald on 30/12/2015 at 17:55

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Wed 30 Dec 2015 18:07
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - oldroverboy.

When you look at the leasing costs for 25000 a year it will frighten you, esprcially if you include a servicing package that covers tyres and consumables,

My friend who just bought himself a 3.5 year old jaguar with 2 years jaguar warranty on it has done it to replace his company car that had a huge tax liability. He now claims the mileage allowance and it is relatively good as he needs a "prestige car" and is satisfied with economy.

Unbelievably (for me) it is a 3.0 litre xf premium luxury and i am a light shade of green. (car is black)

Personally i like the look of the cashcow and it does have a good reputation.

Buy one of the last before the facelift at motorpoint , excellent prices.

let us know what you do.

Edited by oldroverboy. on 30/12/2015 at 18:08

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Wed 30 Dec 2015 18:51
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - fstopfitzgerald

Someone sent me a link to this site which seems to have some good deals:

www.contracthireandleasing.com/personal/car-contra.../

I'll take a look at Motorpoint, thanks.

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Wed 30 Dec 2015 19:21
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - Avant

So far people have concentrated on the financial side - let's look at the car itself.

SWMBO and I had a test drive of a Qashqai a few weeks ago: all credit to Chalkes of Wincanton for letting us go out in it on our own.

The Qashqai is a good, reliable, serviceable vehicle for getting people and things from A to B, but fun to drive it ain't. We tried the 1.6 petrol 163 bhp version: straight-line acceleration was fine but the handling was wallowy and the steering seemed strangely disconnected from the road (not literally of course but there was a distinct lack of involvement).

So it depends on what you want from a car. You'll be in it for a long time each day, and you may just want to relax and get to and from work - in which case a diesel Qashqai should do you very well.

If you like your Prius you could consider an Auris hybrid estate - or if you want to be higher up, Toyota have the RAV-4 (facelift imminent so there should be good deals on the old one) or the Verso. I've tried the Auris - better to drive than the Qashqai - but not the other two.

For other diesel estates / MPVs that are good to drive, I'd look at Ford (Focus, Mondeo or C-Max) and Skoda (Octavia or Yeti).

Edited by Avant on 30/12/2015 at 23:39

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Wed 30 Dec 2015 20:34
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - Ethan Edwards

I don't believe the build quality in the new Qq is as good as in the previous model. That said the previous diesel Qq is a comfy car with great ride quality to smooth out our wonderful British roads.

I'm running mine for 75 miles a day round trip. It's a 2litre diesel auto and it easily gets 45 mpg. So the 1.5 should do even better. Good choice imo but don't expect it to handle like a sports car. It's good in its class but an MX5 it will never be.

Hope that gives you some ideas.

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Wed 30 Dec 2015 20:39
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - fstopfitzgerald

I took a 1.6 diesel out for a quick spin today and thought it felt quite nippy and fun, but I'm used to driving a Prius, remember! ;-)

Performance has never been as important to me as comfort and economy (I like a relaxing rather than a challenging drive) but if I can find something that's almost as frugal as the Prius and a bit more fun I'll be happy.

The Focus EcoBoost is on my list, as is the Seat Leon ST. I hired a Renault Captur recently which was not bad – smaller than I had in mind but since the rear seats slide forward the boot is surprisingly roomy for the dog.

If I buy new then the new Honda H-RV and the Renault Kadjar seem worth considering (the latter being basically a Qashqai underneath anyway). The Citroen C4 Cactus has also been suggested but I'm not sure I can get past the looks – which is my main gripe against the Yeti (weird) and Octavia (boring).

I'll read up on the Auris - I'd written it off as too small and didn't know they did an estate. As for the RAV 4, well I love those and had a succession of them before the Prius, but gave up on them as too costly to run (both in terms of economy and tax). The forthcoming RAV 4 Hybrid seems like the perfect car actually but will be well above my budget for a few years yet.

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Wed 30 Dec 2015 21:49
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - Ethan Edwards

Ok you drove a Prius..luxury loadsa power. My Qq has replaced a Yaris HSD 1.5 not a 1.8 but imo the smooth driving habits gained on the Hybrid that are reaping 45 mpg on the Qq. Whatever you choose that's going to pay off. Oh I use cruise control a fair bit too. Had it on the Yaris as well. Same journey I used to get 62 plus out of the Yaris.

Anyway I'm enjoying that turbo kick!

If I may suggest go look at a Kia Sportage or Hyundai ix35 as they're pretty much the same sort of deal.

Hope that helps.

Ps we have had three ex racing greys ..love that breed!

Edited by Ethan Edwards on 30/12/2015 at 21:51

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Thu 31 Dec 2015 00:14
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - Alby Back
I put 80,000 miles on a 2008 Qashqai a few years back. Always very comfortable but never very exciting and fairly thirsty ( it was a 2.0d auto ) reliable though. Never any trouble with it other than it seemed heavy on tyre wear. Fronts were always shot in 18,000 or so. On balance a nice car.

My wife has a 1.6 petrol manual one of similar vintage. It's ok too, a bit under geared for motorway work but the diesels are better in that respect. Again very reliable and very comfortable. Bit dreary to drive, well, that's a tad unfair I suppose, but it's no sports car.

New ones seem nice.
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Thu 31 Dec 2015 16:20
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - Happy Blue!

I have a Captur and whilst I like it and there are good deals on new models I don't think I could drive it 25,000 miles a year even with the diesel engine. Not quite polished enough for that distance on a regular basis and the ride is a little too pattery. Comfortable seats and interior though.

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Thu 31 Dec 2015 20:47
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - fstopfitzgerald

Yes I felt that would be the case with the Captur. Basically not substantial enough for a daily motorway run but perfect for local journeys, and the sliding rear seats create a really good boot space, albeit at the expense of rear legroom. Also the SatNav was next to useless as it didn't allow full postcodes to be entered – though I hear Renault has now rectified this. (It beggars belief they'd have released it without that ability in the first place).

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Thu 31 Dec 2015 22:27
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - Avant

"(It beggars belief they'd have released it without that ability in the first place)."

Agreed - but I don't think Renault were unique in this - I'm sure I've read of other fitted satnavs with the same inexplicable deficiency. Allowing that to go out must be one of the most stupid decisions ever made by men in suits. With a lot of journeys you know the general area you're making for: it's the last bit where you'll have trouble if your satnav hasn't got the last two letters.

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Thu 31 Dec 2015 22:33
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - Engineer Andy

Not really surprised about the satnav issue - that sort of thing (releasing unfinished/not fully tested software onto the market to either do so first or not to be behind the competition) happens all the time with software generally and in home AV equipment. Off topic, but (similarly) Panasonic released a new line of freeview PVRs touting to have freeview play which actually weren't going live for another two months; the rival stuff from Samsung had horrible software glitches that they've only started to clear 18 months after product release.

Its why, in the past at least, I've always stuck to Japanese makes of car that seem to have less problems/recalls as they're hopefully tested more before launch - not sure if that's so true any more.

Anyway, back to the topic - not sure about leasing/PCP - don't you pay through the nose for high mileage? I bought my car from Motorpoint (the alternative car brokers are I'm sure very good for new cars) with delivery miles only - you can occasionally get a great deal on such models when a clutch becomes available, often better than the brokers, but of course, without the choice of options. You might get lucky and find a real bargain for exactly (or near enough) what you want and don't need to wait 3 months to pick up a 'new' model via the other route, or you can get a nearly new from their/elsewhere and chop off the first year's depreciation.

I like the new Qq - they already seem quite popular and see a lot on the road already. I would've suggested (slightly biased as a satisfied Mazda3 owner) the Mazda CX-5 but the diesel version has had its problems amongst a few others. Shame really, as its supposedly very nice to drive and the diesel (being a 2.2ltr) pulls really well compared to the smaller-engined alternative cars discussed.

Best of luck.

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Sun 3 Jan 2016 17:17
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - fstopfitzgerald

I like the look of the Mazda CX-5 a lot but it's looking like my budget won't stretch to a new car, or even a one year old one. I'm probably looking at around £10k, give or take, which would get me a 3 year old (old shape) Qashqai with about 20-30k on the clock.

The CX-5 is too new, as is the new shape Qashqai or Sportage, to be an option within my budget.

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Sun 3 Jan 2016 17:24
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - Jes

I have the 1.5 dci Qashqai (2014 Tekna) and the best MPG I managed on a trip (50 miles) was 70MPG!!

Looking at one of the QQ forums it seems the 1.6 dci models are showing a few DPF issues....

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Sun 3 Jan 2016 17:28
Nissan Qashqai? - Affordable new/used family car for long commute - Engineer Andy

To be honest, the old Qq can't be bad as it sold so well, and I'm sure by now most of the faults it did have would've been ironed out/repaired, those remaining you'll know about after looking through the review (especially the 'Good and Bad' section) of the car-by-car reviews and owner reviews here.

As you say, the Mazda is quite pricey (they've looked to go a bit more upmarket these past few years). Shame that the new Honda HR-V hadn't appeared on the scene a bit earlier - it would've been a very fine alternative to the Qq.

Best of luck whatever you get and let us know how you get on.

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