My wife has a Honda CRV and I have a Leon which I am intent on changing.
I do like 4x4's and previously had a Diesel Freelander which was most enjoyable for the occasional week it wasn't back at the dealers :)
Idea is to buy another 4x4 now in place of the Leon and change the 03 CRV in a couple of years.
On Friday I looked around a new X Trail and liked the interior, clever design, rugged looks and an excellent 0% finance deal to boot. I booked a test drive Saturday AM.
I was up early cleaning the Leon inside and out, checked Parkers for trade-in price, took all the paperwork and headed off to do the deal, except for a slight problem:
I didn't like it. Noisy diesel engine, steering wheel like a bus, huge square bonnet, very harsh ride, speedo etc 3 feet left of where they should be and more rattles than mothercare.
The engine has some serious stonk, but the gearing is so low that town driving was quite tiresome and there is no auto option.
I was gutted, to be honest, as was the very friendly and knowledgeable dealer, but it was not to be.
Had a look around a RAV4 today. Very nice but a new model due soon, so I will wait 'til then and perhaps pick up a traded in current version for a song. D4D looks a bit gutless on paper?
Woody
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A mates got an X Trail which I drove a couple of weeks ago. Quite impressed, thought the ride was OK and so was the noise. Seems to be quite well built in the fact it has no rattles.
I don't do 4 x 4s but could live with this one.
Jim
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Woody
I changed an 03 CR-V for an X-Trail in March but both models are petrol.
If you look on the Yahoo Groups X-Trail forum you will see a huge number of posts detailing diesel engine problems - mainly turbos. Apparently Nissan seem unable to solve the problem.
I have not seen any mention of problems with petrol engines. However my auto box needed a new pressure valve a couple of weeks ago at 13,000 miles.
HectorG
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Following on from last post, some thoughts on CR-V v X-Trail.
I covered 32,000 fault free miles in my CR-V whereas gearbox problem with X-Trail noted in last post.
Honda not perfect,however. Ergonomically poor, awful front seats, rear seats only tumble leaving poor space in rear, dreadful rear visibility, firm ride.
X-Trail by contrast is much better thought-out. Very practical washable load area with fold-flat seats and no carpet; fantastic front seats; brilliant full-length sunroof; very good ride; much better off-road than CR-V - the suspension copes with anything; good rear visibility as no spare wheel on rear door.
Steering in X-Trail takes some getting used to - a little ponderous - but it is a very usable 4x4 after all. The auto box is fantastically smooth and I achieve in excess of 27 mpg. I believe some diesel X-Trails only get about 32 mpg and they are manual!
Overall, the ideal car would be an X-Trail built by Honda. I am waiting in hope for the next generation CR-V to come up with a diesel auto!
Hope this helps anyone decide.
HectorG
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I was considering changing to a 4x4 recently and test drove an X Trail, Honda CRV and Toyota RAV 4.
I know the X Trail is good off road, but I thought the handling and ride was appalling although the diesel engine had reasonable grunt but the turbo was whining unacceptably and due to blow up at any moment. A definite no no for me.
The Honda had the new CDTi diesel motor which was superb with masses of torque, in fact I felt it had more power than the chassis could fully cope with and consequently I did`nt feel that safe at high speed. I confess to thrashing it to find any pitfalls.
Finally I drove the RAV 4, which handled superbly, and must be the closest 4x4 to a GTi for on road handling. The achilles heel is the current D4D diesel motor which felt totally flat after the Honda unit. If I were in the market again, I would definitely hang on until the new RAV is launched in Spring 2006, which if fitted with the new 175 bhp 2.2 diesel engine as fitted to the new Lexus IS, will be an absolute cracker.
As it stands, I have decided to keep my BMW 320d SE Touring, as it seems that you need to test drive other marques to fully appreciate the qualities of your own car.
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Interesting points and I particularly concur with "Dude".
The XTrail ride was harsh to the point of being awful and the engine noisy, whistley and gruff. I came home in the Leon, jumped in the CRV and appreciated just what a brilliant paxkage it is.
I will try a RAV4 DVD soon, bacause I fear the ne model will be well the other side of £20K on the road.
Woody
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Kia Sorento anybody?
Ain't got one and ain't likely to, but a wealthy mate has and can afford most things. He rates it highly. Also HJ says much the same as do plenty of motoring journos. I don't know?
VBR............M.
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