Nissan Qashqai

• We welcome the Nissan Qashqai to our fleet
• The first 1000 miles – what are the initial impressions?
• One for the owners of cars that are more than three years old – What's it likely to fail its MoT on?
• So, what's all the fuss about the 360 view?
• Honest John Car Crime Census - How Does My Qashqai Perform?
• What does the future hold for the Qashqai?
• Munching the motorway miles

We welcome the Nissan Qashqai to our fleet

Nissan's popular family hatchback is added to Our Cars.

Date: 3 June 2013 | Current mileage: 126 | Claimed economy: 62.8mpg | Actual economy: 50.2mpg

Nissan struck gold when it launched the Qashqai and even it was taken aback by its success.

Before the Qashqai, Nissan made sensible, well-built and well-equipped family cars like the Primera and Almera. The Qashqai changed all that. It kept the key qualities that the Almera and Primera had, but added the missing ingredient: it was desirable. It gave family buyers exactly what they wanted: the high driving position and space of an SUV with the running costs and driving characteristics of a standard family hatch. And BOOM! The crossover was born.

It's a formula that other manufacturers have looked to ape, whether it's Hyundai with the ix35, Ford and its Kuga or the Kia Sportage. Each follow the blueprint that Nissan laid down back in 2006. The new Suzuki SX-4 S-Cross even looks like the Nissan.

Buyers have loved it, and more than 170,000 Qashqais have found UK homes since it launched while more than a million have been built and sold worldwide. Big numbers. What makes this Nissan success story all the sweeter is that it's built in Sunderland alongside the Juke and Leaf. Indeed, part of the factory's success and expansion over the past five years can be attributed to the popularity of the Qashqai. It's certainly been good news for British jobs.

The model that I'm running is the 360, which hit showrooms at the start of 2013. With a new Qashqai about a year away, it's a model that's designed to pack as much value in as possible. It replaced the n-tec+ and the reason I've gone for this spec in particular is that it's set to be the line-up's best seller. To give you an idea of just how popular this spec is, its predecessor – n-tec+ - sold as many cars as the Kia Sportage and Hyundai ix35 combined.

So, why's it called 360? Quite simple really, it's down to the 360 degree view that the parking cameras give you – front back and down the sides of the car. In theory it means an end to parking 'mishaps' as you can see all the way round the car as you're parking up. It ties in with the navigation system and displays the camera images on the screen.

Other goodies included in this specification include 18-inch ‘Onyx' alloy wheels, rear privacy glass and a panoramic roof. Prices start at £19,945 for the 1.6-litre petrol with 117PS, but as I cover quite a lot of motorway miles, I've gone for the 130PS 1.6-litre dCi which comes in at £23,145. The 360 is mid-spec in the range sitting between Acenta and Tekna trims.

This isn't the only British-built soft-roader that we're running, of course. David's been testing the Honda CR-V, that's built in Swindon. Read more on that here.

The first 1000 miles – what are the initial impressions?

How is has the Qashqai performed in its first few weeks?

Date: 20 June 2013 | Current mileage: 1278 | Claimed economy: 62.8mpg | Actual economy: 50.2mpg

It's been a busy first 1000 miles for the Qashqai, with a mixture of long motorway trips, driving around town and cross-country jaunts. Nearly all trips have been southbound from where I live in Peterborough to London via the M11/A1 or M1 and the M25. It's been a great opportunity for the Qashqai to demonstrate what it's about.

You can see why it makes such a popular family car, it's just so practical and flexible – and yet easy to drive. On the motorway the commanding driving position and decent all round visibility make overtaking easy and the 1.6-litre diesel engine, while on the noisy side for start-up, settles down. The addition of a sixth gear and excellent sound insulation makes for comfortable cruising, too.

Fuel economy so far isn't great. The official figure is 62.8mpg, but I'm currently achieving the same as our Qashqai users that have submitted their readings to Real MPG. That means around 50mpg, when the official figure is 62.8mpg. But it's early days, this is a new engine and I'm hoping that the figure will improve over time.

One thing I can't get used to is the sharp clutch. This is particularly noticeable around town where it's very, very easy to stall – the lack of pulling power in first gear can make it jerky, too. First gear soon runs through the rev range and provides little in the way of pulling power; you’ll soon find yourself changing up to second. There’s a better spread of power in the other gears and it’s actually possible to pull away from second, which is what I find myself doing much of the time.

On the backroads, the Qashqai's manners are much more akin to a standard hatch. The roads out my way can prove a real test for a car's steering and suspension, with twists, bumps and changes in gradient. While it may not possess the same sublime handling as the Focus I had in 2012, the steering is quick and bodyroll is kept under control. The suspension isn't quite as accomplished and can give a bouncy ride when caught out by rougher roads.

But the Qashqai isn't about being thrown around country lanes. Its about being practical and flexible and even in this short space of time, it has been demonstrating that with its easy to access load area, wide-opening tailgate and fold-flat seat. This past month has seen the Honest John Awards take place in London, which has meant transporting people and boxes of kit to the venue. Needless to say that the Qashqai did all this without any fuss.

One for the owners of cars that are more than three years old – What's it likely to fail its MoT on?

Is the Qashqai a failure when it comes to the MoT?

Date: 8 July 2013 | Current mileage: 1618 | Claimed economy: 62.8mpg | Actual economy: 50.8mpg

My Qashqai - on its 13 plate – may be some way off its first MoT, but our MoT Files section of the site can lift the lid on how older versions perform – and that accounts for tens of thousands of cars.

The headline figures show that 2007-registered Qashqai models have a 75.2 per cent pass rates, while those from 2008 have a 78.7 per cent pass rate. That means that more than one in five Qashqais is failing its first MoT, which is more than the average for all 2008-registered cars.

So, what are these cars failing on? Digging deeper into the stats reveals that 2.6 per cent of cars are failing on headlight issues - bulbs being blown rather than alignment (which is better than other cars of the same age). That's something that owners could check before the test (incidentally the failure rates for rear lights and indicators are better than the norm).

Suspension is another sticky area with 7.0 per cent of cars failing for one of a number of problems, including shock absorbers, anti roll bars and linkages. Tyre wear doesn't seem to be a big issue, as only 2.6 per cent of cars fail for this and that's significantly better than its peers and it's a similar story for steering and the fuel and exhaust system.

Interestingly, the higher the mileage, the better Qashqai's pass rate is when compared to other models of the same age. This is particularly noticeable when Qashqai pushes through the 60,000-mile barrier. Between 60 and 70,000 miles 68.8 per cent of Qashqais pass the MoT test, compared to 57.4 per cent for all cars. Between 70 and 80,000 miles that figure is 64.5 per cent for the Qashqai and 53.6 per cent for all cars.

Overall, the Qashqai appears mid-table in the list of first MoTs with just over 16,500 cars tested. It's the same pass rate as the Skoda Octavia and Toyota Avensis. Marginally higher are the BMW 3 Series (80 per cent), Ford Focus (80 per cent) and Vauxhall Astra (81 per cent). The average is that one-in-five (80 per cent) of cars pass their first MoT.

These figures are the latest that we have available for MoTs conducted between 2010 and 2011. It will be interesting to see when the next batch of figures is released whether the figure has changed much or if the facelift of 2010 had any impact. We'll also get to see how the Qashqai is performing as it ages, sees more ownership changes and piles on the miles. Will it perform better or worse than cars of a similar size and age? It will be fascinating to find out.

Below are the headline stats for 2008-registered Qashqais. Click here or the image below to see the stats in more detail.

So, what's all the fuss about the 360 view?

How does the 360 camera system work and how does it differ from other systems?

Date: 18 July 2013 | Current mileage: 1976 | Claimed economy: 62.8mpg | Actual economy: 50.8mpg

I can remember being stunned by the final incarnation of the Qashqai's predecessor – the 2002 Primera. At the time it looked incredibly futuristic and unlike anything else on the road. And, unlike many other cars that have looked ahead of their time only to disappoint, the Primera actually delivered the goods. And one of those key innovations was a black-and-white reversing camera.

Indeed, while the Primera is now ancient history, the reversing camera has now been adopted by a wide range of manufacturers. It has evolved, too, now in full colour and on-screen guidelines for inch-perfect parking. Some systems will even park the car for you.

So, what's special about the Around View Camera that's on this Qashqai? Well, it has been offered on the Qashqai since the 2010 facelift and uses cameras placed around the car to show you the view from above. Nissan calls it a 'helicopter' view. It’s designed to help avoid kerbs and make parking easier.

Does it work, then? It most certainly does. I've used this system with all the windows blacked out – driving blind if you like. Relying on the camera alone, I was able to negotiate a slalom course and reverse-park the car again. It’s not quite as effective at night, but does still offer a good view of what’s happening around the car.

I have to confess that most of the time I don't really use the system at all. I'm not a bad parker and the Qashqai's visibility isn't too bad. Where it comes into its own is in multi-storey car parks where the tight spaces and high concrete kerbs can do serious damage to alloys.

That said, for those that aren't as confident, this is an impressive piece of kit and it can't be a bad thing that it's included with the range's best selling model.

Will we see this system evolve further in future? I'd say so and will be keeping a keen eye on the the kit list for the all-new Qashqai that's due sometime in 2014. Will it give higher definition pictures? Will it park itself? We'll have to wait and see, but Nissan's always excelled in this area and I'd expect that to continue.

 

 

Honest John Car Crime Census - How Does My Qashqai Perform?

We look at whether the Qashqai is on thieves' wish lists.

Date: 20 August 2013 | Current mileage: 2176 | Claimed economy: 62.8mpg | Actual economy: 50.9mpg

We love data here at HonestJohn.co.uk - after all it's what helps to inform your buying decisions. Last year we opened up MoT data to the public for the very first time and now we've done some similar for crime stats.

The Honest John Car Crime Census looks into which cars are most susceptible to crime and which areas of the country are car crime hotspots. You can see the full report here, including detailed stats on your area. But for this update I thought I'd focus on how Nissan performs, obviously paying particular attention to the Qashqai.

Modern cars are so much more secure than say 10 or 15 years ago. Compulsory engine immobilisers have a lot to do that - since 1998 every car has had to be fitted with one. In line with similar cars, the Qashqai is well specced to keep the thieves at bay, with central locking and an immobiliser while most have an ultrasonic alarm too (though mine doesn't).

So, how does this translate into stats? Well, I can tell you that there isn't a problem with Nissan as a whole or the Qashqai itself. In fact in the period that we looked into (September 2011 to September 2012), we found that Nissan overall scored well, let down only by those models that wouldn't have been fitted with an engine immobiliser (therefore easier to steal) and commercial vehicles which are more attractive to thieves. It’s a strong story for Nissan on the whole, with just 137 crimes for every 10,000 cars on the road. That’s more than 20 per cent better than the average. From that figure, just 23 out of every 10,000 cars is for theft of, which is very low indeed.

Drill down to Qashqai in particular and it’s a similar story. It’s striking just how few cars are involved. In an earlier update I spoke about how popular the car has been and how many are on the road, but it’s involved in relatively few crimes. Just five cars out of every 10,000 are stolen - an incredibly low rate for such a popular car - with the majority of crimes either being theft from (being broken into to steal items inside the car) or criminal damage (i.e vandalism).

That just goes to show that there’s only so much a car manufacturer can do. Alarms and immobilisers to the trick, but park in the wrong area and leave a bag in the car or your sat nav on display and it’s an open invitation to thieves. That’s the advice that the police have given time after time, but for the first time ever, we now have the stats to back it up.

 

 

What does the future hold for the Qashqai?

Nissan is set to launch an all-new replacement in 2014 - what can you expect?

Date: 9 September 2013 | Current mileage: 2445 | Claimed economy: 62.8mpg | Actual economy: 50.9mpg

It's no secret that the Qashqai is hardly a spring chicken. It may have launched the whole crossover boom back in 2007, but rivals have learnt fast and now there's a wide range of Qashqai clones.

Its remains the leader of the pack in terms of sales and is still the name everyone mentions when looking for a crossover-type car. No one says “crossover” on forecourts, they ask for “something like a Qashqai.”

So 2014 will be a massive year for the Qashqai, and Nissan as a whole: it's when the MKII is due in showroom.

This Qashqai will be British through-and-through. Designed at Nissan's studios in Paddington, engineered at the firm's facilities in Cranfield and built at the factory just outside Sunderland. You won't find many cars with so much British input (Britput?) and even fewer that regularly appear in the Top 10 best sellers list.

So, will this the Qashqai's difficult second album? Will it be the sequel that doesn't quite live up to the original? I'm not so sure. I reckon it'll be steady-as-she-goes for the looks, with nips-and-tucks here and there to freshen it up and bring it into line with the likes of the recently-launched Note.

There are a few changes that I'd like to see. Nothing too revolutionary, but a few foibles that I've noticed since I've had the car. Firstly, I'd like to see the remote fuel filler release either moved from its current position above the pedals to somewhere a little more convenient or done away with altogether. Two reasons for this. It requires the driver to reach down into the footwell to pull the lever. For someone young and fit like me, this is hardly an issue, but I do wonder if it's a struggle for older people or those less able. Secondly, it sits next to an identical lever for the bonnet release – and it's confession time – I have once or twice, without looking pulled the wrong one and ended up with an open bonnet.

Technology has moved on considerably since 2007, faster than anyone could have predicted and it has changed the design of cars forever. The Qashqai was launched in a Blackberry world, whereas today belongs to the iPad (and other tablets). You can see the influence this has had on manufacturers, with bigger tablet-like screen in cars for on-screen info like sat nav and entertainment. I'd like to see something similar for the Qashqai. The screen in the Qashqai feels small in comparison and is a fairly low definition.

One thing is already clear and that's the end of the +2 version. Nissan has already indicated that this roomier version won't be appearing in the MKII line up. But what that means for now is unclear. Will it be replaced by a different model? Will the Qashqai be available with seven seats as standard? Will Qashqai grow a little, to somewhere between the two models? All will become clear in time, so it's a case of 'watch this space' for the time being.

Munching the motorway miles

It's been a busy few weeks for the Qashqai, with plenty of miles under its belt - so how is it performing on longer runs?

Date: 8 October 2013 | Current mileage: 3910 | Claimed economy: 62.8mpg | Actual economy: 54.9mpg

I’ve recently been commuting into London a lot more than usual and instead of taking the expensive (and often delayed) East Coast train service, I’ve been making the most of the Qashqai’s 1.6-litre dCi diesel engine and racking up the miles down the M11 and into central London.

With cruise control set to 70mph and sixth gear engaged, this version of the Qashqai makes for a surprisingly effective motorway cruiser. The suspension is well set-up for motorway driving too, with the Qashqai cruising comfortably and effortlessly and road and engine noise isn't too intrusve.

This increased amount of motorway driving has also led to the overall mpg figure inch a little higher. I’m now seeing up to 55mpg on long runs, up from the low 50s. However, that falls well short of the official combined 63mpg figure and doesn’t come close to the extra urban of 72mpg. That said recent warm weather has meant that the air con has been on an awful lot. As the weather cools in the coming months, it will be interesting to see if this has any effect on the overall figure - for better or worse. How are other Qashqai drivers doing. Real MPG tells us that 50mpg is typical, with the range of submissions between 45mpg and 57mpg.

A recent major incident on the M11 one Friday night meant sitting in one of the longest traffic jams I’ve ever experienced - I joined the traffic at about 6pm and didn’t move until gone 1am in the morning. I then had another hour of driving ahead… That’s when the Qashqai’s seats really got a testing. They’re surprisingly supportive and comfortable, even on longer trips, and coped well with the first few hours of the jam. But I wouldn’t recommend them if you’re stuck in traffic for six hours plus… But I’d say that about almost any seat. With limited choices on the radio, it got me thinking that I’d also like to see DAB radio available on the next version of the Qashqai. Many manufacturers are now offering it as a standard feature, so it’s something to add to my earlier feature wish-list.

The 65 litre tank thankfully means that I’m not filling up all the time. As it stands, the range on my Qashqai is around 750 miles. With the average cost of diesel at £1.38/litre, that’s a £90 fill-up. Real MPG users wil see a range of around 700 miles from 50mpg.