1.5dci N-Tec

Much more than I expected!

Well, after four years of daily use,the 1.4 Berlingo was starting to show her age so....out with the laptop and onto the car sites! The mrs wanted something easy to drive with a 'short bonnet' and a fairly high driving position as she is only 11'2" tall. I didn't care what we got as long as it had a decent cd player and enough room for our three big fat sons and us. I looked at just about every supermini and small mpv available, and somehow the Note just 'spoke' to me. The Nissan main dealer is only a couple of miles away so I rang them and arranged a test drive in the diesel N-Tec. On the day, we found the sales lady to be very pleasant and not pushy at all. She showed us round the car, demonstrating the ease with which one can adjust the rear seats, Connect system etc. Then we set off.
I was very impressed at the quietness and refinement of the diesel motor, it was much better than our petrol Berlingo! Mrs Elephant particularly liked the fact that she could see over the steering wheel for once, without getting her trunk entangled in the spokes. There was also plenty of ear room, so that we didn't keep 'flapping' at each other when turning our heads. Sitting in the back, I found that there was ample room for me to stretch my legs (all four of them) in comfort, and the head space was generous also. The sat-nav was a welcome addition, with the controls being readily to forefoot on the steering wheel .It can also be operated by touching the screen with one's trunk tip if so desired. The steering was light, and parking was a breeze, with good all-round visibility. The boot has enough room with the seats fully back to easily take an entire crate of bananas, and the clever Flexi-board system provides even more space for shopping, beach balls, tree bark etc. The cabin was full of clever spaces for essentials, and the glove box was linked to the air con, turning it into a miniature cool box...very useful for keeping drinks cool on hot jungle days. We returned to the showroom convinced that this was the car for us, and placed an order for a nice black N-Tec there and then.
We have had it for six weeks now, and it does everything the manufacturer claims and more. I am getting 56 mpg locally (we live in a very busy part of West London) on mostly congested roads.We have had a couple of longer trips via motorway, on which the meter shows a reading of 62mpg which I am very pleased with.This is basically half the cost of the old Citroen, which lets face it is not the thirstiest car around,so this is real economy motoring.It's not as if we're sacrificing any performance, as this car is a great motorway cruiser with little road noise evident even over 70 mph (oops did I say that Officer?). Mrs E was a bit worried that she would forget (?????) that it's a diesel and put petrol in by mistake, but inside the filler flap is a big sticker saying 'DIESEL ONLY!' so not much danger of that then.
So, it drives well,has good visibility and plenty of grunt for overtaking. It has ABS, ESP,BBS, an N-Cap 4 rating and great fuel efficiency. And it's true what they say about cars being like their owners, because just like me.....IT HAS A HUGE TRUNK!
In conclusion, the best small mpv by miles.

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