Nissan Quashqai

[chippy66]

I may be thinking of buying a nissan quashia 1.6 visia petrol what are peoples views on them, driving, interior .............. thanks.

[RWJ]

So the Quashqai is certainly and interesting car; Nissan are first movers in offering a '4X4' as a sector C (Ford focus etc.) size car. The reasoning behind creating such a product is to respond to the consumer need for a car with a raised driving position with similar styling cues to a full size 4X4 that is economical to drive around town and if one lives in London, won't incur the dreadful soon to be implemented �25 a day congestion charge for cars that emit more than 226KG of CO2. So whilst some whom aren't in the know may see the Quashqai as a car answering an incredibly niche market, rest assured, many other manufacturers have similar models in the pipeline. So given the links that Zacsmaster sent you I assume you have a fairly good base of information and proffessional opinion to work on. I'd also take a look at www.driving.timesonline.co.uk, and www.topgear.com. However, being a car buff myself I'm well aware of the intricacies of the Quashqai's specifications. I'd suggest that the car would be a good buy if you were to go for a 2.0 litre model with 4 wheel drive, as this would not merely simulate the grip intensive drive of an a larger 4x4 but would deliver the real thing at least on road. As such in my opinion the 1.6 petrol and 1.5 diesel that do not come equipped with the 4X4 setup are in fact rather pointless and half hearted versions what a car of this type should be. If however, you can live with 2 wheel drive in a small 4X4 (certainly more fuel efficient) then I'd suggest purchasing the 1.5dci as its got more lbs/ft of torque to cope with the weight of the car, I imagine the 1.6 inspite of its slight BHP increase is rather cumbersome an engine in this chassis.

So I'm going to contine this answer in a second post as I've run out of room and have not yet sufficiently answered the question

[RWJ]

I'd also suggest upgrading to the Accenta, it comes with some invaluable options such as Ultrasonic park control which if you've never owned a larger car before is very useful, and if you're into music, a 6cd autochanger with an enhanced soundsytem that applies to the radio too. The quashqai will be a fantastic used car buy in the next year or so as Nissans depreciate heavily within their first year and the market is as yet uncertain whether these 'four wheel drive' sector c cars inspite of their low emissions will be extremely popular, so if you can wait a year great, if you cant' then I'd suggest you test drive both a petrol and a diesel and perhaps even a 4x4 model with the larger engine (at different dealers) do a bit of legwork and find out if you're comfortable with the raised driving position (sometimes a bit scary initially on motorways) and which model suits you best. I hope this has helped you gain even more perspective on the car adn I hope whatever you decide you purchase a great car, good luck.

RWJ