I’ll be handing the Leon back in December and whilst it’s been great, I feel I need/want something a little bigger.

Sadly, I no longer care about power, handling and looks. Nowadays I just want something that is comfortable, has space for the offspring and his paraphernalia and that is well equipped.

Also, I hate that I have to think about it, but in my industry we get judged on first impressions and I think the Qashqai is a good neutral car. A Volvo XC60 us another but I fear it would be financial out of reach for me.

Has anyone driven one/owned one?

If so, what are they like? And would you go 4WD or not bother?

Thanks

Re qashqai, it's perfect if you want to drive around in a vehicle that looks like a fat girl wearing clothes that are too tight.

My neighbour has one. Look quite nice IMO, but they are a little dull. Comfy and interior looks solid. But I'm sure you could do worse.

Brother in law has just bought one. As gripped states, nice enough well specced but sooo dull inside. Top model with every extra and to best honest i would look elsewhere for the money his spent.

If I recall the Qashqai is basically a Renault underneath. Look at the Renault alternative to the Qashqai.

A friend in France recently replaced his 4-year old Qashqai with an Evoque, but he loved it for the same reasons you are looking at one. He has a kid and runs a busy pub, so lots of Qash and Carry (sorry) trips on top of the school/football run. Also, he drives to Spain from Brittany each year for a holiday and found it perfect for comfort over distances. I think his was the bigger version, but 2 wheel drive.
As you say, they are pretty neutral, but will do the job all day long.

This is on hotukdeals at the moment and may interest you as an alternative.


http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/infiniti...y2lease-2480033

How about a Yeti, we love ours and you can get a good spec and comfy drive.

I think I need to get out and test drive some cars.

Haven't considered a Yeti although I know they get good reviews.

I've also just remembered that Seat are releasing a small SUV in Septemver which I really like the look of.

Thanks for this. Not something I've heard anything about but I quite like the looks.

I'm not needing to replace my car until December so I'll have to see if there are any similar deals then.

Had my Qashqai Tekna 2.0 petrol for 6 months, and love it, it's smooth, quite well equipped and very nice to drive.

It's got all the features I wanted panoramic glass roof, LED headlights, full leather, chrome kit inside and out, wood centre consul, heated seats, parking sensors, cruise control, auto lights and wipers, 2 and 4 wheel drive, great sound system, Bluetooth, duel-zone aircon. Down side there everywhere, 5 owners in my road of 40 houses.

If you are looking at SUVs/crossovers, the Hyundai Tucson is also worth a look.
The Renault Kadjar is the Renault version of the Qashqai and probably made on the same production line in Sunderland???
The Mazda CX-5 is also supposed to be pretty good.

The usual SUVs such as the RAV4, Forester and the CRV are also very good.

Left-field choice: Jeep Cherokee

The choice is wide and standards reasonably high as this type of car is popular and manufacturers are fighting for sales.

Unless you take the car off road or have to drive in very snowy conditions, 4wd is probably not necessary. Winter tyres on 2wd should be enough but probably rarely necessary in the south of England??? Just look at these cars as tall estates and 2wd seems OK.

I like the Qashqai but went for a BMW x1 in the end.
As the previous model has recently been replaced, they seem to be going for little more than Qashqai money?
I've done 12k in 12 months without any issues and it is a good long distance cruiser, particular with auto and cruise control.
Ideally go for a post 2012 model were the interior build quality has been upgraded, but watch out for inner tyre wear due to the BMW set up on the run flat tyres.
Lots of ex company cars coming on the market....also try a get one with the balance of a BMW 5 year service plan.

It's not really for this thread but I just don't get these cars. By definition the design means you'll have poorer dynamics and a more uncomfortable ride than the equivalent non-SUV so I've come to the conclusion that it's about style over substance. That's perfectly valid and I'm sure it makes people feel more roughty toughty with one parked outside their suburban semi. It's just not for me.

Some of us live in a rural idle?

Your right though, dynamically they should not make sense.
Mine's a jacked up 3 series estate and no doubt the source vehicle would be better if your priority was the handling.

They seem to be roomy for their footprint and and for some, affordable 4wd can be useful. But yes, it is mainly the style factor for most. The first one I ever tried was a Forester before SUVs were really the thing to have, which was a jacked up Impreza. It was a surprisingly good all-rounder. No sports car but as an estate alternative, perfectly acceptable especially if a higher viewpoint is more important than a lower center of gravity.

Where we are, a 4wd is of occasional value and we still have that ancient Impreza estate. When that dies, I guess its replacement will be between a not too expensive 4wd estate or a 4wd SUV, unless the winters keep getting warmer and shorter! I have two coupes and a saloon so we won't have to suffer the handling compromise all the time

On the winter thing, I've been through some really bad snow in E Class estates with winter tyres on. I don't think I've ever thought: "I wish I had a 4x4". I've no doubt that there are people that live up farm tracks or really steep hills (there are some pretty steep ones near me) or do the really muddy rutted stuff for whom a 4x4 is good.

I can only agree with this. A couple of years ago, the worst winter we had seen in quite some time and we lived 7.5 miles from the nearest town.

I took the bike and Mrs. Jimbob took the Yaris. I passed several stuck vehicles on my way home from work that day, including 4x4s.

My MD has one but coverts a range rover convertible.
She loves it. Never heard a bad word said about it.

If you look at a Mazda DO NOT BUY A DIESEL! They are shit, Google mazda 6 and 2.0 and 2.2 diesel issues. You'll find they self destruct. The japs make a brilliant petrol engine, their diesels are less brilliant. This is a well known fact.

Blimey, bit of a sweeping statement there Muz ! Can't speak for Mazda diesels, but the Japs make many of the most reliable diesels in the world.... Isuzu have made diesels for loads of different manufacturers including Ford and GM. And then there's Toyota.......... Hi Lux diesel anyone?

Erm, it's what I've read up.on many years on car forums. Jap petrols are the best you can get, there derv equivalents are very poor by all accounts.

I have no experience as I'd be shot and have my balls removed before I bought a diesel Jap anything, I bought the wife a diesel boo under duress and that will be replaced by an Italian turbo petrol. My opinion of diesels are they are over rated for economy and over rated as environmentally sustainable.

Someone where I work has a mazda diesel, it's been in twice for the oil light being on. It sounds terrible and I suspect it's the low oil pressure from regeneration waste. Not my issue, but I wouldn't buy one. Reading up on it the feelings are the same, jap petrols yes, diesels no.

That doesn't look too bad. You can see the tarmac through the snow! We have had 6" ruts in the road flanked by solid ice. Getting a 2wd car out of the ruts onto the drive etc was not easy. Even the Impreza struggled a bit with good winter tyres. 4wd, as long as it also has M&S tyres, also enables you to park in places where you would probably not take a 2wd just in case it gets stuck. 20" low profile tyres render most 4wd cars useless on slippz stuff though!

when our kids were small, we had a Zafira GSI. had it for 8 years. loved it, ticked all the boxes. Take a look at the VXR's

http://www.vauxhall.co.uk/microapps/vxr/archive/zafira/performance.html

Avoid Mazda diesel, guy at would always choose Mazda diesel as a company car.
Generally nothing but hassle, last car he had was the CX5 with this SkyActiv engine.
Drove well but when it breaks (which it will) it's usually something big.
In 3 years, top end rebuild, gearbox rebuild, turbo, injectors, full engine rebuild, replacement engine.
My boss got that fed up of it and now wouldnt allow anyone to have Mazda again.