Nissan Qashqai review

The very base DIG T 140 mild hybrid with a manual in Accenta Premium trim (there is no longer the base ‘Visia’) starts at £30,135 and moves through the N-Connecta for £32,305 and on to the Tekna and N-Design, which cost the same at £34,845 but have different specs.

The Tekna+ is the top grade and balls up pretty much everything, but that weighs in at £38,875 with the more powerful mild hybrid engine, and that feels a little pricey for a value proposition like a Qashqai.

The e-Power starts at £34,430 and winds out to £42,980, which is way too much. Same goes for the £42,610 DIG T 158 XTronic 4WD Tekna. You’d need to live in a very specific place to want that.

As for the costs, you’re looking at under £250p/m on the usual lease deals, so you can see why these things are popular: you can get a lot done and covered with a Qashqai for not a huge amount of cash.

What spec would you go for?

There’s a mild-hybrid also on offer in the new Qashqai (the DIG-T), but we’d stick with the e-Power even given the criticism. If you really need 4WD, it’s available, but not with the e-Power drivetrain.

After that, it’s pretty much preference. The Tekna trim has plenty of kit, and the Ocean Deep colour really does look quite good. Stick to a 19-inch wheel as the 20s really don’t do the ride any favours. And cloth seats are more practical, though you can’t get the basic seats on the e-Power trim options.

The Bose sound system is £590 and probably worth it to drown out the thrummy engine, but when you think about it, a cheaper Qashqai is a good Qashqai, so keep it relatively simple and you won’t go too far wrong.