Nissan Qashqai Review 2024

The Nissan Qashqai has long been a popular choice for family buyers, and it's now more versatile than ever. Its interior has been dragged up to date, with fresh technology and a posh finish that almost puts it in-line with much more expensive SUVs. As long as you don't care about an exciting driving experience, the Nissan Qashqai is a very competitive mainstream family SUV.

There are lots of excellent family SUV alternatives to the Nissan Qashqai. Top of the list is probably the latest Volkswagen Tiguan or Kia Sportage, while you may also wish to consider the all-electric Skoda Enyaq iV or Kia EV6. Buyers looking for a little more space might want to look at the Nissan X-Trail or Skoda Kodiaq, while premium competitors include the Volvo XC40 and BMW X1.

This is perhaps where the Nissan Qashqai's moved on the most compared to its predecessor. While the old car was unashamedly a bit low-rent in its approach (value-for-money, wipe-clean plastics and all that), the latest third-generation Nissan Qashqai is intending to tempt buyers away from more premium models. Certainly, our top-spec Tekna+ test car felt unashamedly posh, with quilted leather seats, contrast stitching and smooth wood-effect trim on the dashboard.

It's not faultless – there are some hard plastics low down in the cabin (the door bins, for example), and the rotary controls for the nav system feel a bit Fisher Price. Otherwise, it's just as impressive in terms of quality as the Peugeot 3008, though.

The infotainment offering in the Nissan Qashqai has been updated a number of times over the car's lifespan. If you're after the most impressive, up-to-date technology, you'll need a 2024-on model in N-Connecta trim or above. This'll get you a 12.1-inch display with built-in Google services. Drivers can sign in to their personal Google account and source favourites and points of interest from the built-in Google Maps navigation. It also includes the Google Assistant and an array of apps from the Google Play Store.

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are now standard across the range, allowing you to access your phone apps on the move. N-Connecta models and above get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, meaning there's no need to plug your phone in, while there's also a wireless phone charger to keep the battery topped up.

Early cars (from launch until mid-2022) were available with a smaller, more basic nine-inch display on the lower-grade models. We wouldn't recommend this, unless you have an aversion to technology - it's already looking pretty dated.

The dimensions of the Nissan Qashqai haven't changed a great deal over the older model, at just under 4.4m long and a touch over 1.8m wide. That means there's plenty of space in the front of the Qashqai, while it feels like quite a wide car, with a chunky centre console separating the driver and front-seat passenger. There’s a (slightly small) glove box in the centre console while the door bins aren’t the biggest we’ve seen.

There's plenty of room in the rear of the Qashqai, although expect complaints from whoever draws the short straw and has to sit in the middle. The middle seat is narrower than the outer seats, while there’s a lump in the middle of the floor, hindering foot space. The Citroen C5 Aircross, with its three individual rear seats, is a better choice if you regularly travel with a full complement of passengers in the back.

The rear doors open up to 85-degrees – not great in tight parking spaces, but perfect for strapping children in when space allows. ISOFIX points on the outer rear seats help here, too.

There’s 504 litres of boot space in the new Nissan Qashqai which, while not class-leading, is a fair-sized boot for loading with shopping or child paraphernalia. There’s a false boot floor that allows you to reduce the amount of lip, making loading bulky items easier. If you need more space, the rear seats of the Qashqai fold usefully flat, leaving up to 1593 litres of space.

Happily, we can also report that the e-Power hybrid model doesn't lose any boot space. Often with hybrids (particularly plug-ins) the boot shrinks or the underfloor storage is taken up by the hefty battery pack. 

The Nissan Qashqai was initially launched with a 1.3-litre petrol engine, available with 140PS or 158PS, both with 12-volt mild-hybrid technology. This provides a small performance boost, while the engine can turn off sooner as you coast to a halt in traffic. 

The lower-powered Qashqai is only offered with a manual gearbox, while the more powerful motor can be paired with a manual or Xtronic CVT automatic gearbox. We've sampled the new Qashqai with the 158PS engine with both the manual and automatic gearbox. It's got quite a narrow torque band, which means you have to be proactive in changing gear in order to build speed. That's quite typical with small turbocharged engines like this, though.

The manual gear change has a slightly springy action but is adequate, with easy operation and a light clutch. If you're happy to splash the cash, the automatic gearbox suits a car like the Qashqai and will take a lot of the pain out of day-to-day driving. The Xtronic responds quickly and, surprisingly, the engine feels considerably sprightlier with it. Acceleration to 62mph takes 9.2 seconds, compared to 9.5 seconds with the manual gearbox.

In mid-2022 Nissan launched a hybrid version of the Qashqai, badged the Nissan Qashqai e-Power. It uses the petrol engine as a generator with no direct connection to the wheels - the engine instead powers electric motors and charges the battery. It means when you're mooching around town the Qashqai feels very similar to an electric car - smooth, all-but-silent and with no gearchanges to disrupt your progress.

Even when the engine fires into life, you'll only really know about it by the icon appearing in the digital dials. It only makes itself heard (and felt) when you ask for full power, but it manages to keep the revs at a civilised level, unlike rival hybrids such as the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V. You also get decent performance - it's noticeably faster than the petrol engines, managing 0-62mph in 7.9 seconds. 

As well as upsetting ride quality, the largest 20-inch alloy wheels aren't great for refinement. There's a considerable amount of road noise, although models with smaller wheels (and higher-profile tyres) do better on that score.

Wind noise is acceptable on the Qashqai, though – it's certainly no worse than most mainstream SUVs of this size, although don't expect it to be as hushed as premium alternatives. The 1.3-litre petrol engine is fairly quiet until you really start working it hard, at which point it predictably becomes a bit thrashy. Don't be fooled by the mild-hybrid element – you're not going to be running around under electric power alone. 

The e-Power model, meanwhile, will run on electric power, but only for a couple of miles when the petrol engine kicks back in to charge up the battery again. Happily, the engine is so refined that you'll barely notice it. 

The Nissan Qashqai was given a maximum five-star crash safety score when it was assessed by Euro NCAP, which included a strong 91% protection for both adults and children. 

Nissan's driver-assist technology makes it pretty difficult to have a crash in a Qashqai (not that we'd recommend trying it out). And, best of all, it's standard across the range. Highlights include automatic emergency braking, which can monitor your surroundings and detect other vehicles and pedestrians, applying the brakes if required to help avoid or reduce the severity of a collision. 

Rear automatic braking is standard, too – the car will automatically brake if there's a bollard you haven't noticed when reversing, for example. Nissan Qashqai Tekna models and above get adaptive driving beam tech, which splits the high beam into 12 segments, automatically turning some of them off to avoid dazzling oncoming motorists. It's a really nifty feature.

While there's the usual myriad of airbags, there's also a clever new central airbag between the driver and front passenger. This is to prevent you from bashing into one another in a collision.

Nissan as a brand has a fairly good reputation for reliability, although it scored a middling 9.04 out of 10 for reliability in the HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index.

The old Qashqai was plagued with issues with the CVT transmission, while manual models had a tendency to pop out of gear (particularly in reverse). Hopefully Nissan will have worked on the long-term reliability of its new Qashqai - certainly, we've heard of very few issues so far,

The lower-powered 140PS Qashqai will be the cheapest to insure, with entry-level models sitting in group 11. The more powerful engine and manual gearbox is in group 17, while the automatic transmission places it in group 15. The e-Power hybrid sits between groups 24 to 26, depending on equipment grade.

Depending on factors like your postcode, age and driving experience, you might find the difference in costs is minimal - it's worth shopping around for car insurance quotes, though. 

The range starts with the Nissan Qashqai Acenta Premium, which comes with an impressive amount of standard kit for an entry-level car. Highlights include 17-inch alloy wheels, a 12.3-inch infotainment display (with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), a rear-view camera and automatic dual-zone climate control.

An extra couple of grand buys a Nissan Qashqai N-Connecta, which adds some desirable features - including stylish 18-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels on the outside and, on the inside, a leather steering wheel, NissanConnect navigation with Google-built in as well as an array of Google Automotive Services (including Google Maps with live traffic, Google Assistant and Google Play Store). The N-Connecta also comes with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, while a wireless phone charger will keep your battery topped up.

New for 2024 is the Nissan Qashqai N-Design, which has a more sporty appearance than other models in the range. Highlights include 20-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, body-coloured lower bumpers, two-tone paints and LED sequential turn lights.

Sitting alongside the N-Design in the trim hierarchy is the Nissan Qashqai Tekna, with its 19-inch diamond-cut alloys, gloss black bumpers, hands-free tailgate, heated front seats and steering wheel, as well as ProPilot Assist self-driving technology.

Topping the range is the Nissan Qashqai Tekna+. This is pretty luxurious as far as family SUVs go: spec highlights include 20-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, quilted leather seats (with massage function in the front) and a Bose sound system.