Anyone here drive a Nissan X trail?

I’m thinking of changing my car to something a bit more practical than a 3 door hatchback. I need something reliable, reasonably cheap to run and it but be able to do all the bike carrying duties and also fit my dog in.

I reckon the X trail would tick most of the boxes.

So who’s got one? Are they any good? How do you find the running costs? Mpg, servicing?

Any other recommendations?

Thanks

John

One of my riding mates has one. When he first got it we arranged a trip to Whinlatter trail centre (most of the guys I ride with are terrified of the real outdoors). He spraffed on and on about how many muddy bikes he would be able to get in it due to its full on plasic-fantasic boot liner.

When it came to the bit (end of the ride, everyone shattered and coated with the Lake District’s finest cr@p) he suddenly didn’t want all the crud-encrusted bikes in the back of his pride and joy and we all had to limp down the hill to the campsite on two wheels.

Other than that, all good. It’s roomy, fast and not too greedy. And if you can get past a bit of interior mud and are willing to remove all wheels from the bikes, it’ll swallow three nae bother. Dogs will have to sit with the family / mates.

Father in law has one, with the punchier diesel engine, and it is great. Like all 4x4s driving is a bit more like ‘piloting’ as you lord i about the countryside. We would have got one recently but for the need for 7 seats. Like them alot.

Get leather seats, much more able to cope with mud than a fabric seat.

Kev

My FiL had one and I drove it on occasions.

to sum it up in a few words:

noisy, placticy, antiquated, solid, comfy, low 40’s to the gallon.

EDIT – it seems Father in Law’s like them. Does that make it an old persons 4×4?

Had 2 X-Trails.

Roomy. 3 bikes no problem.

Reliable (a Nissan)!

Get a diesel!!

No worries 🙂

P.S. CHL ha, ha. Yes I’m ‘old’. But only in years.

My dad has one. I’ve had cause to drive it a few times. Pretty capable on the road for its type, reasonably cheap running compared to some (Diesel) Soild interior, but a bit old fashioned and plasticky, although not in a flimsy way. No more spacious than a good estate. Nice driving position. I like it.

If you buy one make sure you factor in the cost of a replacement turbo when it goes bang – Nissan replaced two for me in 50k miles of ownership

I’ve had one for 3 years. Love it. Got the original 2.2Di version. The models from 03-04 have turbo god intercooler issues.
Petrols are very reliable but thirsty. I get around 35mpg pretty much all the time from ours, more if you drive at 55 on the motorway, which I an unable to do!

Handles very very well on twisty roads with good tyres on, exceptional off road. I’ve got General Grabbers on mine, the standard tyres are worse than useless off road.
They’re a bit noisier than standard but easily bearable.
Had 4 bikes, plus passengers and kit in a few times and loads of camping trips etc.

Wife won’t consider anything else at the moment either.

Ours has 133k now and still driver like new.
In the last 3 years, i’ve changed front pads and discs, 80 quid.
Roll bar bushings and drop links, 40 quid.
Intercooler 85 quid, however nissan wanted over a grand for one!
6 services, 250, I like to keep on top of it.
Above prices areparts only as I do everything myself

Hired one once – top end version with leather, satnav, etc. I was pretty impressed overall. A zillion times better than the stupid Qashqui thingummy.

Go for the SE+ or SVE, Adventura etc. Top spec models. Will sell on better.

They hold their valve exceptionally well too

I’ve got one, 57 plate Columbia TDI. Well pleased with it so far, comfy, not too noisy OK on diesel consumption and mine has the integrated sat nav which works really well

I shortlisted an 03/04 model a few years back, but it bored me sh1tless on the test drive. Performed and handled like a bus, and didn’t really get me going “in the flesh” as much as it did in the pro-mat. Put me well off.

I’m sure they have improved though.

HOw much is road tax on these?

I had a look at the X-Trail, CR-V and Rav4 and went with the ‘hairdresser’s choice’ Toyota in the end. I discounted the CR-V pretty quickly as it seems to roll a lot when cornering, and of the two remaining options finally went for a Rav 4 as it’s a bit more road orientated at the expense of fairly limited off-road abilities in its factory spec. Rough tracks and muddy fields etc, but you wouldn’t want to be trying anything much more adventurous without some modding.

X-Trail is a bit bigger inside, and the off-road ability is better, especially as it has improved ground clearance round the suspension over the Rav, which has limitations in that area as a consequence of the better road holding.

When I was checking reliability on both, the X-Trail does come up with some significant turbo/intercooler problems, so you’d definitely want to look into that more closely if your buying second hand.

My father has had 2 of these pretty good cars, roomy, easy enough to drive and yeah on diesels MPG is ok but not great being a big 4×4.

Reliability isn’t bad but don’t go for the “Oooh it’s a Nissan it must be reliable” Renault is master of Nissan now they like to use cheaper parts.

Had one for just over a year now and no problems at all. Guess the whole mud things depends on your approach – yes the interior is a bit plasticy but that make it easily washable. Like other guys have said, you’ll get three bikes in the back with wheels no worries, and if you need the extra height, you can remove the false floor.

MPG is good, servicing value for money (first service was just over £200)and does what it says on the time. For outdoors stuff is perfectly utilitarian, and best of all not prisy or overly aerodymanic at the back of the car so you can fit tones of gear in. Freelander was just too prisy and looked like it didn’t want to get muddy on the inside. I have one of the boot liners which makes washing out easy, and just put a plastic sheet over the rear seats.

Thanks for he replies. It seems the general consensus is it’s a good car for bikin and other family duties.
I’m heading up to see this one today.

http://www.parks.uk.com/vehiclesearch/vehicleinfo.pmg?ref=948641

Looks nice

Thank again

John

If you get it, get a Hatchbag for it = got one for the BM and it’s brilliant.

http://www.hatchbag.co.uk

Thanks for he replies. It seems the general consensus is it’s a good car for bikin and other family duties.
I’m heading up to see this one today.

Bloody hell John that is big money for a two year example, for a few hundred more you can get a brand new one of these, which is a much more capable and modern vehicle.

We ran an 06 X-trail for a couiple of years. Bought it for caravan towing purposes, which I suspect many will have been used for. Comfy car, and the higher specs are well equipped. We had a Columbia model, which came with goodies such as sat nav & cruise control.

Good car, mpg not as good as some of the more recent SUV type vehicles, around town 25mpg was good, could get 30ish on a longer run.

Common problem with them is the intercooler leaks & turbo problems. We had the intercooler problem, this was identified a month before the manufacturer warranty finished! This was on the older models before the redesign BTW, not sure if the newer models have any recognised issues.

Wouldn’t use main dealer servicing, just too damn expensive, find a good local independent garage to look after it.

Bloody hell John that is big money for a two year example, for a few hundred more you can get a brand new one of these, which is a much more capable and modern vehicle.

Please can you remove than picture mods I feel ill and my dog has been sick and is now shivering in a cowering mess in the corner. Well done though you’ve found the only thing a Border Terrier is scared of.

New model is very nice.

Road tax on mine is 220 in year, new ones are less as they’re more efficient

I’ve had an X-Trail for the last two years. Beware of limited headroom – I had to get one without a sunroof as it consumes valuable clearance*. I find that the driving position means the outside of my knee constantly rubs against the centre console, which is annoying and the front seats lack lumber support so aren’t comfortable for long journeys.

I’d echo the suggestion to get leather seats – my fabric seats were badly stained from dirty sweaty mountain bikers within a week of buying it!

Apart from that, I’m happy with it – generally, it’s been very reliable and surprisingly capable off-road considering I use standard tyres only.

I compared the X-Trail against the RAV4, CRV and Subaru Forrester. I ruled out the RAV4 for it’s stupid sideways opening hatch as I wanted to put a bike rack on the back. The CRV had terrible suspension and I didn’t like the driving position or the interior space of the old Forrester (the new Forrester was out of my budget)

(*I’m 6’4″ so the headroom issue may not trouble you!)

Leather seats have lumber adjustment 😉