what do we need to know? Mrs needs a new car and this is top of the shortlist based on looks alone (test drive on Fri). I know they are VERY divisive, don’t mind the look myself though, quite like the fact it’s small (ish) but with an elevated position as since getting rid of my car a while back have only been driving my van! Having googled, reviews are ok – no-one seems to be saying it’s inherently terrible, just that there are better options in terms of economy, performance, internal space, etc etc. But it’s not going to be my car so whatever 😃

probably looking at a 2016-18, N-Connecta or Tekna spec, either the 1.2 Dig-T engine (supposed to be good & the most economical?) or possibly the 1.6 16v (unless it’s awful?). Definitely petrol either way. Probably manual, have seen an auto one but not seen anyone recommend it (think that might just be down to MPG, not sure about reliability?) Unlikely to go for a 4×4 one, don’t think I have seen any for sale and don’t want/need that anyway!

Very small in the back with tiny rear doors – not a good car for taking your Mum and Dad out in.

Dig-T engine is much nicer to drive than the 1.6. Auto gearbox isn’t very nice. Tekna’s the nicest spec to go for.

Had one for a couple of months and thought it was OK.

My parents had one. Cute from the outside, cramped inside.

They had the dashboard changed 4 (four!) times because dials and displays did not work, and it went through a set of ball joints every 6 months.

My dad is not a very emotional man, but I think I saw him shed a tear from relief when they finally convinced a dealer to take it part-exchange for a Toyota.

I would never buy one.

Small boot and rear seats.

Not a hugely engaging drive.

CVT is dogshit

Makes them sound like the modern equivalent of the Austin Allegro.

Always thought they were more fun to drive than they had any right to be. Crazy small boot though, given the size of the car. The DIG was quick enough.

We did look at these but never found one that matched what we were looking for so moved on.
I do remember the boot was small and I’d use the internet to check on the reliability of the CVT gearbox – I know the bigger Qashqai has issues.
They have an appetite for inner tie rod ends.

Reverse TARDIS.

Our neighbours used to have one. Similar to the comment above, I think they threw a party the day they got rid of it for a more reliable 10 year old Discovery! Loads of problems with it, small for the outside dimensions and saying that it has looks only a mother would love would suggest the mother was blind as well.

Had a 1.6 petrol, and a 1.5 diesel. Both from new, on a lease scheme,  when I worked at the Sunderland Nissan plant.

Out of those two, the diesel was the better car. Smoother, punchier mid range and much quieter than the petrol at 60-70mph. I have no idea what the 1.2 is like though.

Check the wear on the rear tyres, the 2nd one I had, had rubbed the tread off the inner edge, and needed replacing when I took the car back after 12 months and 7000 miles. I thought it might have been a one off problem with that particular car, but a google search says otherwise

Linky

Its a crap car, get a Dacia Logan MCV, they are the new Skoda.

Or even brand new Dacia Duster for £10k if you have to have an “SUV”

My mum had one, she hated it….. woefully underpowered…. she was 70 at the time !!

Good luck

in the US its only available with 180bhp. had one as a hire car, underpowered it wasn’t!

it was fine for a couple of days. I don’t have much insight there.

1.2 engine is tragic. No power, terrible fuel economy (<30MPG), tiny tank.

1.6 is an old engine but would be my choice.

I have spent a bit of time with a few of these when I was using a lot of hire cars for work. It was one of the cars that was always a disappointment when I collected the keys from the security gate.

They handle better than you would expect. Beyond that not a good car. The interior felt very cheap and it’s not a great place to spend time.

As others have said the back seats and boot are tiny.

I can see why some people like them but looking at it is very different to owning a driving one every day.

In my last job I managed someone who was bipolar and quite severely. How he managed to do well in work was beyond me (lots of professional help and being at work helped him).
One of his ways of getting urgent help when he was suicidal and knew he might do something tragic was to phone his best friend who would come and find him and help him – this was all preorganised.
The alert sentence he had set up with his friend to trigger the emergency response was that he would say to him “I’m going to buy a Nissan Juke”. The meaning was that he was so desperate and out of his mind that it something only someone who had lost all practical reasoning would consider such an act.
Honestly it’s true!
Oh and they are crap beyond compare. For some reason my parents bought one and didn’t keep it long, despite it being new and nothing went wrong with it. Bone jarring ride but didn’t handle well, drank like a fish, tiny inside, poor visibility.

They are being targeted by thieves at the moment – certainly in the Midlands (this confirmed by Police and my insurance co)

I had mine nicked the other day, and I am quite pleased. It was the worst car I have ever driven. Tiny, tiny back seats, rubbish boot, awful gear box, terrible economy. I had the Nismo RS version which was as bad as it sounds.

I have today ordered an Octavia, like I should have done a couple of years ago.

Had one as a courtesy car for 4 weeks. We had a 2 year old at the time so any trips out usually meant taking a pram. Couldn’t fit it in even in its component parts. As for trying shoehorn an angry little boy into a car seat through the porthole they called a rear door the less said the better. Enormous pointless centre console thing as well.

Honestly one of the worst cars I have ever driven. Worse than a Vauxhall Vectra.

Had a 1.6 petrol as a hire car – worst car I’ve ever driven – uncomfortable, no boot space – hateful thing

thanks all, have passed all this on. Would not be surprised if we still end up getting one though 🤣 At least we have my van for bikes so the boot thing not a huge issue!

The big console is ment to be like a motorbike fuel tank and clocks.

Some **** design spaff write up in the launch brochure.

I went to Leeds with Nissan on the production launch for these.

The mrs had one for a couple of months as a courtesy car – I don’t think I’ll ever understand how such a shit vehicle was signed off.

Comically slow yet stupidly loud, no space inside despite it being surprisingly large outside. The entertainment system was utter crap, the boot was tiny and there was some bullshit with the door handles that I don’t remember exactly but the rage still burns deep inside me.

It didn’t have a single redeeming feature, they’re a waste of resources and whoever came up with them needs shooting.

They’ve now become a standing joke – “oh look, there’s a crashed car upside down on fire in that river – could be worse, they could still be driving a Juke…”

Edit – just thinking about that car has pissed me right off!

My wife looked at a couple, what put her off is there are 2 in our street already, both driven (quite badly) by middle aged women who apparently can’t park straight, don’t realise you need headlights at night and think that the ‘keep left’ rule in the highway code is optional.
When i pointed out to my wife that people will think she is the same, she immediately went off the idea and bought a subaru xv.
Vastly superior car, in every way.

Known as the Nissan Puke in my house.

Once had one as a hire car. It was the low point of an otherwise wonderful holiday.

Aren’t they just an ugly Nissan Micra that has been raised up a bit?

still no fans then 🤣🤣🤣

I’ve been reading this thread with interest as my sis has been considering a Juke – I linked her so that she could see what people thought.
Her other initial thought was a Mini Countryman – does anyone have experience of this model?

Also, while I’m here, what do people recommend? I liked the look of the Dacia Duster.

Why anyone would want to buy one is beyond me

Based on looks alone

The dacia shares some mechanical and electrical parts with the juke (renault/nissan/dacia/lada etc)
You can decide for yourself if that’s good or bad.

I considered a duster a couple of years ago and based on a couple of hours test-drive I’d happily say it’s much better than the Juke and if it had been a bit bigger in terms of driver leg-room I’d have bought one.

The duster just seemed like a decent car at a good price, the Juke seemed like a mechanical travesty sprinkled in design bullshit.

Auto gearbox isn’t very nice.

I’ve driven a great many Jukes over the last five years, and the one thing that stands out, other than the ‘interesting’ styling, is the dreadful auto ‘box! The car’s screaming away at 4000-5000 rpm, and the bloody thing still won’t shift into second!
The auto ‘boxes in Berlingos and Partners are hateful, just because of the seconds-long gap between gears, but they’re so slow anyway, it’s the nodding-donkey effect that’s irritating, but the one in the Juke is just hateful.
Incredibly popular with Motability customers, though.
I’d have a Qashqai myself, given a choice; you can find those with heated quick-clear screens, like Ford, Volvo and Range Rover have – also Vauxhall Corsas and some VW’s now.
My own choice is a EcoSport, the 1.0 EcoBoost motor is a beauty, and it ticks every box for me, but the ST-Line model would be over budget, and that’s the best equipped model, and the older models, going back about five-six years, are really very basic indeed, but they were built for emerging markets, not Europe.

My lad looked at them (he’s a new dad) but he hated the rear seating area. Cramped and claustrophobic.

He got a citroen Cactus in the end. Zero road tax etc. Have to say im a convert, its lovely to drive and I love the typically citroen quirky looks now. Very economical too.

“Armoured” all round against small bumps so no worries about parking at supermarkets etc.😁

I thought it was pronounced “Joke”.

My sister is amused by all your comments, especially b230ftw’s.

Usually in this sort of thread at least one person turns up to say “I like them”, or “this feature is very good”. So far, nothing.
Are they really liked by nobody? How can Nissan sell them if they have such a bad rep?

Their auto boxes are CVT which have their pros and cons. I test drove a Toyota something last year with a CVT and it does hold its revs high while accelerating, then very quiet and seamless. That’s how they work. I didn’t like it but they are very reliable auto boxes (from what I’ve read).

Citroens use traditional torque converters which won’t be the quickest to change gear, but reliable and no clutch plates to worry about. I loved how they drive. Very smooth. I only went back to manual because I couldn’t get a Berlingo with an auto box with the petrol engine. Though you can now.

Having driven a torque converter, CVT, and owned a dual clutch auto, I’d choose a torque converter any day. I wouldn’t touch a dual clutch again.

Are they really liked by nobody? How can Nissan sell them if they have such a bad rep?

I think they come free with beige 4 storey new-build town-houses! 🙂

I have a friend who used to work in the Nissan factory in Sunderland. Nissan were heavily discounting the Joke’s for employees to purchase but hardly anybody took the offer up.

The styling is very much Marmite. Nissan sell sh1t loads of them.

My issue would be they are tiny inside, just like Toyota’s offering the CHR

We have a 2012 Qashqai N-Tec+ 1.6 petrol that’s been utterly reliable. It’s slightly bigger outside than the Juke, but is much bigger inside. It took a whole king size base in it to the tip, with the boot shut.

I wouldn’t choose the diesels TBH – we don’t do enough miles. The Qashqai is a nice car to drive, but it’s not particularly quick, nore are you going to chuck it round bends like you would a ‘normal car’. It does tackle crap UK roads better than my Nissan saloon though – despite the Qashqai being slightly lighter than my saloon, the suspension springs are substantially beefier – it just rides better over pot holes/imperfections/broken road surfaces.

It will take two trail bikes, layed down with front wheels off very easily.

Reliability is really good on the Nisan petrol engines.

If you can live with the looks, get a petrol Juke if the boss want’s one.

How can Nissan sell them if they have such a bad rep?

Some people value image over all else.
And nothing can tell them that some looks are dreadful.

The duster just seemed like a decent car at a good price,

This is attracting me too, for when our current 100k mile Mazda2 eventually karks it