Vehicle Detail
NISSAN X-Trail 1.7 Diesel 150 PS Energy
The Nissan X-Trail is a decent thing. Here’s a car that can swallow seven people or lots of things, tow something heavy and do a bit of off-roading, but which resembles little more than a swelled Qashqai. Good thing.
It handles as well as it needs to, and comes with a punchy if unrefined diesel engine as an option, but the infotainment will irritate the tech-savvy, it’s agricultural to drive and inside it feels a bit last-gen both material and design-wise.
You have kids or grandkids, or friends who like to cadge a lift. You enjoy gardening or other waste-producing activities. You go camping. You tow a trailer. You are no stranger to muddy car parks. You have a dog. You like to do a big shop every week or so. If you tick most of the items on this list, you should consider the X-Trail as a potential facilitator, a tool, a family friend.
If not, then you’re probably better off with something smaller and livelier, although even then you’d doubtless appreciate the X-Trail’s reliability and ruggedness, and the way it doesn’t seem that bothered if you don’t wash it particularly thoroughly or particularly often.
With our thoughts focused on the important things in life – looking after your family and neighbours, that sort of thing – the X-Trail seems like a winner. It doesn’t make a good job of doubling up as a thrill-tastic driver’s car for more frivolous times, but then what SUV does at this price?
It’s an appealing enough family car. But so is the Skoda Kodiaq, which is probably the one we’d buy.
