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Used test: Honda Civic vs Nissan Qashqai costs
If you're looking for a used family car, should you choose an SUV like the Nissan Qashqai or a hatchback like the Honda Civic?...
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
Our Honda Civic and Nissan Qashqai began life at £20,340 and £29,250 respectively, meaning the latter model has lost more value over its seven years as a used car. That said, our data predicts that, as the years go on, Civic and Qashqai will depreciate at a similar rate.
The Civic should be slightly cheaper to insure. It belongs to insurance group 15, putting the cost at around £501. The Qashqai sits in group 20, meaning you should pay around £595. Fuel economy goes to the Civic, too. Officially, the Civic's 1.0-litre engine averages 55.4mpg, while the Qashqai's 1.6-litre unit averages 48.7mpg.
You can buy a single service via Honda for £240. Servicing the Qashqai costs a similar amount, with Nissan charging you £239.
In SR trim, the Civic is well equipped. Aside from the parking aids we mentioned previously, it also comes with adaptive cruise control, climate control and privacy glass. In Tekna+ trim, the Qashqai lacks adaptive cruise but otherwise has all of that, plus keyless entry and leather seats.
In our 2023 What Car? Reliability Survey, the Civic ranked 16th out of 29 cars in the family car class. It's reliability score of 90.5% isn't amazing, but it isn't a deal breaker, either. The largest complaint was about the car's air-con, with 15.3% of owners in our survey saying they had experienced problems with it. Second to that was non-engine electrics, which attracted 9.7% of complaints.
The Qashqai proved itself to marginally more reliable. In petrol form, it placed 19th out of 34 cars in the family SUV class, with a reliability score of 92.7%. Battery and gearbox/clutch issues were the main trouble spots owners told us about, with 6.7% (each) doing so. A number of owners (5.0%) also had experienced problems with the car's interior trim.
As car brands, Honda placed sixth out of 32 manufacturers, while Nissan was far behind in 19th.
The Qashqai received the maximum five out of five stars for safety when it was crash tested by Euro NCAP. The Civic received a four-star rating. We should mention that both of these ratings have since expired – testing was conducted in 2014 and 2017 respectively.
