Used Nissan Qashqai+2 2008 - 2013 review

It would be hard to find someone at this stage that has not owned, driven or ridden in a Nissan Qashqai, so enormously popular has the Sunderland-built SUV been.

With the Nissan Qashqai+2, the car was stretched to offer more interior space and two extra seats that could be folded flat into the boot floor when they weren’t needed.

In practice, it’s very similar to its five-seat stablemate. The extra weight makes little difference to the handling or performance, although the extra length between the front and rear wheels does improve the ride quality marginally.

Overall, the Qashqai+2 is a good car to drive, with a precise feel to the steering and agile responses.

Keep the third row seats folded and the boot is slightly bigger than in the standard Nissan Qashqai, which is itself far from small, but the seats themselves are cramped, and they’re hard to get to because there’s only a small gap to clamber through.

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With the huge demand for new Qashqais, it should come as no surprise that used versions are still highly sought after, and this is keeping values high. The cheapest Qashqai+2 you are likely to find will still set you back more than £4000, and prices of more than £5000 are not uncommon.

The Qashqai was facelifted in 2010, gaining narrower, more angled headlamps and a more inset front grille, and diesel examples of these cars still nudge £10,000 if they are in exceptional condition and come with a full Nissan service history. Petrols are cheaper, but could be harder to sell on later.

The Qashqai+2 is a very frugal car when fitted with Nissan’s 1.5 dCi diesel engine; you can expect to average better than 45mpg in daily driving.

Services are required annually or every 12,000 miles, but the Qashqai+2 can be very hard on its tyres, especially on the optional 18in alloy wheels. Another bugbear is that it’s almost impossible to replace a blown bulb at home, so it usually requires a visit to the dealership, costing time and money.

You can choose from 1.5-, 1.6- and 2.0-litre diesel engines or 1.6- and 2.0-litre petrols. Of these the 1.6 petrol is probably best avoided; although it’s reasonably powerful, it leaves the Qashqai+2 feeling a bit underpowered and becomes thirsty.

It’s a similar story with the 2.0-litre petrol, although it does cope with the weight better than the 1.6.

The 1.5 diesel is the most popular Qashqai engine, and with good reason. It has decent refinement, good economy and emissions, and sufficient performance. It’s been used across a broad swathe of Renault and Nissan products and has proved largely reliable, too.

All models came well equipped and the Qashqai+2 was one of the first cars to feature a standard Bluetooth phone connection.

Because the Qashqai was essentially the first of its breed, it always had a limited number of direct rivals, and that goes double for the Qashqai+2 because no other compact SUV of the time had seven seats.

You could go for a Mitsubishi Outlander (or the all-but-identical Peugeot 4007 or Citroen C-Crosser) which has the SUV styling and seven seats, but it's bigger, heavier and less engaging to drive than a Qashqai.

Mid-size MPVs such as the VW Touran, Renault Grand Scenic or Citroen Grand C4 Picasso are far more practical, but lack the sharper styling of the Qashqai – and its pseudo-4x4 appeal.

Perhaps the closest rivals is the Hyundai Santa Fe. The second-generation model, launched in 2006, is handsome, reliable, good to drive and has the necessary seven seats, although it’s bigger and thirstier, so will cost more to run than a Nissan Qashqai.

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