Kent based John sends an update on his recently purchased Nissan Note:

Originally when the vehicle was purchased my overall opinion was good and I am pleased to say that after 15 months and 18,000 + miles my opinion has not changed.     

Being a bit of a novice on finance I was a bit sceptical about the “have it on finance   save 2k and get a service plan” After a couple of months I obtained a settlement figure and coughed up the balance with minimal interest charged. Which more than covered the service plan, for which the first service was completed earlier this year.

Whilst having the car serviced, I asked about the Nissan Connect service subscription, as my understanding was that it included Sat Nav. updates, complimentary for 2 years from purchase. Service reception clarified the matter for me and said that Sat Nav. updates were not included and would cost £140. But the good news was it was doubted that an update would be due until year three.

I smiled and said I was grateful that it was three years, but would not be taking the offer up as I currently had a spare Sat Nav. which cost £80 and came with life time free updates.  However should Nissan ever consider changing to a reasonable cost I would consider it for its convenience.  

The Note continues to gives more than it takes. It may not have all the whistles and bells of a similar priced Hyundai or the finish of a Polo, but  it does have good passenger space, reasonable levels of kit such as Cruise control, Auto lights, DAB radio and a variable rear screen wiper to name but a few. In particular I like the positive sounding audible warning when the indicators are on.

The boot is bigger than most for its size, with the folding movable boot floor giving a couple of height options to level up the floor. With the rear doors giving ample space for the putting in and taking out child seats.

Overall from the driver’s position there is an impression of space and comfort together with good access to all the knobs dials and switches. Others have raised the point that the steering wheel height cannot be adjusted however I have not found this a problem.

The lady of the house originally noted an irritating reflection off the instruments on to the screen and side window at night. However moving the sun visor down at night  solves most of the problem.  Storage space is reasonable with lots of little cubby holes, but could be better, so that Items are not on permanent display.

The one disappointment of floor covering has also fallen into the mists of time. It’s not carpet but some sort of felt with the consistency of moulded cardboard.  General noise levels are comparable to other cars and the ride experience is OK even with five people on board.

One item that still concerns me is sitting in traffic with my foot on the foot brake to activate the stop start.  Which I think increases the risk of being shunted forward if the person behind does not stop. It also chances frustrating people behind with the high level brake light in their eyes.

Putting your foot on the brake, going to neutral and applying the hand brake re-engages the engine. So the alternative appears to be, shift through the box to park mode and apply the hand brake, to move off you then reverse the procedure. All of which gets a bit tedious in stop start traffic. So I   overcome this frustration by switching the stop start off.

The 3 cylinder engine continues to give a suitably adequate performance from its 1.2 DIG supercharged power unit. With current fuel consumption averaging 48 MPG over the last 4,000 miles. Maybe not the best but definitely not the worst for a CVT gearbox.

Overall the Note does pretty much what it says on the tin. However after the initial euphoria of a new car, like Mike Humble on a previous test, I find the suspension a bit hard and noisy over the bumps.  In addition to keep legal it looks like a new set of front tyres at 20,000 miles will be needed. Which will be the first time I have not had at least 25,000 miles from front tyres for at least 30 years.

My out of 10 score so far is 8

*STOP PRESS*

The lady of the house continues to claim that it’s her car, but after a slight skirmish down a country lane she now say’s my car needs to be repaired, so it looks like a phone call to the local Chips Away franchise…….. Ah but that’s another story!