Nissan X-Trail (2014 - 2022) 1.6 dCi Tekna (7 Seat) 5d Owner Review

So I took the plunge and purchased a new car, mainly for the reliability and peace of mind. So here I am 32000 and 2 years later. My initial impressions were good, lots of kit and it was big enough to cart around the family (although the rear seats were very small). The mpg is excellent, I have a 70 mile round trip commute that is a mixture of A and B roads and I am averaging 51 mpg (according to the trip computer). The 1.6 diesel has a narrow but powerful torque band that means regular gear changes. I also tow a caravan, it manages this task reasonably well, as long as you use the gearbox this can be become tiring on long journeys. I also find that the car is fairly unrefined. I have has chance to drive a number of other cars (because mine has been in the garage so much) from Ford, VW and Vauxhall and they are considerably quieter in all driving situations. The reliability of the car car has been nothing short of appalling, I am not sure if I have a "duff one" or they are all the same. I'll go through my experience and you can make your own mind up. So my first issue was after 6 months when the orange engine management light came on and the fault was rectified with a new mass airflow meter was installed, not too bad I suppose. I then had a door lock motor fail, this was changed during the first service along with a the front disks (these were warped and Nissan UK refused to acknowledge this as manufacturing fault) although the car had only just don 10,000 miles and the pads were only 20% worn. I then drove the car regularly for 6 months without incident, until the orange engine light halted things and an intercooler pipe that had split needed to be replaced. It is worth pointing out at that it would seem that the dealer network doesn't stock the spares and a wait of at least a day is always on the cars and this will often mean that you are stuck with an unsuitable car (Micra to travel from Sheffield to Bristol is not a journey I wish to repeat). So with the intercooler fixed I was then carefree and happy to be back on the road until Dec 18th when I was met with a a red engine light and the car had to be taken in on the back of a wagon. After much tooing and frowing with Nissan Uk a new turbo was fitted, I finally had the car returned to me on 5th Jan. To be honest Nissan customer care has acted swiftly to make sure that I have remained mobile in a suitable 7 seat car. So there you have it. As you can guess this is the most unreliable car that I have ever owned, by a considerable margin. If you take the reliability issues away, the car is easily outclassed by the cheaper (check the prices on car wow) Skoda Kodiaq and Peugeot 5008. I will be leaving the Nissan brand at the end of my PCP contract (and it can't come soon enough).