Long-term report: The Nissan Qashqai continues to deliver

I’ll never forget where I was when the UK’s first national emergency text message came through on my mobile phone – half way through getting the car cleaned!

I had decided the day before that the paintwork on our long-term Nissan Qashqai was looking a bit dirty and dingy after several lengthy motorway journeys, and had resolved to do something about it.
Having said that, the word ‘resolved’ is a bit strong really, sounding as it does like some kind of call to action. Remaining seated in the driver’s seat and saying ‘£10 wash please’ to the operator doesn’t really take much effort.

Anyway, OV71ULB is back to its pristine, magnetic blue self and, as I say, has seen quite a bit of the UK’s motorway network lately.

Leisure trips have taken me and the family to London for meals out and assorted theatre performances, while work-wise, I’ve recently visited Birmingham (for the Commercial Vehicle Show if you’re interested!), and Stourbridge, not too far away from Brum, on another assignment.

Has our Qashqai ever put a foot wrong? Not as far as I can tell. The car is a great motorway companion with long periods behind the wheel really giving you the chance to appreciate everything the cabin has to offer.

The seating arrangement is certainly comfortable, and it’s helpful that the power steering comes with tilt and telescopic adjust, not that you’d fiddle with it while driving.

The panoramic glass roof lets huge amounts of light inside, and even after journeys of 300+ miles, you emerge feeling as fresh as you were at the start of the trip.

I’ve even mastered the car’s clever cruise control. The technology measures the distance between you and the vehicle ahead and controls acceleration and deceleration to automatically maintain a suitable following distance. This is adjusted according to the speed of the vehicle ahead, up to the preset speed, and the settings added by the driver.

It all combines to reduce the workload of the person behind the wheel – which is very much to be welcomed! – and works very well.

Entertainment-wise, there is no shortage of choices, with AM/FM/DAB options plus Wireless Apple Carplay and Bluetooth with audio streaming.

Providing the power for my motorway marathons has been our Qashqai’s 1.3-litre petrol engine which features ‘mild hybrid’ technology designed to enhance acceleration and efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions.

As I have mentioned before, it feels eager and responsive and the car’s six-speed manual gearbox is just the job.

The sat-nav has played a blinder too, although on a couple of occasions recently, it seemed to stop ‘talking’ to me for no particular reason. I must also report also that my wife isn’t too keen on the visual side it – which prompted a rather bad-tempered exchange between us on our arrival at a recent destination. Happy days!

Just returning to the subject of the Commercial Vehicle Show for a second, I was interested to see that Nissan had a presence at the event – but bearing in mind the nature of the exhibition, it focused on their vans, not cars.

Impressive as its vans may be, I think I’ll stick to our long-term Qashqai for the time being, though.