Next Car Opinion - Qashqai vs C-Max

johnson293

I'm looking to change my car potentially in the autumn, but maybe sooner if the right car/deal comes along.

Have narrowed the selection down to two that I fancy...

Nissan Qashqai 1.5 DCi in Acenta trim or above (probably 2007-2009) or Ford Focus C-Max 1.6TDCi Zetec or above (2008 Facelift).

I believe the 1.6 TDCi C-Max falls into VED band C, so £30/year? Whereas the Qashqai is £120/year.

The main thing that is putting me off the Nissan, is the fact that (I believe) it uses the same 1.5DCi engine as Renault use in their cars.

3 years ago, I owned a Scenic with that very same engine in it, which was burning oil due to a supposed 'common' issue of sticking/worn piston rings. My dad also had a Megane with the same engine, which suffered from Injector faults. Both of these Renaults were around the 70k mile mark, and a lot of the Qashqai's in my price range are approaching that mileage.

I'm basically after some opinions from people who own/have owned either vehicle.... pros and cons, and anything to watch out for.

I will trading in a 2004 1.6 Astra which has given me almost 3 years trouble free motoring, but its not getting any younger, and we need a change and fancy something a little bigger, but that wont be a massive jump in the costs to run.

Cheers for any advice/opinion offered.

MJ

CFC

If diesels have been mistreated (lots of cold starts or short trips) you will have trouble...
I believe it is the Renault engine yes but not 100% certain.

Ranger8

Buy a Toyota Verso 2.0d

JonathanA

Can't comment on the Qashqai as we've never had one. We do have a 2008 (58 reg) CMAX, which is a great family car and replaced a 2004 version. Our current CMAX is the 2.0TDCi Powershift, which regularly returns 42 - 44 mpg in mostly urban driving, has been up to 50mpg on a run. The one we had before was a manual gearbox and that was definitely more economical.

We haven't (yet) had any issues with this CMAX, we have friends with the 1.8TDCi and they are pleased with theirs. My only concern about a 1.6TDCi is just how economical it would actually be? It's a large car and ours cruises fairly effortlessly, not sure the 1.6 would be the same or whether it would impact on the fuel economy. Yes, the 1.6 would be cheaper to tax, but depending on your mileage, you need to work out whether it would be significantly more economical. Also, as has been said, if you're not doing a big mileage, I seem to think that the 1.8TDCi doesn't have the DPF and therefore no issues to worry about there.

Our last CMAX did 70,000 miles before we sold it, the current one is now 4.5 years old and has only done 40k miles, but hasn't suffered any issues.

I guess the Qashqai may have a higher seating position too. I did look at one briefly, it looked a bit claustrophobic in the back for my taste..

TadleyBaggie

JonathanA wrote: »

I did look at one briefly, it looked a bit claustrophobic in the back for my taste..

I agree with the above, when I road tested one in 2008 my wife hated it for that reason. Then we sat in aTekna version with panaramic sun roof and it felt like a completely different car. We ended up buying a 4WD 2.0DCi Tekna. My feeling is the 1.5DCi engine is a little under-powered for the QQ. I'm currently running a Megane CC with the same engine and it fine for that.

interstellaflyer

TadleyBaggie wrote: »

. My feeling is the 1.5DCi engine is a little under-powered for the QQ.

Well I have a 1.5 dci QQ 360 and no way is it under powered, it's no rocket ship, but then again it's not designed to be, what it is, is a practical family car, the general consensus from members of the owners club and associated forums is that the 1.6 petrol is under powered, but any of the diesels are fine, in fact the 1.5 dci is the most common.

johnson293

Cheers for the replies so far. The reason for aiming for a diesel is for the improved economy - whilst I don't do huge miles, I do a 13miles each way commute to work each day, including dual carriageway.

The Astra (1.6 twinport) averages about 35-38mpg, and it worked out that even allowing for the increase in cost of diesel compared to petrol, i should hopefully get about an extra gallons worth of mileage out of the same weekly spend of fuel... if you know what I mean.

As far as road tax goes, my current Astra is band G (£175/96.25), so am basically aiming for below that. The 1.8TDCi C-Max comes in at Band F (£135/77), so still a saving to be had there, though not as good as £30/year. The QQ 1.5DCi is Band E (£125/68.75).

This 'DPF' issue on the 1.6TDCi - is that a bad one if it happens, or something that can be kept in check with maintenance?

My Budget is probably £8-9k ceiling for a new car, but just want something reliable that's not gonna cost a fortune to run.

I think the wife would love the QQ (being higher up), and a Lad at work has just bought an N-Tec model with the pan roof, and it is a nice feature. But as mentioned, the history with that 1.5DCi engine is what worries me.

One thing I notice, a lot of the used C-Max and QQ's all have about 70k miles on them. I'm guessing this might be timing belt time, and why people are suddenly trading them in?

As I said earlier, my initial aim is to trade-in, in september (after we return from holiday), but if a decent motor comes up, and a the right deal can be done beforehand, I might go for it sooner.

Keep the comments coming though, its appreciated.

:beer:

JonathanA

Whilst I suspect the main factor here may well be having a different, newer car (and that's not a criticism, I generally only keep cars for 2 yrs!), I think that if you factor depreciation into account, you're probably going to have higher costs than you have now!

Unless you do a huge non commuting mileage, I wouldn't discount a petrol car. I'm a huge diesel convert, been driving them for 20+ years, so before they were fashionable, but modern diesels have a huge amount of potential expense, generally at the sort of mileage you're looking at.

Having said that, when we sold our first CMAX at 70k miles, there wasn't anything wrong with it, and the second owner took it to 96k with no trouble, but we'd had it 4.5 yrs and wanted a change!

I'm sure I could find a CMAX Titanium diesel well within your budget with fewer than 70k miles, especially if you're not in a hurry!

Our diesel auto CMAX costs £175 to tax, but it's worth it, such a great self shifter! (The CMAX is our second car and theoretically is my wife's car, but I 'steal' it whenever I can)

interstellaflyer

johnson293 wrote: »

My Budget is probably £8-9k ceiling for a new car, but just want something reliable that's not gonna cost a fortune to run.

I think the wife would love the QQ (being higher up), and a Lad at work has just bought an N-Tec model with the pan roof, and it is a nice feature. But as mentioned, the history with that 1.5DCi engine is what worries me.

Check owners club forums, you will find no real issues with the 1.5 dci engine.

What are you hoping to get for 8-9k? Qashqai secondhand prices are high and I reckon you will be looking at 08 possibly 09 plate cars for an average mileage car from a dealer, when I bought my Qashqai back in March there was an 09 1.6 petrol Acenta with 20,000 on the clock, up for 10k, I paid 16k cash and traded in my 08 Vectra for my new 1.5 dci 360 (rrp 22k) that was a better deal than I would have got on a one year old N-Tech.

johnson293

interstellaflyer wrote: »

Check owners club forums, you will find no real issues with the 1.5 dci engine.

Cheers, will have a look. Whilst the problem i had on the scenic was said to be a 'common' problem, admittedly I haven't seen many other cars with that engine chucking blue smoke out the back like mine did, so hopefully that was just a one-off.

interstellaflyer wrote: »

What are you hoping to get for 8-9k? Qashqai secondhand prices are high and I reckon you will be looking at 08 possibly 09 plate cars for an average mileage car from a dealer, when I bought my Qashqai back in March there was an 09 1.6 petrol Acenta with 20,000 on the clock, up for 10k, I paid 16k cash and traded in my 08 Vectra for my new 1.5 dci 360 (rrp 22k) that was a better deal than I would have got on a one year old N-Tech.

In the price range so far, it seems to be 07-09 Visia and Acenta models with the 1.5DCi engine for between £7.5k and 9k depending on the mileage. Have even seen a 2010 Acenta for £8600, but that had 70k miles on it already. Most of the ones I'd seen have about 60-70k miles on them, but there are the odd one or two that have 40-46k miles. Was hoping to get one with sub-50k miles on it.

Have also seen a 2008 C-Max 1.8TDCi Titanium, with 25k miles on it, for just under about £8.5k.

TBH, on a car this size, I've pretty much discounted going for a petrol model, due to the economy and road tax costs.

At some point, I'm gonna go and have a test drive in one of each motor and have a good look around them, which may help make my mind up one way of another for one of them in particular.

interstellaflyer

johnson293 wrote: »

In the price range so far, it seems to be 07-09 Visia and Acenta models with the 1.5DCi engine for between £7.5k and 9k depending on the mileage. Have even seen a 2010 Acenta for £8600, but that had 70k miles on it already. Most of the ones I'd seen have about 60-70k miles on them, but there are the odd one or two that have 40-46k miles. Was hoping to get one with sub-50k miles on it.

The car I mentioned was at a franchised dealer and was Nissan Approved used and I wasn't really looking for second hand so I guess there were cheaper, higher mileage cars out there.