Nissan Juke Review & Prices

This is the Nissan Juke, and it’s one of the long-standing options in the ever-popular small SUV market. It’s a car to consider alongside the likes of the Volkswagen T-Cross, Renault Captur and Skoda Kamiq.

Like a pair of Crocs, the Nissan Juke can be rather divisive yet those who own them tend to really love them.

It’s the looks of this SUV in particular that can split opinions. Your opinion may not be too favourable, but it’s commendable that Nissan has stuck the original Juke’s guns of outlandish looks standing out in a crowd of pretty generic-looking options.

An update in 2024 saw the Juke given a makeover on the inside, though the outside remained untouched save for some new paint colours and wheel designs. The new interior is a big improvement over the old one, and features more premium materials, better technology and improved build quality.

The touchscreen infotainment system is perhaps the biggest upgrade. Instead of the pokey screen on pre-facelift cars, you now get a big 12.3-inch display running Nissan's latest software. It looks great, though Nissan's own interface isn't always the most straightforward to use. That said, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay functionality as standard help negate that.

As for boot space, you’ve got 422 litres to work with. That lags behind the 455 litres from a VW T-Cross, matches the Renault Captur and eclipses the 400 litres in the Skoda Kamiq.

Your choice of engines comes down to a 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder petrol engine or a 1.6-litre ‘self-charging’ hybrid. The former can be had with a six-speed manual or dual-clutch automatic gearbox, while the hybrid is only available with a CVT gearbox.

Though the hybrid does come at a higher price, it's notably smoother and offers improved efficiency compared to the standalone petrol. Neither engine is very quick, though, and both are noisy on the motorway.

Around town is where most Nissan Jukes will spend a lifetime, and there’s no disputing it’s best set up for that. A pretty high-set driving position does give you a good view of the road ahead, and the steering is light enough to make manoeuvring a breeze.

Visibility out of the rear is quite poor, though. You’ll want to opt for a car with a reversing camera to negate this.

That said, if you’re opting for a high-spec car, you’ll also get 19-inch alloy wheels. Though they do look better, they have a huge effect on comfort when driving over lumps and bumps - proving an issue both in town and at motorway speeds.

No matter your choice of Nissan Juke though, you do get a healthy helping of safety tech as standard. This includes cruise control, automatic high beams and automatic emergency braking (which can detect cyclists and pedestrians too) among some other bits.

All-in, the Nissan Juke has undeniably come a long way from the rather flawed original car, but it's overshadowed by almost every other alternative. It looks interesting and has a decent amount of tech, but it's just not as well-rounded, as nice to drive or as practical as the cars you'll be considering it against - particularly the VW T-Cross.

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The Nissan Juke entry price is targeted at the lower end of the scale, making it one of the cheaper options in its class. However, once you begin to look at higher-spec versions, that quickly starts to climb — going beyond the Skoda Kamiq and sitting alongside the Volkswagen T-Roc. The top-spec hybrid model costs in excess of £30,000, making it a very hard sell.

Even the cheaper versions aren't fantastic value. While the entry-level Acenta Premium car does come with quite a lot of equipment, a cheaper Volkswagen T-Cross or equivalent Toyota Yaris Cross are vastly nicer to drive. You'd really have to love the Juke's looks for it to be worth the money.

The Nissan Juke is simple to drive in most conditions, but does lack the fun a Ford Puma can offer

In town

With most Nissan Jukes set for a lifetime of running around town, it’s no surprise to learn this is where it’s best suited. A high-set driving position means you’ve got a good view of the road ahead, and suitably light steering makes it a breeze to park.

You do have to contend with pretty poor rear visibility, however. All cars get a reversing camera to help with this.

What can't really be helped is the way the Juke deals with bumps in the road. All models, but particularly those on the largest 19-inch wheels, seem to pick up every imperfection in the tarmac and are very uncomfortable over potholes and speed bumps.

For the most effortless way of getting out of junctions, go with one of the hybrid cars. The response from the engine and gearbox is much better than the standalone petrol’s dual-clutch automatic, and the manual gearbox’s clutch isn’t great to use either.

On the motorway

With cruise control and a whole load of other safety tech as standard, the Nissan Juke is pretty well equipped to take motorways on. That said, it’s again compromised in comfort. Not only does the suspension not really settle down, but both engines are pretty noisy.

The hybrid in particular can get stuck at a certain rev range depending on your speed - feeling and sounding endlessly like it needs to change up a gear. It can become quite unpleasant. There's a fair amount of wind and road noise, too.

Higher-spec cars also come with Nissan’s Pro Pilot suite of tech. This upgrades your cruise control to an adaptive system, allowing the Juke to automatically adjust its speed to maintain a distance from a car ahead.

On a twisty road

Don’t expect to get too much fun out of a Nissan Juke on a back road, which in fairness it’s not designed for.

The lifeless steering doesn't really give you any feedback about what the front wheels are doing, and it soon runs out of grip going into a corner.

It does 'feel' a bit sportier than some alternatives thanks to the firm suspension, but the loss of comfort isn't a price worth paying in our view.

The Nissan Juke has lots of quality, but not a massive amount of space for passengers or your stuff

Practicality

Though you do sit quite high in the Juke, giving you a decent view out of the front, there’s a bit of a cramped feeling inside. It’s not uncomfortable, but if you want more space to stretch out, the likes of the Skoda Kamiq and Volkswagen T-Cross will appeal more.

You do have some decent storage spaces, though. Door bins are big enough to take a decent-sized water bottle, and there’s a tray to store your phone integrated within the centre console — although bigger phones may struggle to stay in there.

Space in the back seats

While the latest Nissan Juke offers a bit more space in the back than the old car, it’s still pretty poor. If you want to use the rear row for anything more than carrying children in car seats, your occupants might be in for a long ride.

Legroom is pretty poor, and the sloped roofline cuts notably into headroom too. There’s also quite a considerable hump on the floor, so anyone sitting in the middle seat is going to have nowhere for their feet. And those high-set door handles are positively awkward, especially if your children would like to get into the car by themselves.

Boot space

With 422 litres to work with, the Nissan Juke is pretty much par for the course in its class. For context, a VW T-Cross takes the cake with 455 litres, while the Renault Captur matches the Juke. A Skoda Kamiq offers less than all of these at 400 litres.

You need the load floor in its higher position if you want it to be level with the 60-40 split-and-fold rear seats when they are tipped forward. With this done, the Juke has up to 1305 litres of load capacity, which is among the best among its peers.

It’s a shame, then, Nissan doesn’t offer more in the way of tie-down points in the boot or even a 12-volt charger.

The latest Juke's interior feels good up top, though you don't have to stray far to find cheap materials

For all of the outlandish exterior styling, the interior of the Nissan Juke seems pretty tame - albeit that’s no bad thing. The 2024 update gave it a far more grown-up feeling to it, with a new infotainment system, new materials and a total redesign.

The most noticeable addition is a swathe of Alcantara fabric across the top of the dash. This does feel really nice, especially as this suede-like material used to be the preserve of sports cars only. However, underneath this the Juke's interior still makes do with a lot of hard, scratchy plastics, and you can tell where pennies have been pinched by some of the smaller touches - the halogen bulbs in the dome lights, for example, or the lack of a light on the vanity mirror.

All versions of the Juke are equipped with a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system. This is a big improvement on the setup previously fitted to the Juke - it's clear, bright and responsive, though certain aspects of the interface are a bit difficult to use. The settings panel in particular is a labyrinth of menus and you might not find what you're looking for straight away.

On the plus side, it does come equipped with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay - allowing you to seamlessly run your phone apps through the screen.

Higher-spec models also get a new digital dial display, which looks good but doesn't offer the configurability of the system in, say, a Volkswagen T-Cross.

There’s a choice of two engines for the Nissan Juke. The first is a 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder engine, producing 114hp. Official tests have this spec of Juke as returning up to 48.7mpg with CO2 emissions of 132g/km.

You can for a ‘self-charging’ hybrid too, which links a 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine to an electric motor. It recharges a small-capacity battery using the engine, as well as from waste kinetic energy while braking.

Official tests of this Juke give it a figure of up to 56.5mpg and CO2 emissions of 114g/km.

When the independent safety board last tested the Nissan Juke, in 2019, it awarded it its full score - five out of five stars.

With safety technology like lane departure warning, automatic emergency braking and high beam assistance included as standard, there’s plenty to back that safety score up.

Nissan's even come up with a good solution for the latest EU-mandated safety equipment. All you have to do is set up your 'personal' profile of safety settings, where you can opt to turn off the speed limit warning and lane-keep aids if you wish. Then, it's just two button presses to turn it on at the start of each drive.

With the earliest examples of this generation of Nissan Jukes only just coming to the end of manufacturer warranty periods, there’s little data available on common problems.

From the factory, each Juke is covered by a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty.