Nissan Qashqai Review & Prices

The Nissan Qashqai is one of the first cars we think about when someone says ‘family SUV’. - and it’s an excellent example of one. With decent practicality, great driving manners, a sensible interior and a fantastic hybrid engine option, the Qashqai has a lot going for it - even if the boot is a little smaller than alternatives.

The Qashqai is a bit like the Robbie Williams of family SUVs - it’s been around for so long and it’s so mainstream that you forget it’s actually really good. In fact, the Qashqai can be credited with starting the whole craze for family crossover cars back in 2008 - when Nissan debuted the first model as a direct replacement for its Almera hatchback.

It’s such a good family car because, while it doesn’t excel in any particular area, it’s also largely free of anything that will annoy or frustrate you. With a choice of petrol or hybrid engine options, the Qashqai’s alternatives include cars such as the Chery Tiggo 7, Dacia Bigster, Skoda Karoq, MG HS, Kia Sportage and the Citroen C5 Aircross, the latter of which took home the Family Values gong in the 2026 Carwow Car of the Year awards.

The Qashqai makes a good first impression. After a facelift in 2024 it’s genuinely quite eye-catching to look at, with an intricate grille blending seamlessly into super-sharp LED headlights and daytime running lights. All models get alloy wheels and the larger designs are really quite slick, while the rear gets LED taillights as standard.

In the cabin, things are very sensible indeed - and with plenty of physical switchgear, it’s a much friendlier interior (if a bit less high-tech) than a fully touchscreen-driven alternative such as the Jaecoo 7 or VW Tiguan. But that doesn’t mean it’s not up-to-date, as the infotainment screen runs an Android-powered software that means you get native access to Google apps such as Maps and the Google Assistant.

It’s a really nice touch - shared with the Renault Symbioz - that means the Qashqai is almost as easy as using a smartphone. That’s in harsh contrast to some alternatives that have their own, rather poor manufacturer systems - looking at you, MG HS.

In terms of practicality the Qashqai is very much middle-of-the-pack. The front and rear seats are pretty spacious, and there’s room for smaller items around the cabin, but the 504-litre boot is eclipsed by the Kia Sportage and VW Tiguan.

You get a choice of two engines. The base model is a 1.3-litre mild hybrid petrol with either a manual or automatic gearbox. It’s fine, but nothing more than that - fuel economy sits around 40mpg in the real world and it’s powerful enough without being particularly nippy.

The e-Power hybrid is much more interesting. Unlike regular hybrid systems, the engine never drives the wheels - it’s just a generator to keep the battery topped up. This means you get the smoothness and response of an EV, but powered by petrol. After an update in 2025 this e-Power model is definitely the Qashqai to get - it’s now one of the best hybrid SUVs around, though pre-update models were a little noisy and inefficient on the motorway.

Whichever engine you go for, the Qashqai is a comfortable car to drive around in at any speed, soaking up bumps well and keeping wind and road noise to a minimum. Like the rest of the car, the driving experience isn’t exciting - but it’s predictable, which is great.

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Who is the Nissan Qashqai for?

There’s no wonder the Qashqai has sold in huge numbers since it was launched - it’s the perfect vehicle for family life, and so if you’re looking for a car to slot effortlessly into the school run, commute, shopping trip, Centerparcs holiday slot - the Qashqai is the car for you. The new e-Power system also makes it a really great hybrid option if you do a lot of long journeys, which is good to know if you’re upgrading from a diesel SUV and you want similar fuel economy.

Trim highlights

Acenta Premium: 17-inch alloy wheels, 12.3-inch infotainment screen, rear-view camera, dual-zone climate control
N-Connecta: 18-inch alloy wheels, Google infotainment system, 360-degree camera, wireless phone charger
N-Design: 20-inch alloy wheels, two-tone paint, interior ambient lighting, bodykit
Tekna: 19-inch alloy wheels, panoramic glass roof, head-up display, powered tailgate
Tekna+: 20-inch alloy wheels, quilted leather seats with massage, Bose sound system

The Qashqai range starts at just over £30,000, so it’s undercut by the Dacia Bigster and MG HS but on a par with or significantly cheaper than most other alternatives. The hybrid e-Power model weighs in at just under £35,000 - again, undercut by the Dacia and MG but cheaper than most proper hybrids.

The basic Acenta Premium model is best avoided - it gets dual-zone climate control, wireless smartphone connectivity and keyless entry, but misses out on that proper Google-based infotainment system. Plus, its small alloy wheels and cloth seats look rather plain. Mid-spec N-Connecta is much more attractive with 18-inch wheels, the Google system, a wireless charger and 360-degree camera setup.

Models at the top of the range are knocking on £40,000 but do get 20-inch wheels, quilted leather seats with a massage function, Bose sound system and upgraded suspension - but at that price, you’d do better buying a car with a posher badge.

We’d recommend going for an N-Connecta model with the e-Power hybrid engine as the best blend of value, economy and equipment. 

We’ve tested two Qashqai models recently - a mild hybrid in N-Connecta trim in September 2025, and a posher e-Power full hybrid in Tekna trim in November 2025. We loved the e-Power engine, it’s a much better option than the mild hybrid - but the extra equipment of the Tekna trim nudges it over £40,000, and that’ll cost you a lot in road tax in years two to six of ownership.

The Nissan Qashqai is easy to drive with good visibility and light controls, plus the e-Power hybrid is fantastic - it just isn’t very exciting on a twisty road

We tested both the mild hybrid and the e-Power full hybrid versions of the Nissan Qashqai over a wide variety of roads and traffic situations. They covered motorway commutes into London, urban driving around Peterborough and Chichester, and lots of rural roads in between.

In town

Driving the Qashqai round town is a doddle. You sit up nice and high, with lots of adjustment in the seating position and steering column, so it’s easy to get comfortable. Visibility is decent, even over the shoulder, and the 360-degree camera system being standard from the good-value mid-spec trim is a real boon when it comes to parking.

The mild hybrid engine has enough pickup from low speeds, but the manual gearbox has a long throw and feels rubbery, while the optional automatic is a bit hesitant out of junctions. The e-Power hybrid is much better, giving you instant response thanks to its electric motors.

The suspension does a reasonable job of dealing with bumps, even on the largest 20-inch wheels - but a Citroen C5 Aircross is much more comfortable.

On the motorway

Both of the engines have a reasonable amount of punch, so joining the motorway is a relaxed experience and things are nice and chilled at the legal limit. The e-Power is again the best here, and since its 2025 update even gets pretty good fuel economy at a cruise - we found that the older version struggled to top 35mpg on a motorway run. Now 55mpg+ is much more achievable, as we found out during our commute. 

There’s a little bit of tyre noise, especially on the bigger wheels, but it’s not too bad. Nissan’s assisted driving tech is also fine - it’s not as smooth in operation as the systems on the Skoda Karoq or Kia Sportage, but it’s better than the slightly clunky system on a Peugeot 3008.

On a twisty road

The Qashqai is very neutral to drive on a twisty road. It doesn’t lean too much in bends, and the steering is accurate, but there’s very little feedback through the wheel or the driver’s seat. It doesn’t encourage you to press on in the way that a Ford Kuga or Mazda CX-5 does.

There is a Sport driving mode, which in the e-Power unlocks an extra little bit of power, but you can’t really tell any difference. The Qashqai is best driven in a more relaxed fashion, where you can enjoy the comfortable suspension.

The Qashqai’s roomy and well-thought-out interior offers plenty of practical touches, although alternatives like the VW Tiguan have a larger boot

Most drivers ought to be able to get comfortable up front, though the seats don't quite have the range of adjustment of a Skoda Karoq. Our 6'2" tester had his seat as far back as it would go, and the steering wheel would be better if it could adjust a bit further too.

Front passengers can make use of a set of large cupholders set into the centre console as well as generous door pockets which will take big water bottles as well. Gotta stay hydrated these days.

Two different types of USB ports and a 12-volt plug point are provided ahead of the stubby gear lever, and you can place personal items out of sight in the smallish glovebox or the more generously proportioned central bin. There's also a wireless charging pad on most models, with a lip to keep your phone secure.

Space in the back seats

In the rear, the two comfortable outer seats will comfortably accommodate adults, while the central one will be best left for children or teenagers. Legroom is pretty good – better than in the old Qashqai, but not as good as in the Tiguan – and headroom is generous too, even if you have the panoramic sunroof fitted.

The rear doors open 85 degrees wide, aiding ingress and egress, and two scoops in the door pockets will take a pair of water bottles. The fold down central armrest incorporates some rather flimsy cupholders as well.

If you want to fit a child seat the rear doors open really wide so the back seats are easy to access. The ISOFIX points sit beneath a small latch, and the bonus of good legroom means we found our bulky rear-facing child seat could fit in without having to push those in the front forward.

Boot space

Compared to alternatives like the Kia Sportage and Volkswagen Tiguan, the Qashqai falls a bit short in terms of boot space. With 504 litres compared to the 591 litres of the Sportage and 615 litres in the Tiguan, you may need to leave a bag behind, but it’s still spacious enough to take a baby stroller and a couple of squishy bags.

You can now spec an electrically-operated tailgate, which makes loading easier when you’re carrying armfuls of shopping, as does the low load lip. Fold the rear seats down and you get 1,539 litres of space, still less than the Sportage and Tiguan, but the boot floor is flat and wide so you can make the most of the space available. N-Connecta models have a configurable boot floor, however this takes boot space down to 479 litres. If you take the Tekna+ model the Bose sound system’s amplifier further impinges on boot space, so you get just 436 litres. Hooks, tethering points and a 12-volt socket are provided across all models.

The Qashqai’s fantastic Google software makes it as easy to use as a smartphone, but the design isn’t very exciting

The Qashqai’s interior isn’t particularly glamorous, but it’s built of nice materials and it’s also really easy to use - which is much more important. It doesn’t have the wow factor of something like a Peugeot 3008, but the improvements that came with the 2024 facelift do add in some fetching metal-effect trim on the centre console and a huge swathe of Alcantara suede across the dashboard, both of which are very pleasant.

All Qashqais now come with a large, 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system. On base cars, the feature list is pretty standard but all other trims have a full suite of Google-powered upgrades. The most important of these is built-in Google Maps - far superior to most built-in sat-navs in terms of accuracy, updates, and ease-of-use. 

You also get access to the Google Play Store which means you can download additional apps, such as Waze for navigation, Spotify for music or your favourite podcast app. 

The screen is big and clear, but once you’re out of the Google-specific apps it’s not the most straightforward to navigate. The same goes for the 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster, which isn’t particularly attractive and can be a bit of an information overload. It’s a shame this can’t display maps in full screen like the VW Tiguan’s system can.

Underneath the touchscreen you’ll find a full panel of climate controls, which is great to see - so many new cars have these either partially or completely operated through the touchscreen, which isn’t much fun to do on the move. There’s even a few useful shortcut buttons immediately above these, including one to dim the touchscreen for night driving and a shortcut to the Qashqai’s 360-degree camera system.

Overall build quality is good - who’d expect less from a car built in Sunderland? Apart from the nice fabric panel, there are some pleasantly squidgy plastics atop the dashboard and the doors, but you don’t need to look too far to find scratchier ones. That’s par for the course in a car like this, though, and even the cheap materials feel hard-wearing.

There are a couple of engine options for the Qashqai. The base models get a 1.3-litre mild hybrid petrol engine with 140hp and a six-speed manual gearbox. There’s also a 158hp version of this engine available, which can be had with a manual or a CVT automatic. The official figures are 44.8mpg for the 140hp manual, 45.6mpg for the automatic and a superb 64.2mpg for the e-Power hybrid (figures correct as of 5/12/2025).

In our time with the 140hp manual, we averaged around 40mpg - about what you’d expect from a fairly large, petrol-powered SUV, but nothing particularly groundbreaking. A 150hp Skoda Karoq would return similar economy.

If you want the ultimate in penny-pinching you should go for the e-Power hybrid. This is a unique system, which instead of using the engine to drive the wheels simply uses it as a generator to charge the battery. All the driving is done by an electric motor.

In our testing we actually saw over 60mpg from this system, even on long motorway runs - an area where hybrids often suffer. That’s better than you’ll get from a Citroen C5 Aircross Hybrid, a Kia Sportage Hybrid or a Ford Kuga Hybrid. When we tested the Qashqai alongside a Dacia Bigster, though, it came close to 70mpg.

The e-Power also has the lowest CO2 emissions, at just 102g/km. This means cheaper first year road tax than the mild hybrids, and more favourable company car tax rates - though it’s not anywhere near as cost-effective in terms of Benefit-in-Kind as a plug-in hybrid alternative would be.

Euro NCAP rating (2025): 4/5

Adult occupant: 78%
Child occupant: 85%
Vulnerable road users: 65%
Safety assist: 62%

For a family car it’s a little disappointing that the Qashqai didn’t achieve a full five-star Euro NCAP safety rating - low scores for vulnerable road users and safety assist features contributed to that, though the crash test scores weren’t too bad.

In fact we find the Qashqai’s safety systems actually work better than most on the road. Adaptive cruise control that operates smoothly and a rear parking camera are standard across all models, and Nissan’s semi-autonomous driving aids work really well too. Plus, you can silence the more annoying excesses of safety regulations with just two presses of a button, which is always a bonus to stop the annoying bonging and beeping all the quicker.

*The standard warranty is extended by a year each time the vehicle is serviced at an approved location

The Qashqai has regularly topped the medium-sized SUV sales charts and yet the previous model was not considered the last word in reliability by owners. The new model feels considerably more substantial and well-built, addressing many of the concerns raised with the older Qashqai.

It’s too soon to tell how it will fare in the reliability stakes, but everything seems to point to a much-improved product. There have been two minor recalls so far, with one being for a steering assist system that can cause a noise while in operation.

Nissan was pretty much bang smack in the middle of the 2025 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, coming 15th out of 31 manufacturers.

A pretty standard three-year/60,000-mile warranty is offered here, with the opportunity to extend coverage as long as the car is less than 10 years old and has covered under 100,000 miles. The dedicated EV components also come with their own five-year/60,000-mile warranty.

Tom Wiltshire’s verdict

Among the petrolhead circles in which I spend quite a lot of time, the Qashqai is always seen as a bit of a joke, or worse, the car that made everybody buy SUVs instead of saloons and hatchbacks. But take it on its own merits and you’ll find that it’s actually a really good car. I love the hybrid system - it’s such a simple idea, and it’s executed brilliantly. The Google infotainment is also a major selling point for me. It’s just a shame the boot isn’t bigger.

• Household-name family SUV: kick-started the crossover craze and still nails the basics with comfy road manners, easy driving and very few everyday irritations
• Strong e-Power hybrid option: EV-style smoothness with a petrol generator, now good for 60mpg+ in the real world and one of the best hybrid systems in any family SUV
• Mild hybrid is just ‘fine’: 1.3-litre petrol delivers around 40mpg and adequate performance, but feels ordinary next to the far slicker, more efficient e-Power
• Smart, user-friendly interior: sensible layout with proper physical climate controls, plus Google-powered infotainment (on most trims) that makes it as intuitive to use as a smartphone
• Family-friendly space, average boot: plenty of room for adults and child seats, but the 504-litre boot is smaller than key rivals such as the Kia Sportage and VW Tiguan
• Good value, solid ownership proposition: prices start just over £30,000, safety tech works well despite a four-star Euro NCAP score, and running costs are especially strong if you pick an N-Connecta e-Power model

Model tested: Nissan Qashqai N-Connecta 1.3 Mild Hybrid, September 2025.