Nissan Juke review

The Nissan Juke’s starting price looks very reasonable in Visia grade, but even the Acenta trim, which is reasonably equipped, undercuts SE trims on the Skoda Kamiq. As you move up the range, the poshest trims push the price up by many thousands of pounds, launching the Juke into Volkswagen T-Roc territory.

Fuel economy and CO2 emissions are respectable if not class-leading – a Ford Puma with a mild-hybrid engine sets the standard for efficiency among small SUVs. While the Juke is predicted to hold on to its value considerably better than a Citroen C3 Aircross, the Skoda Kamiq and T-Roc are expected to suffer depreciation at a slower pace.

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Even the Nissan Juke's entry-level Visia trim gets you cruise control, air-conditioning and electric windows all round. However, Acenta trim is the lowest trim level we'd suggest going for because of the infotainment visibility upgrades we mentioned earlier in our review. It also gives you alloy wheels.

We reckon N-Connecta makes the most sense, though. The mid-range trim brings a leather-wrapped steering wheel and gearlever, climate control and keyless start. If you want a flashier look, Enigma trim adds to the N-Connecta’s equipment list with 19in alloy wheels, textured stickers on the roof and door mirrors, front foglights and metallic paint.

Tekna and Tekna+ models get 19in alloy wheels, heated front seats, adaptive cruise control and safety aids described in more detail in the Safety and Security section. These top two trims are rather pricey, though.

The new Nissan Juke was too recent to featured in the latest What Car? Reliability Survey, but Nissan as a brand performed woefully. Indeed, the Japanese manufacturer came 27th in the overall league table (of 31 manufacturers).

The Juke comes with a three-year/60,000-mile warranty as standard, although it can be extended at extra cost. That's pretty average, and beaten by Renault and Hyundai with their five-year warranties, and Kia's cover, which stretches to seven years. 

The Nissan Juke gets an overall five stars (out of five) safety rating from Euro NCAP, but the devil is in the detail. We looked into the results more deeply and discovered that, while good, in the adult occupancy test it was found to offer 'marginal' protection in a sideways crash, which gave it a lower score than the Skoda Kamiq. It performed slightly better than the Kamiq in the child occupancy and pedestrian tests, though.

Even entry-level Visia models have automatic emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian detection, lane departure warning and traffic sign recognition. Meanwhile, range-topping Tekna and Tekna+ versions add blindspot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert (to warn you of cars that are about to cross your path when you’re backing out on to a road).

Emergency assist – a button you can use to directly contact the emergency services – is standard on all versions of the Nissan Juke, as are two Isofix mounting points.

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