From £27,1358

Is the UK's second-most-popular car still the brand's shining beacon? Let's find out

The Qashqai range starts at around £30k and comprises five specification levels: Acenta Premium, N-Connecta, Tekna, N-Design and Tekna+. 

Entry-level Visia trim was dropped with the facelift in favour of the upper-mid-level N-Design trim, which sits alongside Tekna, but gets bespoke 20in wheels, body-coloured wheel arches and Alcantara elements inside for a more sporty feel. 

Tekna trim starts out quite expensive and loses its value marginally quicker than the Mazda CX-5 and Ford Kuga do.

N-Connecta trim gets you all the essentials, such as parking sensors and the nicer LED headlights; Tekna adds all the indulgences you might want, such as heated seats and a head-up display; and Tekna+ goes mad with massage seats and 20in wheels.

Buyers might want to bear in mind that Nissan cars in general, and Qashqais in particular, have sometimes fared quite poorly in UK reliability surveys, even if they are affected mostly by minor issues.

With the manual gearbox, the 156bhp Qashqai has a claimed economy of 44mpg. During our time with the car, an MPG in the mid-40s proved to be quite a realistic figure during mixed use.

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