[testarossa]

Hi All,

Has anyone tried this (or any nissan car) van before. The spec looks good (60mpg, 100mph, 0-60 in 13secs, torquey engine).

JD Power put nissan mini mpvs top spot, they have same engine as this van and french cars with same engine in lowest spot.

Can someone explain to me how JD Power works. Skodas with same engine platform as vw always come top ten, whereas vw gets highish 50...

Cheers

Happy XXXmas

 

[Bascule]

JD power is all about customer perceptions, and their stated level of satisfaction.

those perceptions are modified by their initial expectations.

a Skoda purchaser, may well turn out to be very pleasantly surprised by how good their car is, and give it a very high customer satisfaction rating.

A VW purchaser may expect/demand perfection, and be outraged at little flaws, and mark it down, despite being basically the same car.

Therefore, JD power surveys 'CAN' be extremely useful, if you factor the owners in, as in for a Skoda: 'The kind of person who would buy this type of car thinks its really good' or in the case of Chrysler Voyagers 'The kind of people who bought these despite all their petrol head friends advice have all now learned why that advice was given and responded to the survey appropriately' ;-)

Same is true for little Nissan Vans..

 

[D10M2]

I test drove the 85bhp van.
Drive position higher than a car but not as high as T4/5. Ideal for courier work as just right for getting in and out of. Ride a bit bouncy on our rough roads with nothing in the back. Felt quite nippy. I drove 50 mile round trip through country lanes and some steep hill in Pembrokeshire. Realistic consumption 47mpg on this terrain. Power steering feels like electric motor kind and a bit crude feeling. The load length which I was most interested in for surfboards is in reality less than in the brochure as they count the recess in the bulkhead. I really wanted the up and over door (glazed) but it seems not an option now.
I think the 110bhp is out now which would be slightly better on long fast runs.
Hope they stay Euro 4 rather than 5 as I don't want DPF.
Combi seems overpriced.
Overall I am still considering one. The fact that a lot are due to be made (although with diff spec) for New York cabs is reassuring that any technical problems will be quickly be sorted, a thing thet VAG vehicles are bad at. I usually drive a 2002 Octavia Tdi estate and this is more refined and pulls better as you would expect considering the advances. Think the 1.5 engine has been used a lot in Kangoo etc and can be chipped later after warranty.Wheels seem very small and ground clearance isn't all that great.
M