Nissan Juke Review (2010-2019)

As a result, its distinctive sloping roofline puts headroom at a premium for rear passengers taller than six feet: a comparatively small rear door opening makes getting in and out tricky, too.

First generation Jukes don’t have much boot-space, either, but in facelifted versions from 2014 onwards the capacity grew considerably and movable boot floor panels improved its versatility.

Powered by a limited range of naturally aspirated and turbocharged diesel and petrol engines, most Jukes are spirited if not exciting performers with reasonable fuel consumption – the exceptions are the Nismo (2013) and Nismo RS (2014 onwards), versions which have hot hatch pretensions.

Ride quality in the first generation Juke is a bit jittery – Nissan attended to the suspension setup with the facelifted car, which was launched in 2014. If you're after the smoothest ride possible, that's the one to go for.

The Juke’s 1.5-litre diesel turbo engine theoretically can achieve 71mpg but some owners report that 60mpg is more realistic and some say less than that: as ever, fuel consumption is greatly affected by how you drive and where. All the petrol engines just scrape over the 40mpg mark, while the second generation’s 1.2-litre petrol turbo unit can be coaxed to nearer 50mpg with care. None of the Juke’s powerplants have CO2 outputs low enough to qualify for free car tax: most front-wheel drive models will cost you £140 annually, and most Nismo versions a maximum of £230.

Servicing intervals are set at 12,500 miles or annually, whichever comes first, and Nissan’s fixed-price servicing will set you back £149 for a minor service and £219 for a major one on a petrol model, with diesel versions costing £159 and £249, respectively. Every service includes one year’s roadside assistance and a free courtesy car.

Some owners have complained that the clutch in their Juke needed replacement after only three years and 30,000 miles, so be mindful of this when buying. There have been many reported problems with the CVT automatic gearbox, again with low mileages, and as it cost about £2,000 to repair at even an independent transmission specialist, you might want to stick with a manual.

Several Jukes have suffered from a fault that drains and eventually kills the battery, so ask or check through the paperwork to see if the car you’re interested in has been treated to a suspiciously high number of new batteries.

In the US there was a recall for petrol-engined Jukes built from 2011-2103 because their timing chains were stretching and in some instances causing engine failure. There was no such recall in the UK despite the same issue, and even the 1.2-litre petrol turbo engine from the second generation Juke is reported to suffer from timing chain woes and subsequent engine rebuilds at very low mileages. If you hear any sort of rattle from the engine of the car you’re considering, walk away.

The CVT automatic gearbox is troublesome and known to fail expensively, and is best avoided. The keyless ignition system has seriously vexed some owners and roadside assistance organisations, resulting in the car not starting despite 20 or more prods of the ignition button. In some instances, this was traced to a faulty switch on the back of the brake pedal (which must be depressed before the car will start), and in others, to key fobs, the batteries of which weren’t in their absolute prime condition. And talking of batteries… In some cars, batteries have been known to drain completely of power in a matter of days before failing completely, but this problem should by now have been sorted.

A defective pipe in the air conditioning of some cars took the chill out of the system, while the front parking sensors in early models were prone to malfunction after water ingress. The Juke has been subject to a number of official recalls, the longest running of which was for a potential fuel leak, so be sure to check that this, and all recall tasks, have been undertaken at a Nissan dealership.