Nissan Juke

GOODBYE £25,295 OTR/£25,295 as tested/£350pcm WHY IT’S HERE

To see if the original baby crossover can reclaim its crown? DRIVER

Esther Neve

THAT’S ALL FOLKS – TIME FOR THE JUKE TO LEAVE US FOR PASTURES new. It’s been with us for six months, covered many thousands of miles and been driven by half the team. When it arrived, we were tasked with answering a tricky question: could it reclaim its crown? Tricky.

I remember attending the launch of the original Juke – it was a revolutionary concept and created a completely new sector of the motoring market. Since then, though, many other car manufacturers have caught on to the baby crossover concept and the segment has become crowded with alternatives to the car that started it all. So, where the Juke was sitting pretty on the top of the pile back in the day, we wanted to see if – with so much choice now – the Nissan has slipped down the pecking order.

Our Puma vs Captur vs Juke group test in Issue 333 placed the Juke third out of, um, three. Which rather suggests that Nissan has a bit to do to catch up with its nearest rivals. However, I have been accosted many times by potential new Juke buyers in supermarket car parks. They all already have a Juke and want to upgrade to the newer model – none of them especially wants to go to another carmaker. So, to those people, I say, you will love it. It’s more spacious than the original and has a much better design. It’s frugal and easy to manoeuvre.

But, as to whether it can reclaim its crown... well, the answer to that is likely, no. Not because the Juke isn’t a good car, but simply because it has to fight on so many fronts. It’s been reliable, economical, spacious enough... OK, some don’t like its style, but at least it stands out from the crowd. This little crossover managed a long and arduous M1/M25/ London commute just as well as it nipped through country lanes. So, through it may not have reclaimed its crown, it’s still royally good.