Nissan Qashqai J11 Midnight Edition (2020-2022)

Basic, but practical – This is the swan song special edition review of the second generation Nissan Qashqai. To be specific, Nissan has built over 1.2 million units of the second generation Qashqai. By the time we’d reviewed this Qashqai Midnight edition, a new Qashqai had already been announced. When Nissan handed me the keys to the Qashqai Midnight edition, one question was on my mind: Should someone buy this generation Qashqai, or simply buy the new 3rd generation?

I was generally quite impressed with the build quality of the Qashqai, with most touch points being solid and sturdy.

On the outside, the Qashqai is absolutely to spec. There was nothing obvious that would indicate that you had large panel gaps or poorly fitted plastic trim. It’s all typical Japanese fit and finish on the exterior. Moving inside, most pieces of trim were of decent quality.

What I wasn’t a fan of were the door handles, which just felt a tiny bit too cheap, made of exceptionally hard plastics. In addition, up on the dash, there was a trim piece that ran along the base of the windshield, where the far edges were visibly raised above the dashboard itself.

The 2nd generation Nissan Qashqai range started from $28,290 drive-away. If you wanted better lights, seats, wheels, cameras, and tech, you needed to up the ante to this Qashqai Midnight edition, which started from $37,690 drive-away.

As for maintenance, the Qashqai comes with a standard 5 year/unlimited kilometres warranty, which provides plenty of coverage over a reasonable amount of time.

This is where I desperately wished the Qashqai came with a turbo, or a hybrid option. Driving around town and on the highway, this Nissan provides pretty good sound isolation from the tires and outside world.

That’s until you need to accelerate, which is when the drone of the CVT and the naturally aspirated motor announce their presence.

CVT transmissions don’t actually change gears, they usually hold a rev and ride that rpm all the way up to speed. Combine this with a naturally aspirated motor, which usually delivers its power at the high end of the revs (aka the loudest part), and you get plenty of engine noise when modulating the accelerator.

Another noise intrusion comes in the form of a loud suspension knock that announces its presence when driving just a smidge too fast over speed bumps, or in slightly deeper potholes.

Braking in the Qashqai was an element that upon reflection, really impressed greatly helped by how light the Qashqai weighs, which comes in around 1300kg.

Brakes are progressive and will bring the car to a stop as you would expect. In addition, you have emergency autonomous braking systems which will help you brake a little earlier than you would in the event of an emergency. There’s also the use of an emergency brake warning, which will alert you if the car detects you’re about to run into an obstacle or another car.

You’re likely not buying a Qashqai for its straight-line speed, however, the 106kW and 200Nm produced from this naturally aspirated four cylinder definitely deliver reasonable performance.

Acceleration is around the 10 second mark to 100km/h, but that doesn’t really matter. What does matter is how the Qashqai performs, when getting up to speed, and for when you might need to accelerate to get around an obstacle. The overall power-to-weight ratio is around 78kW per tonne, which is actually nearly a full 10kW over the lighter and turbocharged Juke that I tested.

Combine this with the improved responsiveness of a naturally aspirated motor, and you have a relatively impressive motor that can get this Qashqai moving.

The CVT transmission does a fine job at getting the car up to speed, as it’s not banging through gears, instead, just riding the revs out to the speed you need it to be at.

Would I see this transmission as being capable of the ultimate test of a single lane highway overtake? Sure! However, just be ready to put the pedal to the metal, as you really need to rev this motor out to extract all of its power.

Combined, Nissan claims the Qashqai will achieve an urban fuel consumption figure of 9.2L per 100km, or 6.9L per 100km combined.

What was the fuel efficiency I managed to get when travelling predominantly around dense urban areas? 9.1L per 100 km is what I achieved.

The Qashqai is stripped down to the bare essentials inside. There’s nothing here that’s designed to be eye-catching or different, everything in here serves its purpose to the bare minimum.

However, the 7-inch touchscreen is an exception, for two reasons. One, it’s incredibly responsive for a lower cost SUV, and two, it has a unique coating on the surface which helps with swiping movements but also prevents fingerprints from remaining on the touch screen. This is something that I wish more cars featured on their screens.

The flat bottom steering wheel is meant to evoke a bit more visual theatre, but obviously doesn’t translate what the car’s core purpose as a family car.

I loved the use of leather and Alcantara throughout the interior, paired with the other Midnight edition appointments, like the illuminated ‘Qashqai’ door sill. These help lift the interior of the Qashqai into something that feels a little more premium.

There are some weird omissions - including no rear air vents, no rear USB ports (there is only one USB port for the entire cabin), and no lights for the vanity mirrors found in the sun visors.

The Qashqai boasts 430L of boot space, with the seats up, and up to 1598L with the rear row folded down.

Seats fold in a 60:40 split, which allows a parent and a baby seat to remain in place, and fold down one seat to pass through additional cargo.

In summer, I wouldn’t envy rear passengers, as there are no adjustable air vents found in the rear. Instead, passengers will need to ask the front occupants to blast the AC so they can cool down in the back.

Along with the missing AC vents, the single USB port will prove to be a pain, as it’s the only way to display Apple CarPlay or Android Auto on the centre screen. This means that anyone who wants to use that USB port will need to disable whatever functions you were using with your smartphone. When you add the fact that the centre console lid doesn’t fold flat, this makes plugging in your device from the rear seats a bit of a pain.

In short, put this generation Qashqai on your list. It’s genuinely quite good, however, make sure you work out a good deal from your dealership or seller.

*Disclaimer - I work for ProductReview as their independent car and motorbike expert. I borrow new cars and motorbikes from manufacturers and owners to review. I am not paid or incentivised by these brands to post reviews. I write and create content to provide insight and information about any new or used vehicle I can get my hands on.