Thinking of buying a used Nissan Note?
The style of the car
The Nissan Note is a small hatchback with an MPV shape that gives it a lot of interior space for its size. It’s a great choice for smaller families, with tall door openings that make access easy and large windows that give a good view out and a bright and airy feel inside.
How it drives
The Note is an easy car to drive and park thanks to its small size and large windows that give you a good view of the road. It’s particularly at home in city traffic, especially with the optional automatic gearbox. Cars fitted with the Safety Pack have an ingenious ‘Around View’ feature that gives you a bird’s-eye view of the car and what’s around it – it’s very helpful in a crowded car park. The engines are smooth and the diesel version is capable of towing a small trailer or caravan.
The interior
The Nissan Note is a five-door hatchback that’s a few centimetres longer and slightly taller than superminis such as the Ford Fiesta. It’s about the same size as a Honda Jazz. Thanks to its MPV-like shape it packs a lot of practicality into such a small car. Headroom and legroom is very good and you can slide the rear seats back for even more passenger space. The 381-litre boot is bigger than many rivals’ and can hold a couple of medium-sized suitcases and a pushchair. All versions are very well-equipped, with air con, cruise control and Bluetooth connectivity as standard. Mid-spec Acenta Premium models have sat nav, while N-Tec trim adds a reversing camera and Tekna models have keyless entry.
Running costs and reliability
The Note is inexpensive to buy and own. Its engines are very efficient, with an official average of about 60mpg for petrol models and nearly 80mpg for the diesel. Nissan has an excellent reputation for reliability, which is backed by its fourth-place finish in the J.D. Power 2019 UK Vehicle Dependability Study. The Note is available with some advanced safety features and was awarded four stars by independent safety organisation Euro NCAP.
How it compares with similar cars
The Note is a few centimetres longer and taller than the Nissan Micra. It’s almost identical in size to the Ford B-Max and the Honda Jazz, and has a similar MPV-like shape that gives you a lot of interior space.
