2005 Nissan X-Trail DCI Sport from UK and Ireland - Comments

Inter cooler 11,000 miles

Turbo 24,000 miles

Turbo 29,000 miles

Drivers seat was worn when I bought the car at 8 months.

My 2.2 diesel X-Trail is nearly two years old and has 30,000 miles on the clock. I have owned it for the past 15 months and travelled 19,000 miles with it. I do not know its history before I bought it, but since I have had it, it is on its second inter cooler and third turbo unit, all replaced under warranty.

When I contacted Nissan customer centre, they said they would consider fitting a replacement unit as a goodwill gesture after the warranty expired, but would not promise this.

I bought this car for my retirement and was going to run it for several years, but I am afraid that due to the poor quality of the above parts, I will not be able to afford to do this when the warranty runs out, so, it must go, which is a pity, as I like the look of the car and it is the perfect size and layout for my requirements.

One last point, when the second turbo was fitted the MPG went from 38 to 32, and did not recover when the third was fitted, the dealers explanation was that the new turbo was more efficient???? I would have thought a more efficient unit would give better fuel consumption.

An update to my report above. My X-Trail is in getting its fourth new turbo at 36,000 miles. Warranty runs out in seven months, I wonder how many more it will go though before I sell it.

One more point, the dealer now tells me that Nissan have been sending refurbished turbos to fit, and this is the reason for the high fallout rate, it would seem you cannot trust anyone.

In my view, the diesel mania that has swept Europe in the past decade is a mistake. Your experience with the Nissan diesel X trail can be mirrored by many others and with most other marques. Diesels today are over complex and over fragile, despite boasting better fuel economy (initially),undeniably superior pulling power, they are much more costly to service over 5 years, more questionable in consistent performance and far less reliable than their petrol cousins. My advice to you is to pack this car in, its faults are inherent. A friend of mine has a petrol X Trail, it is not very fast but is comfortable, pleasant and after 150k kilometres (abt 100k miles) has just had routine services, NO mechanical faults at all.

Thank you for your comments, I did not consider this point of view, and frankly it makes sense.

I still have the car as I cannot afford to change it, but swapping for an older tried vehicle now looks like a good option, as it has now developed another problem. It will not go above 3500 revs, it flattens out with no more power, discovered this whilst overtaking... very scary...so another trip to the dealer I am afraid, and it is now out of warranty.

This car is 3 years 5 months old and traveled 53,000 miles. below is a list of things that have gone wrong in this time, so please read and digest, before considering a diesel x trail. These faults are quite common, I have met several x trail owners that have had the same problems, to a greater or lesser degree. This is not including the owners I met at the dealership putting their x trails in for one of the problems below.

On its 4th Turbo

2nd Inter-cooler

3rd Fuel boost sensor

And I forgot to mention there is a strong smell of burning from the clutch when reversing.