Nothing, except rattles.
I bought this vehicle for its good cabin layout, good view from the driver seat and the smooth action of the throttle, brake, steering, and transmission (auto).
The steering is light - good in parking lots and city, but not giving enough confidence for high speed maneuvers. It is more suited for cruising use.
Its seats are big and firm. However it is flat and not very well contoured to the body. The seat cushion can tilt, which is good, but I would appreciate it if it can come a little lower (i.e. be 8-way adjustable instead of 6-way).
The power from the 2.5L gasoline engine is adequate to me. It has lots of torque at the low-end. Despite a tall final drive which gives a leisurely 2200rpm at 100kph, it does not always require a kick-down to pick up speed or go uphill.
The gas consumption with a mix of city and highway driving is 11L/100km with 2WD, and 12L/100km with Auto-4WD.
The ride is on the firm side meaning harsh on less than perfect pavement, but quite stable on the highway.
I still find it unnatural to look to the center for the gauger, but it's not a big problem.
My only major complaint on this particular vehicle is there are lots of rattles in the cabin. I brought it back to the dealer and they fixed one (from the heater box, they said) for me, and now there are others that are come-and-go. I hope I can show it to them when I brought it in for service next time.
Otherwise this is a very good vehicle to me - easy to handle, smooth running, and economical.
We want a compact SUV. To choose from Toyota RAV4, Honda CRV, and Nissan X-Trail, we bought the latter for its value, its look, its super large sunroof (2'x2').
The engine is more than adequate to handle all terrain that we ran into so far. Transmission is silky smooth.
We achieved (sometimes beat) the manufacturer published gas consumption figures. We didn't like surprises and Nissan did not lie.
The center gauge maybe unnatural to some, but my kids sitting at the back love it. Every passenger in the car can view the gauge. They could help reminding the driver is overspeed or need fill-up soon.
Yes, there were rattles in the cabin for the first 5 weeks. Now I think all the parts are 'settled'. No more rattles heard.
We love it.
We have had our 2.5l petrol auto version for nearly three months. I describe it as a real "driver's car". I love the positive steering -- point it at the end of the straight and the car just stays on track. We have the top version -- leather. Seats are so comfortable. Wish airline seats were as good. Only gripe is that my fuel performance is much below what I would have expected in the urban cycle. I am gentle on the brake and the gas, and mostly there are just two of us on board. Yet getting only 13.5 litres per 100km or 20mpg to imperial gallon. Wonder if I should be concerned. Would have preferred the diesel version, but not available in my country yet. (NZ)
Take the vehicle back to the dealer, and ask them to check the ECU, high fuel consumption, unless driving hard is not normal, even in city driving. I own an Australian spec 02 TI model and manage 500km a tank city driving. However I don't drive above 3000rpm. The Xtrail would I think have to be the BEST!! compact SUV an the market. I did extensive research before I parted with my hard earned cash, and the Xtrail proved to be the best buy. I glad to report mine has close to 85,000km without any problems.
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