Search Car Reviews



See all makes



Nissan Pathfinder

The off-road-biased Pathfinder drives well on-road, too.

Nissan Pathfinder
  • Rating:
  • On the road price: £32,265 - £33,765
  • For : Comfortable, strong residuals, well-equipped, practical
  • Against : Off-road bias hurts on-road manners a little, engine can be noisy
Driving
Initial impressions of the Pathfinder are of a rather agricultural vehicle. Happily, the rough nature disappears once you get up to speed. The engine is reasonably quiet when cruising and the changes from the gearbox, despite a tricky reverse gear, are smooth and direct. It rarely feels slow on the move, either. Off-road, the Nissan’s chunky tyres and low-range gearbox mean it’s an accomplished mud-plugger. However, it’s stable and reassuring on the tarmac. For a large seven-seat SUV, steering is accurate, body control tight and handling tidy. Although the ride can be firm over urban potholes, it’s nevertheless a fairly comfortable car for long journeys.

Marketplace
The Pathfinder is a robust-looking large SUV, which was introduced as a cut-price Land Rover Discovery alternative. It’s closely linked to the Navara Double Cab, but its squared-off rear allows seating for up to seven. There is just the single 172bhp 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel dCi engine, with a choice of manual or automatic gearboxes, and three trim lines: Trek is the value edition, with Sport and Aventura offering many luxuries such as leather and sat nav – plus seven seats. It’s priced to compete with more upmarket compact SUVs, but the large Nissan also has the Toyota Land Cruiser and Dodge Nitro in its sights.

Owning
The Nissan’s off-road excellence means it’s not quiet. The tyres are noisy on the motorway and the engine is loud at low speeds. The interior is modern, though; granted, the plastics are not up to the standard of more upmarket SUVs, but they are still good quality. The driving position is comfortable as well, and cabin stowage is ample. There’s plenty of space for rear passengers (but the seat base is hard), while the boot is large and practical. The seat bases tumble forward and the backrests fold to give a flat load area. There’s even a small plastic waterproof storage area beneath the rear chairs. It’s all very well-built, too, enhancing the feeling of quality. This perhaps helps the Pathfinder achieve excellent residuals of over 45 per cent; enough to offset average fuel economy, during our test, of 25.5mpg. Servicing it will also be expensive, and Nissan dealers didn’t fare well in our Driver Power survey.

Tell us about your car in our Driver Power survey.

What Next

For more breaking car news and reviews, subscribe to Auto Express magazine. We'll give you 6 issues for £1 and a free gift!

< Previous   Next >

Sponsored Results

0 Comment

Be the first to comment on this article

You need to register to post comments. Existing members can log in below to comment, otherwise click here to join.



Sponsored Results

More NISSAN PATHFINDER articles


Related Index Pages

Car Tax Calculator: Nissan Pathfinder
- Advertisement -

Pictures

Nissan Pathfinder
Nissan Pathfinder
Nissan Pathfinder
Nissan Pathfinder

Sponsored Results

Find Used Cars

Find your Nissan Pathfinder with our used car search.

Find Used Cars
- Advertisement -