When taken care of, my X-Trail is reliable

Charles Mwanguhya 

I have had my Nissan X-Trail 2002 model for five years now. I love it for many reasons but most especially because I do not have to break the bank to maintain it, especially when it comes to fuel consumption.

Its fuel consumption depends on the journey and on average, I spend between Shs60,000 and Shs70,000 on fuel a week. This is possible because my particular model runs on a 2000cc engine size.

The frequency with which I visit the garage for maintenance depends on what needs to be fixed. The thing with all cars is that if you find the right mechanic, your expenses will also reduce. When I need to replace engine oil, change transmission fluids and other minor checks, I spend between Shs180,000 and Shs250,000.

The X-Trail is a five-door and four-seater capacity vehicle but can accommodate up to five passengers although the fifth passenger might not be as comfortable.

When I am not using it as a family car, I can adjust or fold the passenger seats, which gives you a lot of room in the trunk to accommodate luggage.

It is a two-wheel (2WD) drive but with an option of four wheel (4WD). This makes it an all-terrain drive car. By the push of a button, I can change to 4WD and I will drive through any kind of terrain. It is also a good off-roader because of its raised ground clearance. 

Its spare parts are available from my spare parts dealer and for those I cannot easily find, I go to other service centres such as Nissan Motorcare. I once experienced a leakage on the engine seals and replacing them cost me more than Shs1m. It has so far been the most expensive spare part I have had to replace. 

All vehicles are expensive to maintain but the question should be the number of times you visit the garage. The parts you buy could send you back to the garage quite often. Because it runs on a smaller engine of 2000cc, it stays longer on the road without need to go to the garage quite often.  

Diana Tibesigwa

I owned a Nissan X-Trail for two years. When I bought it, I loved it because it is a four wheel drive, has good ground clearance and plenty of interior space.

I normally bought its spare parts from downtown Kisekka Market. I had a specific mechanic who serviced it from downtown and every time I did full service, it would cost me Shs260,000 while minor service would cost between Shs90,000 and Shs130,000. I would refuel with between Shs40,000 to Shs50,000 daily to and from home my home in Bweyogerere to Kampala City centre (a distance of about 9.km).

I have driven a Toyota Spacio, Toyota Raum and a few other Toyota brands but the X-Trail cannot be compared to the above cars because its spare parts are more expensive than those of most Toyota brands. If for example a particular Toyota spare part costs Shs20,000, I would have to part with Shs30,000 for the same part for a Nissan X-Trail.

If the Nissan X-Trail experiences a mechanical problem, it is more costly to repair compared to that of, say a Toyota Spacio. In some cases, I would have to service it from Nissan Motorcare because not everything could be repaired from my usual garage.  

Therefore, if you are the kind of motorist who wants to save on car maintenance, an X-Trail is not one you should go for because it needs care.

Willie Sserwadda

I like the manual transmission Nissan X-Trail because of its antiskid brakes feature. When you couple this with the antilock brake system, it makes it safe to drive, especially on a slippery roads. This is also true if I do not speed. It is a relatively smaller sport utility vehicle that has capability to give me between six to 10 kilometres using one litre of fuel in city traffic. This is also determined by how heavy my acceleration foot is and the intensity of traffic jam, especially in places with congested traffic. On the highway, the X-Trail gives me approximately 13km using one litre of fuel depending on how I accelerate.  

Service and maintenance is dependent on how often I drive the car and where I go. Since it is my daily car, I have it checked at least once a month because it is sensitive to things such as dust. On average, I spend approximately Shs250,000 every time I carry out major service and Shs120,000 for minor repairs.

Specifications

Seating capacity: 5

Fuel  type: Diesel

Engine Displacement (cc): 1995

Body Type: SUV

Boot Space (Litres): 479

Fuel tank capacity: 65