Calling all new Qashqai Tekna Plus owners- I need your help!!

[joudoire]

Hi all Qashqai Tekna Plus owners. I need some advice and to tell me your experiences with this car.

I bought a brand new 2022 Qashqai Tekna+ 157bhp manual, and started driving this in June. Lovely car but since the first day I drove away I have had no end of problems with the car with Acceleration, dead spots, software thinking it is an automatic car, Apple Car Play and Nissan Dealership and Customer Service!

Can anyone else tell me if they experience this in their brand new Qashqai, as I cannot believe this car can be so bad in its performance and no one will recognise the issue as it does not register on diagnostics.

The main thing is the driving experience in lower gears. When slowing down and switching down the gears, then wanting to pull off again say in 1st or 2nd gear I get intermittent dead spots where there is no acceleration for 2-3 seconds. I am literally stuck there doing nothing before the car gets going again very slowly. As you can imagine this is very dangerous when trying to pull off from a roundabout, junction or anywhere. I am constantly worried that I can not rely on this car to move when I need it to. It will just be a matter of time before someone goes into the back of me or I get hit coming out of a junction or roundabout. I'm not fooling around, I have my foot to the floor but the car just does not want to go!

It happens everyday, intermittently but getting more frequent. the car has been in the dealership twice since I received it back in June for some considerable time, not just with this, but the dealership are refusing to accept there is a problem as it does not register on their diagnostics. This makes me so cross as there is clearly an issue that is VERY DANGEROUS.

Can anyone else please tell me their experience with the new models, specifically the 157bhp manual? Is this normal? I can't believe it can be 'how the Nissan should drive, just perfectly' as put by the dealership. If it was then surely complaints would ebe flooding in by now. I appreciate all your feedback, thank you.

But it doesn't stop there...

Does anyone have their car not knowing if it is a manual or automatic? When you start the car it should say 'Press Clutch and Start/Stop'button. Fine, but mine often comes up with 'Press Brake and Start/Stop' button as well. In fact I can make it come up with this fault by just pressing the Start/Stop button in and not depressing the clutch. This is not normal and is what should come up on the dash message with an automatic!! Again it is not safe either to not know which method you are to start the car with.

So the dealership apparently say they have never seen this fault before on a car, they acknowledge it is there but have no way of rectifying yet and have had to escalate it to Nissan Europe. This was over a month ago now and I have heard nothing to update on what they can do with it. It is absolutely laughable and the dealership said that Nissan might just change the user manual to refelct this if they can't find a solution???

In all honesty this is the worst car I have ever driven and I just want Nissan to acknowledge the problem. I want to return the car as not fit for purpose, or at least get it fixed, but they will not accept it as nothing comes up on the diagnostic machine - what a shambles. This is a brand new car, it should work and do as it says.

Countless problems with Apple Car Play freezing and the touch screen going black and inoperable, failing sound issues and steering wheel controls failing - the list goes on but they won't do anything about it. I should update to iOS 16 and that will fix everything, well obviously it didn't, it is exactly the same. It seems they do not know what to do with this car and its problems and just want to fob me off with 'this is how it is' attitude.

Please can all of you on this forum shed a little light on these issues. Have you experienced them with the new Tekna+?? Is this normal? It is driving me crazy.

Thanks in advance

[MikeGC]

I have a 160bhp Tekna+ all wheel drive, CVT automatic transmission.
I feel for you but I seem to have avoided most of the common problems. I used to suffer from the stop/start surge (almost certainly curable by a software update) which probably only affects automatic cars.

I have a different CarPlay problem which started after a software update from Apple (going to iOS 16.1) meaning that Apple Maps, Google Maps and Waze do not work. Phone, messages and WhatsApp work though.

Other than that, and the poor economy, it seems I have a good example.

It’s difficult to understand the reluctance of your dealer to help.

I can only suggest trying another dealer, if possible.
Maybe get the RAC to check it.
Speak to Citizens Advice to understand your legal situation.

[QaiFan]

joudoire I think I have the exact same type of QQ you have... Tekna+, 156 BHP manual.
Until today, having the car for 11 month, I am very satisfied with mine.
The lower gear problem ... this is no E-power QQ and the turbo only starts at around 1800 rpm so if you don't put
your QQ in Sportsmode and don't press the gas pedal hard (as I do) then you *may* experience this issue ... more than I do.
Try to push the car into high rpm and sport-mode and then see if that is what you expected ???
It is only a 1333 cc engine, maybe we should always take that in mind.
Of course I have no idea if your car is -driving- like mine and it is very well possible something is really wrong with it.
The only way to make sure is to ask to drive another 156 BHP manual QQ to compare.
*IF* the other drives like yours then ... you *might* consider trading in the car for the e-power version (with added cost of course).
*IF* it proves far better then you can demand immediate action from Nissan.
BTW My previous 2.0 l Mazda car-engine was not responding and performing a lot better than this 1332 cc Nissan/Mercedes/Renault engine.
I have Android Auto that once in a while crashes and then I have a black screen ... but I do think that issue is -mostly- caused by ... Android/-Auto, not the Nissan infotainment software.
I do hope you get your problems solved ... IMHO the Tekna+ QQ is such an awesome SUV.

[xavpiq]

The main thing is the driving experience in lower gears. When slowing down and switching down the gears, then wanting to pull off again say in 1st or 2nd gear I get intermittent dead spots where there is no acceleration for 2-3 seconds. I am literally stuck there doing nothing before the car gets going again very slowly. As you can imagine this is very dangerous when trying to pull off from a roundabout, junction or anywhere. I am constantly worried that I can not rely on this car to move when I need it to. It will just be a matter of time before someone goes into the back of me or I get hit coming out of a junction or roundabout. I'm not fooling around, I have my foot to the floor but the car just does not want to go!

It happens on mine also but only in ECO mode.

[joudoire]

I have a 160bhp Tekna+ all wheel drive, CVT automatic transmission.
I feel for you but I seem to have avoided most of the common problems. I used to suffer from the stop/start surge (almost certainly curable by a software update) which probably only affects automatic cars.

I have a different CarPlay problem which started after a software update from Apple (going to iOS 16.1) meaning that Apple Maps, Google Maps and Waze do not work. Phone, messages and WhatsApp work though.

Other than that, and the poor economy, it seems I have a good example.

It’s difficult to understand the reluctance of your dealer to help.

I can only suggest trying another dealer, if possible.
Maybe get the RAC to check it.
Speak to Citizens Advice to understand your legal situation.

Thank you, that is good advice.

[joudoire]

joudoire I think I have the exact same type of QQ you have... Tekna+, 156 BHP manual.
Until today, having the car for 11 month, I am very satisfied with mine.
The lower gear problem ... this is no E-power QQ and the turbo only starts at around 1800 rpm so if you don't put
your QQ in Sportsmode and don't press the gas pedal hard (as I do) then you *may* experience this issue ... more than I do.
Try to push the car into high rpm and sport-mode and then see if that is what you expected ???
It is only a 1333 cc engine, maybe we should always take that in mind.
Of course I have no idea if your car is -driving- like mine and it is very well possible something is really wrong with it.
The only way to make sure is to ask to drive another 156 BHP manual QQ to compare.
*IF* the other drives like yours then ... you *might* consider trading in the car for the e-power version (with added cost of course).
*IF* it proves far better then you can demand immediate action from Nissan.
BTW My previous 2.0 l Mazda car-engine was not responding and performing a lot better than this 1332 cc Nissan/Mercedes/Renault engine.
I have Android Auto that once in a while crashes and then I have a black screen ... but I do think that issue is -mostly- caused by ... Android/-Auto, not the Nissan infotainment software.
I do hope you get your problems solved ... IMHO the Tekna+ QQ is such an awesome SUV.

Thank you, I think you are right and I should request a drive in another same model to check. It just seems to happen too much to be a normal driving experience.

[joudoire]

The main thing is the driving experience in lower gears. When slowing down and switching down the gears, then wanting to pull off again say in 1st or 2nd gear I get intermittent dead spots where there is no acceleration for 2-3 seconds. I am literally stuck there doing nothing before the car gets going again very slowly. As you can imagine this is very dangerous when trying to pull off from a roundabout, junction or anywhere. I am constantly worried that I can not rely on this car to move when I need it to. It will just be a matter of time before someone goes into the back of me or I get hit coming out of a junction or roundabout. I'm not fooling around, I have my foot to the floor but the car just does not want to go!

It happens on mine also but only in ECO mode.

That's interesting, mine happens in any mode. How long do you get the dead spot for and is it infrequent?

[xavpiq]

The main thing is the driving experience in lower gears. When slowing down and switching down the gears, then wanting to pull off again say in 1st or 2nd gear I get intermittent dead spots where there is no acceleration for 2-3 seconds. I am literally stuck there doing nothing before the car gets going again very slowly. As you can imagine this is very dangerous when trying to pull off from a roundabout, junction or anywhere. I am constantly worried that I can not rely on this car to move when I need it to. It will just be a matter of time before someone goes into the back of me or I get hit coming out of a junction or roundabout. I'm not fooling around, I have my foot to the floor but the car just does not want to go!

It happens on mine also but only in ECO mode.

That's interesting, mine happens in any mode. How long do you get the dead spot for and is it infrequent?

I notice it mostly in 2nd gear after slowing down and then pulling off from rounabouts. It's like 2 sec and it happens whenever you let the revs going very low. But as I said in standard or sport mode I didn't notice it.

[QaiFan]

" ... It's like 2 sec and it happens whenever you let the revs going very low. ..."
Indeed, that is where the Turbo won't assist.
Even the 156 BHP/1332 engine may not be able to swiftly accelerate a heavy car like the 6MT QQ without turbo / MHEV battery assist.
Maybe all this is 'normal' behaviour for this type of MHEV, but you will only know once you tested a similar vehicle.

[? Were you maybe used to driving Turbo Diesel vehicles ... IMHO still the best driving experience for non-BEVs ?]

[joudoire]

" ... It's like 2 sec and it happens whenever you let the revs going very low. ..."
Indeed, that is where the Turbo won't assist.
Even the 156 BHP/1332 engine may not be able to swiftly accelerate a heavy car like the 6MT QQ without turbo / MHEV battery assist.
Maybe all this is 'normal' behaviour for this type of MHEV, but you will only know once you tested a similar vehicle.

[? Were you maybe used to driving Turbo Diesel vehicles ... IMHO still the best driving experience for non-BEVs ?]

Yes, I had a Kia Sportage Diesel before and had none of these issues. That was a far better car in my opinion but I went for the Qashqai as Kia were only offering Automatic models on the higher spec.

The problem is not really driving at 1800 revs, it's the fact that the car won't even let you get up to 1800 revs when it happens. You have your foot to the floor but the engine fails to respond for up to 2-3 seconds so have no power, then it will kick in.

Maybe this is normal for a petrol mild hybrid turbo? BUT if it is why does it only happen interimittently? Surely it would be everytime this situation occurs?

Thanks.