Five Days with a Juke

[major_clanger]

darth_hamster and I don't own a car and unless Sian finds a perfect job that isn't commutable by train we will probably keep it that way for the time being, hiring a car or van as and when necessary. I arranged to rent a car over the holiday so that we could do family visiting and make such bulky-purchase shopping trips as needed to finish fitting out our new flat. There's a small Budget depot nearby that I've used a few times before and as it's convenient and the staff have always been helpful I booked through there again. The example car for medium compact was a Ford Focus; that sounded big enough for what we needed so that's what I got.

Come the morning of Christmas Eve and we went to pick up... a Nissan Juke.

This caused much hilarity as I'd been commenting on the Juke's ugliness only a couple of days earlier. But now we had one for a week and a bit, so here are my impressions so far, based on a 300-mile return trip to Surrey and an expedition to Ikea.

Size: It's not large inside, although not as small as you might imagine. I was able to get plenty of legroom and didn't feel squashed despite my height. It is a bit deceptive; inside it feels a bit like a Mini, but the Juke is considerably larger than a standard Mini on the outside.

Driving Comfort: The steering wheel is rather small but the road feel is good. The main issue I have is with visibility - the doors come up quite high as do the bug-eye headlight units, and between them the driver's view of the nearside is rather poor. It's not a problem on a straight road but I found myself very careful manoeuvring around car parks as I kept on feeling I was going to cut a left corner too tight. However, reversing is aided by a feature in the next category...

Equipment: Very good. There is a reversing camera (which helps compensate for the poor visibility), climate control and full AV/satnav with USB input, although as we didn't pay for satnav our car didn't have the requisite map card installed. The controls are clear and sensibly-located.

Storage: Not bad for the Juke's size. The hatchback boot isn't huge, but the floor lifts out to reveal a further trunk area. Apparently this is for the optional spare wheel, the default option being a reinflation and sealing kit. The rental office advised me to call their assistance number if I had a puncture! Other than that there is the usual array of storage spaces and (decent-size) cup holders. The Juke managed one large trolley-load of Ikea purchases but I wouldn't have tried to get any large packages home in it.

Overall it's not a bad car at all, but if we were buying I would probably prefer something that used its volume a bit better rather than trying to be an SUV. I like the equipment spec though.

Comments

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Apparently this is for the optional spare wheel, the default option being a reinflation and sealing kit.

Which has always been the default for motorbikes, if the rider actually carries anything for punctures other than an AA card or similar. Especially since the introduction of tubeless tyres, a reinflation and sealing kit should be able to handle most punctures, and possibly rather more easily than changing the wheel.