Name: Nissan Note
Brand: Nissan

The Nissan Note is a small MPV with a spacious interior and frugal engines, but quality of the interior leaves much to be desired

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RRP £10,180 - £18,860

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wowscore

5/10

This score is awarded by our team of expert reviewers after extensive testing of the car

What's good

Very economical
Smooth to drive
Practical and spacious

What's not so good

Some cheap-feeling plastics
Not much fun
Dull styling

Find out more about the Nissan Note

Is the Nissan Note a good car?

Practicality is the biggest selling point of the Nissan Note. Thanks to its boxy shape the boot is bigger than most other superminis and there is ample room for four adults to travel in comfort. However, the quality of the interior leaves much to be desired – there are hardly any soft materials.

The Nissan Note isn’t as exciting to drive as a Ford Fiesta, but its light controls make it very easy to drive and the suspension is comfortable. The diesel engines can occasionally be heard in the cabin, but other than that, it is a very quiet car on the motorway. There is a “warm” DIG-S version that has bigger wheels and suspension tweaks that liven up the handling.

There are three engines to choose from – a non-turbocharged 1.2-litre petrol that is the cheapest to buy, a supercharged 1.2-litre petrol and a very fuel efficient 1.5-litre diesel. Our pick would be the diesel because it offers adequate pace and is very cheap to run.

The basic car is the Nissan Note Visia and comes with remote central locking, Bluetooth phone connection and cruise control. Our trim of choice would be the n-tec because it comes with sat-nav, automatic headlights, climate control, rear-view camera as well as Nissan’s Safety Shield system, which adds a lot of active and passive driver aids.

The colour choices Nissan offers for the Note reflect its sensible character, coming in a decent choice of metallic, solid, and pearlescent finishes.

The Note is a practical car that doesn't really win you over with its design or driving experience.

Mat Watson

carwow expert

The new Nissan Note isn’t difficult to recommend. It’s spacious, drives well and offers good value for money, improving on its predecessor in every department.

Like the previous Note, it’s a resolutely sensible choice that should appeal to anyone who values practicality, ease of use and the promise of reliability over more frivolous pursuits.

How much is the Nissan Note?

The Nissan Note has a RRP range of £10,180 to £18,860. The price of a used Nissan Note on carwow starts at £6,440.

How practical is it?

The Nissan Note looks like a small MPV and that shape means it has lots of room for passengers, as well as a big boot, but we’d like to see more storage space inside the cabin. For more information on its space and practicality, check out our Nissan Note dimensions guide.

If you want a small car that gives you big space, you'll certainly be singing the praises of this Note

Mat Watson

carwow expert

Dimensions

Boot (seats up)

411 litres

Boot (seats down)

1,495 litres

Passenger space

With a tall body the Nissan Note looks like a mini MPV in profile and that does wonders for interior space. Headroom on all five seats is excellent and it’s easy for tall adults to get comfortable in the front. The back seat’s also suitable for six-footers, but will prove at its most accommodating when it is slid as far back as it will go on its runners. Otherwise, knee room could prove a little tight on longer journeys.

Storage space

Storage areas throughout the cabin are plenty but none of them are actually particularly big and the majority of them are too small to fit anything meaningful. That said, the Nissan Note gets the usual cupholders in the centre console but the door bins are too small for what is supposed to be a small family car.

Boot space

A 325-litre boot (expanding to 411 litres by sliding the rear seat forward) beats that of its predecessor and most other superminis, and the rear seats split 60/40. With all of them folded into the floor maximum boot space sits at 1,495 litres.

What's it like to drive?

The previous-generation Nissan Note was competent but rarely exciting on the roads.

The diesel is the only one that really makes sense

Mat Watson

carwow expert

Performance and Economy

The Nissan Note comes with a choice of three engines. These include a basic 1.2-litre petrol, a supercharged 1.2-litre DiG-S petrol, and a familiar 1.5-litre dCi diesel found in around a dozen other Nissans and Renaults. It’s worth noting that all engines in the Note come with stop/start technology to save fuel in stationary traffic.

The basic 1.2-litre is a bit on the slow side, and could be the model to go for if you don’t intend to drive many miles per year, since it’s the cheapest to buy and still returns fuel economy of 60.1mpg.

Thanks to its supercharger, the 1.2-litre DiG-S makes an interesting noise, but doesn’t bring the performance boost you may have hoped for. It’s a little overwhelmed by the Note’s bulk and 0-62mph takes a lacklustre 11.8 seconds. Still, few would complain about average fuel economy of 65.7mpg.

With fuel economy of 80mpg, the Nissan Note diesel is the obvious choice and feels the quickest of all, even if the supercharged petrol is faster on paper. It can be a little noisy around town, but smooths out with speed.

Driving

Nissan has definitely sharpened up the Note’s responses, with some suspension tweaks to spice up the handling. It hasn’t transformed the car – this still is a leaning small MPV but it does deal with bumps quite well.

Cabin refinement is better than class average, and although the diesels can be a little rumbly around town, things get better with speed. Above all, it’s a sure-footed and very capable car.

Opt for the DIG-S model, and Nissan assumes you’ll appreciate a little more sporting flavour. As a result, DIG-S models come with 16-inch (rather than 15-inch) alloy wheels, as well as steering and suspension tweaks. It’s the most fun of the lot, and doesn’t compromise the ride quality too badly. Seems a bit out of place on an otherwise un-sporty car though…

What's it like inside?

It all starts positively inside, with a cabin that is a vast improvement on the old car.

Nissan Note colours

Metallic - Pearl black: Free
Solid - Flame red: Free
Special metallic - Sonic blue: Free
Special solid - Arctic white: From £250
Metallic - Blade silver: From £500
Metallic - Gun metal: From £500
Metallic - Sonic blue: From £500
Metallic - Ink blue: From £550
Metallic - Magnetic red: From £550
Pearl - Storm white: From £700

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