I really liked the Nissan Magnite but ended up having to reject the SUV cause of a steering problem.
BHPian Prelude83 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
Since I am looking for a compact SUV I have taken a test ride of most of the cars mentioned here – my favourite is Tata Nexon.
My requirement was compact petrol SUV with Automatic transmission
Following are my observations:
2022 Maruti Breeza: Ruled out due to the higher price of the top variant and not-so-premium interior.
Hyundai Venue facelift: Ruled out because the car doesn’t look like an SUV – looks more like a hatchback.
Kia Sonet: Was impressed with the interior but ruled it out due to poor suspension setup. My 6-year-old Kwid has a better suspension – the engine was not smooth as well. Badly wanted the car to excel in test drive but unfortunately, the car didn’t pass my test.
Renault Kiger: Interior materials were of very poor quality to consider seriously- Renault is persistently poor in the interior quality of its cars. The centre console design looks like an as after-market copy of Nexon.
Nissan Magnite: I was so much impressed with the car that I almost made up my mind to buy it in spite of limited Nissan after-sales service outlets. Magnite, in my opinion, has the best Automatic gearbox amongst its rivals and Nissan engineers have done a wonderful job in tuning the gearbox with the engine – resulting in the smoothest drive among the rivals.
The suspension was not at all bad as mentioned by several reviewers.
However there was one aspect which spoilt the deal – the steering centering problem – I heard Nissan has rectified the steering problem – I test-rode the car for two hours – the steering centering is still not reliable – at times it does centre as expected and it doesn’t at others – until this problem is fully rectified I had to reject the car which was otherwise my favourite.
Mahindra XUV 300: This was another impressive SUV – wonderful engine, best ride quality overall among rivals and well-tuned AMT – still rejected due to the following:
- Ground clearance of 180! Too less for an SUV
- Center console looks dated
- Lack of Drive modes
- Nexon gives more SUV fell due to its higher sitting position.
Tata Nexon
This was my final choice because of the following:
- Wonderful steering response
- Wonderful suspension
- Good quality materials used
I think the best thing about Nexon is that there was nothing in Nexon that was a deal breaker – Nexon is second best /third best in all aspects whereas it is not the best.
The bad things about Nexon that I observed were:
- The engine was not as refined as XUV or Magnite and was noisy at times – but the deficiency was too minimal to be considered a deal breaker.
- The gear shifts were felt in the first two gears – irritating but not significant enough to be considered as a deal breaker.
With this, I think Nexon offers the best compromise available today.
However, Magnite would have been my favourite if not for its steering problem (the sales representative persistently told me that the steering problem has been corrected – but didn’t pass my test).
Keyword: Why I bought a Tata Nexon AMT insted of a Sonet, Brezza or XUV300