Nissan X-Trail or Santa Fe

hawker

Due to increase in family size, I am thinking of buying a buyer car as the one I have is much too small.

I have thought about a 7 seater but I find them all ugly except for the Avensis Verso. With my budget being 23/24 I find I would be very reluctant to go back to 2002 when I'm driving a 2004 car.

I was looking at the Nissan X-Trail and the Santa Fe. Both are 2003 models and I was wondering does anyone have experience of driving either of the above?

Any help appreciated!

cardude

I test drove both of these for a friend of mine ( both 02). I always liked the exterior of the X-Trail but I dont like the inside - very Jap looking in there. While the Santa-Fe is no trend setter it still loks better inside despite all of the cheap looking plastic imho
The biggest difference is in the driving. Now it might have been the one I drove but at 30mph going around a moderate bend I felt like I was going to fallout the window.Absolutely horrendous. I couldnt wait to get out. The Santa-Fe felt a lot less prone to body roll. The engine needs to be pushed quite a bit though unless you get the turbo diesel.
Tbh, if you are going newish then the Rexton beats both, even in the poxy semi-auto-permanently-in-overdrive guise.
Prepare for plenty of advice to just get an estate car.:)

alias no.9

cardude wrote:

Prepare for plenty of advice to just get an estate car.:)

Well the santa fe is little more than an estate version of the recently replaced hyundai sonata with bigger wheels and the suspension raised slightly, so estates are obviously already being considered. The question any potential buyers of a santa fe have to ask themselves is... would I buy a hyundai sonata estate?

If you have to have one of them, go for the x-trail, it's a better all rounder and considered to be the best in the soft roader class though it may lack a small amount of cargo space compared to the santa fe.

Preset No.3

Stay away from the Santa Fe, had the use of one in a company job that I was in. No power at all!! Not exactly great for fuel economy either. And my back always was sore after driving for more than 2 hours!!

MercMad

Yeah stay away from the Santa Fe. The mpg is horrendous especially for a 2wd car that doesn't really have much power !

The X-Trail is far better, better image too and better resale !

I would look at the Kia one too.............its supposed to be quite good and well equipped !

bazz26

Neither of these two SUVs are going to give good mpg especially with a petrol engine.

Given the choice I would go with the X-Trail because I just don't like the styling of the Santa Fe.

Other alternatives to the above two are the Toyota Rav4 and Honda CRV but these two are a bit more expensive but are a bit more refined.

Another one to look at is the Subaru Forester but it is only available in petrol.

hawker

Thanks for all the advice. I must take a look at all the above mentioned and broaden my search. It's interesting to see everyones differing opinion on both the above.

I think it's test drive time and see what I think myself. I've seen an 03 X Trail on the carzone website and it seems pretty well priced (23950) with low mileage and I've read some good reports on various mags about it. But it's always better to get the publics opinion as they are less biased.

Cheers again.

Interceptor

yeah, x-trail would be my recomendation too - I had one for a few weeks last summer and found it very pleasant for long trips, maneuverable in town and spacious with kids, dogs and bikes crammed in. The Santa fe looks like Hyundai let the tea-boy design it.