Yesterday I dropped off the 2020 Nissan Kicks that I had been loaned while my car was getting fixed, I had it right at two weeks or so. IN that two weeks I put about a thousand miles on it and became pretty familiar with the vehicle, so here is my review of it.
First, lets talk about what Im discussing - The Nissan Kicks. I'd never heard of this model before I was handed the keys, er, FOBS for it. It's a small SUV, compact size, really about the size of a Ford Focus or Mazda 3 etc, but in 'SUV' form. Honestly, not that much more space inside than the Fiesta that I daily drive, but overall it's larger. It sits up higher than my car, and that gives the impression of space, I feel, but really, no.
It's an entry-level vehicle, starting MSRP is 19k, and the SV model like I had is 21 or 22 starting price and was, in my opinion, a nice car with minimal add-ons.
My car was free of too many frills, basic options, really.
-Auto up and down front windows, rear camera, blind spot warnings, even rear and FRONT sensors, and a touchscreen entertainment system with aux and usb ports.
And speaking of USB ports, there were 3 other ports that I found in the car besides the one in the lower part of the dash near the cubby where I kept the ipod I had connected.
So lets get to it.
I dont think its a bad looking car, but very 'typical' for todays new cars, it wont stand out in the traffic jam or parked along the street. Mine was burgundy with black and tan interior (mostly black), and an automatic with 'sport mode' option.
I mentioned the cubby where I kept the ipod - it was very spacious - I would keep my ipod, pill bottle, garage door opener, sunglasses, set of headphones, and spare neck gaiter all without being too cramped or hard to access any of of those.
Two cupholders in the center, though I didnt use those because i had my Kato Hazard 4 pack (bought from @NCLivingBrit years ago) with my Glock 17 in the area. But, there were also spacious cup holders in each door panel, so that was a plus.
I liked the basic touch screen entertainment panel, easy to understand and configure/use, even displayed album artwork from my ipod on it. And a really cool feature I found was that I noticed a gap from the back of the screen to the dash on the top - its to put your phone to use while driving (ie: gps or bluetooth). Nice to have a pretty secure place to keep your phone at a reasonable height while navigating a new area. Only downside was that it blocked at least one full center vent for the AC unit.
Blocking one AC vent wasnt too bad though, as the AC blew very cold even with one blocked the car was cooled quite quickly and I was never in discomfort, never needing/wanting more power from it.
Early on I mentioned a Fob - while there is a key 'hidden' in the fob, it's got a push start on it that I really grew to enjoy. It was nice to leave keys clipped to a carabiner on your belt loop and just get in - a 'luxury' Im not used to in my 2014 economy car, now it appears to be a standard feature on many new vehicles.
Now, Ive mentioned my economy Fiesta a few times - I bought it while in college and driving over 500 miles a week - mpg was important. Even now, I dont drive much, but I care about mpg because Im a poor. I wasnt sure what this would be like so I reset the mpg computer when I got it and was pleased to see 38mpg when I dropped it off...that was the average over close to a thousand miles.
The space was not much more than Im used to, as mentioned. And the rear seats, when folded down, werent flat with the cargo area, so it leaves a huge step up which is not always ideal when hauling larger things. Even buying 5 bags of topsoil from the local Lowes (I know, I just didnt feel like driving the extra 15 minutes to HD that morning) filled up about a third of the cargo area, if not a little more. And five bags got to touching the privacy piece that covers the cargo area. Again, not a huge space, though it could be 'expanded' by getting rid of that 'shelf.'
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When I first got it someone said, "what do you think about it?" and I was not a fan, "Oh, its just a rental, I'd never choose this for myself."
Well, I grew to enjoy that little suv. Now, if they totaled out the Ford while it was in the shop (they were concerned about suspension damage as there was some toe-in on the rear passenger wheel), maybe I'd consider it. With it's low price and plenty of options from the factory, it's not a bad car. But, that said, I'd still be curious what the other makers had to offer that was similar.
A day out and I sort of miss it. Maybe it was the new shocks (15k miles vs my 133k on my car), spacious cubbies all over, I dont know.
But, overall, it was a good car for a few weeks.
First, lets talk about what Im discussing - The Nissan Kicks. I'd never heard of this model before I was handed the keys, er, FOBS for it. It's a small SUV, compact size, really about the size of a Ford Focus or Mazda 3 etc, but in 'SUV' form. Honestly, not that much more space inside than the Fiesta that I daily drive, but overall it's larger. It sits up higher than my car, and that gives the impression of space, I feel, but really, no.
It's an entry-level vehicle, starting MSRP is 19k, and the SV model like I had is 21 or 22 starting price and was, in my opinion, a nice car with minimal add-ons.
My car was free of too many frills, basic options, really.
-Auto up and down front windows, rear camera, blind spot warnings, even rear and FRONT sensors, and a touchscreen entertainment system with aux and usb ports.
And speaking of USB ports, there were 3 other ports that I found in the car besides the one in the lower part of the dash near the cubby where I kept the ipod I had connected.
So lets get to it.
I dont think its a bad looking car, but very 'typical' for todays new cars, it wont stand out in the traffic jam or parked along the street. Mine was burgundy with black and tan interior (mostly black), and an automatic with 'sport mode' option.
I mentioned the cubby where I kept the ipod - it was very spacious - I would keep my ipod, pill bottle, garage door opener, sunglasses, set of headphones, and spare neck gaiter all without being too cramped or hard to access any of of those.
Two cupholders in the center, though I didnt use those because i had my Kato Hazard 4 pack (bought from @NCLivingBrit years ago) with my Glock 17 in the area. But, there were also spacious cup holders in each door panel, so that was a plus.
I liked the basic touch screen entertainment panel, easy to understand and configure/use, even displayed album artwork from my ipod on it. And a really cool feature I found was that I noticed a gap from the back of the screen to the dash on the top - its to put your phone to use while driving (ie: gps or bluetooth). Nice to have a pretty secure place to keep your phone at a reasonable height while navigating a new area. Only downside was that it blocked at least one full center vent for the AC unit.
Blocking one AC vent wasnt too bad though, as the AC blew very cold even with one blocked the car was cooled quite quickly and I was never in discomfort, never needing/wanting more power from it.
Early on I mentioned a Fob - while there is a key 'hidden' in the fob, it's got a push start on it that I really grew to enjoy. It was nice to leave keys clipped to a carabiner on your belt loop and just get in - a 'luxury' Im not used to in my 2014 economy car, now it appears to be a standard feature on many new vehicles.
Now, Ive mentioned my economy Fiesta a few times - I bought it while in college and driving over 500 miles a week - mpg was important. Even now, I dont drive much, but I care about mpg because Im a poor. I wasnt sure what this would be like so I reset the mpg computer when I got it and was pleased to see 38mpg when I dropped it off...that was the average over close to a thousand miles.
The space was not much more than Im used to, as mentioned. And the rear seats, when folded down, werent flat with the cargo area, so it leaves a huge step up which is not always ideal when hauling larger things. Even buying 5 bags of topsoil from the local Lowes (I know, I just didnt feel like driving the extra 15 minutes to HD that morning) filled up about a third of the cargo area, if not a little more. And five bags got to touching the privacy piece that covers the cargo area. Again, not a huge space, though it could be 'expanded' by getting rid of that 'shelf.'
---
When I first got it someone said, "what do you think about it?" and I was not a fan, "Oh, its just a rental, I'd never choose this for myself."
Well, I grew to enjoy that little suv. Now, if they totaled out the Ford while it was in the shop (they were concerned about suspension damage as there was some toe-in on the rear passenger wheel), maybe I'd consider it. With it's low price and plenty of options from the factory, it's not a bad car. But, that said, I'd still be curious what the other makers had to offer that was similar.
A day out and I sort of miss it. Maybe it was the new shocks (15k miles vs my 133k on my car), spacious cubbies all over, I dont know.
But, overall, it was a good car for a few weeks.