2011 Nissan Juke S 1.6 DIG-T
Summary:
A fast car that will get a lot of looks
Faults:
These are all recalls. Haven't had a thing go wrong with it aside from those... replacing door handles in order to prevent freezing, flashing the dash computer, updating the mass air flow sensor, and fixing a fuel sensor issue.
General Comments:
This thing is a blast to drive. The CVT AWD Juke is responsive, speedy, loves to be thrown into the curves, and is overall one of the best vehicles I have owned.
I have modified the car a bit... put an Injen Short Ram Intake in place of the factory air box, as well as a Stillen Axleback exhaust. These combined have made the car throatier and way more fun to drive than the stock variant. When I pulled off the old muffler, I was amazed to see how restricted the air flow was. Now it's straight back! When the turbo kicks in, you can hear the SRI suck the air in, and then letting off the gas, you can really hear the WHOOSH as it dumps the air back out from the turbo. Get so many looks with this thing ;)
I live in Pennsylvania, so we get snow, and the Juke's vector AWD is a dream come true. When one tire slips a bit, it will adjust the power to the wheels appropriately to try and help out. Even if you don't have snow, you'll really feel the vector AWD kick in on the interstates, when you make some aggressive and agile passing maneuvers.
Gas is pretty good if that's your thing. Stock I was doing about 24/30, and after modifying it, I'm doing an unbelievable 26/32 (unless I really throw it around in the city, in which case I get around 22 MPG). Keep in mind you'll want to leave this in AWD-V mode, and leave it in the automatic CVT position instead of any other mode (FWD, AWD, etc) and using the manual driving style. The car just knows what to do best!
The Juke is NOT great at hauling things. In order to put the back seats down, you must pull the front seats forward a bit. This is quite annoying, but hey, I didn't buy the car for hauling lots of stuff. Also, if you're planning on driving adults around... don't put them in the back seat. They will not appreciate the room.
The driver's seat is EXTREMELY spacious. Really, I couldn't ask for more comfort and room for driving. The passenger seat, however, is noticeably smaller and less comfortable than the driver's. If your passenger is over 6' tall, you might want to consider another vehicle.
Overall, I love the Juke for my needs. I have the base S model and do not have the I-CON system. I drove both, and found the I-CON system to be a gimmick. The Juke S drives in normal mode all the time, whereas the I-CON lets you switch between high revving performance modes and lackluster eco mode. Neither of those are that great, as the normal mode has been proven to outperform the "performance" mode many times.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 24th July, 2012
12th May 2016, 20:27
Original poster for this review with an update here:
Around 20,000 miles my rotors went bad. Not really uncommon with all of the hills around here. Had them machined down and put back on. Dealer said the brakes were fine. Then not even 1000 miles later the brakes had locked up and the rotors were basically destroyed again. Majorly loud ticking sounds every time you tapped the brakes, turned the car, drove straight, everything. Managed to limp the car into the dealer and they installed new rotors and brakes free of charge... pretty sure they knew they screwed up the installation with the speed at which they moved me through there.
At approximately 30,000 my Juke's turbo intake hose blew. I could smell a burning smell for about an hour (was on a trip) and thought it was the new oil had spilled since I had my oil changed literally a couple hours before this and the multipoint inspection done at the dealer... nope, it was the hose. Melted off and I couldn't move the car to save my life. It just sputtered and shut down.
At 36,000 miles now and the car makes a loud clicking sound when I'm making a hard turn at low speeds like turning around in my driveway. The dealer couldn't reproduce this of course... and it's not like the rotor issue I had at 20,000 miles. Can't figure this one out. Drives fine otherwise, but pretty far off on estimated fuel economy. Doing 19 city and 28 highway. I suppose it could be the SRI and axle back exhaust that I installed... oh well... it's still a blast to drive ;)
I intend to keep the car for another 2-3 years. Just hard to get rid of a car that's paid off and only has 36,000 miles after 5.5 years! Will probably only have 60,000 miles when I get rid of it!