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Used test: Nissan Qashqai vs Skoda Karoq interiors
Buy either of these family SUVs at four years old and you'll save yourself more than £10,000, but which is the better all-rounder? We have the answer...
Interiors
Driving position, visibility, build quality, practicality
There’s good news from both cars here when it comes to driving positions. Both the Nissan Qashqai and Skoda Karoq came with an electrically adjustable driver’s seat as standard from new, as well as manual reach and rake steering wheel adjustment. They also have well-placed seats and steering wheels, and each gets adjustable lumbar support as standard.
They’re easy to see out of, too. You also get powerful LED headlights, front and rear parking sensors and a reversing camera (the Qashqai’s giving a 360deg bird’s eye view).
The Qashqai feels good inside. Its plastics feel of a high grade, helping to make it a pleasant place to spend time, but some scratchy materials disappoint farther down in the interior. The Karoq, in range-topping Edition form, manages to balance solid construction with a genuine feeling of quality. The plastics are soft and dense where they need to be and its switches are all pleasingly well damped.
Infotainment-wise, we’re not so sold on the Qashqai’s 7.0in touchscreen system, which is now feeling dated. There’s nothing wrong with its response times, but the screen resolution is low by modern standards, it badly reflects sunlight in certain weather conditions and some of the on-screen buttons are too small to hit with confidence while driving. Also, it’s one of the few family SUVs without Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
The standard 9.2in touchscreen in the Karoq (above) makes its rivals’ look a little past it, with its super-crisp graphics, quick response times and logical menus. The only slight grievance is that its menu shortcut buttons are touch-sensitive rather than physical buttons, so they can be difficult to use when you’re driving.
Tall adults will have few issues with space in the front seats of either of these cars. There’s less than a centimetre between them for head and shoulder room, which is generous across the board, and although the Qashqai has the least leg room, only really tall people will struggle.
There’s a bigger difference when it comes to rear space. Both cars come with a panoramic sunroof as standard – a feature that usually eats into head room – but the Qashqai has enough to accommodate a couple of six-footers. Anyone that tall might notice their head brushing the rooflining of the Karoq.
The Karoq has rear seats that slide back and forth and recline, while the Qashqai makes do with a fixed bench. However, the Qashqai comes with a removable boot floor which, when installed, maintains a flat floor from the boot entrance to its front seatbacks when its rear seats (which split 60/40) are folded down. Meanwhile, the Karoq’s boot has a big lip at its entrance and there’s no removable floor, leaving a huge step up when its standard 40/20/40 split rear seats are folded down. That said, the Edition trim’s standard Varioflex seats can be removed altogether to leave a flat surface.
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