Overall I love this car and know I'd struggle to find something other than another x-trail to replace it (as a 4 x 4) if I had to do that now. I've driven dozens of 4 x4's of all makes over the years and this is easily the nicest to drive, closer to a car than truck. Having said that I wouldn't have the confidence to take corners at the sort of speeds I would in my wifes toyota auris, at the end of the day it doesn't give the kind of drive comfort I got in my pug 406.

What's good and bad; actually many of the things that stand out have both a good side and a bad side;
- it's great having built in satnav, and it's pretty good, but a shame it doesn't use postcodes. It's also a shame that the screen can't be used to display the functions that are displayed on the tiny, 40mm diameter 'dial' in between the speedo and rev counter. I have to wear bifocals to read that one when all that info could have more easily been shown on the big screen when you don't need the maps.
- there are more cupholders than you could shake a stick at. but for some strange reason the one's I'd mostly use, up on the dash, have covers which when open obstruct your hand.
- xenon headlights. everyone says they are much better than the old halogens. I don't find that to be the case on the xtrail, they light up anything reflective very well but not dark surfaces like roads, and have a very sharp line between what's lit and what isn't
- fuel economy. I struggle to get more than 35mph semi-urban, though that probably isn't so bad for a 4 x 4
- the dreaded DPF. I'm in my second winter now and just as it did all last winter, it lights up about once every 400 miles. Now I'm used to it I find it's very predictable. I live 15 miles from work. The first 12 are country roads, the final 3 are town. Once the temperatures get down to less than about 5 degrees there isn't enough time for the engine to reach operating temperature, then run a complete dpf cycle, before hitting the town traffic. As the average revs (and exhaust temp) drop in town, every 10th day or so the dpf light comes on. It clears though on the way home as the reverse journey does give enough time at high exhaust temperature. So for me the dpf is irritating but no more than that. However, if I lived much closer to work this car would be completely unviable for me for commuting, and I do find it astonishing that in this day and age Nissan have got away with such a flawed dpf.
- leather seats. I used to get endless static electricity shocks in previous cars, that doesn't happen with leather seats.
- heated seats is lovely at this time of the year, though they can get too hot at times.
- the boot: as said elsewhere, the drawers are a fantastic idea, I was lucky enough to have the left hand one (£200) already fitted. boot space is good though smaller overall than my old peugeot 406 estate. I fitted a dog grill straightaway which allows use of the full height.
- boot lining: dreadful in some ways as everything slides everywhere but I suppose may be good if you carry lots of wet muddy stuff. I bought a (non-nissan) liner from a major online company which is better but not as good as they'd have you believe
- tyre wear: just about to have all four replaced after 15k with me and definitely no more than 5k with previous owner. strangely, all 4 have worn at a similar rate despite hardly ever using 4wd on tarmac. so a bit heavy there
- servicing: a diy doddle, much easier than any other car I've had
- rear seat belts: dreadful buckles if you have a child seat, really hard to get the belt into, as they stick out so little
- heater and aircon: disappointing overall; I can't ever get the car really hot in winter or really cold in summer, it's tolerable but unimpressive there
- engine noise: quiet when moving but pretty diesel-noisy at a standstill on tickover, quite truck-like. the noise comes from engine vibration but there's no sign of anything untoward other than the noise.
- rain-sensing wipers: so-so, a bit erratic in the sensing dept.
- cruise control. brilliant
- road-holding: feels very secure on slippy roads, a bit more so than many other 4 x 4's I've used

Bottom line: all of the above, bar the dpf, are niggles/personal preferences. When I come to replace this car the one thing that might stop me getting another xtrail or going for petrol over diesel would be the dpf. It's 25 years since I owned a car where I lacked certainty that it would get me 15 miles into work each day, and it really is appalling that this, the newest, most expensive car I've ever owned, takes me back to that place in time. for that reason alone I won't give this car 5 stars overall, it's not just a design failure, it's c*** engineering.