I needed a bigger vehicle with more luggage space. Before the X-Trail I drove an automatic Mercedes-Benz C240. The Merc was an absolute pleasure to drive, but service at the dealer was a bit expensive for my liking.
We are a family of three – my wife Liezel, our 20-month-old baby and me. For the baby we need lots of space – his pram, plastic motorbike and all his toys go everywhere with us. All these things and our other luggage easily fit in the boot.

Initially, I didn’t even consider the X-Trail, because I thought it was outside my price range.
My wife and I went to a dealer to look at a double-cab bakkie, but she wasn’t very pleased with it. Nor was I, even though I’m a bakkie guy.
The baby seat barely fitted on the back seat. Most double-cabs have little space for the passengers in the back.
The X-Trail was parked next to the bakkie, and I asked what it cost. It cost much less than we’d expected and we immediately enquired about a test drive.
Liezel also drove it and was very impressed with “her” car. When we drove off, she said: “I don’t care how we pay for it, but I want it.” Well, three days later we went on holiday in the X-Trail.

It had 157 500 km on the clock when we bought it, and since then we’ve put on another 7 000 km.

The space – for passengers as well as luggage. The 2.5-litre engine is powerful enough to tow our heavy old caravan without any trouble. It has the 4x4 option and good enough ground clearance if we want to go off-road. And, importantly, it has air bags.

Absolutely! The seats are comfortable and the ride isn’t noisy. It’ll also be better for game viewing than a Merc, because you sit higher.

We tackled the Namibian gravel roads with five adults and a trailer, and were impressed. I practically grew up with gravel roads, but I’ve rarely driven a vehicle that’s so stable.
Once or twice the back end swung out on bad corrugations, but that was when I was driving too fast. I then put it in “Auto” so it could select when to drive all four wheels.

I’ve driven many odd roads to test the 4x4 capability, but without any success – the roads were all in too good a condition! I can’t bring myself to take it into the bush.

Yes, I got the X-Trail two days before our annual holiday. In the second week the power steering pump started leaking. Fortunately there was a dealer nearby who could fix it quickly.

It’s a little too thirsty! We get about 11,8 ℓ//100 km.

Engine: Four-cylinder, 2 488  cc engine (132 kW; 245 Nm)

Ground Clearance: 20 cm

Petrol tank: 60 litres

Tank range: Between 550 km and 600 km