Quacky? Quirky? Quickie? Something with a Q man…

It’s hard enough already for a girl to know the technical mumbo jumbo like a car’s engine size and what fuel it runs on. It gets even worse when you are presented with an almighty challenge of remembering your car’s name. Take the Nissan Qashqai.

I mean really, who decides on sticking a name on a car you are going to look at twice before pronouncing it before you probably screw it up at your first attempt anyway? What does Qashqai even mean? According to Google it is a semi-nomadic Iranian tribe renowned for their brave warriors and beautiful textiles. All fine and dandy, but how many battles have these fine people fought for us or quilts have they given us over here on the southern tip of Africa? The only evidence of their existence I’m aware of is an unpronounceable car name.

I got my hands on a new model called the Midnight Edition with which I fell in love with purely because of its stunning wheels. They are big, they are black and they are shiny. Even if you don’t like anything else about this car, you have to admit those wheels do look good. Almost like a pair of stilettos, it just adds instant sexiness.

And the exterior spills over to an equally stylish and comfortable inside that features more buttons than which I’ll probably ever have to use. The fact that you don’t have to change gears yourself is a huge plus point. I’m told that the car features something called a CVT, which is apparently not exactly the same as an automatic.

Whatever. As far as I’m concerned, there is no clutch to operate so your left foot gets a break and next to the gearlever it says P, R, N and D, so if you want to get all technical and refuse to call it an automatic, suit yourself. It shifts by itself. Bonus.

I have to admit that the car is not the liveliest off the mark. Almost like me before my first cup of coffee in the morning, it’s slow to react even when you floor the accelerator. But is you are not late in dropping the kids off at school, then the initial crawling shouldn’t be the deciding factor in whether you want this car. And, once you get it up to your cruising speed, the nice ride makes you soon forget its initial laziness.

Overall, it’s a nice offering. Pretty looks, comfortable, lots of space and no more battles with clutches. I can highly recommend this Cash… This Cush… This Quasash… This Nissan with the black wheels man.

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