[Aries]

Nissan has come out with a press release that details the arduous testing regimen that all its crossovers have had to undergo. Plenty of interesting (and sometimes odd) examples of tests are described, and here I will write about a number of them. After reading this, it is clear that Nissan does really do its due diligence to make sure that customers are satisfied with their crossover.

The Juke, Qashqai and X-Trail have combined driven 1.4 million miles just to get the stamp of approval for their respective suspension systems. This is impressive, though not any more then what other auto makers do as far as test miles go.

Many other tests come with some very high numbers. 1.2 million door open and closes, 18,000 hood lifts, and 30,000 window openings using a specially design robot.

Those tests are interesting because of the quantity or times they have been done. Other tests are interesting for different reasons.

The first example is Nissan's test for the strength of the glass roof. A weight, based on the average weight of a brown bear,is dropped onto the glass roof. This makes sure the glass roof can hold up if a brown bear were to climb onto the vehicle.

The best thing to come out of this press release, however, is the description of what the stereo system must go through before it is ready for customers.

Playing the stereo at high volume for a total of 1,200 days (that’s 1,728,000 minutes) using specifically selected music tracks to encompass the widest range of pitch and beat. These include Mariah Carey for the high notes and the thumping bass of German House music

Anything that can go through 1,200 days of extremely loud Mariah Carey certainly deserves some respect.

Finally, a great thing to hear is that Nissan took the time to redesign a cup holder to accommodate a popular Japanese drink that previously had to be squished a bit to actually fit in the cup holder.

Using a host of different cups, bottles and containers to check the usefulness of the cupholders and door pockets, our engineers even decided to redesign the front door pocket of the Qashqai when it emerged that the new bottle of a popular brand of Japanese Green Tea would not fit without being slightly squeezed. Rather than risk customer dissatisfaction the design was modified at a cost of more than €50,000.

So, there you have it. Nissan puts its crossovers through a lot. Hopefully that translates to great quality crossovers for Nissan customers.

 

[NissanDriver]

That's quite reassuring that we're going to get a good product, but of course it all comes down to how it does in our hands and over time as we put it though its paces.

 

[MTB]

yea but its not like the car has to listen to mariah carey

 

[Aries]

I think that it is smart in today's automotive environment to be really transparent about its testing process. If you can be transparent and make people believe you are being honest with them, it can go a long way.

 

[NissanDriver]

With the recent report on here about build quality not being what it should be has me disregarding this report here.

Just going to have to monitor things for myself and see how things go in the real world with people like ourselves behind the wheel.

 

[Aries]

Yea I'll definitely be looking into what European customers have to say about the quality of the Qashqai. Do you think that the quality of European Qashqais will be the same as those that come to North America?

 

[NissanDriver]

It could change since there's a chance production for U.S. models will happen on U.S. soil, something that could have an influence on the outcome.

 

[Aries]

It could change since there's a chance production for U.S. models will happen on U.S. soil, something that could have an influence on the outcome.

Do you think that quality depends on the factory more so than the brand or the model?

 

[Dualis]

I think it's the brand more than the factory. If a brand has to uphold their quality status quo then their factories will reflect this with beter products.

 

[Aries]

Quite true. I also think that the more popular a vehicle and the more volume it sells, the more likely it might suffer from quality issues.

 

[NissanDriver]

Quite true. I also think that the more popular a vehicle and the more volume it sells, the more likely it might suffer from quality issues.

Yes that is likely and it's the case right across the industry, just something we have to deal with but can't let be a deciding factor on a vehicle.

 

[Dualis]

Most quality issues can be fixed if you bring it back to the dealership or through a recall of some sort. Granted if it requires an replacement part then the wait will be longer. Can't have your cake and eat it too.

 

[Aries]

Most quality issues can be fixed if you bring it back to the dealership or through a recall of some sort. Granted if it requires an replacement part then the wait will be longer. Can't have your cake and eat it too.

A repair is fine, but when it is more than one issue it is just the inconvenience of having to go to the dealership, not have your car for a bit, etc...

Its when it goes from reasonable, to unreasonable that there is a problem. I'm not saying the Qashqai will be one or the other. I am just saying its annoying to buy a product and then have to take it in to get repaired multiple times.

 

[Dualis]

Let's hope it doesn't come to that after their rigorous testing. There doesn't seem to have been a Qashqai recall this year.

 

[NissanDriver]

As long as it's something that won't result in me only having no choice but to leave the vehicle with the dealer and having to do a lot of back and forth then. Hate doing that and its usually with the worst of problems.

 

[Dualis]

Kind of feel sorry fort eh guy that has to monitor the sounds system for 1,200 days. They can probably sing all of Mariah Carey's tracks from memory by now.

 

[NissanDriver]

They more than likely have specific sound they have to play along with just going with any random music since not all music will hit different levels of sound. Tracks designed to test audio systems are what they'll want to use for the most part, all for efficiency.

 

[Dualis]

So play a few limited tracks for specific frequencies. Poor guy...
Also, anyone know how big that bottle of Japanese green tea is? would give us an indicator on what the maximum cup holder size is.

 

[NissanDriver]

No idea, might take someone familiar with tea to help identify that one.

 

[Aries]

I know that they have to make specific cup holders for Americans because Americans have huge drink sizes compared to everyone else. A large in Canada is the size of a small in the US often times. So an American large is really, really large.