There’s a meme that’s been circulating the Internet for as long as I can remember. It shows a bunch of SUVs and crossovers all edited to be flat white, edited to appear the same size, and edited to have blank wheels. The meme, which we’ve written about, is usually followed with some commentary about how every crossover looks the same and boring. The antidote has existed for a while, but we collectively ignored it. The Nissan Juke was a total weirdo and the automotive industry needs more vehicles like it.
While that meme has been exaggerated to the point of being arguably inaccurate, it’s hard to deny that at least some automakers aren’t having the kind of fun they used to have less than 20 years ago. Manual transmissions are fighting for their lives, convertibles are an endangered species, and we probably shouldn’t talk about sedans and small work vans. Look no further than what Volkswagen has become. This was a company that was once willing to sell you a hot hatch with a narrow-angle VR6 or a sleeper off-road SUV. Now it wants to sell you a chunky Atlas with a 2-liter four that isn’t worth writing home about.
The subject of the Nissan Juke has entered my brain again thanks to Regular Car Reviews.
“Mr. Regular” Brian was harsh to the Juke and in ways it did earn it, but I’m left feeling that eventually, we’ll come to miss cars like these. Sure, the Juke was ugly to most and it didn’t really do anything Generic Crossover #3 couldn’t do, but unlike so many crossovers today it’s something you’ll remember, which I’m afraid I can’t say about how well its replacement, the Kicks, is holding up in my memory banks.
Our Jason Torchinsky has been spending an inordinate amount of time defending the vehicles contained in Craig Cheetham’s book, The World’s Worst Cars. Thankfully, the Nissan Juke is not in that book, but the obvious reason is that the book was published in 2005 while the first Jukes rolled off of the line in 2010. But we’d like to think that had that book been written today, Cheetham would have had some choice words for Nissan’s funky crossover. Regardless, plenty of people still hate the Juke even though sales officially ended in America 7 years ago. I’m going to do my best to redeem it!
Individuality Times 1.5 Million
The Nissan Juke was one of those experiments where an automaker decided to take a bet on being ridiculous. Sure, Nissan could just keep building the same thing and continue ringing the cash register. But, occasionally, automakers like the idea of a car that a buyers will think is as unique as they are. Our resident car designer, Adrian, explains the origins of the Juke:
Previewed by the Qazana concept that debuted at the 2009 Geneva motor show, it was the second Nissan designed and engineered entirely in the UK after the Qashqai (closely related to the Rogue/Rogue Sport available in the US). The Qashqai had been a final throw of the dice for Nissan Motor UK (NMUK) after years of pissing yen down the plug hole. CEO in a suitcase Carlos Ghosn had instituted a brutal cost cutting regime across the whole of Nissan globally and told NMUK to get its shit together or else. Gambling that customers would pay a little extra for a chunkier, roomier and higher riding Golf-sized car the rather inoffensive looking Qashqai practically invented the crossover. Not for nothing was it nicknamed the Cash Cow by the UK motoring media.
Relaxing in a swimming pool full of money, NMUK wanted to do the same thing again for the next class down – Euro B (US subcompact). Nissan Design Europe (along with MG the only OEM design studio in London) came up with the design tautology of combining a beach buggy with a four wheeled motorbike. The Qazana previewed a stubby, wheel-at-each-corner stance coupled with a coupe sloping roof and large wheel arch haunches, and a bug eyed split lighting arrangement that placed the DRLs and indicators on the hood, with the main headlights lower down either side of the grill.
Adrian goes on to note that Matthew Weaver, then Senior Exterior Designer of Nissan Design Europe, said:
Throughout the JUKE design process, using different sources of inspiration was key. I was on the train one day and remembered seeing a young man in a flat cap with a diamond skull on it, a bright t-shirt, a pinstripe jacket and trainers. It was an eclectic mix, but I thought: if people don’t have to conform, why should cars? Different is good, it stands out. That is exactly what we wanted to achieve with JUKE.
So, the big deal with the Juke was that it was different on purpose. Like a WhistlinDiesel video, the Juke is designed to elicit a response from you, regardless it’s that of disgust or awe. If you look close enough at a Juke you’ll see taillights that look like they were adapted from the 370Z, the sort of big wheels pushed as far out as they could be like a motorcycle, a sports car roofline, some vintage rally car-inspired headlights, and a crossover trying to bulge out of it all at the same time.
According to Nissan from Car Body Design, all of that is intentional. Nissan even says there’s some Cube in the Juke, but after squinting until it hurt I still don’t see it.
As Car Magazine UK wrote in 2009, the Juke also served a practical purpose. This tall, funky crossover was supposed to carry the small car torch from the Nissan Micra. Its manufacturing at Nissan Motor UK was also slated to keep 1,100 jobs around, too.
The Nissan Juke’s out-of-the-box design continued inside, where designers implemented a mix of sports car touches and tied them together with a center console that looked a bit like the fuel tank of a sport bike. Even the controls and the Integrated Control System graphical display on the center stack were just a bit weird.
Then there’s just the completely random stuff, like how the door armrests are supposed to resemble a SCUBA diver’s flippers. If you had any doubts about the Juke’s attempt to reference active lifestyles, the graphical display even had a G-force chart like a video game.
The same cannot be said for the rest of the vehicle underneath. The Juke rides on the Renault Nissan Alliance B platform, which underpins an impressive number of vehicles from the Nissan Cube and the Renault Clio to the Nissan Versa Note and the NV200 van. That meant MacPherson struts up front, a torsion beam in the rear for FWD models, and a multi-link rear setup for AWD Jukes.
Out of the gate, the Juke got a 1.6-liter turbo four good for 188 HP and 177 lb-ft of torque. Buyers had a choice of backing that engine with a CVT or a six-speed manual. Later, Nissan added the Nismo to the Juke lineup, which added a body kit, sport suspension, wheels, and race-inspired seats. Then there was the Nismo RS, which pumped the power up to 215 HP and 210 lb-ft of torque.
At its fastest, the Nismo RS hits 60 mph in the mid-6 second range, which is about a second faster than the base engine tune depending on who is behind the wheel. Those aren’t bad numbers for a crossover!
Liked By Reviewers, Hated By Everyone Else
Edmunds was clear and concise with its review, effectively stating that you trade some practicality for style:
Much like a teenager sporting piercings and multicolored, spiked hair, the 2015 Nissan Juke seemingly shouts “Look at me!” Though its styling may be controversial, there’s no denying that this compact crossover looks like nothing else in the small car segment. Plus, with its new Color Studio program for 2015, you can give it the automotive equivalent of multicolored, spiked hair — be it yellow mirrors and door handles on a red Juke, or blue wheels on a purple one. Indeed, it’s this unique degree of customization and personality that differentiates the Juke from other small crossovers and hatchbacks.
Under the skin, you’ll find a little runabout with a fun-to-drive personality to match its visual flamboyance. Most cars in this price range can be rather humdrum, but not the Juke. Boasting standard turbocharged power and a sport-tuned suspension, this Nissan provides a responsive and engaging drive. Furthermore, all-wheel drive is available, a rarity among small hatchbacks and a boon to those who live in inclement areas of the country. On the downside, though, rear passenger and cargo space are cramped compared with what’s provided by somewhat larger, more conventionally styled crossovers.
If interior space is a priority, you might consider a more sensible hatchback or crossover, such as a 2015 Mazda 3 or 2015 Subaru XV Crosstrek. The 2015 Kia Soul has some personality to it, and it’s also more practical than the Juke. You can’t get it with all-wheel drive, however. If having AWD is important, it may be worth checking the wave of subcompact SUVs hitting dealers in 2015, including the 2015 Jeep Renegade, 2016 Honda HR-V, 2016 Fiat 500X and 2016 Mazda CX-3. But overall we recommend the Juke if you’re looking for a small hatchback or crossover with sporting credentials.
Autocar put out a detailed review that knocked the Juke for numb steering, lack of space, and poor interior quality, but suggests that Nissan still stuck the landing:
So, do all the disparate design influences gel into a complete car? They do, to a surprising degree. Driving the Nissan Juke is always fun, partly to gauge reaction from the rest of the world, mostly because it really does drive as its looks suggest it should. To make a tall car handle with such verve without totally annihilating the ride is an impressive achievement, so you don’t have to suffer much for your high vantage point and your SUV-meets-coupé-meets-motorcycle vibes.
This isn’t a particularly practical car, but that’s not what the Juke is about. Rear accommodation is passable, but the ride worsens for rear passengers and the tightening window line makes it bleak in the back. The boot isn’t especially large, either. However, the sense of fun is heightened by a stylish interior that’s very different to anything else out there. It’s well appointed, too, which adds to the sense of value the Juke gives you.
Is the Juke for us? We found ourselves liking the car a lot. Interior plastics and numb steering count against it, but on the other hand it is good value for money and will be cheap to run. Best of all, it’s good to see a volume car maker daring to be different and making it work.
It appears most reviews agreed that the Juke sacrificed space and some comfort for its looks, but was generally a fun drive. Also, whether you liked the looks or not, the Juke was a distinctive vehicle. At least initially, this wasn’t some boring car that you would lose in a car park.
As Driven to Write noted, Nissan hoped the Juke was a return of its famous Pike Factory cars, the Figaro, Pao, and S-Cargo. These were delightfully odd cars that remain beloved by fans of our very own Jason Torchinsky even decades after they were built. Well, it sure seemed as though Nissan hit a Grand Slam because Juke production lasted about a decade, during which time Nissan moved over 1.5 million units. Yes, the irony of a car marketed around uniqueness selling so many units isn’t lost on me.
Yet, people still really hate these cars. Even some commenters on Adrian’s review of the new Juke got actively angry just because the Juke exists. Mr. Regular up there seems to dislike the Juke because he thinks it’s the ugly and impractical crossover for the dad who wants to feel cool and young again. The commenters of RCR’s videos seem to suggest you can’t be a car person and like a Juke. A number of our readers seem to suggest that the Juke is for non-car people. Both types of commenters make me wonder what happens if a car person happens to like the Juke.
Still, it’s worth noting that it wasn’t Nissan’s mission to make a class-leading crossover. It’s a styling and marketing exercise first, crossover second. In a way, it’s intentionally daft like the Smart Crossblade, but somehow, Nissan convinced over a million people to step up to the plate to buy one.
If you wanted the best crossover for carrying groceries, a Honda CR-V was readily available at the dealership right down the street. The Juke was for the kind of buyer who wanted some of the benefits of a crossover but still wanted something they’d turn around and look at while walking away. The Juke was for the kind of person who today might complain about how boring cars have gotten. Sure, the Juke is not really attractive, but it isn’t boring.
Nissan reportedly expected a Juke buyer to move up from their sporty crossover and into a 370Z, not a bigger crossover. The automaker was so proud of how polarizing the original Juke was that it considered making the next one even more polarizing.
Perhaps the best example of how the Juke wasn’t supposed to be taken super seriously is just how silly it got. The absolutely absurd Nissan Juke-R started off as an off-the-books project by Nissan employees and RML Group where some clearly mad engineers crammed the Nissan GT-R’s 3.8-liter twin-turbocharged V6 into the Juke, turning it into a monster with the taps turned up to 485 HP. Oh, and then Nissan built a 600 HP sequel because there’s no such thing as a Juke that’s too ridiculous. Nissan then sold three examples to wealthy customers, so it wasn’t even just an engineering showcase.
[Editor’s Note: I drove one of these once! It was bonkers, just bonkers. And all the ECUs still thought they were a GT-R so it was always confused. – JT]
I suppose part of the Juke’s reputation is Nissan’s own reputation. Nissan CVTs don’t have a great track record and the automaker pinched so many pennies that multiple reviews talked about cheap interiors. Nissan also set the expectation that the Juke would be a bit of a sports car, and it’s debatable how close Nissan came to hitting the mark.
Keep Cars Weird
Unfortunately, while the Juke did sell over 1.5 million units over its first generation, America really dragged the crossover down. As Automotive News reported in 2018, the Juke was one of Nissan’s best-selling cars in Europe in 2017 with 95,000 units sold. However, sales in the United States stalled out with just 10,157 units sold over the same timeframe, a number that was down 48 percent from 2016. The Juke’s controversial looks and space compromises were cited as causes, something that apparently didn’t bother European buyers that much.
Yet as Driven to Write notes, the Juke was such a runaway success on the global market that other automakers tried to make their own interpretations. Remember the original Hyundai Kona, the Toyota C-HR, and the Volkswagen T-Roc? Sorry America, we didn’t get that last one. The publication points out that the compact crossover segment is sizzling right now and at least to some extent, today’s cars have the Juke to thank for that.
So, Nissan pulled the plug on the U.S. market Juke after 2017, meaning we didn’t even get the car for its full run. We didn’t get the second-generation, either. Instead, we got the Kicks, a perfectly cromulent crossover, but with none of the pop of the Juke.
I think as a whole, oddities like the Juke are something we need more of today. Again, I won’t call the Juke pretty, but I don’t think it deserves the hate. But, like the Pontiac Aztek, Smart Fortwo, Toyota Prius, Volkswagen New Beetle, and Chrysler PT Cruiser, it seems to get people all hot and bothered. I suppose I’ll never understand getting physically angry that a vehicle exists, but the soup cans, eggs, keys, paintball splats, and bullet taken by my 2012 Smart Fortwo suggest there is a such thing as “too weird.”
Automakers should take chances, have a little fun, and stand out in the crowd from time to time. Just look at the Tesla Cybertruck. Everyone has an opinion on the Cybertruck and it’s just never leaving the news cycle. Of course, I’m not saying automakers should copy Elon’s playbook, but sometimes it’s okay to think outside of the box instead of just building another box.
For all of what made the original Juke perhaps too weird, I’m happy it existed. Perhaps 20 years from now I’ll tell a teenager about the time when Nissan tried to combine car and motorcycle design into some bizarre thing that looked like a frog. They’ll ignore me as they remain focused on whatever holographic displays will be around then, but at least I’ll tell that story with a smile.
(Images: Nissan)
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No. They a horrible, ugly, bloated things that are simultaneously too big outside and too cramped inside. Plus, all the ones I see are driven (badly) by idiots. There is nothing endearing about the Juke, and I am constantly bewildered about how many of the stupid things people have, seemingly on purpose, bought, and continue to drive around in.
Good, this is what I came here to say.
We don’t get the Altima here in the UK. But we do get the Juke. It holds a very similar stereotype here, in place of the Altima.
It does not deserve redemption, it deserves destruction.
So, it’s ugly af but at least the interior is cramped. Got it.
Half the comments here seem to be hating on the CVT. It’s a European car; it’s meant to be had with a manual and I’d bet that’s what the vast majority of the 1.5M sold were. Even the autos over here seem to be some sort of DCT.
Personally I’m not sure I’d want one but I’m glad when any weird car exists.
Two things prevented me from actually buying a Juke.
1: CVT
and
2: “Juke”
I’d never buy a CVT that wasn’t an eCVT.
Sometimes the product name is so unappealing that I can’t seriously consider it.
(Also, Kia Soul. While I may consider purchasing a soul some day, I’m not buying a Soul from a car dealership. While it’s usually not true, the name screams “this car is owned by a douche-bro Guy Fieri lookalike.”)
Yeah, I’ve been driving one since 2012 and I’ve never liked the name.
and it’s ‘Kicks’ replacement is no better in the name department.
I sort of like the Juke’s frog on acid styling but the underlying car is off-putting. I dislike CVTs, and Nissan’s has a bad reputation. If it was a Mazda underneath I’d consider it. My CX-5 is comparatively staid looking but it set the template for mid-sized crossovers and it’s both reliable and good to drive, beating out its Ford platform mates by avoiding both Ecoboost and Powershift.
My wife test drove a Juke, she wasn’t put off by the looks but it was immediately apparent that it was way too small to carry anything. She went for the CX-5 instead and loved it.
Yeah you really need to just fold the rear seats down. Or remove them, which might help gas mileage a smidgen by reducing weight?
I kinda wish they’d made a cargo version with no rear seats but some kind of compartment system and well-anchored D-rings.
I looked at these when they first dropped the NISMO models. The CVT was awful, but the stick wasn’t too bad – except it wasn’t available in AWD. The backseat room and cargo area were pretty compromised as well, and it just didn’t make sense to buy. I imagine most people who could get over the odd looks did the same sort of evaluation I did and bought something else. I did mind the styling when they first released, but I don’t think it has aged particularly well.
The thing that stopped me from buying the NISMO was the CVT. Alas! There’s one around my neighbourhood and I appreciate it in passing.
I respect the need to be individual and different, but in so many ways the Juke was a flawed product.
I will get tired of the looks eventually, but the poor practicality will bug me constantly.
I was cross shopping these and Sentras many, many years ago.
While I didn’t buy either, the Sentra was cheaper, offered way more space, and just drove better.
I am an unashamed lover of the Juke. I love the weird styling, the strange details and the general out-thereness of it all. I almost pulled the trigger on a used one but didn’t and got an Impreza hatch instead. What held me back? Horror story after horror story about the CVT in it. That was a risk I was unable to accept.
It’s not that enthusiasts hate cars that look different. It’s more a case of hating cars that aren’t very good at being cars. The Flex looks funky, yes? It looks as different from the large SUVs of its era as the Juke does from the small crossovers. The Flex actually works though. Under the panel wagon styling is a very practical and well-thought out family hauler. You’ll look twice as you walk away without also thinking about what a pain it will be to fit your passengers and their shit under that weird roofline. Being faster than you would expect from a small crossover is nice I guess, but how many people shopping in that segment are looking to lay down track times? It’s the same problem with the Hornet GT and its 270hp turbo engine. I doubt that you will find many people who put a premium on power in their inexpensive commuter/grocery getter. What they will notice is comfort, build quality, and how easy it is to fit stuff inside.
Exactly this. The Juke was a crossover that didn’t work very well as one.
Butt ugly, impractical, with a JATCO time bomb included? I’m stunned they sold a single one.
I like a strange and unique cars, but this is just a potato with wheels. Every shape and proportion is random and wrong. Your mileage may vary, but sales figures didn’t exactly set the world on fire.
Agreed. No good angle on the car.
There are. So. Many. Of. Them. here in the UK.
Jealous! 😉 Plus, way more manuals that we did, and you guys got the diesel version which, despite the mixed reviews I’ve seen, intrigues me.
I like potatoes in all their many forms… heck, I’m a fan of carbs in general. 😉
Didn’t Nissan sell over a million of these in total? Or am I misremembering? Not Camry or F-150 numbers, but not nothin’ either. Sadly, so few with manuals (at least here in SoCal).
I’m not contrarian just for the fun of it, but despite it being a cheap Nissan, and maybe less than photogenic, and perhaps impractically small, I still kind of want one …if only I could find a regular Juke (not Nismo) with a manual at anything resembling a sensible price.
The trunk on this thing was tiny. Had to rent one with three adults and we barely fit out stuff in because the trunk had a weird nonsquare shape.
I recently went through a bit of a Juke fetish: I’ve seen them around now and then, always liked their weirdness, and was intrigued by the fact that it was available with a regular transmission. My current daily driver is much bigger than I need 99% of the time, so the idea of swapping it for something half the size seems plausible.
I’ve never sat in one, let alone driven one, but as I indulge most of my (hopefully) temporary fetishes, I watched just about every relevant Juke video to be seen on Youtube. That’s how I learned of the second generation hybrid Juke, but sadly, it was never available in the US.
Anyway, even as I type this, I have several browser tabs open (from about a month ago, when this fetish started) for various car-buying websites, looking for a manual Juke. Not a Nismo R/S/whatever, just the regular Juke but with a manual transmission.
Even though Nissan sold a relatively large number of Jukes, there are very few to be had with manual transmissions.
I find a few a available in my area in Canada: https://www.autotrader.ca/cars/nissan/juke/on/cambridge/?rcp=15&rcs=0&srt=35&prx=250&prv=Ontario&loc=N1R%205B6&trans=Manual&hprc=True&wcp=True&sts=New-Used&inMarket=advancedSearch
Thanks Cal! I’m in LA and though I’ve been to Canada multiple times (and loved everything about it other than winter in Calgary) it’s a bit far for me to travel for a Juke. I do plan to go test drive a CVT model (since that’s all that’s to be had 98% of the time) just to get a feel for it. 🙂
I can’t say that I like the Juke’s style. To me, it looks like a Transformer that experienced a malfunction partway through its transformation and got stuck that way. Still, I don’t hate it and could even see owning one (manual only).
I can also appreciate Nissan’s willingness to take big swings, even if they whiff (in the US) now and then (Kicks, Cube, Juke). It’s understandable that it could be a big hit in Europe which has embraced a plethora of odd looking cars whose charms elude most Americans.
As a generalization, when compared with western Europe, the US is a very uptight place filled with a personality type I call conforming nonconformists.
We like to think we’re rugged individualists, but secretly, we crave approval from our neighbors. Outliers tend to challenge and/or frighten us and these responses frequently manifest as irrational rejection and hatred. It’s not universal, but does seem to prevail.
Of course this happens in Europe, too, they’ve just had a much longer time to get beyond many of the insecurities of their early histories, which we have yet to transcend.
Unusual anything brings out the defensiveness whether it’s a car like the Juke, the bearded lady in a sideshow, hairless cats, that weird modern house on the corner, or less outré cues such as skin tone. It’s this that I think makes so many negative responders so rabidly negative. And we’re just especially primed for polarization today.
The best thing (but not the only good thing) about the Juke, from my perspective, is that I could refer to Nissan dealers as Juke joints. The second best thing is that it might be possible to get a good deal on one these days.
In SoCal, high-mile ones can be had for as little as $5Kish, but 98% of used Jukes have CVTs, and those Nissan CVTs are pretty awful (and should be serviced every 50K miles regardless of Nissan’s own schedule). However, nicer/fancier/lower-mile Jukes (and presumably manual ones, should one ever come up near me in LA) fetch well up into the teen$, which isn’t nothing money-wise, everything being what it is.
Still, I kinda want one (at least, until I finally test drive one) though like you, only if it were a manual. 🙂
Lets be careful as enthusiasts that we don’t let nostalgia color what was an ordinary car with weird styling as something more than that. PT Cruiser, Aztec, etc. These aren’t anti-boring as much as they were dressed up boring.
The Juke is a fine car, and I have nothing against it or the people that love them, but its just a regular ol’ Nissan with polarizing style.
“These aren’t anti-boring as much as they were dressed up boring.”
That’s still something worthwhile. Most vehicles are boring in that way. If you’re not in a car, the non-boring attire is all you really get to enjoy, when you see it.
I agree, and something to consider, we don’t even get dressed up boring anymore. No coupes, no weird box cars, no amphibious crossovers like this. The new car market has never been blander than it is now.
And while the Juke was certainly flawed, we get what we deserve as far as I’m concerned.
beats the Nissans they make now with no style
It’s endlessly interesting, somewhat amusing, but ultimately kind of sad how people can be self-described “car enthusiasts” and then go on to “hate” a vehicle without knowing anything about it instead of enjoying it for what it is and what it is designed or supposed to do. How does one even “hate” an object such as a car? In this case it’s about the Juke, in other cases it’s about for example Nissan as a whole (often seemingly by people who’ve never driven or owned a Nissan, any Nissan, and are perfectly happy just stereotyping every Nissan driver and car), currently there’s a lot of this going on with anything Stellantis or even just EVs as a class of vehicles. Pickup trucks generate the same thing as well, from both sides of the equation either pro or con.
Meanwhile, stuff like BMW, Audi, and various other automobilia with often well-deserved reputations for fragility and expensive maintenance, never mind repair, along with just sometimes breaking stuff that never seems to fail in a Corolla with a zillion miles (plastic waterpump? Chain guides on the wrong end of the engine?) gets a free pass. Heck, even one of the writers here seems to hate timing belts, a component that can be scheduled and anticipated to be replaced proactively, so whatever…. Chains aren’t all perfect either in many instances.)
The world might be a better place if you couldn’t talk smack about any car unless and until you’ve experienced it in whatever your preferred format of it might be and been able to evaluate it based on what its manufacturer deemed its purpose to be, i.e. a ’16 Chevy Malibu doesn’t get measured by the same yardstick as an ’88 M3 or a ’24 Tundra. Just because something doesn’t work for person A for whatever reason doesn’t mean it’s not a great option for persons B through Z (and vice versa).
The Juke isn’t really my preferred cup of tea on the surface, yet I’ve never driven one and it’s size and format don’t really fit my needs, though it appears to get the job done for a lot of people, and I’ll admit I somehow wasn’t really aware it was powered by a 1.6 turbo that could be paired with a manual transmission until I read this. All of a sudden it dashes any assumptions of definite CVT issues, might even be fun to drive (seems quick enough, no?) has a more bonkers trim level (the Nismo), and seems to perhaps have the ingredients for the sportiest of crossovers this side of a Macan. Sure the back seat may not be the biggest but it’s probably no worse than a GTI, surely better than a Polo, and certainly better than that of a Camaro. And you can see more when stuck in the inevitable traffic, never mind the size seems handy for parking.
As written in the post, they apparently sold 1.5 million of them. That’s a lot more than many other far more highly regarded vehicles managed to sell, so I suppose it was a pretty big success for Nissan. Maybe some of the rest of us missed out, just like nowadays there are people thinking the Aztek wasn’t as bad as many assumed back when they were now. Maybe we took the naysayers at their word. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, one man’s beast is another’s beauty…
It has giant orange eyebrows and looks perpetually surprised.
Yeah…. nope. It always looked horrible, like offensively bad.
Whenever I saw one, all I could see was this guy.
Honestly it reminds me of that children’s tale, the Emperor’s new clothes. How the F that made it to production is baffling.
They knew it was bad too, so they tried desperately to convince some people it was cool by shoving a GTR engine in it. Still ugly. Still nope.
It made me think of Mr. Potato Head.
In response to the previous poster, not being enamored of the Juke doesn’t mean people hate it. It just seems like something on the far low end of the attractiveness scale. It is probably fun to drive with a manual, we just think that it wasn’t… Nissan’s best effort.
The bastard love child of an Altima and an Aztek.
*raises hand*
I test drove a Juke in (IIRC) 2014. I liked the look of the exterior and the interior wasn’t bad but the torque steer was not helpful.
I decided i would give it a try. The back seat was so incredibly cramped. The problem was its based on the versa hatch, which is HUGE. all i wanted was a versa hatch with the turbo and a stick
I’m just gonna leave this here (again):
https://youtu.be/DoLvjj7WJ0M?si=HJP5ZRgDTiH0BoOo
Every car has it’s fans, but I’m not in on the Juke. I did see a Nissan Axxess in traffic today. Like it better than the Juke.
Because it looks like its mother mainlined thalidomide
Omfg. Alright, someone’s gotta beat this one. 🙂
Nope. Shut it down. We have a winner.
Fucking savage. I love it.
Sorry this is out of line. Way out of line.
Because it was ugly, and stayed ugly no matter what was bolted on to it. Silk purse sow’s ear deal.