The all-new 2020 Nissan Juke is a funky little five-seater SUV. The last time I drove a Juke back in 2018 they looked rather more eccentric with an upturned nose!
This new model is rather more like the Toyota C-HR crossed with the previous Juke. With its rear door handles hidden in the rear window details and more chiselled rear features.
Looks aside, let's find out how the Nissan Juke fares when we put it through a week with my family and through our BabyDrive testing!
The Juke is small! That's our first observation. With our daughter in her forward-facing child seat, my husband at 184cm can sit in the front passenger set BUT introduce a rear-facing child seat or capsule and it's another story! Only I can sit in front of her and I'm 162cm! It's a similar story with this size of SUV, as seen in the Mazda CX-30, Hyundai Kona and Toyota C-HR.
The ceiling in the back is not too low so actually travelling in the back is not too bad. Space is tight so only two child seats fit and there is definitely no room between the two seats for anyone to sit.
Storage in the cabin of the Juke is very minimal, especially in the back where there is just a shelf in the back of the central console box and door bins.
In the front things are slightly improved with cup holders and a good size glove box and door bins.
I'm not a fan of the interior of the Juke, the shiny silver/grey plastic used in the central console feels cheap and flimsy and like it would scratch and mark easily.
In the boot, storage is quite good for a small SUV and it will hold ten shopping bags. That's comparable to the Toyota C-HR and Mazda CX-30 which also hold ten shopping bags. The Hyundai Kona holds nine bags and the Hyundai Venue holds eight. For comparison, the traditional hatchback shaped VW Polo which holds seven bags.
I found a twin side-by-side pram fits in the boot with the parcel shelf removed and five shopping bags and the other sizes of pram and stroller all fitted with the parcel shelf and varying amounts of shopping (see detailed storage section below).
There is a great seatbelt removal visual in the driver's display screen, which lights up green to tell you exactly who has got their seatbelt fastened in the front and rear seats, which is very handy. Also on the driver's display screen is the distance to empty in km which is really handy as a parent.
The distance to empty display becomes extra important as a parent because getting fuel with a baby is a whole new world of difficult. If they are screaming in the car you definitely do not want your journey prolonged with a fuel stop! If they are asleep the turning off of the engine, doors opening and locking and unlocking, then re-opening the doors and closing, starting the engine again, beepers going off because you haven’t got your seatbelt on when you start the car or because you blink in the wrong direction, do you take them out of the car when you go in to pay? If you do will you get them back in the seat again or will they have a complete meltdown and you’ll be stuck on the fuel station forecourt with a screaming baby!! Hopefully you are starting to gather the anxiety that what was once a simple fuel stop can be for a mum!!!!
For this reason the distance to empty display can let you know if you have enough fuel to make it home with bub and then go out and get fuel another time when you will not have to take bub with you.
The media system in the Nissan Juke is basic and one of the latest Nissan systems but it's still not very user friendly, so it's good news that Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are there to make using it sooo much easier!
The reversing camera screen in the Juke is VERY milky and hard to see clearly. This seemed to be the case no matter what light you are in and made reversing, parking maneuvering in school car parks etc really difficult.
The cruise control in the Nissan Juke really runs away with itself especially on undulating roads and at lower speeds.
Overall I found the 2020 Nissan Juke to be a quirky and compact BabyDrive, the boot space is good and the addition of Apple CarPlay helps that media system be more user friendly.
The Nissan Juke scored a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2020Â and comes with six airbags as standard. Both front passengers get front and side chest airbags and side head curtain airbags extend to the rear side passengers.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How good is the storage in the 2020 Nissan Juke? How big is the boot of the 2020 Nissan Juke?
The 2020 Nissan Juke has two cup holders in the central console that are well sized to hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup but a large refillable water bottle doesn't fit.
Behind them, there is no central console storage box, just a small storage well.
There is a small shelf with a 12V socket, USB and AUX socket, in front of the gear lever too which will hold a phone.
The glovebox is practical in size and will hold an iPad and my wallet with the manual.
The front door bins will hold a large refillable water bottle and there is a good amount of space behind it for an iPad or wallet too. There are little storage wells in the door handles too.
In the back, there is hardly any storage!? Just a small shelf in the back of the central console box.
The rear door bins will hold a large refillable water bottle too and there are also little storage wells in the handles as well.
Storage is better in the boot for a small SUV.
The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.
Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.
I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.
The boot of the Nissan Juke holds ten shopping bags when empty, which is comparable to the Toyota C-HR or Mazda CX-30 that both also hold ten shopping bags. The Hyundai Kona holds nine bags and the Hyundai Venue holds eight. For comparison, the traditional hatchback shaped VW Polo which holds seven bags.
A twin side-by-side stroller that fits in the boot, with the parcel shelf removed, with five shopping bags.
The tandem pram fits with four shopping bags.
The single pram fits with two shopping bags around it.
The Nano compact stroller fits with eight shopping bags beside it.
You could fit a medium-sized dog in the boot of the 2020 Nissan Juke with the parcel shelf removed.
The boot opening is nice and wide, which is great for lifting prams in and out although you do have to pick them up over quite a big lip. The floor is flat and even which is great for dogs and, if you are comfortable leaning over that high lip, for an emergency nappy change on the boot floor!
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the 2020 Nissan Juke? How good is the media system in the 2020 Nissan Juke?
The 2020 Nissan Juke media system is basic but not particularly simple to navigate.
Thankfully it now has apple CarPlay and Android Auto which make it soooo much batter to use.
The reversing camera image does fill the whole screen which is good but the image quality is VERY milky and I found it VERY hard to see in it when maneuvering during the day and night.
Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!
That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.
If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?
It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?
A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.
Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!
I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.
You can lock the doors and windows from the driver's door control panel. However, I found that when you locked the windows you couldn't still control them which can be a problem with little passengers with a tendency to fiddle with them! Because you have to unlock them in order to control them which also gives the little passengers the opportunity to use the controls too!
The indicators are not too loud and would not disturb a sleeping baby in the Nissan Juke.
The windows and doors in the Nissan Juke close relatively quietly and are not baby waking.
With baby asleep you can get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound.
With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up!
An alarm did not sound when I came to a stop, took off my seatbelt and opened the door with the engine still running either in the Nissan Juke.
Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!
SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)
The engine and road noise is quite loud in the Nissan Juke and you are certainly aware of it as the driver.
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the 2020 Nissan Juke?
The 2020 Nissan Juke has ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats, there are plastic covers…
…but you actually reach through to the red metal bars you can see in the back of the boot floor to connect them.
There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three backrests, they are clearly labelled and are easy to access through the boot and connect to.
Fitting child seats in the Nissan Juke is relatively easy. I could fit two child seats in the back, but with definitely no room for anyone to sit between the two seats.
With a rear-facing child seat or infant capsule, we found only a 162cm driver could fit in front of it.
With a forward-facing child seat installed a 184cm passenger could fit in front.
Posting bub into their child seat is fine from inside the car but from outside the Juke it is tighter because of the shape of the doorway for posting rear-facing bub into their seats.
Australia being a country of weather extremes blazing sun and torrential rain means you may find it easier to put bub into their seat from inside the car. If it’s hot you can get the aircon going, cool the car down and not stand out in the heat with the door open while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether bub can be easily installed from either direction.
There is room to feed bub in the back with only one child seat installed.
The seats in the ST+ model of Nissan Juke we tested are black woven fabric with patterned woven central panels which would be tricky to keep clean with kids and any crumbs and spills would get ingrained into the seats!
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is a 2020 Nissan Juke?
I found the seats of the 2020 Nissan Juke to be quite uncomfortable in the front as they tipped you back into them. I found I couldn't wear a ponytail while driving as the headrests are not adjustable!
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get it just right too… said no new mum ever!!!
The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down and the cruise controls are on the right side of the steering wheel. The cruise control is not adaptive on the lowish spec ST+ version tested so it will not keep a set distance from cars in front. The controls are on the right on the steering wheel and are easy to use.
There is a great seatbelt removal visual in the driver's display screen so you know exactly which passengers are wearing their seatbelts and you can see your distance to empty in km too which fantastic!
The lane departure warning is a vibration in the steering wheel rather than a beep which is good, it is quite a loud vibration though and you can definitely hear it from the other seats! You can turn the lane departure warning on and off with a button-down by the driver's right knee.
You can turn the auto engine cut out on and off from this panel too. This does shudder little to halt but I don't think it disturbed our little passengers.
There are five circular air-con vents across the front dash. Three below the media screen and one at either end of the dashboard.
There are no air vents in the back of the Nissan Juke and in the Australian summer rear passengers might struggle with that. We found we always pointed the central three straight toward the rear passengers to keep them cool.
The air conditioning controls are on the dash under the air vents and easy to reach and use while driving.
I found visibility surprisingly tricky in the Nissan Juke, because of that bucket like seating position and the rear windows sloping up at the back it was not as easy to see out as you would expect in a small SUV, the milky screen of the reversing camera really didn't help either when parking and maneuvering.
One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread when we drive big cars and utes as they tend to take longer to park in our tight apartment block carpark, the little Nissan Juke wasn't easy to park!
In the back, the ceiling light is centrally located above the front seats so I couldn't reach it easily from the front.
The handles above the rear doors on either side in the back are perfect for hanging a baby toy from.
I often will reach back to turn on the interior light if I am driving at night time, I find my little girl gets less distressed traveling at night that way. It helps if I can reach the interior light from the drivers seat so I can turn it on and off whilst driving. I often find my daughter will need it on as we start our journey in the dark but once she falls asleep I can turn it off.
It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.
It scored 94% for Adult Occupant Protection getting 36 out of 38.
It scored 87% for Child Occupant Protection getting 43.1 out of 49. ANCAP said this of the Child Occupant Protection testing:
In the frontal offset test, protection was ADEQUATE for the neck of both the 10 year and 6 year dummies and the head of the 6 year dummy, while the protection offered to all other critical body regions was GOOD.
In the side impact test, protection of all critical body areas was GOOD for both child dummies, and maximum points were scored.
The Nissan Juke is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages on the rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.
Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed GOOD results, and the Nissan Juke scored full points for this assessment.
Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound.
I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Bub’s asleep!
Share on
About Tace Clifford
Tace Clifford founded BabyDrive in 2017 after discovering a huge information gap in mainstream car reviews that left new parents and expanding families in the dark when it came to one of the biggest purchasing decisions of their lives.
The Mercedes-Benz GLA 250 is a practical little SUV for a family of four, easily fitting two child seats and a twin stroller with shopping in the boot Read More
1 Comment
Love the in-depth review of the 2020 Nissan Juke ST+! As a parent, I appreciate the focus on safety features and practicality. The BabyDrive Approved stamp gives me peace of mind when it comes to my little one’s safety on the road. Definitely considering this as our next family car!
Love the in-depth review of the 2020 Nissan Juke ST+! As a parent, I appreciate the focus on safety features and practicality. The BabyDrive Approved stamp gives me peace of mind when it comes to my little one’s safety on the road. Definitely considering this as our next family car!