Kadjar Diaries – A Whole New World

1) I don’t understand the key. It’s the size of a small mobile phone, which suggests entry should be keyless but it isn’t (although starting the car is), and because you can’t attach it to a key chain I am paranoid about it falling out of my pocket unnoticed. More importantly, with no means of orientating the (symmetrical) key to locate the correct button by touch alone, I find myself pressing buttons at random every time I have to unlock it at night.

2) The radio resets the volume every time you turn the car on, and the rear view mirror defaults to auto-dip mode. Okay, it only takes a second to put both back, but there’s a principle at stake here – I am the adult in this relationship, so the car should do as I ask, not use its own discretion!

3) The auto-wipe and auto-dip have an occasional mind of their own. Which, as you can imagine, is frustrating if it’s raining. Or dark…

I suspect some of these niggles (all of which are minor) could be cured by the simple medium of reading the manual, but I am nothing if not pig-headed, and fully expect cars to be intuitive…

Other than that, I really like it. It’s got enough turbo-diesel torque to overtake slow-moving vehicles on the country lanes of West Sussex, and, although no sports car, goes around corners with enthusiasm. The sound system is excellent (once I’ve turned the volume up to where it should be!), the cabin is light and airy thanks to the panoramic roof, the electrically-adjustable seats make long stints behind the wheel a pleasure, and the dog loves the view from the boot! Overall, it has a sense of occasion and presence that exceeds expectations given its sub-£25,000 price tag.

My only problem now will be stopping Mr Miles from taking the (irritating) key back…

Average fuel consumption this week: 49.3mpg

Price of our car (Signature Nav dCi 130 2WD)  £23,570 plus £800 optional extras