I rented one in the UK for a few days and it was amazing for all the roads we had to hit outside Bath and through the countryside. An EV version of that would be hugely appealing to me.
It’s not even the exterior I love (although I don’t mind it), the car just felt great to drive on those smaller roads. It was a joy.
I’m sure I’d get the same king of feeling if I drove a Mini or something else with a smaller form, I’ve mostly driven SUV’s and the occasional sedan (including my Ioniq 6). It was just way more fun and satisfying to drive than I expected.
It took me a few reads to understand that you were being serious. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any love for the Juke that wasn’t absolutely sarcastic. It’s really clear you’re not from the UK!
But honestly, given what you’ve said about mostly driving SUVs and sedans - definitely try other smaller cars! The Juke is rather bland compared to basically everything else.
Calling it a strong dislike is probably overstating it, it’s just us being sarcastic arseholes mostly. I don’t actively dislike it, and I expect most people don’t either, I just think it’s incredibly meh and would never personally choose to drive one unless I had to.
So, general reasons:
They’re generally regarded as ugly. But the people who buy them claim they’re quirky. I just think it looks bulbous and weird. Including the newer ones.
The height and weight make it more inefficient.
It looks like it should be able to handle off-road driving somewhat competently, even if nowhere near as good as a proper off-roader, but it can’t (there are some 4WD/AWD versions but the typical one isn’t).
There’s not actually more space inside than a hatchback would have in the original (and massively more common) versions (pre-2018 I think?). Some people bought them assuming they’re roomier, but they just aren’t. To use an example, the original Juke had a boot capacity of 251 litres. And so did my Volkswagen Up, which is a city car and is very obviously a city car. It’s not the smallest car on the road, but it’s pretty small. I recognise you won’t know that car, so to put it into perspective, the dimensions of the Up were L 3.54m, W 1.64m, height 1.49m. The Juke (2011) is L 4.14m, W 1.77m, H 1.56m. Fold down the seats of the Juke and you get 1,189 litres, which is respectable, sure. But my smaller hatchback could have 951 litres with the seat folded down. It’s just not the boot space you’d expect from an “SUV”. Pretty sure the newer ones have fixed this, at least.
They’re also just so incredibly common that I think we’re broadly sick of the sight of them! Them and the Qashqai. Plus, with how common they are, it’s pretty common for a dithering driver to be in one. Or an arsehole. They’re popular with mums to take their kids to school and middle-aged people who know nothing at all about cars so that doesn’t really help their broader reputation either.
As far as I know, their reliability (at least the original models) is pretty shit too. Or so I’ve heard.
My wife owned a Juke for 7 years and 155,000 miles. AWD was good in the snow. She loved the “frog like” look. Only missing it because a red light runner crashed her. It took the hit well and my wife was physically ok. They don’t sell them anymore in the USA. She would buy the Juke EV in 2 seconds if it has AWD.
So, there is some Juke love out there.
Only complaint I have is that snow piles in the recessed headlights, so you have to clear the lights in a storm. Not ideal.
An electric Juke would be fucking siiiiiiick.
I rented one in the UK for a few days and it was amazing for all the roads we had to hit outside Bath and through the countryside. An EV version of that would be hugely appealing to me.
I get that taste is subjective, but honestly I struggle to comprehend that people can find the Juke attractive.
It’s not even the exterior I love (although I don’t mind it), the car just felt great to drive on those smaller roads. It was a joy.
I’m sure I’d get the same king of feeling if I drove a Mini or something else with a smaller form, I’ve mostly driven SUV’s and the occasional sedan (including my Ioniq 6). It was just way more fun and satisfying to drive than I expected.
It took me a few reads to understand that you were being serious. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any love for the Juke that wasn’t absolutely sarcastic. It’s really clear you’re not from the UK!
But honestly, given what you’ve said about mostly driving SUVs and sedans - definitely try other smaller cars! The Juke is rather bland compared to basically everything else.
Apparently I stepped on some UK land mine about liking the experience of driving a Juke lol.
Do people really dislike it that much over there? What’s the reason?
Calling it a strong dislike is probably overstating it, it’s just us being sarcastic arseholes mostly. I don’t actively dislike it, and I expect most people don’t either, I just think it’s incredibly meh and would never personally choose to drive one unless I had to.
So, general reasons:
They’re generally regarded as ugly. But the people who buy them claim they’re quirky. I just think it looks bulbous and weird. Including the newer ones.
The height and weight make it more inefficient.
It looks like it should be able to handle off-road driving somewhat competently, even if nowhere near as good as a proper off-roader, but it can’t (there are some 4WD/AWD versions but the typical one isn’t).
There’s not actually more space inside than a hatchback would have in the original (and massively more common) versions (pre-2018 I think?). Some people bought them assuming they’re roomier, but they just aren’t. To use an example, the original Juke had a boot capacity of 251 litres. And so did my Volkswagen Up, which is a city car and is very obviously a city car. It’s not the smallest car on the road, but it’s pretty small. I recognise you won’t know that car, so to put it into perspective, the dimensions of the Up were L 3.54m, W 1.64m, height 1.49m. The Juke (2011) is L 4.14m, W 1.77m, H 1.56m. Fold down the seats of the Juke and you get 1,189 litres, which is respectable, sure. But my smaller hatchback could have 951 litres with the seat folded down. It’s just not the boot space you’d expect from an “SUV”. Pretty sure the newer ones have fixed this, at least.
They’re also just so incredibly common that I think we’re broadly sick of the sight of them! Them and the Qashqai. Plus, with how common they are, it’s pretty common for a dithering driver to be in one. Or an arsehole. They’re popular with mums to take their kids to school and middle-aged people who know nothing at all about cars so that doesn’t really help their broader reputation either.
As far as I know, their reliability (at least the original models) is pretty shit too. Or so I’ve heard.
My wife owned a Juke for 7 years and 155,000 miles. AWD was good in the snow. She loved the “frog like” look. Only missing it because a red light runner crashed her. It took the hit well and my wife was physically ok. They don’t sell them anymore in the USA. She would buy the Juke EV in 2 seconds if it has AWD. So, there is some Juke love out there. Only complaint I have is that snow piles in the recessed headlights, so you have to clear the lights in a storm. Not ideal.
I test drove one here in the US a few years back and loved loved loved it. Then again, I played a TON of Mario Kart 64 growing up…