Rent Nissan Kicks 2022 in Dubai

The Nissan Kicks 2022 is the car we hand to people whose Dubai life is mostly short hops: the morning commute, the supermarket, the school pickup, a run to the airport when a relative flies in. It rents in Dubai with a no-deposit option, and it costs almost nothing to keep on the road, which is why residents keep asking for it by name. We deliver it to your door in one to two hours. This page settles one question: whether a small, cheap-to-run crossover has the space and the puff for your week, or whether one extra passenger means you should book something bigger.

The running cost, and the mileage line to read

The Kicks runs a 1.6-litre naturally aspirated four making 118 hp and 149 Nm, sending drive to the front wheels through a CVT automatic. Nissan quotes 6.1 litres per 100 km combined. Dubai driving is thirstier than any brochure figure, because crawling traffic and the AC on full push it nearer 7. That still leaves it one of the cheapest cars we rent to keep fuelled.

The tank holds 41 litres. In city use that works out to roughly 500 to 600 km between visits to the pump, so a normal week of commuting and errands means filling up once, maybe twice if you live past the interchanges and drive in every day.

Then there's the mileage line, worth reading before you book. You get 250 km a day included, which is plenty for city life. Go over and it's AED 0.5 per extra km, so a Friday run down to Al Ain and back is the kind of day that wants a quick sum first. For the daily commute and weekend malls you won't come close. Salik tolls and any RTA fines are the renter's to pay, as they are on every car here.

Boot space and who actually fits

The boot is the part that surprises people. At 432 litres with the seats up it takes two large suitcases and a soft bag for a DXB or DWC pickup without folding anything away. Drop the rear bench and the floor opens into a long flat load bay, enough for a pushchair and a full trolley of shopping, or the boxes you gather when you move between flats.

Two adults up front sit high, with the upright view people choose a crossover for in the first place. The back seat is comfortable for two adults on shorter trips, or three children side by side. Add a fourth adult for a long airport run with everyone's cases loaded and it gets snug, and there's no hiding that in a car this length.

Size is also why it parks so easily. At 4.3 metres long and 1.76 wide it slots into the tight tower bays and stacked mall levels a full-size SUV has to fight for. The 200 mm of ground clearance rides over harsh speed bumps and steep ramp lips without scraping, so you're not holding your breath at every entrance. Don't read that height as desert ability, though. It's front-wheel drive on road tyres, happy on tarmac and quick to bog down in soft sand.

How the AC copes with a July car park

Cooling is what you'll really judge it on in summer, and the small cabin works for you here. There's less air inside to chill, so it drops from oven-hot to comfortable faster than a big SUV after the car has sat in the mid-40s all afternoon. The front vents blow hard and cold.

What it doesn't have is rear vents, so anyone in the back relies on air reaching them from the front. That's fine with one or two people behind, slower to settle a full rear row on the hottest days. Park in shade when you can and it stops mattering. The cabin plastics are hard and plain, which is what this price buys, but it's all put together tightly and easy to live with for a week or a month.

Who should book it, who should size up

Book the Kicks if you're one or two people who want a raised seat, a boot that genuinely swallows airport luggage, and running costs low enough that you stop thinking about them. Commuters, a solo resident between cars, a couple doing groceries and the odd airport pickup: this is squarely their car, and few things cost less to run.

Size up if you're regularly four adults with luggage, or a family that wants proper rear-seat room and rear vents through the summer. A mid-size crossover or a sedan will be more comfortable and barely drink more. And if the plan runs to dunes or rough tracks, this isn't it. The front-wheel drive keeps the Kicks on the blacktop where it belongs.

We hand the Nissan Kicks 2022 over at your door in one to two hours, and you'll need to be 21 to take the keys. For a low-cost, low-fuss stretch of Dubai driving with one or two aboard, it's very hard to beat.