This type of thing first surfaced during Covid-19 when supplies of semi-conductor chips computer dried up, forcing some manufacturers to either halt production or sell cars without certain functions enabled. And now, it seems as though a semiconductor shortage has occurred again, once again taking some major functions off the menu.

The Chinese-government-owned (but Dutch headquartered) Nexperia company has been embroiled in a major corporate dispute as the Dutch government seized control fearing security concerns and causing China to halt all exports of Nexperia semiconductors. It is believed Nissan is one of the companies that has been using Nexperia chips in models including the X-Trail. Some carmakers have been able to find alternative chip suppliers, others have not.

This situation could well be why Nissan can’t fix your car as quickly as you would like it to. In the meantime, Nissan and many other carmakers are faced with the choice of selling cars with functions disabled or not selling them at all.

Australian consumer law says you need to be patient and give Nissan the opportunity to make things right when it can. And that seems like pretty sound advice.

This is far from an unknown problem, and there seems to be a couple of major causes.

The first is a failed or failing 12-volt battery that needs to be replaced. It seems odd that the conventional 12-volt battery could have an effect on the high-voltage e-Power hybrid system, but the 12-volt battery is actually critical for initialising the car’s various systems when you start it up.

The second cause we’ve heard of is a clogged or failed EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) valve which forces the car into 'limp home' mode to avoid further damage to the engine.

Your car is under warranty, so that should cover things, but we’ve heard of some owners waiting long periods for replacement parts for this model. Either way, it’s back to the dealership for this one.

A loss of engine power can be due to many things. Most mechanics will start with a check of the fuel and ignition systems to check for things like dud spark plugs, ignition timing, broken ignition leads and coils and whether or not enough fuel is reaching the engine (worn fuel pump or blocked fuel filter). If all that checks out, then the search will move to mechanical things like the camshaft timing, and whether there’s a leaking engine valve or a vacuum leak somewhere.

The 2.5-litre petrol engine in your X-Trail is a very well known quantity, so there’s plenty of expertise out there. A workshop that deals with Nissans in particular may have seen exactly this problem before and will be able to go straight to the cause.

Meantime, don’t rule out the really obvious stuff like a dragging brake that could be making the vehicle feel sluggish.