Overview of the Nissan Navara
The Nissan Navara is one of the best-known utes on sale in Australia, having been around since the 1980s.
The Japanese brand was offering both a D22 and a slightly larger D40 model for some years before a new-generation Navara was introduced in 2015.
Dubbed NP300 publicly and D23 internally, the new Navara is notable for featuring car-like coil springs on its rear suspension rather than the load-carrying-focused leaf springs traditionally found in workhorse utes.
NISSAN NAVARA GENERATIONS (SINCE 1998)
1998-2014 (D22)
2005-2014 (D40)
2015 onwards (NP300/D23)
RUNNING COSTS
Fuel Consumption
2.3L 4-cylinder turbo diesel: 6.4 to 7.4 litres per 100km
2.3L 4-cylinder twin-turbo diesel: 6.3 to 7.0 litres per 100km
2.5L 4-cylinder petrol: 9.7 litres per 100km
2.5L 4-cylinder turbo diesel (D22): 7.3 to 9.2 litres per 100km
2.5L 4-cylinder turbo diesel (D40): 8.3 to 10.5 litres per 100km
4.0L 4-cylinder petrol (D40): 12.7 to 14.0 litres per 100km
4.0L 6-cylinder turbo diesel (D40): 9.3 litres per 100km
= Highly economical.
= Good economy.
= Average fuel use.
= Heavy consumption.
Servicing
Every 15,000km or 12 months, whichever is sooner. Each service for the latest (NP300) model currently costs between $554 and $744 (diesel) or $255 and $620 (petrol). Nissan Navara parts and equipment can be found on Gumtree.
SIMILAR MODELS TO NISSAN NAVARA
Ford Ranger
Holden Colorado
Mazda BT-50
Toyota HiLux
WHAT TO LOOK OUT FOR: NISSAN NAVARA (D40 - 2005 to 2014)
There are lots of these about as the Navara was extremely popular in the day. But things aren't quite as rosy now and the D40 Navara has some areas to check very closely.
That starts with the underbody which lacked a bit of protection for hard off-roading. The radiator also hangs below the lowest part of the chassis rails on the D40, so a damaged radiator is common. The driveshaft was alloy, not steel, and could be bent when jumping over rocks and trees off-road.
Clutches can give trouble thanks to a combination of a physically small clutch and a dual-mass flywheel, so make sure any Navara engages gears smoothly and easily, especially when cold.
The turbo diesel engine is generally okay, but 160,000km or so seems to be the point at which many Navaras develop timing-chain stretch or camshaft wear.
Be very careful with a Navara that has travelled more than that distance and know that many will hit the market at this point on the advice of the owner's mechanic.
