The 2012 Nissan Navara 4x4 Crew cab utility was a fine car. It had a 2.5 litre Common Rail Turbo Charged Intercooled diesel engine and with its 400 nm of torque is is quite capable of towing our 2 tonne caravan. Fuel consumption is somewhat disappointing however: without the caravan this vehicle achieves around 10 - 12 litres/100km, quite good but once the van is hooked on this figure jumps dramatically to around 17 litres/100km!.

Why this happens is quite easy to explain: firstly, adding two tonnes of square brick hanging on the back is of course going to add to the amount of fuel required but what also increases this usage is its automatic transmission, it is a 5 speed tranny and 5th gear is over-drive, all is well when traveling along a flat highway, at 90 - 95 km/hr (our usual speed) the tacho is sitting on around 1700 RPM in OD, problem is that as soon as the slightest hill is encountered the transmission will drop back to 4th and the revs jump to 2500 or more!, and there goes economy.

In hindsight perhaps a manual transmission would have been a better choice but we have heard of a number of issues with modern clutches, not just Nissan either, apparently many similar vehicles these days utilize what is known as a 'dual mass flywheel', the design is such that it tends to smooth out any roughness but we understand that this type of clutch is very intolerant of heat, and often it is necessary to experience some slippage (heat) when manoeuvring a caravan or trailer. 

The following notes were entered as we used the Navara.

Update note....the vehicle has now travelled over 20'000km and the fuel consumption seems to have improved, it was suggested to me that this would happen...a recent check returned 11.12L/100km in a mixture of city and country driving, with the caravan 15.2L/100km was gained on our western trip so while this improvement is welcome it does show that a diesel engine equipped with modern refinements such as turbo charged induction and a common rail will not necessarily be frugal on fuel.

Update 2, February 2015, (had the car 12 months now) at this stage we have travelled about 26000km. After chatting to owners of similar vehicles I realize that perhaps fuel consumption is not that bad, our most recent trip to Sydney achieved around 15L/100km consistently and as this trip, unlike the western Queensland trip, involved a large degree of hilly country perhaps that is not excessive. Having said that, while I accept the high fuel consumption I am still quite unhappy with the towing capabilities of this vehicle, despite being rated with a 3000kg towing capacity and with 300kg on the ball I find that it very nearly rides on the bump stops with our 2000kg (210kg on ball) caravan hitched up, we have often experienced a thud when the axle contacts the bump stops!. I am also quite unhappy with the four wheel drive capabilities of this vehicle, despite at this point doing very little off road driving. According to the specifications the Navara has a ground clearance of just 205mm and a wading depth maximum of 450mm, it also has very poor underbody protection, the fuel tank (plastic) has no protection at all! by comparison our Rodeo before was 250mm and 600mm respectively, and there was a steel plate covering the tank. This might seem to be quite pointless to mention as in the past 12 months we have done almost no off road work but the fact is I am hesitant to do go off road due mainly to the reasons above.

In summary, when I brought this car I had in mind to keep it for many years, it would quite possibly be my very last car, unfortunately it is more likely that there will be a car number 33, so watch this space

Update.

Now, at 31000km I can say that things certainly improved, a recent fuel consumption test came back at 9.97 L/km around town and 14.76 average on our ANZAC Trip south.

I did have the suspension upgraded however, that made a big difference to the way the vehicle rides. A snorkel has been fitted now too, I did that not so much from creek crossings but because I wanted to get the air intake up away from the dusty road we seem to be finding more and more of...

Another update....in June 2016 at 43'000 km everything is going good, unfortunately I have been quite disappointed with the performance of my local Nissan service centre, I have been taking it to the same place for a number of years, now that the warranty has expired I have considered taking it elsewhere, Nissan servicing costs are quite high, this time, June 2016 I applied a number of 'traps' to the vehicle with a 'white out' brush, I marked various items that were listed on the service invoice...they failed miserably.

December 2017 Update.

The Navara has now travelled 63'000 and I have to say that I have totally changed my mind about this vehicle....it has performed perfectly!...it has had no issues at all. Nothing. It has spent the biggest part of its life towing our caravan and has not complained. I have not done much off roading however. Fuel consumptions averaging 15.5 L/100km and considering the 2 tonne caravan I am happy with that.

Earlier this year we had a canopy installed on it and this has made a big difference..

In 2020 we decided to upgrade and we were very happy with the value we got at trade in time...it really does pay to look after motor vehicles