Nissan Navara Problems

The Navara and HiLux would be out, for me, because they are utes and you shouldn't be buying a truck just because it can tow well. The Grand Cherokee is a great drive but I also hear lots of complaints, so the Everest — engineered in Australia and based on the classy Ford Ranger ute — would be my pick as the smart choice.

The things that affect the Navara are clutch failures and worn injectors. You could check with the vendor to see if either of these problems has hit the car you're looking at. The clutches on most diesels are prone to failure, although some say it's because if driver technique. Most of today's common-rail diesels suffer from worn injectors, it's not a major problem, but it's one you need to be aware of.

It's impossible to diagnose the noise without actually hearing it first hand; the dealer is best placed to sort it out for you. The shudder is something I would be concerned about; it's in the range of city driving and would be annoying. Also, you have to be concerned about it getting worse over time and kays travelled. Certainly press the dealer, and Nisan, to sort it out.

Ask them, why, if it's normal that they want you to take it back every 1000km. That's not normal. It's clearly using oil and they are clearly checking it to see how much it is using. Quiz them about the reasons for the check, and what they plan to do about fixing the car.

Worn injectors are a possibility. I would take it to a diesel mechanic and have it checked.

The dealer is telling you that there is no record of it being serviced by a Nissan dealer, which would seem to be correct given that you have had an independent mechanic do the servicing. I would agree that a timing chain shouldn't be worn and rattling at such low kilometres, but I doubt you'll get anywhere with Nissan on this. If you feel you need to follow through on this call Nissan's Customer Service Centre (phone: 1800 035 035).

Both are capable vehicles, they’re both comfortable to ride in, and they will both tow your caravan. Either one would be a good choice, so I would suggest you test-drive both and decide which you like the best.

It's genuinely not Nissan's doing, as it takes a couple of years for local mapping to be collated and updated into a format for the satnav fitted by overseas makers. We're all being spoilt by Google maps.

The Jumbuck only got a two-star safety rating from ANCAP and the Mighty Boy was regularly rated in the bottom 10 cars sold in Australia for safety. You should not consider either but get something like a pre-loved Nissan Navara.

I agree with the advice you've been given, go up to high-range and get out of the problem area