Owner Review: This truck has always been the "mother trucker" for me - My Nissan Navara

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Basic information

2015 Nissan Navara NP300 VL

Reasons why I bought this car

The sole purpose of this vehicle is for daily work use,and Transporting heavy items.

Car selection process

• I had a budget of: RM100+k (taking loan)

• Models that I have considered include: Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, Mazda BT-50

This isn't my car, it's my dad's. He is a huge supporter of Nissan. Why? Well, his first car was a Nissan Vannette, later he upgraded to a Frontier, further on he upgraded to the Navara D40. So it just seems appropriate if the NP300 is the next upgrade. When the NP300 first launched in Malaysia my dad was already eager to take a look & test drive it. & also cause I kept pestering him haha :P Not only that, we booked it during preview day & we got a pretty big discount as well.

User experience

• I have already done 161091 kms.

I have driven this car quite often when it was still quite new. I'd say the NP300 is a huge upgrade over the D40. It was the 1st pickup to have a 7 speed auto back then.  Dare I say it drives really well. It is abit hesistant to kickdown though, but highway driving wise it's really smooth. Furthermore the unit we took is the top spec VL. Plenty of power. Next, the front seats are more comfortable, so are the rear ones. The infotainment and dashboard has adequate functions. Can't forget that the NP300's ride is also very comfortable, thanks to the coil springs at the back. We took some long journey trips in it & the ride was great. but even though the rear seats are better than before, it is still kinda uncomfortable for really long trips. It is still better than the previous D40.

Pros & Cons:

Pros

7 speed auto is sufficient & smooth

• Great muscular looks
• Rear coil spring suspension is comfortable
• 190PS is top of the class in the 2.5L category (cheaper roadtax than 2.8 or 3.2L)
• Reliable engine
• LED headlamps with DRL
• Zero gravity front seats is comfortable
• Infotainment & dashboard equipment is sufficient

Cons

• Rear suspension sinks abit too much when carrying really heavy loads. (Replaced with stiffer springs)
• It's a big car, visibility & parking in tight spaces is an issue (our's especially due to having a canopy) but it has a reverse camera so it's still alright
• Gearbox is kinda hesistant to kickdown but you can opt to use the manual mode
• Rear seats still abit too upright & uncomfortable for long distance trips
• Wind noise is abit loud going at high speeds (also because of the gap in between the cab & the canopy)

Ratings:

• Total Score: 4
• Performance: 4 
• Quality & Features: 4
• Space: 5
• Ride Comfort: 4
• Fuel Economy: 4
• Price & Cost: 4

Summary

The Navara has always been the "mother trucker" for me until the Ranger Raptor appeared. but the Navara is still the best value for money pickup truck you can buy. Plenty of power, decent gearbox & great ride comfort. Personally I wouldn't add the canopy but my dad needed it as he uses it for work. But it is nice to drive his car sometimes, because ppl on the road do give way to you most of the time. But I don't really enjoy the handling of it, I do not have much confidence chucking it around corners, but it is really fun to drive fast on the highway/straights. It is the only turbocharged car in our family, so sometimes when I really do miss the feeling of driving a big, powerful car. I'd just ask for permission & take it out for a spin. Driving the Navara also helped me learn alot abt judging the space gap & size since it's a big car. So it's alot easier for me when I'm driving a smaller car. Overall it has been a great experience & i'm glad to see that the Navara has served my dad very well & is still running good after 5 years of ownership. We're looking forward to the new facelift coming out soon, time for me to pester him to test drive it when it arrives.

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