LIVING WITH A... NISSAN NAVARA
SECOND REPORT Addition of load cover gives pick-up practicality boost
Addition of a load bed cover makes our pick-up even more practical.
IT ’S a commercial vehicle; the tax man says so, the DVLA says so and any number of farmers, builders and landscape gardeners throughout the land wouldn’t disagree. And yet the Nissan NP300 Navara wants to be so much more.
Pick-ups today are very much ‘dual use’. Ironically, it’s mainly that classification as a commercial vehicle, and the tax advantages it entails, which makes double-cab trucks like the Navara attractive options for family car buyers. So we’re asking whether a pickup really can make a good family car while we keep the Nissan on our fleet.
The first step to giving it a fighting chance is to fit a load cover to the rear, to finally create a boot; something high on the priority list of family car buyers. Without a cover, a double-cab truck is completely lacking in secure load space, so you’re forced to shove whatever you need to carry on the back seats with your passengers.
With one of the numerous load covers that Nissan includes in the 125-strong dealer-fit accessory range, you’ve got a big, lockable, weatherproof storage area out back. In other words, a similar arrangement to a large SUV which the Navara is aiming to present an affordable alternative to.
We had a hinged aluminium cover fitted to our Navara at Motorpoint Nissan in Maidstone, Kent. At £1,800, it takes the total price of our Tekna test car with options to £31,794. That’s a fair outlay for a commercial vehicle, but still significantly cheaper than large SUVS like the Mitsubishi Shogun – and you sure get a lot of metal for your money.
Practicality
WITH the flip-top rear, there’s a lot of space in the plastic-lined load bed (another £360 option). It should be plenty for a selection of holiday luggage or even a couple of children’s bikes, while features like adjustable load tiedown points help secure your stuff on the go.
Inside, the Navara does a very passable impression of a modern SUV. Tekna trim gets leather seats and a seven-inch infotainment system with sat-nav, DAB and a 360-degree colour reversing camera. Plus, aside from some harsher plastics, it feels similar to Nissan’s X-trail SUV, although rear legroom isn’t as good.
However, there are obvious differences. Compared with even the most off-roadfocused SUVS, the Navara is agricultural, even if it is a more refined pick-up. The clunky manual gearbox in our model is probably the single biggest issue, and makes the £1,700 automatic look a sensible buy.
The Nissan is 5,330mm long and 2,085mm wide with its wing mirrors, so it’s not the easiest thing to thread through a multi-storey car park. Yet on the open road, it’s reasonably car-like.
There are noticeable vibrations through the steering wheel and gearlever, but the 187bhp 2.3-litre twin-turbo diesel unit is well suppressed. The 27.5mpg economy we’ve been averaging is disappointing, although given the Navara’s size and weight, it isn’t too far behind some 4x4s.
“We’re asking whether a pickup can make a good family car”