G'day there

2fargon · Jul 14, 2011

G'day there,

My names Mark, I'm from Mandurah in WA. I'm looking at buying a DC D40 and would really appreciate some advice from you guys in the know.

The situation is this. I need a DC to lug the kiddies around on weekends. I need to use the car mainly for sales repping (window coverings), but occasioinally use it for manual installs and would need to carry blinds and tools around. My research so far has me looking at a near new D40, for driving comfort and the handy fold-up back seat, although there are some good deals on demo Rangers at the moment too. I need an auto so the finance minister can drive it, and I've been led to believe the Nissan auto is a pretty good thing (as opposed to the clutches).

If I go the Navara, I need to decide on petrol v deisel. It would be great if any of you guys have experienced both and could give your opinions. I am aware of the consumtion differences, but like a bit of power under foot and I'm worried about the lack of low down in the deisel.

Thanks in advance guys.

Mark

Old.Tony · Jul 14, 2011

Welcome to the forum, Mark.

I'd be concerned with carrying capacity, to be honest. Any of the utes you buy will have limited space for carrying blinds - so a standard 1800mm window blind will be about the biggest you'd fit in on a diagonal in the tub. You might be better served getting a wagon or a van, at least that way you can carry the 210cm blinds as well.

But, if you're set on a ute ... the D40 is certainly not a bad vehicle. It has a larger cabin (by about 175mm) than the D22 and that's mostly in the back seat area. Child seats fit in there nicely - if you have to use them in rear-facing mode (children under 6 months) and if you're tall like I am, then you have to put the seat in the middle - but the D40 STX comes with 3 child seat anchors.

The petrol is a guzzler compared to the diesel but has smooth power throughout the range. The diesel has (in reality) only a small amount of lag down low - if you put your foot down hard, it takes all of about a half-second or so for the thing to kick you in the pants. The diesel is noisy compared to the petrol but will last longer and let you go more places if you decide to get a little adventurous.

If you block the EGR and chip the diesel you can change that mapping so that the lag almost becomes negligible.

As for maximum power - once the turbo is doing its thing - the diesel is very, very strong and the petrol (in real, usable terms) doesn't outshine the diesel by much at all.

Tiburn · Jul 14, 2011

HI welcome to the forum, Old Tony has summed it up very well.

I would recommend diesel all the way

2fargon · Jul 15, 2011

Thanks for the feedback guys. Tony, I already have a van that I used in my installer days but my guys now use and was looking more for a vehicle that could do some of the support work (as well as it's regular job). As for carrying long blinds, I would look into getting racks if the need became apparent.
A friend had a new D40 Deisel (6sp) and I'll be having a look at that soon. Also, have seen a 2008 STX Petrol Auto in a local dealer. Will have a gander at that one too in the coming days. But for only a little bit more I can get a Ranger undriven demo. About 36k. I'll check back in once I've had a closer look at em'.

Thaks again!

Old.Tony · Jul 15, 2011

The clutch in the D40 manual might let you down, particularly if you drive it hard. The auto is very smooth and is very, very highly recommended and preferred if you consider towing anything. The same would be true for almost (not all - the D22 is an exception) all utes these days - they have started using dual mass flywheels which have thinner faces and would heat fast, wearing the clutch quicker, which is what their problem is. Some die as early as 20,000km.

My auto is 62,000km since I bought it new, towed for half its life - some forest, some mountains, some coastal, some desert - it takes it all in its stride. Every time this pic (or some from the same trip comes up, we wanna go do it again - this is our rig on the Ernest Giles Road.