Looking to buy new D40 Dual Cab

[cjwade_2011]

Hello,

I have been looking around for utes and after the mush deliberation have set my mind at buying a new D40 Dualcab ute. It is to be mainly used for highway driving, a small amount of running around town(i have a work car) and some off road driving mainly on dirt tracks getting to my dads farm.

I am looking to get the STX in a manual.

As it is a family car, i was looking for something that rode really smoothly and didnt have the same amount fo engine noise as the BT-50/Ranger.

If there anything i should be warry of? Any know issues?

Also, does the vehicle get the milage as advertised per tank (8.5L/100 combined)? Is the dual climate control side to side or front to back?

Thanks for your responces in advance.

cjwade_2011

 

[KraftyPg]

Welcome the the forums.

I just put the old man in a BT50 and yes I prefer my STX (09) but he likes the BT50 (and no longer comments on the D40) so it's still a personal choice.

The only thing to be aware of with the Nav is not to believe all the bad press but that goes with for any car. Clutch issues are often spoken about but they aren't as prominent as they once were, brake issues get spoken about a bit but they can be driver related as much as anything else. Otherwise it's mainly about a lack of decent customer service from Nissan but that too comes from just about every dealer.

Economy comes down the driver and how it's driven. The figures on the window are done on a computer simulation which all cars undergo to supposedly level the playing field and make comparisons even. Some report figures that low others don't, a heavy foot will kill economy, adding extras will effect economy. Economy is an unknown figure especially until you start driving it.

Climate control I have no idea us poor 09 drivers didn't get it on our utes.

 

[Old.Tony]

Welcome to the forum.

Those figures are nearly impossible to attain. They measure the things on a dyno and there's no wind resistance involved - put any ute on the highway and you're basically looking at something that has all the grace and finesse in the airstream as a housebrick with headlights.

As Krafty said, the clutches are better, might still be an issue, but riding the clutch on a boat ramp trying to pull 2.8T of trailer+boat out of the water is going to strain anything.

As for smooth - yep, the D40 is, the auto is even better than the manual and has no clutch issues. The seats are nice and comfy, I've driven 1600km in one day towing our caravan and have enjoyed the journey.

Climate control? You lucky bugger.

Engine noise is something diesel owners just live with. After a while, you get used to it, you turn up the stereo, you almost enjoy hearing it.

 

[cjwade_2011]

Krafty, Old.Tony thanks for the information.

I dont plan at this stage on adding any extras and not really planning on towing (at this stage) so hopefully clutch will be ok.

I do appreciate the feed back on how they attain their figures for fuel consumption. I thought it would have been more actual driving, but can understand the need for a even playing field.

As i said i was considering the BT-50/Ranger for the room in the king cab, but was sold on the dual cab navara once i saw the seats fold up and provide a big space for things tou dont want to put in the tray. And the fact that they split 60/40 is even better if i have a passanger or two in the back.

As for the climate control, we all need a few mod cons (or at least the wife does).

Thanks again

 

[KraftyPg]

You may not get two passengers in the back with the split fold but you're right it does come in handy at times. I didn't think there was as much room in the BT cab as the Nav, but having got the old man in his I've only seen it three times since and now he's off up the NSW coast somewhere so I may never see it again.

I'd have loved climate control in the Nav, my N16 Pulsar had it and even my Forrester had it, I can't understand why until 2010 Nissan put it in Pathy's but not in Nav's (especially the STX's) I'd love to try the conversion from Nav panel to Pathy panel but I can't find enough information to back up whether it would be an easy job or not.

 

[BDW]

fuel figures around town expect 14 to 17 liters per 100.
Ride ,on smooth tared rds its ok, off road really harsh.
2010 D40 td auto.

 

[joe2006]

Fuel figures seem to vary a bit & who knows how much comes down to the car or driver.

Mine is both a combination of city & hwy driving & my consumption now is constantly in the 10's. That said, I am driving like consumption is important so I am sure that there is scope to increase the consumption if I wanted. A manual should be a bit more economical.

I am looking forward to the 10,000k service to see if these figures change & then might drive a little more aggressively.

That said, it appears that the figure on the windscreen is quite elusive. Lucky I did not pay any attention to it when I was buying the car

I can't help you with "known problems" although your likely to see lots of stuff posted on here, as you will on other car forums. Forums are great for information. I just think if I was buying another car, of any make, & my decision was based on problems that people have experienced, I would end up walking!

P.S

P.P.S I just checked the figures on the Nissan website re economy for the ST & mine is pretty much on the money at 10.5lt per 100ks.

 

[Pete22]

fuel figures around town expect 14 to 17 liters per 100.
Ride ,on smooth tared rds its ok, off road really harsh.
2010 D40 td auto.

Just wondering if you've done any suspension mods.......my 08 auto is quite comfortable off road and articulates OK for an IFS and leaf sprung rear. 14-17....seems a bit high....I tend to get around the 13.5 no matter where or how I drive....towing is around 14.5 (1.4 tonne Kanga Campertrailer). My suspension mods in signature below.

 

[BDW]

Yea i have replaced the standard suspenion with koni raid shocks , king springs and reset the rear leafs, raised the car about 40 to 50 mm, which pretty much put it back to standard height. The ride is 100% better off rd then standard. With fuel consumption, i have the following mods, arb fnt bar, 9500 winch, ipf lights, nissan snorkel, compressor, bfg 265/70/16 tyres, longranger 70l aux fuel tank. Ordered the car from nissan with bar , snorkel, tyres fitted. I have now done 18,000kms and very time i fill up i put 50liters in and reset the trip, 285 kms is the best so far, with 100kms on the hwy (this is with no load and one passengar) now i dont expect to get the factory figures BUT what i'm getting at the moment is worse then the 4.5 GU patrol i had. and nissan dont really care. The other thing is went on a 3500km trip from melb to flinders rangers, lake eyrie and back towing a 1.3 ton camp tralier and the car semi loaded and the figures were about the same 700 kms from 140 liters. So something isn't right.

 

[KraftyPg]

Any mod can effect economy and there is no set figure as to what a mod will add but I know over a long distance (100k or more) for my ute the different between 97 on cruise and 100 on cruise is more than enough to make the few minutes extra on the road worth it.

The other thing people need to take into account is the rest of their driving habits. staying under 100 to conserve fuel is one thing but stop start city traffic will also kill economy, how one takes off each time effects economy, how one accelerates and even maintains speed are all factors that can effect economy and while one person here says they are not a lead foot and try to take off slow we are still comparing unknowns unless we've seen each person drive.

If you're dead convinced it's not your driving habits that are the problem and ECU reset may work but given that the ECU re-learns every time the car moves any bad habits you re-teach it will help make the ECU reset seem pointless.

 

[Old.Tony]

20LPHK isn't bad for off-road hauling a trailer. I wouldn't be concerned about that.

Your car may not have had its "new vehicle" fuel map removed at the 10,000km service. In its first 10,000km your car is supposed to run rich while the engine is super-tight, it stops the engine from producing too much heat and causing excessive wear until the thing beds in. Mine began to settle at 13,000km and I did the fuel reset shortly afterwards, reducing my fuel consumption nicely.

I do recommend that you do the reset yourself, just to remove the richer fuel map and let the car start learning how you want to drive it. If you keep your max speed below 100km/h, don't rev it over 2500rpm and keep it in as high a gear as is reasonable, you will get much more reasonable mileage.

 

[Chris C]

Hi all,

Drove my Brand new ST-X D40 dual cab 2.5 manual home today from sydney.

Climate control is side to side, works very well, very easy to use.

Ride on the road: on dodgy city streets and rough country roads it chops a little bit, but I was unloaded, and there was 45psi in the tyres? so much for a pre delivery.

On good roads and highway, the ride is good to very good, I got out of my 2010 VX prado D4D wagon to drive the ST-X home, I noticed the noise straight away, but the prado is so quite it sounds like its electric, after 5 km in the ST-X I was very happy with how it drove, and at 110-115kph on highway it is really nice, low wind noise, no engine noise, for a dual cab ute I think its pretty good.

I would like a few of the features the Prado has like all auto windows, both up and down, the no key ignition system, Blue-tooth audio streaming would be nice too, but for low $40k price on the road, I cant complain.

Dealer filled the tank, drove from Liverpool, through the friday arvo trafic, home to outer maitland, I had zeroed the odo and reset the fuel use. I filled up at greenhills so I knew it was full, 202km trip home, 55 km being Sydney city friday traffic, the rst being F3 at 110=115 kph (indicated) fuel used for trip 17.2 liters ( 8.5 lts per 100) dash says 8.3/

Given the car has a grand total of 207km on the clock and is as tight as a snare drum, I am happy.