Navara Purchase

[user 21299]

I need a bit of advise on purchase. I havent been on this forum for about 3 years after selling my ZD30 2005 nav to my son, probably the worst decision I have made in a long time. I wont say what I replaced it with but that was another bad decision. I tow a caravan 1900atm and I'm thinking of buying a 2.5 D22. I know they have the same issues as the ZD30 regards pulling off hills etc but have they better pulling power when it comes to just dragging the van up a hill on the highway. My budget is no more that 20k and that puts me at the earlier models of the D40 which I believe had their own issues. I'm old enough to like the simplicity of locking front hubs and 2 gears sticks in the D22. I had the zd30 from new in 2005 and it has now done 300,000 and still going strong and on advice on this forum had done blanking plate and turbo mods so was wondering if I could expect similar reliability from the 2.5 D22. Thanks.

 

[ben85]

I need a bit of advise on purchase. I havent been on this forum for about 3 years after selling my ZD30 2005 nav to my son, probably the worst decision I have made in a long time. I wont say what I replaced it with but that was another bad decision. I tow a caravan 1900atm and I'm thinking of buying a 2.5 D22. I know they have the same issues as the ZD30 regards pulling off hills etc but have they better pulling power when it comes to just dragging the van up a hill on the highway. My budget is no more that 20k and that puts me at the earlier models of the D40 which I believe had their own issues. I'm old enough to like the simplicity of locking front hubs and 2 gears sticks in the D22. I had the zd30 from new in 2005 and it has now done 300,000 and still going strong and on advice on this forum had done blanking plate and turbo mods so was wondering if I could expect similar reliability from the 2.5 D22. Thanks.

Some people might argue in favour of one over the other but i dont think there would be much difference.
I hear people complain about a lack of power towing in the 2.5 d22, guys that have had a 3.0 d22 previously saying that the 2.5 doesnt pull as hard.

If if was my 20 grand i'd be looking at something a bit more modern, probably a triton in auto.

D40s seem nice but have there issues with clutches in manual, and the common complaint of shuddering autos.

Auto seems the obvious choice these days, especially if towing, it may be a good idea to fit an after market trans cooler though.

 

[jonney]

The D22/ 2.5 comes alive with good pulling torque after a good exhaust system and a chip / tune is fitted . yes a nice simple vehicle without those breakdown electronic devices all the other makes now have fitted standard.

 

[tony d22]

I don't think it matters what you end up getting, you just have to drive it to the vehicles capabilities.
My 22 has a 2.5, it is an awesome ute, it's simplicity is what sold me, yes it lacks a little torque on take offs, but with the single mass flywheel you can really get that clutch to do what you want it to.
I tow a work trailer 6 days a week around 700kg, and the old girl still pulls like new with 235000 kms on the dial. touch wood, not a single issue.
Soon though I will be upgrading, not to Nissan again, it will be a sombre day.

There is not a single ute on the market that is perfect.
Some people just buy to what the trend is.
Buy what you want and be happy.

 

[user 21299]

Thanks for all the replies, regards Tony's reply, The ZD30 had all the off the start problems that everyone spoke of and while it was a pain at times, in the 12 years that I owned it I didnt regard it as a major problem. To date that car is still on its original brake pads, original clutch and most other bits as well and I put this down to how you drive and look after it. The bigest problem was when towing the van you only had to discuss that a hill was coming up and it would start to slow down but once down in the gears it would pull up a cliff. I guess I was just asking if the 2.5 Navara was similar or a bit better. As stated in my other post I like the simplicity of these cars.

 

[tony d22]

Thanks for all the replies, regards Tony's reply, The ZD30 had all the off the start problems that everyone spoke of and while it was a pain at times, in the 12 years that I owned it I didnt regard it as a major problem. To date that car is still on its original brake pads, original clutch and most other bits as well and I put this down to how you drive and look after it. The bigest problem was when towing the van you only had to discuss that a hill was coming up and it would start to slow down but once down in the gears it would pull up a cliff. I guess I was just asking if the 2.5 Navara was similar or a bit better. As stated in my other post I like the simplicity of these cars.

All good, I thought you wanted an insight to what the 2.5 is like.

 

[gadgets]

My zd30 is up yo 370000ks of towing 2 tonnes now. Any chance of picking up a looked after 3ltr?

 

[terryc]

My 2c about people who complain about lack of power is that they almost all are lead foot speedsters. FWIW, we used our 2010 2.5 to cart 1.5tonne CT up some steep hills with no problems. If you ignore the off FWs that think they own the road, it is fine.

The only problem with the trailer on board is that it is faster than a loaded truck, but not powerful enough to over take them safely on winding single lane climbs, so you had to toddle along behind the truck.

The other thing we found is that pushing the 100-110km speed limits can such the juice compartively. sitting on 90 gave good fuel economy. Also gave us plenty of time to look around. If you get bored with scenery, you might find it frustrating.

lastly, a dual cab will probably need a spring upgrade to prevent it sagging. We really needed to do it on our dual cab, but since we didn't get the trip use and other factors, it didn't happen. The quote about 2011/2 was about $2.5k from Ultimate Suspension. i gave hime all the weights and tow ball load to get the quote.

 

[LJG]

Like Tony my son also has a D22 2.5 dual cab ST/R (2013 model), it has never had one problem. Yes it takes a bit to get it moving but he tows a boat with no issues or complaints. As for buying an older Triton we have one of those at work (a 2015 model) and I'd sooner drive the D22 any day. It is a 2.5 as well and while it has a bit more pickup than the D22 it has a very narrow powerband (worse than the D22), but the D22 is a lot more comfortable to drive. I would hate to drive the Triton for a long distance, the seats are woeful. If the rear suspension isn't up to it towing the van you can always fit airbags to give it a bit of help.

 

[user 21299]

Thanks for replying TerryC and LJG, I still haven''t purchased, there are heaps of D22 Navaras on the market but as yet none close to where I live. Having had a D22 ZD30 for years They sound like they are very similar in performance. I was just curious to see if the 2.5 was better or worse than the ZD30 while towing a load around the same weight as my caravan which is 1.9T. There is also not a lot of comment available as to what sort of long term mileage they are getting up to. Some of the ZD30's are producing high mileage relatively trouble free motoring. In my original post mine is now at 300k and still going strong.

 

[jonney]

If the ZD-30 is a 3 litre engine size naturally it will have abit more power than the smaller YD-25 / 2.5 litre. seems like the only main issue with the D22 / 2.5 litre is the Timing Belt which won,t last as long as the older ZD-30 chain set up but the YD-25 does seem to have a more reliable internal engine part design with no piston failures etc like the ZD-30 has. many guys have fitted the after market dual row timing chains with zero issues.