New member

[sumo]

Hello all. I am an oldish guy, originally from the USA, but for the last 20 years, I have lived in Australia. I am planning on getting a Navara soon, and at the time of joining the forum, and am interested in learning a fair bit before buying.

 

[Old.Tony]

Welcome to the forum.

That's precisely how I started here. Except the "being from the USA" part!

 

[Boogieboots]

Gday Sumo, what model are you interested in?
Plenty of knowledge on all of them here

 

[sumo]

Gday Sumo, what model are you interested in?
Plenty of knowledge on all of them here

I am considering a D40 at the moment with the 2.5td engine, manual transmission. it has done 150k km, and is completely stock. Full service history through Nissan, and just a tidy car. I would imagine it could be bought for about $16k. No reason for me not to consider a D22 like you have.

This ute will be my daily, but we have a collection of cars and motorcycles with my wife always getting "the nice car". If I get one that has bull bar etc. that is fine, but I always prefer to get stock, and then do exactly what I want to, rather than what someone else wanted to do, if that makes sense.

Ultimate goal: Have a car that works well on the horrible roads we have out here in country NSW. Be good at casual off-roading, nothing too full on. Carry dogs, and supplies for the property. Be reliable and easy to work on. Eventually over time, with necessary upgrades, look like a "tough ute"

 

[sumo]

Welcome to the forum.

That's precisely how I started here. Except the "being from the USA" part!

There is a D40 that I am looking at. It appears to be stock, and never modified. I live in the middle of nowhere, so it is very hard for me to go look at cars in Sydney or Melbourne. If I send some pics, would you mind giving your opinion on what you see? Obviously I am not asking to make a formal evaluation, just if from the pics you get a good feeling or bad feeling?

 

[JLA]

I have a D40 and over time became disappointed with the strength of the chassis. But then I found all dual cab makes suffer from the same problem. About where the cab and the tub meet there is lots of chassis flexing. This does not happen with sedan style 4wd’s because they are all one piece.
Also without modification, the d40 can’t carry much. Most others cannot either. The d40 is not more than average here. After a GVM upgrade they become useful.

Around town, coastal roads, no probs. But outback even bitumen roads 80klm max. Care must be taken not to flex the chassis or it will eventually bend/break. Hit a whoop de do, too fast with a load and that’s you chassis bent.
I had Superior Engineering weld in chassis strengthening plates as a precaution. I still keep the speed down on unpredictable (outback) roads.

As far as the engine, gearbox etc goes they seem to be reliable at least the 3L V6 that I have is fine. Chassis strength and load carrying are my only concerns.

Stock standard is good. I have a steel bull bar, side rails, under body protection, winch, 2” lift etc. If I was doing it again, I would just fit a nudge bar and nothing else, it’s all too heavy. It all subtracts too much from the gvm. I would go for a gvm upgrade which probably also means a 2” lift as part of the upgrade.

I recall the 2.5L has an issue with the timing chain that needs to be replaced about every 120,000klm as a precaution? Someone else can comment on this as I am not sure of the details.

 

[tweak'e]

I have a D40 and over time became disappointed with the strength of the chassis. But then I found all dual cab makes suffer from the same problem. About where the cab and the tub meet there is lots of chassis flexing.

the problem is not really the chassis.
the main cause is people overload dual cabs. thats simply due to the tray being behind the rear axle. its also made worse by people fitting extended trays and loading it right to the end. add in trailer weight on the towbar, often made worse by using extended towbars.
load location matters a huge amount in light vehicles.

 

[Boogieboots]

Haha, yep my wife got the last "new car". I leased then bought my D22 15 years ago before I even met her. I think she has had half a dozen cars since then. It's economical, is a Ute and has AC so still suits me. As long as you don't have kids or regular passengers in the back seats the D22 is fine, though I borrow the wife's auto commodore if I know I will be in traffic.

I don't have bikes but have a HQ Statesman, a 76 Mazda 121 resto on a rotisserie and a Manx beach buggy next in line for the resto treatment. My wife is looking to trade her VE for a V8 VX Commodore now. She had a HJ Premier which she sold to finance our trip to the US a couple of years ago, so I can't begrudge her that.
This fkn car addiction will have us perpetually broke

$16 thou for 150k sounds like a good deal. The D40 guys on here will look after your questions in that regard

 

[Old.Tony]

There is a D40 that I am looking at. It appears to be stock, and never modified. I live in the middle of nowhere, so it is very hard for me to go look at cars in Sydney or Melbourne. If I send some pics, would you mind giving your opinion on what you see? Obviously I am not asking to make a formal evaluation, just if from the pics you get a good feeling or bad feeling?

You can post the pics or links in here and we can all have a go! They can't tell us about engine condition, particularly things like the fuel pump and injectors, but they're rarely a problem. When you go to look at the car, look in the radiator overflow bottle (engine bay right hand side of vehicle) and make sure there's only green coolant in there. Look under the engine after a drive to see if there's any telltale black wet spots.

But sure, yes, post up some pics let's see her!