A used Nissan Navara D40 is worth having only with sound chassis rails and a 2.5 dCi that starts without a rattle; don't touch a 2005 to 2008 truck whose frame shows cracks or heavy rust.
2 known faults, 2 rated high severity in our database; owners report 27.7 mpg, 83% of the official figure. Everything below is built from that data and the archived owner history, not from a press car.
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Check a Nissan Navara advert (free) →The D40 Navara (2005 to 2015) is the one to buy, but only once the chassis and the timing chain have passed inspection, because both carry High known faults. Trucks from 2005 to 2008 can rust through the chassis rails badly enough to crack or even snap the frame in two, and the 2.5 dCi fitted from 2005 to 2010 can lose its lower timing chain and wreck the engine.
The 2010 facelift brought a revised 2.5 dCi and a new 3.0 V6 diesel, and only trucks from 2011 on sit outside the years both known faults cover. Nothing on record says Nissan changed the chain or the chassis, though, and an empty record isn't a fix: a late truck gets the same torch under the frame and the same cold start as an early one, and a 2010 2.5 dCi still falls inside the chain fault's years.
The older Navara sold from 2002 to 2005 was a big, tough pick-up that drove better than you'd expect, and Nissan brought it back as the cheaper NP300 in March 2008. There's very little on record about how it holds up, so there's no fault history to lean on either way, and one 2005 recall for a bonnet that could work loose covered it too.
The 2.5 dCi (YD25) is the D40's four-cylinder diesel, and on 2005 to 2010 trucks it's the one with the High fault: a single-row lower timing chain that can snap between 60,000 and 100,000 miles and destroy the engine. Chain wear follows how well the oil's been changed rather than the mileage, and the early warning is a metallic rattle on a cold start. If it's worn, the fix is a complete chain kit.
The 3.0 V6 diesel arrived with the 2010 facelift and isn't named in any fault row, but there's very little on record about it at all, and that silence doesn't make it proven. Treat it as the lesser-known option rather than the safe one, and give its chassis the same inspection as any other D40.
Don't take the 4WD system on trust. There have been reports of the electronic 4WD and low-range selectors refusing to disengage until the truck's reversed, which then led to transmission noise at motorway speeds, or failing to engage 4WD at all. The cause is a wire inside the loom that's too thin for the switching current, cured by running a heavier cable outside the loom.
On automatics, one owner's report says the transmission cooler inside the radiator can crack, contaminating the gearbox fluid until the gearbox fails. There've also been unconfirmed reports of dual-mass flywheel trouble, so ask whether the clutch or flywheel has ever been replaced and what the receipts say.
Get underneath with a torch before anything else and follow both chassis rails from end to end. Deep rust, flaking or cracks mean the known chassis fault, and from the side you can spot it as a widening gap where the cab meets the rear bed, or a truck that sags in the middle. Any of those on a D40 and it's not worth the money.
Start the engine from cold yourself. A metallic rattle from the front of a 2.5 dCi when it fires, or one that carries on as you drive, is the timing chain, and a snapped chain means a dead engine. Ask for the oil change receipts too, since the chain's condition follows the oil history more than the miles.
On the drive, select 4WD and low range, then switch back and check both come out without reversing, and listen for transmission noise at speed. Rear wheel bearings have given trouble and some owners have had rear axles replaced, so ask what's been done there. Check the Bluetooth, radio, satnav and air con all work, and look along the top of the windscreen surround for stone chips and rust spots.
Ask for proof of recall work on 2005 and 2006 trucks. The UK recalls covered a bonnet that could come loose, a propshaft that could detach, a fault that could lose steering control and rear wheel bearings that could fail. Recalls on 2005 and 2006 trucks also dealt with how tightly the propshaft was bolted up, how the airbags were aligned and a load bed that could come adrift.
Paste the advert into the free check and it runs these against the listing, the MOT history and the DVLA record before you travel.
A D40 is worth buying if the chassis rails are solid and the 2.5 dCi's chain is quiet, but a 2005 to 2008 truck with a rotten frame isn't worth having at any price. The chassis fault shows between 60,000 and 150,000 miles, and it's serious enough that the frame can crack or break completely, so it's the first thing to judge on any early truck.
It's a good-looking pick-up, the UK trucks came from Barcelona rather than Thailand, and it shared its ladder chassis and 2.5 dCi with the Pathfinder. Its first Euro NCAP test in 2008 gave it a single star for protecting adults; the revised 2008 truck was tested again and managed three stars for adults and four for children.
Beyond the two High faults, it's the drivetrain and rear axle to watch. One owner's truck needed its 4x4 switches three times, a brake servo, two rear diff seals, two lots of rear brakes that kept locking, rear halfshafts, both rear wheel bearings, a transfer box seal and an alternator bearing. There's also one report of the joint between the propshaft and differential failing, followed by a three-week wait for the part.
The spare wheel hangs underneath and thieves go for it, so check it's still there and fit a lock. Facelift trucks from 2010 have a new bonnet, grille and bumper, a reworked cabin, and could be ordered with stability control, a reversing camera and the V6, which makes a late truck the nicer one to live with, provided it passes the same chassis and chain checks, since a 2010 2.5 dCi still falls inside the chain fault's years.
Real-world economy on this generation: Nissan Navara 27.7 mpg.
Sellers rarely admit these faults outright
Paste any Nissan Navara advert and we check it against the faults, the MOT record and these figures in seconds.
Check an advert now (free) →Owners report 27.7 mpg across the Nissan Navara engines with data, about 83% of the official figure, from 67 submissions.
Nissan Navara Real MPG by engine →It's a big, strong truck that's more enjoyable to drive than it looks from the outside. The double cab's rear seat is comfortable, and its split cushions both fold up, so there's room for tools, bags or shopping inside the cab rather than in the back.
The V6 diesel is the refined one, pulling hard from low revs with a sharp throttle and ticking over so slowly there's barely any diesel shake or clatter. It's a strong tower too. Later cabs are nicer to sit in, with softer, better-shaped armrests, and the door bins swallow an A3 map book or a one-litre bottle.
A used Nissan Navara D40 is worth having only with sound chassis rails and a 2.5 dCi that starts without a rattle; don't touch a 2005 to 2008 truck whose frame shows cracks or heavy rust. Our database holds 2 known Nissan Navara faults, 2 rated high severity, and the sections above say which generation and engine carry them.
Get underneath with a torch before anything else and follow both chassis rails from end to end. Read the MOT history for repeat advisories and ask for invoices for any work the seller mentions. Then paste the advert into the free check, which reads it against every known Nissan Navara fault before you travel.
Owners report 27.7 mpg on average, about 83% of the official figure, from 67 submissions. Chain (2.5 DCI, YD25): no fixed replacement interval, so budget for it if the history does not show it done. The known faults page lists a rough repair cost against each fault. Nissan Navara Real MPG by engine.
If you used the Honest John car-by-car reviews before the site closed in 2026, this is where the Nissan Navara buying advice now lives. It is written from the archived owner reports and model notes (archived page, 117 items read for this model), our own known-faults database, the confirmed service intervals and the Real MPG figures. Every number on the page comes from that data, not from the text. The same data feeds our free advert check.
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The Nissan Navara is one decision. Reading the advert, the history and the seller are the rest, and these cover them.
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