Nissan Navara Tekna Double Cab 2.5dCi
Van test review: COLIN DAWSON
What is it?
The Navara is Nissan’s offering in the trendy 4×4 double-cab pick-up sector. It was extensively upgraded in 2010, with revised front-end styling from the Pathfinder 4×4.
The Tekna test model is highly specified, with leather upholstery, including heated and electrically adjustable front seats, leather steering wheel and gear knob, electric sunroof, dual-zone climate control, Bluetooth telephone integration and six CD autochanger. There’s certainly more luxury car than rugged workhorse about the cabin.
Whether or not the Navara make sense as a company vehicle really depends on what your needs are. A requirement for four-wheel drive would suggest forestry, landscaping, maybe building and even rural veterinary work. We’ve even seen pick-ups liveried for antique dealerships. On the downside, the double-cab configuration curtails the load length, but the bed will accept a standard Euro pallet and at, 1,125kg, the payload is reasonable.
If your business is more than a one-man band, then a five-seater has merit. But probably the best reason to consider the Navara Tekna is how well the vehicle can double as a comfortable and drivable 4×4 when off-duty, with the benefit of a pick-up back for hauling your workload when required.
VAT-registered SMEs and sole traders can reclaim VAT on the purchase price. Most pick-ups, especially the more luxuriously equipped double cabs such as the Navara, are likely to be used for private mileage, but company pick-up tax is not applicable if the owner is a sole trader or partner.
The Navara is not especially frugal with combined fuel economy at 33.2mpg but it is a reassuringly solid and substantial chunk of metal, so you can’t complain too much.
The pick-up is powered by a turbocharged 2.5-litre four-cylinder diesel driven through a six-speed manual transmission. It certainly has plenty of urge. With a maximum torque figure of 450Nm, it’s no sluggard on the road. It can also be taken seriously as on off-roader, with a rotary-switch-controlled four-wheel-drive system for selecting two-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive high, plus low range, for tackling difficult terrain. And it will happily tug a braked trailer weight of up to 2,600kg.
For a pick-up with leaf springs on the rear, the ride is remarkable good. In terms of safety and security, the Navara Tekna is equipped with anti-skid ESP, and anti-lock ABS brakes with EBD for better stopping power, as well as front driver and passenger airbags and side and curtain airbags.
What’s hot?
- Stylish looks belie its workhorse credentials
- Comfortable, well-appointed cabin with high specification
- Good dual-purpose on/off-duty flexibility
- Decent payload and towing capacities
- Practical C-Channel moveable tie-down points in load bed provide good secure load stowage
- Creditable off-road ability
What’s Not?
- Double-cab configuration makes for a shorter load bed compared with single-cab variants
- Run-of-the-mill fuel consumption
Business Vans verdict
The Navara offers a good balance between comfortable car and rugged pick-up truck, with the bonus of creditable off-road performance, especially for business van users who need to get beyond the tarmac.
What you need to know
On the road price (with optional extras as tested) ex VAT: | £25,750.20 |
Load length: | 1,511mm |
Load width: | 1,560mm |
Load height: | 457mm |
Load capacity: | 1.0 litre 3cyl turbo petrol |
GVW: | 3,210kg |
Towing capacity braked/unbraked: | 2,600kg/750kg |
Engine: | 2,488cc 4-cyl diesel |
Power/Torque: | 188hp/450Nm |
Economy (combined): | 33.2mpg |
CO2 emissions: | 224g/km |
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