2018 Nissan Navara Pricing and Specs

There are plenty of brands around in the aftermarket that claim to offer better performance and durability. Stick with a known brand and perhaps contact your local four-wheel-drive club or off-road specialist for specific brand advice. Somebody in the club is bound to have a Navara with an upgraded clutch.

The good news is that there are local manufacturers that can provide a heavy-duty clutch for your vehicle, so staying local is probably a good idea if there are any issues or questions down the track. Even better news is that for the NP300 Navara, Nissan switched from a dual-mass to a single-mass flywheel. This means you can fit a heavy-duty clutch kit without having to replace the flywheel itself, saving money. Don't forget to closely check the condition of the flywheel, however, as it may require machining for the new clutch to work properly.

Towing and off-roading place immense loads on a clutch, and this is a common upgrade for those who use their vehicles in this way.

This is a more common problem than you might imagine and applies to a lot of cars besides Nissan Navaras. It’s not always caused by people with constantly wet hands or those who work with chemicals, either; a lot of pampered vehicles have seen this type of problem.

As well as being pretty ordinary to look at day after day, this sort of damage also devalues a car when you go to sell it. The warranty on your Navara would have been for the first three years (Nissan shifted to a five-year warranty mid-2019) but because it was a demonstrator, the warranty period would have started from the date it was first registered or reported as sold, not the day you bought it.

Most new-car warranties also state that `normal wear and tear’ is not covered, but there’s an argument that normal wear and tear shouldn’t be visible on a steering wheel after just four years and 60,000km of use.

If it really bothers you, there are motor trimmers who can stitch on a new leather covering which I would expect to last a lot longer than four years. You would, of course, have to remove the wheel from the car which requires somebody who knows their air-bag safety drills and procedures.

I would rank the Hilux marginally better than the Navara, but there’s little to separate them. Both are similar for safety, rated at 4 stars they have the most essential safety gear in terms of airbags and ABS braking, the Hilux gets the nod on reliability, running costs are dependent on which engine you chose, and I would suggest you don’t buy a V6 petrol Hilux as they are thirsty, but the Toyota has capped-price servicing which makes it attractive.