Nissan

Budget crossover that’s a twin of the Renault Kiger.

Nice infotainment touchscreens, but cabin materials feel very cheap. Laudable safety spec. All versions have 6 airbags, ESP and tyre pressure monitoring.

Magnite’s 1-litre turbo engine works very hard for a living. The on/off boost response makes smooth driving in low-speed traffic or on steep urban terrain a chore. Non-turbo 1.0 is very slow at highway speeds, especially on the Highveld.

Magnite has good ground clearance for rough dirt roads at 205mm and surprisingly good suspension function for its price. Suzuki’s Fronx feels like a better quality product. Chery’s Tiggo 4 offers much better engine performance and features.

Timelessly attractive bakkie design with low risk of theft and hijacking – unlike the market leaders.

Navara’s 2.5 turbodiesel engine makes decent numbers. But can’t compare with a Ranger2.0 BiTurbo and Hilux 2.8 for overtaking and towing performance.

Only bakkie in class with coil-sprung rear suspension and a full 1t payload ability (Ranger Raptor also has coils, but much lower payload). Navara’s ride quality and stability on corrugated dirt roads can be class-leading with appropriate tyre pressures.

The cabin is feeling its age, with average materials and cramped rear-seat accommodation.

Worth remembering that Mercedes-Benz based its double cab on the Navara’s platform. Locally built, which means there’s a reasonable onshore supply chain of parts

The Warrior version is a very capable off-road upgrade without being compromised on-road.

Nissan’s front-wheel drive replacement for the legendary 1400. With much greater load capacity and cabin comfort.

NP200 was designed for peak loadability. Despite being front-wheel drive and classed as a compact bakkie, it has 800kg payload capacity.

A deep loadbed can make getting items over the sides tricky, but it also creates a lot more load volume that's braced by the body structure.

Cabin has reasonable comfort, even for tall drivers, thanks to many parts from Renault’s passenger car line.

NP200 was produced locally by Nissan, from 2008 to 2024. That means there’s a huge pre-owned market of these bakkies, with lots of parts, too. Regrettably, like most locally made bakkies and compact cars, the theft risk is high.

Mechanically, the NP200 is reasonably reliable. The 1.6-litre single cam 8-valve is very simple to work on, but also very slow on the Highveld, especially if you use that 800kg payload capacity.

Best buy is any NP200 1.5 dCi turbodiesel. These Renault turbodiesel engines in the NP200 make 200Nm of torque. That is plenty to haul a full 800kg payload with confidence, even on the Highveld. They are also terrifically fuel-efficient and reasonably tolerant of poor-quality diesel.

Bakkie buyers are conservative. They don’t want too many electronic components or parts that are expensive to replace.

That’s why Nissan kept building the NP300 in South Africa, long after Nissan had retired it in many other global markets.

South African NP300s were effectively in production from the late 1990s to 2021. There’s a huge supply of pre-owned NP300s and parts, offering deep value for buyers who use bakkies to work, not as family vehicles.

Cabin comfort, driving refinement, and safety are average to poor. For buyers interested in an NP300, it's the 2.5 turbodiesel engine’s durability and the proven steel ladder frame chassis that matter most.

Everything feels like it's from the early 2000s, which it is. There’s ABS and some airbags, but the can structure has very poor crash deformation. And there’s no electronic stability control.

NP300’s 2.5 turbodiesel makes reasonable torque (304Nm) if you need to tow or haul a full payload. It’s also a very low-tech turbodiesel engine, making maintenance reasonably affordable.

With its 16-inch wheels, there are plenty of affordable off-road tyre options, too, which is a benefit it has over more modern double cabs with a minimum wheel size of 17 inches. NP300’s ground clearance is good, at 240mm, making it reasonably capable off-road with an experienced driver at the helm.

If you need a value double cab that’s easy to fix and can run lots of mileage on corrugated dirt roads without issue, the NP300 is capable.

The only vehicle that Land Cruiser owners respect.

In many ways, Patrol has always been the best-built Nissan. That's why these 4x4 station wagons are so valued by emergency relief agencies in Africa. And hardcore overlanding 4x4 drivers.

Patrol is very similar to the Land Cruiser 300 in its engineering principles: body-on-frame construction, no air suspension, and proper mechanical locking differentials.

A huge vehicle that is terrible to drive in city traffic and even worse in any covered parking garage. But it’s very comfortable as a long-distance tourer, with a spacious, luxurious cabin. With effortless cruising comfort and highway-speed overtaking performance.

The 5.6-litre V8 engine is powerful, responsive and reliable. Making it a better towing rig than nearly all its turbodiesel rivals. But Patrol is extraordinarily heavy on petrol, so refuelling logistics need to be carefully planned.

On corrugated dirt roads, deep Kalahari dune tracks, and steep mountain trails, the Patrol is effectively unstoppable on proper off-road tyres.

Patrol’s axles and differentials have traditionally been more durable than those of Land Cruiser 200s and 300s. Rarer than a Land Cruiser, which enhances its status appeal. And much less of a theft and hijacking risk in South Africa, too.

Once Rav4’s most credible rival, but no longer the class-leading alternative it once was.

Exterior design balances conservative and contemporary elements. And there’s ample screen size and UX functionality in the cabin.

But the issue is that X-Trail no longer has any of those pioneering diesels that made it so popular in the 2000s. And there aren’t any clever PHEV options, either.

X-Trail’s 2.5 petrol engine is just too heavy on fuel, too, for a non-turbo powertrain.

Ride quality across all surfaces remains excellent, true to X-Trail’s legacy as a comfortable mixed-terrain cruiser.

Toyota, the Koreans and a flood of new Chinese rivals just have too much technological integration and powertrain diversity on offer.