I just went with 2010 3.0L Ranger. I tow something a lot lighter but having 3.0L Turbo is more ponies than the Nissan.I found the Ranger more comfortable too for those longer trips....

Older ranger or Dmax gets my vote !

I've had a few mates with Navaras which unfortunately have had a lot of problems from the transmition through to the turbo blowing

Obviously not every Navara will have these problems, but it's enough to make me shy on buying one

Spend under 10 grand on an old patrol with minimum rust and buy a reconditioned 6.5lt chev diesel v8 installed for 20+ odd k. It will go hard.

 It will surprise you .Nissans since 2005 have had lot of problems with Clutches and Gearboxes.I have a 2004 D22 V6 and it served me well, but I would not touch the newer models .I think the D40 was blowing clutches after 40 K and cost about $2.5 k to replace .I have a mate with a Nissan 2.5 common rail and hes not impressed with it. 

 I have a 2010 dual cab, manual desel ST. Great car, very capable

Manual gets 150 km per tank than Auto as far as I know.

Capable offload in sand, trusting you treat with respect and lower pressure. Nowhere as good as the GQ patrols, but good for what I want, ie towing boat, camper, beach driving and daily drive.

Talk to ernie from Perth Gearbox Diff and Clutch centre and he will tell you he has seen every make dual cab crd manual come in with early burnt out clutches. Got 2 mates with hiluxes that did their clutches at 60k. My D40 started to go at around 120k and got rid of the dual mass flywheel set up and did the clutch industries heavy duty clutch and flywheel modification. That's the only major issue I have had and would recommend getting the auto instead for any dual cab crd ute for towing. Have since got a LC200 but am thankful of the great service I got out of the nav having toured the gunbarrel,cape arid national park, Pilbara and kimberlies effortlessly.

I got a 2007 Mitsubishi triton dual cab last year for $27000 with 58000 on the clock. 3.2l TD. not bad off road, I don't do any towing so cant realy comment on that part. all the new 4x4's are too bloody low to the ground these days. unless you spend big and get a new cruiser dual cab or do a few mods.

I would recommend a Dmax or Colorado, had no probs with my Colorado towing 3 tonne boat, did Perth to Albany a few times & up to Thev Island no probs.

Would have to say the DMAX or the Colorado  the DMAX would be my personnel choice bullett proof

dmax, i have one and never had a drama 4x4 ute and desiel

I was looking for the same sort of thing at the end of last year and Picked up a two year old Navara D40 V6 Petrol with 11,000km's for less than $30,000 (Ex Demonstrator). Pulls the boat like you wouldn't believe (Faster than my Patrol with 2ton of boat behind it), is fun to drive and uses 12.5 litres per hundred around Karratha with a lead foot. If I had of got the Diesel I would need to do over 165,000 km’s before the difference in price would be made up for in improved fuel economy. It runs the same motor as the 370Z and has 198KW. It won't have the same resale as a diesel but who cares because I paid allot less than a diesel in the first place, for me it was the best bang for your buck for under $30,000

 Dmax.I have a 09 auto done 113k and has been fantastic returning 10l/100km its whole life and 14l/100km pulling 1.5t at 100km.Looking at selling soon to get a new one!Isuzu make the most reliable diesels/trucks around so thats why i went that way i havent regretted it.

Ive never owned a Navara, but one thing Ive noticed regularly is the number of late model ones that push out a lot of black smoke?

 I had a 2010 Navara stx always serviced and well looked after, had the timing chain go at 75k 2 weeks out of warranty!! apparently it's a very common problem! Also very bad on fuel struggled to get 550 when not towing and towing my work trailer not even 400kms traded it last week for a new Colorado, fuel range 800 plus!! 

sorry but I have to point out the futility of comparing economy on "how much to the tankful".

Did Nissan come to the party on the timing chain Matty? I would have fought that tooth and nail at 75000k's?

 ford ranger for 3 years ,biggest piece of crap ive driven ,the auto gearbox never new what gear it should be in and always seamed to be the wrong one  ,shocking turbo lag, fuel consumtion was shocking to say the least ,75 lt tank for 450km till the fuel lt would come on and 550km till empty and towing my boat it wouldnt do 240km on a tank ,was always back at dealers for oil leaks  faulty sensors and bloody seatbelts that dont retract ,have a colorado now and absolutly love it get 9.5l /100km normall driving 750km /800km per 80l tank and 450km 21liters /100km towing 3tonne ,plus the car is a dream to drive ,and there is tonns of leg room in the back of the dual cab its like a family sedan where as the ranger dual cab was like a hatch back

Have heard from a few others that had them , the navaras seem heavy on brake wear,

often needing full discs and pads at 50, 000 -60,000 etc, anyone here had that?

Im am a nissan man and I woulndnt get one , just a prefrence, would go for anything with isuzu in the dna

they seem to be like nissan used to be, overengineered, not like now , catering for the latte set!

I have a 2006 Navara D22 3L turbo diesel manual with 80k on the clock. No problems at all. Towing is steady, but definitely isn't as powerful as id like. It does the job,just not as well as the newer 3L common rail diesels.
I have recently blocked off the exhaust gas emissions return and hope this improves engine life. I think all modern diesels have the EGR for emissions these days.
If you are looking at the newer navara D22s they come with a 2.5 common rail engine and are not very powerful. I wouldn't buy one. They only put out around 90ish kw compared to all the other 3Ls that are around 120-140kw ish.
Good luck with finding whats right for you. Just remember, if you search hard enough on google you will find horror stories on all makes and models.

 I've got a 2010 Triton. Great ute for towing, reasonable mileage ,plenty of power. Only problem just recently could not get it into 3rd so dropped it off today. Syncro has gone and on the way out in all the other gears as well. Still under warranty so all good. I'll definitely be looking at the DMax next though, I've heard a lot of good things about them from different people who are fairly savvy 4WD wise.

Forget the rest, Great Wall is the BEST!

...I'd imagine I could get a real bargain if I found one that slipped past the recall and still had the asbestos in it!

There definitely seems to be a positive trend on here towards Dmax/Colorado...

 Got myself a brand new one a couple of years ago, it's gone now and won't be getting another.

 I have a 09 colorado I put in a chip it performance chip and a 3" exhaust it go's like shit off a shovel and pulls my 6m glass boat realy well, on our last trip to exie with 4 blokes in the car i was getting as low as 16l/100k's and going up an incline at worst 23l/100k's at 90 kmh

 How much is  the Vee Dub amarok? I hear they at good. Have you looked at them?

If the GreatWall aint for you, seriously, look at the Grand Tiger, what a weapon

Isuzu and others rate these motor the best in the business and very capable of giving you 400000 ks

is it true that the great wall have a 0 star ancap rating and are not allowed on mine sites?