Are Nissan cars expensive to repair?

There are numerous unknown factors that affect the cost of repairing a car, such as parts availability, labour charges, and the cost of the parts themselves. Labour rates vary between workshops (and between OEM and aftermarket workshops), and parts availability is always in flux (especially given recent supply chain disruptions), so these aspects were disregarded here for the sake of simplicity. 

We dug up some information on a few Nissan models, however, to help us determine whether these cars would be expensive to repair in the event of an accident or a breakdown. The primary source for the data used in the investigation is the , as published in September 2021. 

Three Nissan products featured in this Guide, with the crisp new Magnite representing the brand in the popular budget car category, and the latest (locally-built) Navara featuring in both the single- and double cab bakkie categories. We considered their overall parts basket prices, divided into three categories. 

Service parts, maintenance parts, and body repair parts baskets were then compared to the vehicles with the lowest-priced overall parts baskets in their categories, as well as to the vehicles with the most-expensive overall parts baskets. This should give an indication of the relative cost of Nissan repair costs, even if we can’t pin-point the labour- and availability variables.

 

Budget cars

	Nissan Magnite 1.0T Acenta	Ford Figo Titanium	Mahindra XUV300 1.2T W6
Service Parts	R 3 692.41	R 3 347.78	R 8 916.17
Maintenance Parts	R 12 738.71	R 8 699.18	R 21 455.65
Body Repair Parts	R 93 003.73	R 41 207.59	R 87 521.97
Parts Basket Total	R 109 454.85	R 53 254.55	R 117 893.87
Total Basket as % of New Car Price	42.58 %	20.82 %	45.00 %

 

This report showed the Nissan Magnite to be among the most expensive cars to repair, despite its service parts basket price being quite competitive with the Ford Figo (which has the lowest service parts basket price). Less than R 350 separated the Magnite and Figo in this regard, however, and they’ll both be pretty affordable to service. Maintenance parts tell a slightly different tale, however. 

While the Magnite’s shock absorbers and alternator belt are actually cheaper than those items are on the Figo, there’s a huge discrepancy in their brake disc prices: The Magnite’s front brake discs and rear drums are more than twice as expensive as those items on the Ford. The Nissan’s maintenance basket is still a lot less expensive than most of the chosen opponents’, though, and works out cheaper than its segment’s average prices.

The real issue pops up in the accident repair parts department, where the Magnite has the most expensive body parts basket, and by a fair margin, too. This will obviously influence the Magnite’s insurance premiums but is most likely due to this model being very new to the market. Given time, these body parts prices should come down, as local parts availability is expanded.

 

Single-cab bakkies (Entry-level)

	Nissan Navara 2.5 XE	Ford Ranger 2.2TDCi	Fiat Fullback 2.4
Service Parts	R 11 598.52	R 5 747.30	R 16 769.92
Maintenance Parts	R 24 701.63	R 13 176.10	R 51 396.85
Body Repair Parts	R 150 881.84	R 61 411.45	R 162 959.99
Parts Basket Total	R 187 433.00	R 83 334.85	R 231 152.76
Total Basket as % of New Car Price	53.56 %	24.91 %	71.37 %

 

Interestingly, the two petrol-powered single cabs in this comparison have the most-expensive service parts in their categories, with the Navara 2.5 petrol’s service parts basket costing more than double that of a Ford Ranger. The same applies to maintenance parts, although the Fiat Fullback 2.4 (petrol) costs double the Nissan’s maintenance basket. 

The really big shocker comes in the body repair basket, however, where the entry-level Navara’s accident repair hardware costs almost 3 times as much as that of the Ford. In fact, the locally-built Navara is running the imported Fiat Fullback perilously close in this regard! Once again, we hope that the Nissan’s parts prices will drop as supply ramps up, but for the time being, a single-cab Navara certainly isn’t a great choice in the accident repair realm.

 

Double-cab bakkies (4x2)

	Nissan Navara 2.5DDTi LE AT	Ford Ranger 2.0 SiT XLT FX4	Toyota Hilux 2.8 Raider A/T
Service Parts	R 11 332.88	R 5 134.09	R 7 532.80
Maintenance Parts	R 28 161.49	R 11 433.79	R 21 191.88
Body Repair Parts	R 256 929.70	R 79 515.12	R 82 741.37
Parts Basket Total	R 296 424.07	R 96 083.00	R 111 466.05
Total Basket as % of New Car Price	43.78 %	13.64 %	15.32 %

 

Eagle-eyed readers will notice that the third column is taken up by the Toyota Hilux. This decision was taken to enable direct comparison between three locally-made double-cabs, and it makes for sobering reading. 

The Nissan Navara 2.5DDTi LE is outright the most expensive to service, maintain, and repair after an accident, with its service parts more than double as expensive as those of the Ranger, and easily the most expensive in its category. Maintenance parts are likewise shockingly expensive, according to this report, being more expensive than all opponents bar the Volkswagen Amarok. 

Body repair parts are just as high-priced, with an accident repair basket costing more than 3 times as much as the same items for the Ranger. The Hilux isn’t much more expensive to fix than the Ranger, either, while the Navara double-cab is by far the most expensive in this department as well. (The imported Mitsubishi Triton’s body parts basket, with its fancy LED headlights, will cost R 35 000 less than the Navara’s!)

Verdict

Setting out to compile this report, we suspected that the Nissan Magnite may end up being more expensive to repair than most of its category opponents, and its body part prices ensured that this is indeed the case. Normal maintenance and servicing won’t be ridiculously pricey, however, and we hope to see those body part prices drop with time.

The new Navara turned out to be quite a shocker, however: Its total parts basket costs more than double that of the equivalent Ranger; and, for both for single- and double-cabs, the body parts basket again has to shoulder a lot of the blame for that. But the Navara also seems inordinately costly to service and maintain, with the double-cab 2.5DDTi being the most expensive vehicle in its category overall.

So, to answer the initial question: Nissan cars can be expensive to repair and maintain, but are mostly competitive on these fronts with average parts prices. Just don’t crash any one of the vehicles in this report, because repairing it will certainly cost you an arm and a leg, and possibly a kidney and half of your liver as well...