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Here's why we chose Nissan Navara VE Calibre to be our family workhorse

Family hauler, plus cargo hauler, here are a few reasons why the Navara was the perfect choice.

Earl Lee on May 19, 2022

Pickup trucks can get quite expensive, it has to be said. For a five-seater that can haul your cargo without a roof at the back, it seems counterintuitive to the segment. Though, believe us when we say that tons of pickup fanatics are willing to pay for 4x4, advanced infotainment, and safety features that will spot danger before you do.

Still, not everyone is a fanatic. Since my family needed a pickup truck to haul items that will otherwise smell or dirty up the interior of an SUV or crossover, we opted to look at pickups. Then, seeing as we all had no plans of taking the unit off-road, we set a rather low budget of under P1,500,000. However, we still wanted a good amount of features, a powerful engine, and a chassis that was reasonably comfortable for a pickup truck. That’s a bit of a tall order if you think about it, but luckily Nissan was able to deliver a variant with features, performance, and a price tag that didn’t break the bank.

Related: 2021 Nissan Navara VE Calibre AT Review

Features that matter

When it comes to buying cars, my family has a tendency to lean more towards the higher-end of things for our personal units, and the mid-range units for our workhorses. That being said, it’s appreciated every time a brand fields a mid-range model that looks almost identical to the top-spec variant, especially in the looks department.

If you look at it head-on, the multi-beam LED lights are mesmerizing. Other brands will give you a set of halogens or projectors which can still get the job done, but those aren’t as impressive as the LED cluster that you will find on the VE Navara. The only other major difference that we needed to accept since we weren’t getting the top-spec VL variant is the smaller wheels. This was totally fine given that the smaller wheel size meant that we had more sidewall to absorb bumps and divots on the road, it’s a style tradeoff, but a small upgrade in terms of comfort.

On top of that, the interior may not have leather all over, but the infotainment system still has a reverse camera, Apple CarPlay, and Android Auto to boot. There is even a forward-collision warning system that surprised us when we first drove off with the pickup.

Looks premium

We have to hand it to Nissan because unless you’re eagle-eyed or intently looking at the model inside and out, the Navara VE doesn’t seem cheap from the exterior. The lights make it look like a variant above its actual price tag.

While my family won’t modify our Nissan Navara, it’ll probably be just a matter of time before some Filipinos take the wheels and other exterior accessories from the VL variants and level up their units. While we don’t plan on doing that, it’s not totally impossible to make the exterior look close to the VLs.

That being said, however, the model is already good as it is. Apart from the lights carrying the look of the car, we got our model in Forged Metallic Copper which brings it ever closer to the VL variant in terms of looks, and adds a hint of personality compared to white, black, or silver.

Powerful performance

We’re still not done with the spec sharing, as the VE gets the same tune that the higher-end variants get albeit without the 4x4 system. Unless you really want to go off-road, A 4x2 system will get you through the day and it’s very much appreciated that the Navara VE comes with top-spec power coming in with 187 hp and 450 Nm of torque.

Whether you’re going up to Baguio or hauling big and heavy items, the torque will be more than sufficient to haul or tow. On top of that, Nissan touts that its Navara can carry over a ton of payload, which means that you’ll probably fill up the bed first before you get to max out the cargo load limit. What’s even more impressive is that the Navara rides on springs, so with or without the cargo, it’ll be a better ride than most.

All of this, still with the mid-range price tag

Now, it may seem like I’m tooting my own horn and trying to justify our family’s purchase with the Navara VE, and you’d be totally right, but it’s not without reason. We chose our family car for the express purpose of it being a workhorse with a little bit of flair should we find ourselves on the way to a gathering of any sort. It’s no executive sedan, let’s get that out of the way, but it is an extremely decent-looking truck that you probably wouldn’t be ashamed to show off a little bit.

That being said, the exact name of the variant that we got is the Nissan Navara VE Calibre AT 4x2, and it cost us P1,336,000. We also inquired about it using the AutoDeal platform getting quotes from different dealers until we eventually settled on one. Heck, we didn’t even have to leave our house to take delivery of the unit as the dealer was kind enough to deliver it to us.