Likes
- Arguably the best value for money people mover on the used market
- Generally excellent Nissan build quality
- A unique size and style of van/people mover
- Wide range of variants to choose from
- Smooth V6 engines
In terms of value for money, the 2002 to 2010 second generation E51 Nissan Elgrand may seem to represent one of the best options out there however, according to the internet, they have an interesting reputation when it comes to longevity and reliability.
Not to mention the ridiculous confusion of various models and trim levels available on the used market.
Overall, there are nearly a dozen trim levels available, but even what each trim level comes with will vary depending on the options fitted, plus each of these will decide if that particular Elgrand is rear wheel or all wheel drive or if it features the 2.5 or 3.5-Litre petrol V6 or even if it seats 7 or 8.
Also, quite a few Elgrand here have been modified in one way or another and there was a mid-life update in 2004 so this confuses the whole buying practice even more.
Which brings us to one of the reasons the Elgrand sometimes doesn’t have a great reputation.
The Elgrand was only ever sold officially by Nissan, exclusively in Japan meaning that everywhere else around the world, the Elgrand is a grey import and in the same way there are many shades of grey, there are many levels of honesty and corruption when it comes to grey importers.
Some importers are 100% legitimate and will only sell the highest quality vehicles, others will wind back odometers and falsify service documents, hence why knowing as much about the Elgrand as possible is critical and hence why we’ve made this cheat sheet.
Exterior:
Thanks to the Elgrand being built when Nissan were arguably in their prime, not a whole lot goes wrong.
The headlights tend to get a bit cloudy or hazy, but this is easily fixed.
There are the odd reports that the electric mirrors are known to glitch out and be a bit faulty, in the sense that the motor for them won’t work so they won’t fold in.
Also, some rare instances of the central locking smart key not locking/unlocking the car which could likely be a control module issue.
Interior:
It’s much the same, hardly any common faults as such, the odd sporadic report of dashboard and infotainment displays glitching out and not showing the correct readings and occasional reports of the blower for the Air Conditioning operating randomly but these are rare.
Mechanically:
The VQ series engines in these are bit of a Nissan workhorse that are in more cars than you can poke a stick at, and in the Elgrand, range in displacement from 2.5-Litres right up to 3.5-Litres, however by far the most common is the 3.5.
Although, the VQ35 (and VQ25 to a lesser extent) are widely considered to be reliable they do have a few common issues. The most common complaint is oil consumption and this is an issue even if they’ve been well looked after.
Another issue common to these engines is oil leaks, particularly valve cover oil leaks and in an Elgrand this is where access becomes an issue. The Elgrand has a small bonnet and the engine is tucked right up under the cowling and because access is a problem, it takes longer to fix resulting in the cost to repair adding up.
Having said that, this lack of access is not exclusive to the Elgrand, engine access in nearly all vans is more difficult.
Another common and potentially expensive issue is catalytic converter failure. The Elgrand has a primary & secondary cat per bank (4 cats in total) and these have a bad habit of failing and subsequently blocking the exhaust and making the car virtually un-drivable. It is an expensive repair if done right and even more expensive if the root cause of the melt down needs fixing too. Which can be anything from dead oxygen sensors or fuel system issues and even mechanical complications. Some owners choose to delete the catalytic converters all together which here in Australia is completely illegal so not recommended.
Transmission and driveline issues are less common but they do tend chew through wheel bearings more than most.
Other than that, it’s just age-related issues you need to be careful of and with the newest of this generation now being 12 years
Exterior:
Thanks to the Elgrand being built when Nissan were arguably in their prime, not a whole lot goes wrong.
The headlights tend to get a bit cloudy or hazy, but this is easily fixed.
There are the odd reports that the electric mirrors are known to glitch out and be a bit faulty, in the sense that the motor for them won’t work so they won’t fold in.
Also, some rare instances of the central locking smart key not locking/unlocking the car which could likely be a control module issue.
Interior:
It’s much the same, hardly any common faults as such, the odd sporadic report of dashboard and infotainment displays glitching out and not showing the correct readings and occasional reports of the blower for the Air Conditioning operating randomly but these are rare.
Mechanically:
The VQ series engines in these are bit of a Nissan workhorse that are in more cars than you can poke a stick at, and in the Elgrand, range in displacement from 2.5-Litres right up to 3.5-Litres, however by far the most common is the 3.5.
Although, the VQ35 (and VQ25 to a lesser extent) are widely considered to be reliable they do have a few common issues. The most common complaint is oil consumption and this is an issue even if they’ve been well looked after.
Another issue common to these engines is oil leaks, particularly valve cover oil leaks and in an Elgrand this is where access becomes an issue. The Elgrand has a small bonnet and the engine is tucked right up under the cowling and because access is a problem, it takes longer to fix resulting in the cost to repair adding up.
Having said that, this lack of access is not exclusive to the Elgrand, engine access in nearly all vans is more difficult.
Another common and potentially expensive issue is catalytic converter failure. The Elgrand has a primary & secondary cat per bank (4 cats in total) and these have a bad habit of failing and subsequently blocking the exhaust and making the car virtually un-drivable. It is an expensive repair if done right and even more expensive if the root cause of the melt down needs fixing too. Which can be anything from dead oxygen sensors or fuel system issues and even mechanical complications. Some owners choose to delete the catalytic converters all together which here in Australia is completely illegal so not recommended.
Transmission and driveline issues are less common but they do tend chew through wheel bearings more than most.
Other than that, it’s just age-related issues you need to be careful of and with the newest of this generation now being 12 years old, they’re all likely to have some issues so a pre purchase inspection is highly recommended.
Exterior:
Thanks to the Elgrand being built when Nissan were arguably in their prime, not a whole lot goes wrong.
The headlights tend to get a bit cloudy or hazy, but this is easily fixed.
There are the odd reports that the electric mirrors are known to glitch out and be a bit faulty, in the sense that the motor for them won’t work so they won’t fold in.
Also, some rare instances of the central locking smart key not locking/unlocking the car which could likely be a control module issue.
Interior:
It’s much the same, hardly any common faults as such, the odd sporadic report of dashboard and infotainment displays glitching out and not showing the correct readings and occasional reports of the blower for the Air Conditioning operating randomly but these are rare.
Mechanically:
The VQ series engines in these are bit of a Nissan workhorse that are in more cars than you can poke a stick at, and in the Elgrand, range in displacement from 2.5-Litres right up to 3.5-Litres, however by far the most common is the 3.5.
Although, the VQ35 (and VQ25 to a lesser extent) are widely considered to be reliable they do have a few common issues. The most common complaint is oil consumption and this is an issue even if they’ve been well looked after.
Another issue common to these engines is oil leaks, particularly valve cover oil leaks and in an Elgrand this is where access becomes an issue. The Elgrand has a small bonnet and the engine is tucked right up under the cowling and because access is a problem, it takes longer to fix resulting in the cost to repair adding up.
Having said that, this lack of access is not exclusive to the Elgrand, engine access in nearly all vans is more difficult.
Another common and potentially expensive issue is catalytic converter failure. The Elgrand has a primary & secondary cat per bank (4 cats in total) and these have a bad habit of failing and subsequently blocking the exhaust and making the car virtually un-drivable. It is an expensive repair if done right and even more expensive if the root cause of the melt down needs fixing too. Which can be anything from dead oxygen sensors or fuel system issues and even mechanical complications. Some owners choose to delete the catalytic converters all together which here in Australia is completely illegal so not recommended.
Transmission and driveline issues are less common but they do tend chew through wheel bearings more than most.
Other than that, it’s just age-related issues you need to be careful of and with the newest of this generation now being 12 years old, they’re all likely to have some issues so a pre purchase inspection is highly recommended.
It’s a balancing act with the Elgrand.
Yes these are arguably some of the best value for money people movers or even vans on the used market but the money you save in actually buying one, may possibly be eaten up in fuel and running costs, not to mention that if something goes wrong with the Elgrand, depending on what has gone wrong, finding parts can be more of a challenge than it needs to be and as they are a challenge to work on, labour costs can quickly add up.
However, look at it this way, $20,000 should get you into a top spec mint condition Elgrand with about 60,000kms on it whereas a top spec Kia Carnival with about 60,000kms on it is going to be asking around $50,000.
Yes the Kia is newer and larger and more fuel efficient but is it really worth $30,000 more, we don’t think so.
Find a great condition one of these with a full and legitimate service history, make sure you put it through a pre-purchase inspection and if it checks out, yes buy it but keep on top of the required servicing and maintenance.
It’s a balancing act with the Elgrand.
Yes these are arguably some of the best value for money people movers or even vans on the used market but the money you save in actually buying one, may possibly be eaten up in fuel and running costs, not to mention that if something goes wrong with the Elgrand, depending on what has gone wrong, finding parts can be more of a challenge than it needs to be and as they are a challenge to work on, labour costs can quickly add up.
However, look at it this way, $20,000 should get you into a top spec mint condition Elgrand with about 60,000kms on it whereas a top spec Kia Carnival with about 60,000kms on it is going to be asking around $50,000.
Yes the Kia is newer and larger and more fuel efficient but is it really worth $30,000 more, we don’t think so.
Find a great condition one of these with a full and legitimate service history, make sure you put it through a pre-purchase inspection and if it checks out, yes buy it but keep on top of the required servicing and maintenance.
It’s a balancing act with the Elgrand.
Yes these are arguably some of the best value for money people movers or even vans on the used market but the money you save in actually buying one, may possibly be eaten up in fuel and running costs, not to mention that if something goes wrong with the Elgrand, depending on what has gone wrong, finding parts can be more of a challenge than it needs to be and as they are a challenge to work on, labour costs can quickly add up.
However, look at it this way, $20,000 should get you into a top spec mint condition Elgrand with about 60,000kms on it whereas a top spec Kia Carnival with about 60,000kms on it is going to be asking around $50,000.
Yes the Kia is newer and larger and more fuel efficient but is it really worth $30,000 more, we don’t think so.
Find a great condition one of these with a full and legitimate service history, make sure you put it through a pre-purchase inspection and if it checks out, yes buy it but keep on top of the required servicing and maintenance.
Body style:
5-door minivan (MPV)
Engines:
Power:
Torque:
Transmission & drivetrains:
Fuel consumption:
10.5 – 12.8L/100km
Length:
4795 – 4835mm
Width:
1795 – 1815mm
Height:
1910 – 1920mm
Kerb weight:
2010 – 2450kg
Body style:
5-door minivan (MPV)
Engines:
Power:
Torque:
Transmission & drivetrains:
Fuel consumption:
10.5 – 12.8L/100km
Length:
4795 – 4835mm
Width:
1795 – 1815mm
Height:
1910 – 1920mm
Kerb weight:
2010 – 2450kg
Body style:
5-door minivan (MPV)
Engines:
Power:
Torque:
Transmission & drivetrains:
Fuel consumption:
10.5 – 12.8L/100km
Length:
4795 – 4835mm
Width:
1795 – 1815mm
Height:
1910 – 1920mm
Kerb weight:
2010 – 2450kg
Warranty:
No manufacturers warranty as it is a grey import. Some import companies offered warranties when these were newly built.
Servicing:
12 months/10,000km
Have ultimate peace of mind when buying a used car by purchasing an official PPSR report.
Please note that pricing information is subject to fluctuations in the automotive market.
Information correct as of December 02, 2022.
The advice provided on this website is general advice only. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this advice, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.
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