The new Nissan NV300 is now on sale in UK dealers, with prices starting from £21,300 +VAT.

The new Nissan NV300 van and minibus

Like its predecesoor, the Nissan Primastar, the NV300 is of course based on the Renault Trafic/Vauxhall Vivaro. But as I’ve mentioned before, it enjoys one very special advantage over these two European models: a five-year/100,000 mile warranty.

Renaut and Vauxhall only offer a four-year warranty, so all else being equal (and it pretty much is) you might as well plump for the NV300, in my opinion. Certainly, if I was equally close to a Nissan and (say) a Renault dealer, I’d probably opt for the Nissan.

The new NV300 fills the gap between Nissan’s in-house small van, the NV200, and the Renault Master-based NV400. Available from all 220 of Nissan’s UK dealers, the NV300 is available in three trim levels and as a panel van, crew van, minibus or chassic cab version.

Panel van customers can choose between short and long wheelbase and two roof heights, while a choice of tailgate or barn doors is also available to suit different usage scenarios. All the panel van models are able to carry at least three Europallets.

The NV300 is powered by Nissan’s popular 1.6-litre dCi diesel engine, available in a choice of 95hp, 120hp, 125hp and 145hp power outputs. All models have a six-speed manual gearbox and fuel consumption can be as high as 50.4mpg.

Service intervals have been extended to two years/25,000 miles, in order to minimise the total cost of ownership. That may be good news for the van’s first owner. But as I’ve said before, my personal opinion is that two years and 25,000 miles is too long for any vehicle to go without a mechanical inspection or a change of oil.

That’s just my opinion. Just don’t expect me to rush to buy a four-year old van, that’s only ever had one oil change, and has spent most of its life doing short urban journeys with lots of cold starts.