Used Nissan Patrol Y61 Safari and Super Safari (1997–2024): a UAE buyer’s guide

From 1997 to the 2024 Al Ostoura: how long the Y61 was sold

Nissan dates the Nissan Patrol Y61 from 1997: its December 2016 release for Nissan Australia names two bodies, the Y61 wagon and the UY61 cab-chassis, and says the last Australian wagons had a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel with a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic gearbox. A Y61 brought in from another market can therefore differ from the Gulf versions below. Nissan unveiled the next Patrol, the Y62, in Abu Dhabi in February 2010.

In the Gulf the Y61 did not stop in 2010. Nissan Middle East said in October 2018 that Patrol Safari sales had risen 152% from fiscal year 2012 to 2017. It relaunched the Patrol Super Safari in March 2017, added a three-door Super Safari in July 2017 and announced a 2022 Super Safari, sold through partners including Al Masaood Automobiles in Abu Dhabi and Arabian Automobiles Co. in Dubai. In a release dated 21 March 2024, Al Masaood Automobiles announced the 2024 Al Ostoura edition and called it “the finale edition” of the Super Safari. VINCheckr’s catalogue therefore lists the Y61 from 1997 to 2024, the years these Nissan and agent sources cover.

The Y61 was not a US-market Patrol. The recall and complaint records of the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) list no Nissan Patrol for any model year from 1997 to 2024, and NHTSA’s Product Information Catalog and Vehicle Listing (vPIC) lists no Patrol among Nissan models. There are no US complaints, recalls or auction titles to lean on, so the records that decide the purchase are the agent’s, the police’s and the car’s own condition.

Safari, Super Safari, pick-up and the Gazelle editions

Nissan’s March 2017 release gives the Super Safari a 4.8-litre six-cylinder in-line petrol engine with 280 hp and 451 Nm, a five-speed automatic with manual mode, Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC), a tyre pressure monitoring system, rear locking differentials, an electric front winch and front and rear tow hooks. Nissan’s July 2017 release adds a three-door “Hard Top” with the same engine and gearbox, its winch an option, and the October 2018 release says a manual Super Safari was now available across the Gulf. The 2022 Super Safari came with a five-speed automatic or manual gearbox, a rear differential lock and coil-spring suspension with a torsion bar.

Arabian Automobiles’ Nissan Dubai site listed a Patrol Pickup in 2018 with a 4.8-litre petrol engine, three-link coil springs at the front and leaf springs at the rear, a load capacity of 1,098 kg and a fuel sub-tank. A pick-up that has carried loads for years needs its springs, chassis and load bed checked as closely as its engine.

Not every lifted Y61 is an aftermarket build. Nissan’s October 2018 release describes Middle East editions called Falcon, Gazelle and Gazelle-X: the Gazelle came with a 2-inch lift kit, remote-reservoir shock absorbers, a snorkel, a 4,300 kg winch and 285 mm tyres, and the Gazelle-X with a 4-inch lift, 315 mm tyres, steel bumpers and changed front and rear differential ratios. Ask Nissan’s UAE agent, with the VIN, which edition the car left the showroom as before you judge its suspension.

Five questions to settle before you view a Patrol Y61

• Which agent sold and serviced it? Ask whichever agent holds the car’s service records. Nissan’s 2022 release names Al Masaood Automobiles in Abu Dhabi and Arabian Automobiles Co. in Dubai; in October 2026, Nissan Dubai’s website names AWR Automotive as Nissan’s exclusive distributor in Dubai and the Northern Emirates.
• Which campaigns applied to this VIN, and were they done? Ask about the passenger airbag inflator campaign first.
• Is it a Safari, a Super Safari, a pick-up or a Falcon, Gazelle or Gazelle-X edition, and with which gearbox?
• Has it been modified, and are there receipts for the work?
• Does the chassis number on the registration card match the number in the agent’s records and on the car?

Patrol Y61 recalls, campaigns and wear points

With no NHTSA data, this section rests on UAE press reports of campaigns run by Nissan’s UAE agents, on Australia’s product-safety regulator and on Nissan’s own releases. No official source we found online publishes the Nissan Patrol Y61 owner’s manual, so its warnings are not quoted here; ask the seller for the printed handbook, or ask Nissan’s UAE agent for a copy.

Passenger airbag inflators: the campaign that names the Y61

Gulf News reported in November 2018 that Arabian Automobiles and Al Masaood Automobiles had, from 14 October 2017, run a campaign for 13,818 Nissan vehicles made between 2013 and 2018 to replace the passenger airbag inflators, naming the “Nissan Patrol Y61 (2013 to 2018)” and the X-Trail T30. The dealers said the passenger airbag module might not perform well because of environmental moisture and fluctuating high temperatures. Earlier, in May 2015, Khaleej Times quoted Nissan Middle East saying it would expand its Takata passenger airbag inflator campaign to more 2004–2007 vehicles with “SPI” inflators, and reported that the Patrol for models between 2003 and 2007 was included; those years predate the Y62. When we read it on 15 October 2026, the Nissan recall page of the UAE Ministry of Economy & Tourism listed no Patrol notice. No official source we found publishes either campaign, so ask Nissan’s UAE agent, with the VIN, whether the inflator was replaced.

A recall notice from Nissan Australia, published by Australia’s regulator, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), explains the risk for Australian Y61 Patrols of model years 2009–2012: as a Takata inflator ages, heat and humidity can degrade its propellant, and in a crash the inflator housing can rupture and throw metal fragments at the occupants. It says those cars are under “critical recall” and recommends that owners stop driving them until the airbag is replaced. That recall covers Australian cars only, but if Nissan’s UAE agent says an airbag campaign is still open on the car you are viewing, do not test-drive it; ask the agent to do the work first.

Ignition switch and other Patrol campaigns with no generation named

Khaleej Times reported in December 2018 that Arabian Automobiles and Al Masaood Automobiles had started a campaign for 4,145 vehicles made in 2017, including “its popular 4x4 Patrol”, because the ignition switch spring could break with repeated use or a heavy key ring and the engine could switch off while driving; the switch was replaced free. The report does not say which Patrol. The 2010 Patrol recall (an electronic control module circuit) and the 2011–2012 Patrol recall (a pressure sensor that could cause a fuel leak) reported by The National and Gulf News do not name the generation either. Ask Nissan’s UAE agent whether any of them applied to the VIN.

Sand, heat and recovery work

Nissan sold the Y61 in the Gulf as a desert car: its releases list a winch, front and rear tow hooks, rear locking differentials and, on the 2018 editions, built-in air compressors, and one says the winch and tow hooks “will keep off-roaders and perhaps their less equipped friends on the move”. Check for the wear that dune driving and recovery work leave. The Y61 wagon keeps solid axles on coil springs, with three links at the front and five at the rear in Nissan Australia’s description (the pick-up has rear leaf springs); Nissan’s 2010 Y62 release says the Y62 moved to independent suspension from the previous rigid axle. Look for bent axle housings, leaking shock absorbers, cracked spring seats and torn bushes, and check the recovery points for stretched or welded metal.

Lift kits, big tyres and tuned engines

Modified cars are part of the Patrol Safari scene: at an October 2018 event, Nissan Middle East’s judges picked the “best maintained, best looking and best tuned” cars in what its post called the “Nissan Safari #VTC competition”. No official source we found covers turbocharger kits, engine swaps or other engine work on the Y61, or how they affect a car’s registration or insurance in the UAE. Ask for the receipts, ask Nissan’s UAE agent whether it will still service the car, and have an independent mechanic check any engine that has been opened.

UAE Patrol campaigns by year reported, and which ones name the Y61

The table lists every UAE campaign for the Patrol that we found reported, from the press reports cited above, with no severity rating: only one names the Y61, and no official notice for any of them was found on the pages of the UAE Ministry of Economy & Tourism. A model year in the second column is the year the report gives, not a check on your VIN.

Flood and write-off history on a car that never left the Gulf

A Gulf-market Patrol Y61 has no US title that could record a flood or a write-off, so the evidence is the car and its local paperwork. The UAE Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) says national requirements prohibit importing, licensing and insuring flooded cars, burnt-out cars and cars damaged beyond repair, among other types. The Emirates News Agency (WAM) reported on 16 April 2024 that the record rainfall of the 24 hours to 9 pm that day surpassed anything documented since data collection began in 1949, and quoted the National Centre of Meteorology calling it an exceptional event; on any car that was in the UAE then, look for silt under the carpets, rust on seat rails and corrosion in the wiring connectors.

Flood-damaged cars in the UAE: how to spot one

Accident records for a Patrol Y61

The Ministry of Interior (MOI) and Abu Dhabi Police both list, among their public e-services, an accident inquiry by chassis number. VINCheckr searches the UAE accident records available to it, from MOI and, during periods when MOI cannot be reached, Abu Dhabi Police; a clean result means no accident was found in those records. Damage from off-road driving may never have been reported to the police, so inspect the car on a lift as well as checking the record.

Odometer and ownership evidence

For an older Y61 with several owners, dated service invoices from Nissan’s UAE agent are the best odometer evidence. In Dubai, the Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) offers a Technical Vehicle Status Report on a registered used car, including its ownership history, if the owner agrees to disclose the data; the RTA says the report does not include accidents.

VINCheckr also shows European mileage readings where available; few Gulf-market Patrols appear in them, so an empty result tells you nothing about the odometer. Its recall section lists NHTSA’s US recalls by make, model and year, and NHTSA lists no Patrol, so for a Patrol Y61 it will usually show none. That is not a clean bill: take the VIN to Nissan’s UAE agent for the Gulf campaigns.

Finding the chassis number on a Patrol Y61

Australian Government records place an Australian-market Y61 wagon’s VIN on an identification plate (left-hand centre pillar from April 2008, firewall before) and on the chassis rail (the right-hand rail, as we read the government’s grid chart). No official source we found shows the positions on a Gulf-market Safari, so ask Nissan’s UAE agent where the chassis number is on that car and check it against the registration card.

Where to find the VIN and chassis number on a Nissan Patrol Y61

Patrol Y61 viewing checklist, from paperwork to recovery points

1. Get the chassis number from the registration card and ask Nissan’s UAE agent for the service history and the campaign record for that VIN.
2. Confirm the passenger airbag inflator campaign is closed; if it is open, have the agent replace the inflator before any test drive.
3. Ask whether the 2017-build ignition switch campaign applied to the car and, if so, whether the switch was replaced.
4. Run the UAE accident inquiry by chassis number.
5. Ask which version and edition the car is (Safari, Super Safari, Hard Top, pick-up, Falcon, Gazelle or Gazelle-X) and compare the lift, tyres and bumpers with it.
6. Start the engine from cold, listen for knocks and check that every warning light goes out.
7. On tarmac, check the gearbox changes cleanly; leave low range and the rear differential lock for a mechanic to test on loose ground.
8. On a lift, inspect the axle housings, shock absorbers, spring seats, chassis rails and recovery points, and look for silt or rust from flooding.
9. On a pick-up, check the rear leaf springs and the load bed for overload damage.
10. Ask for receipts for any lift kit, tyres or engine work, and have an independent mechanic inspect the car before you pay.