1997 Nissan Primera Reviews - Page 9 of 10

Annoyingly squeaky wipers.

A few minor interior rattles.

Bought privately in Jan 2001, a 97P reg Primera GT for little more than £5000 with low miles and full history. Plenty of performance and equipment for a bargain price!

I've only driven 4000 miles in this car, but I hope there will be many more.

Superb road-holding, responsive steering and lots of power above 3700rpm.

On the downside the seats look more supportive than they are, and the ride is harsh over poor surfaces. The payoff for that great handling!

Fuel economy is good at around 35mpg, but be prepared for group 14 insurance and pricey dealer servicing.

All in all this has to be the finest handling car in its class and with air conditioning, 8 speaker stereo, 6 CD-changer, electric sunroof and mirrors, 1/2 leather trim and trip computer, you get lots of toys for the money.

It may look like a rep-mobile, but it will embarass plenty of far sexier cars!

With Nissan's reputation for reliability I'm hoping to enjoy this car for a long time to come!

Nothing very important - the battery failed to work, however, after 3.5 years of service and needed to be replaced.

When the air-con runs at first, it causes a smell for a few minutes.

Even though it has bland looks in the interior, it's roomy and comfortable - even on long journeys.

Engine performance is adequate for a family car, but a 1.8 would have been better.

It handles well on road and is also quite economical.

The only thing that has gone wrong with the car is that the battery developed a leak which in turn corroded the battery terminals.

A truly excellent drivers car! It is a much better drive than my Mondeo was.

There are only a couple of things that I dislike about this car:

1) The gearchange isn't quite as good as other cars I've driven (especially the Mondeo), and reverse gear on my car doesn't always engage first time.

2) The radio-cassette player that came with the car was pretty awful. The first thing I did was to install an aftermarket CD player.

However, the list of things I like is thankfully much bigger than the list of don't likes:

1) The handling is extremely good. You can throw the car into corners going far too fast, and it still doesn't understeer. The suspension isn't excessively hard though, and still absorbs most of the bumps and potholes all too common on British roads.

2) It is reliable, and hopefully being Japanese, will stay that way.

3) The engine is fairly powerful, and has a bucketload of torque around 3500-4500rpm. Overtaking is a breeze, although I would have liked a little more low end (2000-3000rpm) power.

4) Quick enough to beat all those townies with their XR3i's, Nova SR's etc.

5) The build quality of the car is also higher than your usual Ford or Vauxhall - everything is well put together with no rattles whatsoever.

All in all, I'd have no quibbles about owning another Primera or about recommending one to friends or family.

- Severe rattling from the dashboard - Nissan dealer could not fix it with 3 visits, fixed by myself.

- Fuel system recall by Nissan.

- Faulty alternator.

- Noisy steering on full lock.

- Shattered 5th gear cog, gearbox rebuild.

- Problems with the handbrake releasing.

- Driver's seat mountings are loose.

- Air conditioning smells 'like urine' when turned off.

- Severe knocking noise from the front suspension, happens every 15,000 miles after links replaced at £250 a time. This is not acceptable unlike what Nissan say.

A potentially good car has been let down by poor quality parts and workmanship - my series one that was made in Japan was perfect but the British cannot make a decent car these days, where the newer ones are built..

The suspension problems and dealer failure to notice a loud cracking sound. Even suggested that the dealer technician gets a hearind aid! (Dealer was Evans-Halshaw of Reading - avoid this dealer!) It is obviously a design flaw which shows that Nissan didn't test their prototypes properly.

Buy German !!!

If you're spending this sort of money, buy a Passat or an A4 - I'm going to!