1994 Nissan Primera Circuit review from UK and Ireland

Thermostat housing broke when I fixed it on; it's quite a weak part so beware tightening it up too much. It's difficult to get a good seal when fixing it on, use lashings of liquid gasket and leave it to set for a few hours.

Aftermarket thermostats are no good for this engine, you need to get a proper Nissan one otherwise it'll underheat.

I bought the car in September 2008 for £400 with MOT test and road tax until May 2009.

The engine is a 1974cc naturally aspirated diesel, which makes a mere 74bhp, which isn't enough for a reasonably big, modern car. Acceleration is very poor, and it gives little confidence when overtaking or pulling out of junctions. Once up to speed it goes fairly well though, and just about cracks 100mph on the flat (confirmed by my sat nav).

Even with my right foot to the floor much of the time, it manages 45MPG (6.3litres/100km).

Inside it's quite dark and gloomy, but comfortable and roomy apart from limited headroom in the back. The boot is huge.

When new the Primera was considered one of the finest driver's cars in the family car class, and mine still drives superbly 14 years after it was fresh out of the showroom.

The ride is a little bit jittery, but the handling is sublime. It has hardly any roll at all and you can go into corners quickly without drama. With wider tyres than the puny 175-section efforts that are on it now, I imagine it'd be even better.

Apart from little blobs of rust here and there, the bodywork is bearing up well for its years.

Being a 1990s 'special edition' it was covered in cheesy stickers - they were quickly dispatched into the bin.