Windscreen slowly de-laminating in top corner of drivers side due to hidden corrosion. Properly restoring metal when the windscreen cracks will be expensive.
Leak in boot due to rear spoiler's fixing-adhesive denaturing. Now fixed.
Rear nearside passenger kicker-strip retainers broken.
Various minor repairs - CV boots, Silencer.
Note : This car is P10 model (older style - older interior, less rear legroom, no multi-link suspension, and looks like a horses @r$e)
Don't let the SRi badge and ridiculous spoilers fool you, it's only got average family-car performance, the 1.6 must be -very- underpowered, however...
It's a fantastic mile-eater, especially around twisting roads and hilly country. It handles well and gives you good feedback and confidence. Quite enjoyable to drive in fact.
The bucket seats are perfect and have good adjustment. The driving position is only bettered by the Passat. Anyone over 6' will find the headroom insufficient though.
V.Good build quality for '96, especially interior, plastic on dashboard is higher quality than later models!
Good gearing for motorway - It hums rather than screams.
Excellent value for money.
100% reliability.
Despite good build quality, I would prefer them to have used thicker grades of steel for the body panels. Don't go hitting any SAAB's.
The boot is enormous, even in my saloon version, luggage straps would have been nice though.
Turning circle is poor.
Stereo system is good, with excellent high-level (pillar mounted) tweeters, although bass is a bit weak.
I'm very fussy about my driving experiences and I'm quite happy to do another 100k in this one.
Another good, honest review. No car is perfect. Even a top of the range S-Class Merc because the price is far from appealing.
I own a 1.6 P10 Sri and there are a few points I would like to add.
1. Multi-link suspension: The P10 saloon and hatch definitely does have multi-link front and rear suspension (Ford copied it for the original Mondeo). However, the estate version which is built in Japan does not and apparently it is pretty nasty to drive. If you own a Haynes manual for the P10 they have actually put the wrong illustration for the hatchback suspension in one of the sections making it look as though it is the same as the estate. A mere typographical error.
2. Headroom: I am 6'2" and have plenty of headroom, even with the sunroof!
3. 1.6 being underpowered: Yes it is a little, but not very. The gearing is actually shorter than the 2.0 litre model making it a bit more peppy. To be honest, once the revs reach 3K RPM the car is fine, if a little noisy. It is a bit thrashy though and I would like the 2.0 litre. However, 40MPG cannot be sniffed at and a range of 500 motorway miles is pretty good going for a fairly big car.
4. Handling: Agree about the handling. The beast can be a bit dull around town and the steering feels a bit vague in a straight line, but the car transforms itself as soon as you hit a back road. Suddenly the steering weights up and provides plenty of feedback and you can fling it around confident that it will stick or tell you when it about not to. I recently drove a Peugeot 206 for a few days. They are meant to be nippy little things and I quite enjoyed it. I wasn't looking forward to getting back in my 100K mile Primera, but when I did I was amazed. It is just so much more alive than the Peugeot - the steering, the brakes (especially the brakes), the body control! It was like getting into a new car and feeling the road again.
Turning circle: Absolutely awful.
I have owned a 96 Primera SRI for 3 months, I had a 98 peugeot 406 before it. I think this car is amazing. I don't really seem to have a problem with the turning circle, seems to be OK for me, probably because it is better than the 406. I am impressed with its acceleration, the 406 I had was a 2 ltr, and my 1.6 primera is a lot quicker and the handling is amazin. a few problems with it tho, the heater fan speeds 1, 2 and 3 do not work, spoke to a local mechanic, he says it's an expensive air sensor. what is a P10 model.
The P10 model is the Primera that ran from around 1990 to 1996. After this it was the P11 from 1996 to 1999, I think. Then probably the P12. Clever people those Nissan chaps!
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About 60,000 miles after posting that initial glowing report, my much loved Primera was shunted at the weekend and is now a write-off. :- (
Am now looking for another, although the build quality on later models doesn't look so good.
A moment of silence please...
The problem with the heater that only runs on setting 4 is caused by the "Heater Rheostat". It will cost about £33 from Nissan dealer and takes no more than 10 minutes to fit. It's buried beyond the glove box...
I agree completely with the comment about the heater rheostat - its the only thing I can remember that's gone wrong with my 1996 2.0 p10 SRi 5 door since I bought it with 11k miles in '98. Now its done 120k and its still tight and rattle free.
The handling's great, still loves to go over 100 mph in 4th and the engine oil even stays clean between services.
Turning circle - never noticed a problem. Maybe that's because the power steering and gearbox are nice to use.
Unfortunately I'll have to sell it because I need an estate - someone will get a bargain for just several hundred quid!
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