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Nissan Primera III (1999 - 2002)

What's Good

New sheetmetal from September 1999 turned the Primera from an excellent car let down by nondescript looks into a real polariser of tastes. Now 14' 10" long by 5' 8" wide (estate 15' long) and weigning from 1.235kg. New flexible 1,769cc 114 bhp engine develops 111 lb ft torque from 2,400-4,800 rpm. New 'Hypertronic' CVT transmission is the first CVT with a 2.0 litre engine. CVT offered with six-ratio electronic manual hold. By far the best to drive is the 138 bhp 2.0i 16v Sport manual. Tenth most reliable car in 2001 Fleet News Survey of 620,000 fleet cars mostly under 3 years old. Nissans generally had slightly below average warranty repair costs in 2003 Warranty Direct Reliability index (index 94.77 v/s lowest 31.93). Link:- www.reliabilityindex.co.uk Average number of breakdowns, problems and faults in 2003 Which survey. Which? used best buy up to £5,000 2004.

What's Bad

Do you like the way it looks? Do your neighbours like the way it looks? Different models have different suspension set-ups, some not as good as previous model. Torque converter makes CVT slow to accelerate. Short model life, replaced early 2002. Complaint of rust on the tailgate of a brand new car and laminate peeling off alloy wheels of same car. Sudden poor running of petrol engines or failure to start due to crankshaft sensor malfunction (seems to be vulnerable to dirt or water ingress: see recalls). Can have a problem with ABS rings on the driveshaft joints breaking up. Very expensive to replace.

What to Watch Out For

See above and previous Primera II.

Recalls

29-1-2002: 34,480 Almera and Primera 1.5s, 1.6s and 1.8s recalled because engine crankshaft and camshaft position sensors may case engine to stall and not re-start. September 2002: Rumour of recall due to a/c fault. November 2003: Worldwide recall of 1.8 and 2.0 litre petrol engines built 1998 - 2003 to replace crankshaft position sensors that can cause the engines to stall or fail to start.