Having been told that my new job will require a company car, I now have to choose from Renault Laguna, Vauxhall Vectra or Nissan Primera. I'll be doing 30-35k miles a year on mostly motorway or fast rural roads.
Without having any particularly good reason, I think I prefer the Primera to the other two. I'm now confronted by choice of spec and totally confused. Does anyone have any recommendations/opinions/information? Also, do certain specs only have a "temporary use" spare tyre (I can't make sense of the brochure at this point) as I definitely don't want this.
As usual, all contributions gratefully received.
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The Primera has always been a very underrated model and in the case of the new one I rather like its unusual styling.
The new Vectra is far superior to the old one and is comfortable and roomy. A friend, for instance, who travels the length and breadth of the country in one throughout the week reckons it's probably the best car he's had.
The Renault would come third for me mostly on the grounds of build quality and, dare I say it, potential reliability problems.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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None of the three will really disappoint you.
I often have a vectra 2.2i auto when in Germany and they are a quiet cruiser, but I find the dashboard very unpleasant to look at - its also taken me a long time to figure out how best to set the aircon.
The Primera is a very nice car and I like the dash a lot - very innovative. It would probably be my choice.
Don't know much about the latest Laguna, but the previous model could be a bag of trouble.
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Both the Laguna and the Vectra are very comfy on long journeys. Never been in a Primera and have never been a big Nissan fan (apart from the 350Z) as they just cannot style anything to my liking.
Renault build quality is a bit hit and miss, whereas Nissan and Vauxhall are both better in my opinion.
But as ever, I think you need to drive them and see what fits - there's probably a reason you see so many Vectra's around.
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well what do you expect.
The laguna 11 is a wonderfull car, very comfy, mine has bene a paragon of reliability, pig to reverse tho unless you get the tourer.
Vectra, ok a good car.
Primera. Hate it with a passion. from its reversing camera to its stupid central keybutton/joystick twiddly knob thing. Facing that ugly mug on my drive every morning would make me vomit.
And yes I racked up miles in all of them prior to choosing.
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But as ever, I think you need to drive them and see what fits - there's probably a reason you see so many Vectra's around.
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Like Mondeos, the majority would be bought as fleet cars. That is why there are so many around.
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Hi,
I went for the Nissan Primera DCI 2.2 SVE (With Leather) in Nov 2003 for my company car and have now covered 47000 miles covering mostly motorway but also A and B roads.
Over all I have found it very confortable, plenty of power (138ps) and a good sized boot. The car came with standard Sat Nav which I will no longer do without!
Had one break down (Wire came adrift to cause the Engine to go in to limp home mode) so needed RAC call out.
Apart from that been very reliable.
I have had hired Vectras and the new ones drive nicely to. I have not driven the Lagunda but have a freind who has the 150ps Diesel estate and has been very pleased with it.
Good luck in your search!
Cheers
Jlo
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Regarding spare wheel spec, all Vectra (C's) come with a space saver as standard, regardless of model. No idea about the others on your list.
The Vectra Elegance (or Design as it's now called) is very well spec'd. Elec windows all round, elec mirrors, 4 disc CD player, fuel computer, self dipping rear mirror. etc etc. The specs of each model are available on the Vauxhall website.
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I have a 2.2dCi SE spec - and love it. My wife has an A4 1.9TDi company car and to be quite honest the Primera drives better in many respects and is more comfortable even if the Audi has the edge in percieved (not actual) build quality - certainly not £5K of a difference in the 2 cars though.
SE spec gives you tons o'toys - SAt Nav, Cruise Control to name but a few however SVE I think would be the choice. Mine has a full size spare (not alloy tho') and in my opinion the SE on the 16" wheels is more comfy than the models with the 17" wheels.
The centre dash takes some getting used to, however you'll have mastered it within 5 minutes and you'll never go back to a standard display - the eyes don't need to refocus when going from road to readout and vice versa.
Huge boot, loads of interior room and the height of the car makes getting my wee one in and out a doddle.
Go for it. It's very under-rated
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Both the Laguna and the Vectra are very comfy on long journeys. Never been in a Primera and have never been a big Nissan fan (apart from the 350Z) as they just cannot style anything to my liking. Renault build quality is a bit hit and miss, whereas Nissan and Vauxhall are both better in my opinion. But as ever, I think you need to drive them and see what fits - there's probably a reason you see so many Vectra's around.
There are lots of Vectras around because, like Ford, they are perceived as being a British car. In addition, fleet operators are able to buy them at massive discounts.
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I cant offer any advice on the merits of the three other than a positive experience with a previous model of Primera, but have you considered the relative cost of each in 'Benefit in Kind' that the taxman will tax you on ?
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I have always been surprised how the colour of a car makes such a difference to its appearance. Today I saw a black Primera for the first time and I have to say the colour suits its shape better than any other.
I feel much the same about C5s, as I have never liked them in either red or green, and I think they look much better in silver or grey. I haven't seen one in black yet, I don't think.
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Well I went for the Primera and it finally arrived on Monday.
Oh my oh my oh my......
Very impressed and very happy. Having great fun (but haven't got the hang of the sat nav or cd player yet!) and very convinced I made the right choice. However my boss is now grumbling becuase he thinks I have a better car than his! No sympathy.
Thanks for all the earlier advice.
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I have the SVE 2.2dCi - Good init?
Takes a little while to get used to the Sat Nav & audio settings - I've just had the first service at 12,800 miles (oops!)and am getting 44mpg (The only disapointing thing about the car so far!)
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