The P11.144's (99-02) with late Almera lookalike front are cheap as chips - trade in values for SE and Sport (harder suspension, better seats) for 2002 examples are borderline joke - around £1500 mark, so there are bargains to be had at auctions and from private buyers.
Completely invisible to everyone, you can leave it unlocked virtually in any part of the country and noone will ever pinch it. As stated before, they suffer from complete lack of respect from anyone else on the road, turning circle of an 18 ton lorry and severe cost cuts in interior design department - passenger airbag in literally slapped on top of the dash, radio casette connected to low budget carton speakers is the top "hifi" offered in 2002 while sound insulation of the floorplan is practically non existant. All that is amplified by absymal quality control - plastric trim panels often have gaps larger that those of pension fund at Sunderland, loose window control panels rattle around very nighties looking door cards, uneven door sills whistle at speed and corroding alloys have a habit of welding themseleves permanently to hubs.
That said - late examples of rare "exec mad enough to buy Primera" - such as Sport+ or SE+ often feature full heated leather and Xenons and can be found from "trade" for as low £2500 and £3000. Choose clean and well kept car and it will serve you for years, with quite a few niggles, rattles and whistles perhaps, but relatively bulletproof under the bonet....
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[ Anything I drive can and will be used against me ]
Edited by v0n on 29/10/2007 at 17:05
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"very nineties looking door cards"
As a Primera owner I find this very offensive.
They are more like 1980's jumpers.
After 4 years/70K with a 97 1.6, I bought a X reg 2.0 Sport a couple of months ago.
Great car in my opinion although the suspension is a little hard.
Very important that the oil is changed regularly to keep the chain healthy.
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Hello Quizman.
You say "My wife was quite pretty when we got married, "
And something happened after the honeymoon was over? ;-0
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v0n
Some entertaining prose, but just not true.
The Primera was taken as a benchmark by Ford and GM for their own new-car development programmes. Quality control was excellent, and far superior to anything Ford or GM could boast. The Sunderland-built Primeras were exported to the US and sold as the Infiniti G20, and won US JD Power survey. Around 97/98 CAR magazine did a back to back test of the Primera 2.0 against BMW 320 and declared the Primera a better drive. P11 had exceptionally stiff chassis.
Stereo components were supplied by Blaupunkt - yes there was no CD, but not many cars of this age had CD.
Don't understand where comments about 'corroding alloys' come from - yes, on a 8-10 year old car you may find some corrosion, but they were well above average for finish and way way better than Ford alloys.
Primeras tend to corrode around the back of the sill/rear arch junction, but again better in this respect than most of the competition.
But lets not spoil a good story...
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Aprilia - we are not talking about the same car - you are talking about P11, I'm talking about P11.144. What's more - there is one standing on my driveway, so I can take pictures to prove just how bad quality control at Sunderland was in 2002.
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[ Anything I drive can and will be used against me ]
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i have a p11-144 on my drive von
it doesnt rattle
the doorcards are fine in my opinion
my alloys have no corrosion (suggest garage copperslip your hubs)
no whistles at any speed
the fit of trim and panels is first class,it really amazes me that this car was indeed built in britain
complaints with my 96/99 primera ? absolutely non(appart from the lousy turning circle)
complaints with my 99/02 primera? absolutely non (apart from the lousy turning circle and the radio is a bit poor unless the fm signal is strong)
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Are they any good in auto form? Tell me yes and I'll tell 'e' why. Tell me no and I sharn't........No Porkies please lads.
VBR....MD
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thought you newer i hadda tauto
velly good indeedy suu smooth
not the most economic tauto ive ever haddad though
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SNIPQUOTE!You been on the same plonk as me BB??
HaHa.........MD
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 30/10/2007 at 00:49
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im dry this week afore i get banned ;-)
wifes got a bottle of some of nettos finest french reserve though
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im dry this week afore i get banned ;-)
On a more sobering note. My offspring and her b/friend run a banger which can last not much longer methinks. They like what they like as we all did at that age and most of us still do. However they are a sensible pair and I have been left wondering by your posts whether one of these highly undesirable transportation machines may suit them next. I will suggest it and then run for cover. How would a decent one, say a 2.0 litre be viewed by the Ins' co's. He 26/7 I think. Clean everything. She, the offspring may wish to take up the wheel again after 'dropping out' of attempting to drive some 3 years ago. She 22 in Jan' 08.
TIA.......MD
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MD i sold my old r reg primera to my son in law nearly a year ago ,he still loves it,they have just had a baby and theres loads of room in the back they tell me,the car has even paid for itself these last ten months as i took his old omega off him and crushed it to save the ozone .
The alloys on my car were mint,ok i dont know if they were originals but then again i hate high mileage abused cars ,so just choose wisely MD
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I bet yours is also whisper quiet inside at any speed and turns on a six pence.
Look. You are selling sugar back to sugar factory. I'm a Primera owner. 6 cars in a row were Nissans. I'm always ready to give credit where it's due. This isn't one of these cases - P11.144 was designed in UK and introduced in 1999 for new millennium. Over 600 main components and elements were redesigned. And yet interior is dated and drab, it's a budget driven modification of the old P11. Exterior was simply unattractive. Quality control of finish was patchy at best. It didn't sell anywhere near the numbers of P10. The model was pulled out after only 2.5 years.
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[ Anything I drive can and will be used against me ]
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beauty is in the eye though von,i think this model is quite good looking and is one of the few saloon type cars that has yet to bite me back on a fast corner unawares,i did say the turning circle is abysmal but one remembers this and makes allowances surely?
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>> Don't understand where comments about 'corroding alloys' come from - yes on a 8-10 year old car you may find some corrosion but they were well above average for finish and way way better than Ford alloys.
My '97 Primera was just 3 years old when I bought it and all the alloys were bubbling between the spokes to some extent. Nissan dealer had two of them refurbed (on the cheap I imagine) but the corrosion returned after a year.
Similar era Primeras on their forecourt all showed the exact same symptoms to one degree or another.
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Based on experience of my '99 Sport+ (since sold when I converted to bikes), and my wife's '95 2.0L, I'd say go for it.
At that price, why worry about a bit of bubbling on the alloys or a 'dated' interior if it works? Besides, I remember corroding alloys on some Mondeos of the late nineties.
My wife's car was traded in for £300, with the rusting sill/wheelarch issue - two years later, we still see it on the local roads. It never let her down.
My Sport+ was a superb car for the price; it suffered an ABS fault due to a crack in the toothed ring bit (can't remember what it's called!) - that needed a new drive shaft to fix - watch out for ABS kicking in as you come to a stop even in dry conditions. Otherwise - perfect.
Both had the chain-cam 2.0 engine - a bit noisy, but in a sporty kind of way. Between services it never leaked any fluids, and the oil almost looked as fresh as new when it came to changing it.
Both Nissans were so good my wife traded in for an Almera Tino - which has been disappointing to be honest - reliable, but too many electronic gimmicks, especially the horrible heating and radio controls.
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