Primera? Or alternatives

Vikings

Another car hunt thread (sorry)

Looking for a nice comfortable saloon with decent reliability to last me a few years, well hopefully.

Cars I have been looking at would include the Octavia, Passat, Bora etc.. though recently the Primera has caught my eye. It certainly looks different with that shape and especially the dash but I quite like it:

http://www.usedcars.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=649332

Not to mention it seems to come with a lot of extras, the Acenta version anyway which is what I have been looking at. Are these just gimmicks though? The reversing camera and such...

Though I say saloon above im really just looking for a 5dr and if I found a nice hatchback could be swayed (like the a3 and 147), im on a budget of around €12-€13k max and ideally would like anything from 01-02 upwards. Any suggestions or recommendations keeping in mind it has to be no more than a 1.6 petrol or 1.9 diesel (lower end bhp)

bf

The primera is a good solid car, will never let you down even if it is a bit dull. I had one for a while and it was bullet proof.

Plenty of them around and they tend to go cheap enough - that 02 you mention is way overpriced, i sold an 02 Acenta for €8k two months ago. For €12-€13k you should easily get into an 04 Acenta. You may even get an 05 if you are willing to buy at auction - Merlin always have plenty of them going through their auctions.

Reversing camera works ok, a bit of a gimmick though! All of the other cars you mention are reliable too but non have the spec level of the primera

Vikings

Thanks for that bf, read what honestjohn.co.uk had to say about it and it didnt come off bad at all.

With regards to the price while 12-13k is the max that does depend on the trade in price of my own car aswell which is why i cant go private, might check merlin out over the weekend if they are open.

unkel

What bf said. €12.5k is way overpriced for a 5 year old Primera. They depreciate a bit more than average so from that point of view it's not bad to buy second hand. €8k is ballpark perhaps a bit more from a main dealer with a good warranty. A colleague just changed his '03 for an '06 at a main dealer which set him back €10k. Not bad.

crosstownk

If you hunt down a Primera automatic, you'll get a bargain. I've seen 2004 Primera autos go for €8k-€9k.

unkel

crosstownk wrote:

If you hunt down a Primera automatic, you'll get a bargain. I've seen 2004 Primera autos go for €8k-€9k.

Now that's great value for money!

crosstownk

unkel wrote:

Now that's great value for money!

Absolutely. All ex-rental stock. Took ages to shift them due to little interest in the cars. But they all sold eventually. More to come later in the year, I'm sure.