2004 Nissan Primera

Ricardo G

Hi folks
Looking at a 2004 Nissan Primera 1.6 petrol as a second car, has 75k miles, standard spec. Anyone familiar with these ??
Have heard the gearbox's can give trouble and imagine they are fairly expensive to replace.. Also seem to be ranging from 3500 to 5000, anyone here have any idea what i should expect to pay? Many thanks

jamesr123

Hi, Well my uncle has one of these are during the snow he had a fairly bad crash (front of the car had to be replaced) However,mechanically the car was fine and has never gave him trouble before or after the crash

CiniO

1.6 is too small engine for that car. Car weights itself 1300kg.

1.6 or 1.8 petrol engines like sometimes to burn some oil.
Suspenion is not the strongest. Ball joints, bushings, track rod ends, etc like to go when driving on potholes.

Avoid 1.9 diesel as it's the worst eninge in this model.

Besides it's very good and reliable and comfortable car.

Preferebly 2.0 petrol would be the best.

Ricardo G

Thanks CiniO, Would have to be 1.6 or 1.8 max for insurance reasons, otherhalf will be using it for school runs mainly so we wont be covering a lot of mileage. I understand the weight issue but we're not really looking for anything spectacular performance wise, just want something reliable with cheapish tax and fuel consumption !! Primera has a pretty good spec and seems a solid motor.

AdoEire

Fuel consumpution will be high. i would be considering a more econmical car if its only for short runs

bazz26

CiniO wrote: »

1.6 is too small engine for that car. Car weights itself 1300kg.

1.6 or 1.8 petrol engines like sometimes to burn some oil.
Suspenion is not the strongest. Ball joints, bushings, track rod ends, etc like to go when driving on potholes.

Avoid 1.9 diesel as it's the worst eninge in this model.

Besides it's very good and reliable and comfortable car.

Preferebly 2.0 petrol would be the best.

Don't think they ever sold a 1.9 diesel Primera here, the rare diesels I have seen have all been 2.2 litre. If they had offered a 1.9 diesel here they might have actually sold a few more of them.

OP, gearbox is a known weakness on that model. Also they eat window regulators, so much so that it is hard to track down second ones from scrapped cars. I'd go with a Mazda 6 petrol instead, can be bought for roughly the same money as a Primera too.

CiniO

Ricardo G wrote: »

Thanks CiniO, Would have to be 1.6 or 1.8 max for insurance reasons, otherhalf will be using it for school runs mainly so we wont be covering a lot of mileage. I understand the weight issue but we're not really looking for anything spectacular performance wise, just want something reliable with cheapish tax and fuel consumption !! Primera has a pretty good spec and seems a solid motor.

In this case probably 1.6 will do.
For short distance mostly in city driving 1.6 will be probably enough. Cheaper tax than 1.8. Fuel consumption probably will be about the same.

I have 1.8. When I was looking around to buy one, there seemed to be only 1.6 in Ireland. 1.8 is quite rare.
I took a test drive in few 1.6 but I decided that this engine is a joke in Primera. I actually had to go up to the north to find proper 1.8 primera hatchback in good condition. 1.8 is good enough for me at least, but I actually regret I didn't buy 2.0. It's much better constructed engine. And it doesn't have problems with burning oil, as 1.6 and 1.8 do. Mine takes about 1 litre of oil per 5000 - 10,000 km (depending how much you floor it )

Fuel consumption:
On Irish country roads driving (in the mountain region) it's about 8 l/100km.
During normal major road driving with speed about 80 - 100 km/h it about 7 l/100km.
If you are trying to be extremally economical and are very gentle with gas pedal, not exceed 70km/h and drive smoothly you can go down to 5.5 - 6 l/100km.
Motorway driving at 120km/h it's again about 8 l/100km.
Motorway driving at higher speeds (something like 160 - 180 km/h) goes wild, as fuel consumption rises to about 12 - 13 l/100km.
In busy city driving with lots of traffic expect something like 9 - 10 l/100km.

I'd say 1.6 will be about the same, but at higher speeds (100km/h and over) it might be much worse then 1.8.

CiniO

bazz26 wrote: »

Don't think they ever sold a 1.9 diesel Primera here, the rare diesels I have seen have all been 2.2 litre. If they had offered a 1.9 diesel here they might have actually sold a few more of them.

Maybe they didn't. I don't know.
Anyway both 1.9 and 2.2 diesel are actually Renault engines, in comparision to all petrol engines available in Primeras which are original Nissan Japanese constructions.

OP, gearbox is a known weakness on that model. Also they eat window regulators, so much so that it is hard to track down second ones from scrapped cars. I'd go with a Mazda 6 petrol instead, can be bought for roughly the same money as a Primera too.

What's actually happening with gearbox.
I read plenty of review before buying but never heard anything wrong about gearbox. Is the gearbox the same in 1.6 and 1.8?