Nissan Primera Diesel

andyseadog

Hey lads, havn't been around too much lately but i think i finally found a car that suits my needs, i'm going to take a look at a 2002 Primera 2.2 diesel tomorrow.

it has a few months tax and test and 135k miles on the clock and the asking price is 2250.

the long and the short of this is this is my first time to buy a turbo car and my first time to buy a diesel car so could anyone give me a few pointers aside from the usual items what to check for in a healthy diesel engine and what (if any) weakness do Primeras of that gen suffer from?

thanks in advance, Andy.

johndaman66

I think it would be the newer model with the 2.2 diesel engine Andy?...correct me if I'm wrong though. I'm not a fan as I've heard and read too many bad stories about this model. Also I'm not fully sure if its a Renault engine but if it is I'd definately advise you to keep looking...cue for some to subscribers to jump up on their high horse no doubt....

Without having seen the car and acknowleding that you have provided very little info about it above I would think that you can do a lot better for your €2,250 based on the limited info alone that we do have. You know motor tax will be extortion too?

Max Power1

johndaman66 wrote: »

I think it would be the newer model with the 2.2 diesel engine Andy?...correct me if I'm wrong though. I'm not a fan as I've heard and read too many bad stories about this model. Also I'm not fully sure if its a Renault engine but if it is I'd definately advise you to keep looking...cue for some to subscribers to jump up on their high horse no doubt....

Without having seen the car and acknowleding that you have provided very little info about it above I would think that you can do a lot better for your €2,250 based on the limited info alone that we do have. You know motor tax will be extortion too?

Its less than 200 p/a more than a 1.9 TDI!

In terms of overall running costs, tax is often one of the lowest.

This paddy attitude to not owning anything over 2 litre cars is ridiculous IMO.

Max Power1

Also - watch for smoke on startup. Try to start from cold.

White smoke is normally a sign that the turbo is going, as is a whining/wheeze noise on acceleration.

Hello Andy, good to see you about, was wondering where you got to. €2250 won't buy a whole lot of sub 150k miles 2002 diesels so it's not priced badly, especially if you knock a few hundred off. I know nothing about the 2.2 in them but it can't be any slower than the 2.0 in the previous ones.

Ideally have someone else drive it and follow behind while they give it a bootfull to make sure there is no tinge of blue in the smog, as well as you driving it too obviously.

johndaman66

Max Power1 wrote: »

Its less than 200 p/a more than a 1.9 TDI!

In terms of overall running costs, tax is often one of the lowest.

This paddy attitude to not owning anything over 2 litre cars is ridiculous IMO.

Fair enough, but you are talking enough to tax a 1.9 tiddly eye in the first place. I'm not going to get into a debate of diesel versus petrol with you as its being done to the nth degree already. Suffice to say that there are more than enough out there driving diesel engined cars without doing the mileage or otherwise to justify them.

Its not that I'm taking a Paddy attitude either. It is what it is €823 is a lot of loot. I'm hard pressed enough really. Priorities and that, but that kind of money means I'll have less money in my pocket for drinking, Christmas presents, taking my girlfriend to cinema and restaurants etc. I do small mileage these days so for me its difficult to justify. But for someone covering major mileage I fully acknowledge and appreciate it could make more sense. Maybe I'm underpaid (probably am!) or totally out of touch but to me €823 per annum is a lot of money and a major consideration. Either that or a lot of ye folk out there are well minted!

andyseadog

thanks for those tips lads, i will let you know... i wont be rushing into buying the wrong car. but just to elaborate, my critera was basically a modern (ish) car, with a chain driven diesel engine. i have around 4k to play with buy obviously if i can spend less all the better.

im going back to college come september and it looks like my commute has gotten even bigger and i could be looking at 4-500 miles a week. im not worried about looks or performance, just reliability and economy are all im after.

tax isn't a big constraint but being 21 i cant go too high cc wise because insurance costs are still an issue.

not intresting in VAG diesels for numerous reasons...

Max Power1

johndaman66 wrote: »

Fair enough, but you are talking enough to tax a 1.9 tiddly eye in the first place. I'm not going to get into a debate of diesel versus petrol with you as its being done to the nth degree already. Suffice to say that there are more than enough out there driving diesel engined cars without doing the mileage or otherwise to justify them.

Its not that I'm taking a Paddy attitude either. It is what it is €823 is a lot of loot. I'm hard pressed enough really. Priorities and that, but that kind of money means I'll have less money in my pocket for drinking, Christmas presents, taking my girlfriend to cinema and restaurants etc. I do small mileage these days so for me its difficult to justify. But for someone covering major mileage I fully acknowledge and appreciate it could make more sense. Maybe I'm underpaid (probably am!) or totally out of touch but to me €823 per annum is a lot of money and a major consideration. Either that or a lot of ye folk out there are well minted!

A 1.9 TDI is 550 odd to tax for the year. ( I know from personal experience ). Its quite a lot, but the difference from 550 to 823 is less than 1 euro per day.

Tax (despite the higher rates compared to say the UK) is one of the smallest costs involved in running a car.

Even at the top of the bracket, 1566 p/a (which I would balk at) isnt that much when you compare to routine maintenance required on the newer range of sensitive turbo/DMF/DPF etc.

johndaman66

Them primeras wouldn't interest me in the slightest Andy but seen as your looking at them I found the below three on donedeal. They appear to be a better bet on paper at least. Colour on second one might be a wee bit offensive to some.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2042193

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2211741

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2286913

Max Power1

Should be able to get any of the linked examples above for south of 2k.

Not bad for a diesel in this very pro-diesel car market.

johndaman66

Max Power1 wrote: »

A 1.9 TDI is 550 odd to tax for the year. ( I know from personal experience ). Its quite a lot, but the difference from 550 to 823 is less than 1 euro per day.

Tax (despite the higher rates compared to say the UK) is one of the smallest costs involved in running a car.

Even at the top of the bracket, 1566 p/a (which I would balk at) isnt that much when you compare to routine maintenance required on the newer range of sensitive turbo/DMF/DPF etc.

Theres no doubt that 1,566 might be small enough when compared to the likes of a dual mass flywheel/ turbo etc. These problems associated with modern diesels raises the question in my mind of why they reamain so popular. Any savings you do make on fuel are often quickly wiped out and more if one of these problems rears its ugly head as they quite often do. I suppose most live in hope (often blindly) that these problems wont affect them.

€1,566 might be small compared to the cost of rectifying one of the problems you mention but the figure of €1,566 in isolation is still by no means small by any strech to be faced with every year (to most but the lucky few among us anyway)!

johndaman66

johndaman66 wrote: »

.........but to me €823 per annum is a lot of money and a major consideration. Either that or a lot of ye folk out there are well minted!

johndaman66 wrote: »

...........
€1,566 might be small compared to the cost of rectifying one of the problems you mention but the figure of €1,566 in isolation is still by no means small by any strech to be faced with every year (to most but the lucky few among us anyway)!

Most definitely, the ZT is €935/annum to tax, I tax it quarterly so it's €1056 (wouldn't fancy having the guts of a grand invested in motor tax to be honest) and returns 20mpg.

A diesel one would be €600/annum to tax and would return 40mpg. For 10,000 miles per annum I'd spend €2000/annum less on tax and fuel running a diesel over a petrol one.

Realistically I'm strongly considering a diesel one next summer (ish), no DMF on the auto ones, no DPF and they don't give much trouble so for a small investment I could reduce my motoring costs by at least €40/week.

JerCotter7

Max Power1 wrote: »

A 1.9 TDI is 550 odd to tax for the year. ( I know from personal experience ). Its quite a lot, but the difference from 550 to 823 is less than 1 euro per day.

Tax (despite the higher rates compared to say the UK) is one of the smallest costs involved in running a car.

Even at the top of the bracket, 1566 p/a (which I would balk at) isnt that much when you compare to routine maintenance required on the newer range of sensitive turbo/DMF/DPF etc.

€582 per year. Not enough experience I guess.;)

Max Power1

JerCotter7 wrote: »

€582 per year. Not enough experience I guess.;)

Lol I only paid mine the other week

JerCotter7

Max Power1 wrote: »

Lol I only paid mine the other week

1.9 is €582 per year to tax. Just checked a 1.9 TDI and two 1.9 non-TDI's. Not €550. Unless I got ripped off :eek:

Max Power1

JerCotter7 wrote: »

1.9 is €582 per year to tax. Just checked a 1.9 TDI and two 1.9 non-TDI's. Not €550. Unless I got ripped off :eek:

I meant circa 550, I said 550 odd originally

For the sake of 32 euro, my main original point still stands about the small difference in tax.

turbodiesel

johndaman66 wrote: »

Them primeras wouldn't interest me in the slightest Andy but seen as your looking at them I found the below three on donedeal. They appear to be a better bet on paper at least. Colour on second one might be a wee bit offensive to some.

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2042193

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2211741

http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2286913

I'd be looking for some evidence of verifiying the mileage on those or any car for that matter. 100k miles for a 9 year old diesel is low enough.

They would all have previous NCT or if there an import MOT. Should be receipts for parts if the work was done by an independant mechanic or some receipts for service if carries out elsewhere.

Happy hunting

mgbgt1978

Andy, walk away from that primera. it's basically a renault engineered car that that will bankrupt you.
Yes they do have a chain rather than a timing belt but the tensioners are known to give loads of problems (same engine as nissan Navara....just google that for faults)
Turbo's seem to fail quite regularly as well.
Gearboxes can be troublesome and the clutch can get very heavy.

colm_mcm

Just buy an MG ZT 2.0 ctdi 135+ with the autobox
A good few in the uk. VRT is small too

If spending the guts of €4000 that would be a good course of action

Solnskaya

mgbgt1978 wrote: »

Andy, walk away from that primera. it's basically a renault engineered car that that will bankrupt you.
Yes they do have a chain rather than a timing belt but the tensioners are known to give loads of problems (same engine as nissan Navara....just google that for faults)
Turbo's seem to fail quite regularly as well.
Gearboxes can be troublesome and the clutch can get very heavy.

what this man said. Not a good car, lots of trouble. Walk away, walk away, then run.

turbodiesel

Would you think that of all primera's or just the 2.2 diesel? and is that from either your own or someone you knows personal experience or just what you have heard. I don't do a lot of mileage but am 6ft 4 so am looking at large saloons and estates as my next car. I could live with a primera sized car. I was looking at this 2007 one.... http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2291318 that I'm sure I could get for 6k cash.

I currently drive an old '97 E300 TD Auto but want to come up a few years to 06/07 ideally for about 5 - 6 k. Not much point in investing a lot of dough in a car as it just isn't worth it in the taxi game as a part timer. (I joined in '99 and used to be full time until '08).

I find octavia's just that bit too small in the rear once i have my seat back. I had a '99 passat back in '05 and loved that but don't fancy going down that road again as dual mass flywheels clutches and turbo's on the newer models are pretty expensive.

My next car doesn't have to be an auto but quite often thay are hard to shift and i find i can get one without paying a premium.

I'd prefer an avensis but they seem to hold there value that bit better.

I wouldn't touch an accord as i know from other owners they rarely get past 150k miles without giving major engine trouble.

Also was thinking Mondeo but the rear legroom isn't great although they are cheap to service but again after 150k miles expect trouble.

I'd consider a Sonata but it would have to be a low mileage diesel bargain.

I do a bit of part time taxi'ing mainly a 10 hour shift on a sat night and use a motorcycle for most of my daily commute so the car will probably on do 10k a year as the other half has a Honda Jazz as the economic family taxi.

Leonard Hofstadter

turbodiesel wrote: »

Would you think that of all primera's or just the 2.2 diesel? and is that from either your own or someone you knows personal experience or just what you have heard. I don't do a lot of mileage but am 6ft 4 so am looking at large saloons and estates as my next car. I could live with a primera sized car. I was looking at this 2007 one.... http://www.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/2291318 that I'm sure I could get for 6k cash.

I currently drive an old '97 E300 TD Auto but want to come up a few years to 06/07 ideally for about 5 - 6 k. Not much point in investing a lot of dough in a car as it just isn't worth it in the taxi game as a part timer. (I joined in '99 and used to be full time until '08).

I find octavia's just that bit too small in the rear once i have my seat back. I had a '99 passat back in '05 and loved that but don't fancy going down that road again as dual mass flywheels clutches and turbo's on the newer models are pretty expensive.

My next car doesn't have to be an auto but quite often thay are hard to shift and i find i can get one without paying a premium.

I'd prefer an avensis but they seem to hold there value that bit better.

I wouldn't touch an accord as i know from other owners they rarely get past 150k miles without giving major engine trouble.

Also was thinking Mondeo but the rear legroom isn't great although they are cheap to service but again after 150k miles expect trouble.

I'd consider a Sonata but it would have to be a low mileage diesel bargain.

I do a bit of part time taxi'ing mainly a 10 hour shift on a sat night and use a motorcycle for most of my daily commute so the car will probably on do 10k a year as the other half has a Honda Jazz as the economic family taxi.

The problem with modern diesels is that they are too complex and consequently give a lot of trouble. It doesn't really matter what marque you choose, they are all liable to suffer expensive problems eventually.

I'll tell you what would be a bulletproof diesel - anything with a Volkswagen 1.9 TDI under the bonnet.

It's an old school diesel, with no complicated common rail injectors, and the only thing that really goes wrong with them is the DMF, but every modern diesel has a DMF.

As already mentioned, the 2.2 Primera diesel is one of the more troublesome around - it is a Renault dCi engine after all.

turbodiesel

captainspeed wrote: »

The problem with modern diesels is that they are too complex and consequently give a lot of trouble. It doesn't really matter what marque you choose, they are all liable to suffer expensive problems eventually.

I'll tell you what would be a bulletproof diesel - anything with a Volkswagen 1.9 TDI under the bonnet.

It's an old school diesel, with no complicated common rail injectors, and the only thing that really goes wrong with them is the DMF, but every modern diesel has a DMF.

As already mentioned, the 2.2 Primera diesel is one of the more troublesome around - it is a Renault dCi engine after all.

Yeah, it seems that's the same 2.2 engine used in saabs and opels and they seem to have relaibility issues also.

I loved that passat engine. I had a 110 bhp 5 speed. I sold it with 300k taxi miles that were done over 8 years and still going on the original engine and box for a grand in early 08. I've driven the 115/130 with a six speed and it's much too revvy in comparison. The five speed has so much torque down low and the turbo would kick in around 1300 revs.

My problem is the 9 year rule if i change my car. I wouldn't change the merc but there's a broken glow plug stuck in the head and they work in paira and smokes heavily for the first 10 secs when started and it's getting harder to start when cold and I know come winter time it could be an issue. I dont want to only go as far as say '04 cause with admin fees, tranferring the meter and getting it sealed it costs approx 500 quid to change cars and there's no point in lining up a 500 quid bill in 2 years time.

I may as well go up to '06/'07.

I could stretch to 7k but so much of whats out there in that price bracket as a diesel seems to be ex UK and I fear I'd be waiting for a turbo/flywheel problem that would be expensive to repair hence I'd rather the extra 15-20 quid a week on petrol over diesel.

I'd much prefer the drivability of a diesel. The big old merc only has 165k miles on her (I got her in early '08 with 90k verified miles)and I'd love to address the rust issues here and there and keep her but there's no point in investing a couple of grand on a car that i may well have to dispose of in 9 months time for 100 quid.

johndaman66

captainspeed wrote: »

the 2.2 Primera diesel is one of the more troublesome around - it is a Renault dCi engine after all.

Thats what I was actually thinking. For the sake of your finances and maybe even your sanity I'd advise you to look towards another marque Andy.

-Corkie-

Nice to see you back Andy I thought you had emigrated....:D