Bet you can't guess what I would recommend!
I have had a Primera 97 1.6 Si for 4 years/70K.
Suprising performance for the size, if not full of passengers or going up steep hills.
I get around 40mpg mixed driving, even better when motorway cruising.
The 2 litre is supposed to be a better engine and not too far behind on the economy.
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at the £1500 level you should be able to pick up a P11-144 Primera ('99-'02) but obviously not at dealers (they're all overpriced).
that would open up the 1.8 option and I can verify that my 2001 1.8S Primera will do 40mpg on a run if you stay at an indicated 80mph (or below if traffic is bad). I drove last week from Blackburn to Cambridge and back and still had enough petrol to run around for a few more miles afterwards.
handles well, aircon, airbags for driver & pass, plus ones in the front seats as well. Just keep away from the ex-minicabs.
you can replace the factory fit stereo by getting a fascia panel to fit a normal DIN unit and have a nice stereo up front as well.
Mine's only on 51k but it will (and does) just keep on running, an oil change every 9k and a major service every 18k at the village garage for around £120 (depending upon what is required).
cheers
Stu
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Thanks for all your posts guys!
I think I'll start searching for Primera P11 1.6. I'll mainly be driving on motorway but I've also got a part time job as a pizza delivery driver so I would be doing around 150 miles on local roads.
I'm not even thinking about Ford, my sis-in-law has got a Focus and she's always complaining about the electric issues...........twice the central locking stopped working and its a 99 Focus.
Is Primera still a good choice?
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Yes, extremely good choice. I have a 2000 2.0 SE+ petrol. Got CD changer, leather etc. I bought at 4 yrs old - not much more expensive than a base spec.
I get about 36mpg on mixed driving - but could probably do better with a ligther right foot. Not sure how much more economic the 1.6 would be, but I think you should bear in mind it is quite a heavy car. I certainly wouldn't want less than a 2.0 - don't know your age, but I guess insurance might be an issue with the 2.0?
Touch wood, mine has been very reliable. Done 40k in the last 3 years, only expenses have been consumables over that time. Only problem is that I really want to change, but having difficulty justifying to SWMBO as nothing wrong with my car!
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Thanks for your quick response Primera Man. I'm 28 and I've got 4 years protected NCB so I'm not too worried about insurance. I would prefer 2.0 only if I was travelling to my main job but due to the part time job I've to look at the engine size because I would suspect 2.0 to be quite thirsty round town than 1.6.
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I tend to find that, whatever type of driving I do, I get about 400 miles to the tank, which equates to mid-30s mpg. I guess you need to work out whether the fuel savings of the 1.6 compensate you sufficiently for the lower power. In my case, in the past, I have had low powered cars (eg 1.0 Polo) and these days just like to have more power. In fact, one of my rules is that each car has to be more powerful than the last. So I'm now contemplating an Accord diesel - really love the grunt low down in the rev range!
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the primera is a fairly big car for a 1600 so thats why i recommended the 2.0 litre engine as well as the fact its bullet proof
my mixed driving with my cvt 2.0 litre auto usually pans out at 34 mpg but i always got 40 with my old primera manual 2.0 litre its the most fuel efficient 2.0 litre ive ever run
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2 litre Mondeo Ghia X. Will do 40mpg @ indicated 75 (So 70mph true speed), has electric leather seats, cruise control, aircon. 6 CD, and very very cheap.
Also very very reliable.
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will it do 40mpg in mixed town and country driving though?
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will it do 40mpg in mixed town and country driving though?
Nope, nowhere near. But he asked for a cheap Motorway cruiser so I felt the motorway economy made it an acceptable choice.
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... I felt the motorway economy made it an acceptable choice.
Even though the OP had already said he'd ruled out Fords! ;-)
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>> ... I felt the motorway economy made it an acceptable choice. Even though the OP had already said he'd ruled out Fords! ;-)
For a frankly ridiculous reason - becuase his sister in laws Focus has electrical issues. Now, such issues with the Focus are FAR from common and its fundamentally a very reliable car. To write off an entire marque despite the fact it makes one of the most suitable cars for his needs based on that one thing is rather foolish.
He should remember he has a £1500 budget, perhaps if he had a £15000 budget he could afford to be irrationally choosy.
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MichaelR - For a fairly new car to have so many electrical issues doesn't suggest to me that its a very reliable car. How would you feel if your car's central locking stopped working which had only 40k odd miles on it and its only 6 years old? Ford replaced whatever was wrong with the car but within couple of month, she had the same issue.
Also with a budget of £1500 I'll get a focus which would have ridiculously high miles put on it which would make the thought of it being as reliable as a Japanese car even less.
ReliabilityIndex has placed Focus at number 44 for top 100 reliable cars.
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MichaelR - For a fairly new car to have so many electrical issues doesn't suggest to me that its a very reliable car. How would you feel if your car's central locking stopped working which had only 40k odd miles on it and its only 6 years old? Ford replaced whatever was wrong with the car but within couple of month she had the same issue.
What I meant is that the car in question sounds like a fairly isolated case. When you make so many cars, it's envitable that the odd one or two might be problematic. Even manufacturers like Honda have the odd duffer when they produce many thousands of cars.
[quote]Also with a budget of £1500 I'll get a focus which would have ridiculously high miles put on it[/quote]
I was suggesting a Mondeo, not a Focus.
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To be honest I won't consider a Ford because Fords aren't very reliable and they're troublesome at my budget. With my tight budget I should be able to buy a similar age/condition Primera instead of Mondeo. With Primera I won't have to worry about cam belt and and a Primera of that age would be a lot more reliable (or less troublesome) than Mondeo of similar age.
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To be honest I won't consider a Ford because Fords aren't very reliable and they're troublesome at my budget.
Really? Why, what £1500 Fords have you experienced?
I have a Mondeo which has been perfect from 110-140,000 miles.
With my tight budget I should be able to buy a similar age/condition Primera instead of Mondeo. With Primera I won't have to worry about cam belt and and a Primera of that age would be a lot more reliable (or less troublesome) than Mondeo of similar age.
The cambelt requires changing every 100,000 miles. It's not a worry. The Mondeo is very reliable, so a Primera is not going to be 'lots more' reliable. Both will likely only ever really need suspension bushes changing.
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I don't understand why are you preaching me ***FORD***. I don't like Fords and I'm not going to get one, its as simple as that. I've never had a Ford but know people who had it and they're not reliable.
Now before you reply back please go to reliabilityindex and have a look yourself. Can you see Ford in top 10 or see where Ford cars are in top 100 reliable cars.
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I don't understand why are you preaching me ***FORD***. I don't like Fords and I'm not going to get one its as simple as that. I've never had a Ford but know people who had it and they're not reliable.
I guess my experiences are useless then becuase hey, you've got a mate who once had a Ford and it sucked :)
It just touched a nerve that you consider a marque rubbish for no real reason. I suspected the reason would by hearsay, probed a bit, and yup, thats your reason.
Now before you reply back please go to reliabilityindex and have a look yourself. Can you see Ford in top 10 or see where Ford cars are in top 100 reliable cars.
Just have.
1996-2000 Ford Mondeo Reliability Index: 52.91
1999-2002 Nissan Primera Reliability Index: 116.11
Whoops. Not a good showing for the ever so reliable Nissan eh? And how did that horrible unreliable rubbishy Ford get such a good score? You will note the Mondeo's reliabilityindex is far below average, which is 112 according to the WD site.
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I'll might sound arrogant now but I don't like Fords and would stay away from one for now at least and in particular with this sort of tight budget.
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I'll might sound arrogant now but I don't like Fords and would stay away from one for now at least and in particular with this sort of tight budget.
Not suprised you ignored my reliabilityindex figures after you asked me to read them, but ho hum.
Good luck with whatever you chose.
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I just wanted it to finish there but sounds like as if you don't want to!
Reliability Index for Primera 96-99 is 49.18
Doesn't that make Primera better car than Mondeo?
With my budget I won't be able to buy a Primera of the age you suggested but should be able to get a decent 96-99 model. Hence the Primera I could buy has better rating than the Mondeo of the same age! :)
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the primera is a fairly big car for a 1600
True, but the GA16 engine is very sprightly (0-60 in about 10 secs IIRC), and should average around 40mpg if your right foot isn't too heavy. The SR20 is equally bulletproof but quicker and thirstier. Personal preference - at this age I'd be more interested in condition/maintenence than engine size. Both the 1.6 and 2.0 are chain-cam and both will run to 150k+ before there's any death-rattles if they've been serviced properly.
How about a Kia Shuma for an obscure choice? Good engines (mitsubishi?), a generally good car but never had the image or looks that an average UK buyer was after - therefore dirt cheap (saw a 51-reg last year retailing for £1995). The 1.6 and 1.8 models will be more than capable on the motorway.
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Believe it or not I saw a Kia Shuma with LPG conversion, I was tempted to bid on it but it was miles away up in Newcastle and I live near Reading.
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Believe it or not I saw a Kia Shuma with LPG conversion
Wouldn't have been a factory-fit, so 100s of potential problems there, if you lived far from the place that fitted it. Glad to see you're considering a few different cars though, and you're not stuck in the "Ford/Vauxhall/Eurobox" bubble along with many of the posters on here. Have a look for a Suzuki Baleno - bet you hadn't thought of one of them! (About Almera-sized).
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Nissan QX? The price would be right but do you have your own private oil well?!
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I haven't really thought about Suzuki cars because I believe the old ones were never good cars to drive and were really low spec'd and even worst had crap road holding and such. But please forgive me if I'm wrong.
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I haven't really thought about Suzuki cars...
The Baleno evidently isn't as bad, being a larger car. However, I see your point that it won't be in the same league as a Primera (few things are). As regards Fords, I agree that they're not the best choice - I've also had relatives who had an "isolated" incident which has put off the whole family from buying Fords. Both myself and my mother now drive Nissans (and never had a reliability issue) - need I say any more!
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Mazman, your post further up made me have a look at the reliability index out of curiosity.
Nowhere can I find what the criteria are, what the age groups etc are, how many polled etc eg BMW 5 series is 99th out of 100?
If a primera / mondeo / whatever is reliable in its first 3 years, does that mean its necessarily reliable in its 7th year? Does Warranty Direct have many £1000 / £1500 cars covered, I wouldn't have thought so.
I agree you can only go on the evidence you are given and seek other people's opinions but, personally, I am always cynical about driver surveys as there are many people who only reply if they have an issue.
I haven't read the full thread so don't know if its been recommended but a friend bought a Peugeot 605 for about the grand mark, ran it for a couple of years and it had all the toys, then resold it and recouped his costs.
--
2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
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Warranty Direct data is based on claims on the cars insured. I wouldn't the data because it only relates to claims they approve - not the claims rejected due to policy exclusions. I think you're right that not many cars in the sub-£2k category would be covered.
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