Primera Saloon, 1.6 SX

Poorly Designed

I had this car for two years and put approx 70,000km on it.
I hated it.


• Engine:
I had the 1.6 Petrol version. The car is underpowered with approx 109hp and I think about 145Nm of torque.
The low torque from this engine means that pulling off and overtaking is a miserable experience.
As the 1.6 is the lowest powered engine in a reasonable sized car, I kinda expected this. I imagine the diesels are much more suited to the cars heft.
My fuel economy hovered around 35mpg (indicated)

• Interior
The interior is full of crackly, cheap, black and grey plastic that bends when you push it.
The instrument cluster is located in the middle of the car, this isn't terrible to use but takes a little bit of getting used to.
The objective of the dash design was "value engineering", the instruments in the middle of the car meant that LHD or RHD models could share as many parts as possible. The "value engineering" is obvious in every facet of the car when you start using it.

The stereo and climate controls are not intuitive, and can be distracting when driving. The wiring loom connection to the steering wheel for radio controls is not properly earthed, it is quite a common problem for the radio stations or volume to change when you turn the wheel on a cold or damp day. No AUX-IN on radio.
For long driving at night, there is a mode where you can turn the large, distracting radio/climate screen off. This is good until you touch any control button (even to change the volume), 'cos when you do, THE SCREEN FLASHES BRIGHT WHITE WITH A MESSAGE THAT SAYS "SCREEN TURNED OFF". Completely defeating the purpose of turning off distracting lights in the cabin at night.

Another sign that the designers didn't give a s*** is the way the armrest slides out to cover the only cup holder. This means on a long drive you can use the arm-rest OR the cup holder, BUT NOT BOTH.
The gear lever in the manual car is too close to the cubbyhole under the stereo. As a result, you can't easily remove CDs from the cubbyhole when the car is in 1st, 3rd or 5th Gear. Seriously, did anyone test this f*****g car before putting it on the market?

Please remember that this car is made in a partnership with Renault. Mine was assembled in France. Don't expect it to have the build quality of an actual Japanese Car.
I will compliment the reversing camera which is one of the handiest gadgets I've ever seen on a car.


•Handling
Put good tyres on one of these if you get it. The car is terribly balanced, and the multi-link suspension that was present in the rear of the previous generation Primera has been replaced with something cheaper. This is smooth and comfy on long straight roads, but it will oversteer like a b****rd in the bends. I s*** myself on roundabouts all the time I owned this car as the back end would slide about once a month. This has not happened to me in any other car I've driven.
If I had children, I would not feel safe putting them in this car.

Pros
• Lots of space in cabin and boot.
• I had no engine problems in 2 years.
• Sweet Reversing camera to prevent dings.

Cons
•Ugly as sin inside.
•Cheap-a** build quality.
•Poorly designed cabin and controls.
•Dodgy wiring a common problem.
•Terrible handling, rolls like a ship.
•1.6 Petrol is horrendously underpowered.
•No Aux-In connection (in mine at least).

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