Nissan Primera 2.0 T-Spec Reviews

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Good Points: Fantastic GPS with 7" colour screen built in to the dashboard.
Reversing camera (GPS screen automatically switches to camera view when you put the car into reverse).
Excellent heated leather seats with electric ajustment.
Inteligent laser guided cruise control that actually senses when the car in front has slowed down and slows you down, then accelerates when they do!

Bad Points: Quite a few niggly problems.
Cruise control went wrong and took four visits to the dealer to sort.
Drivers wing mirror glass kept falling out and is now superglued in awaiting a replacement (five weeks so far).

General comments: This Nissan Primera 2.0 T-Spec is my first truly decent car. I had an old Primera from 13000 miles and traded it in at 113000, in which time it only broke down once! I decided to go Japanese again and bought a Mazda626 which was the worst and most unreliable car I've ever had. So, I traded that in after a year and decided to go for another Primera.

I had a budget of about 7k. However, the Nissan garage had a Primera T-Spec (2004) demonstrator on the forecourt with 15000 miles on it, with an asking price of 13k (£21k new!). I drove it, I used the GPS and they sold it to me. I have never regreted it despite one or two problems.

The main reason to buy this car is is because of the fantastic GPS. It is DVD based and knows all of Europe down to street number level. I can type in an address and after a few second I will be prompted by a very nice woman (with a lovely clear English accent)on where to go. The woman warns well in advance of a turn and just before it. She is almost faultless. I was surprised that at awkward junctions she will say something like 'at the end of the road turn left and then take the second turning on the right'. Or, at the roundabout take the third exit. If it's a big roundabout she will then tell me to take the next exit as I pass the second. Brilliant. The road ahead is shown clearly on a 7" screen that is built into the dashboard (so it can't get stolen) You can zoom in and out to see just ahead or your entire route or anywhere in between. There are some very useful 'quick stop' functions. Want to find a petrol station, hospital restaurant, hotel, etc, etc? Just press a button, select what you want and it finds you the nearest five. You can then select one by pressing a button and it calculates your route and off you go. I had been looking for an obscure restaurant in Derby for ages. All I knew was that it was 'by a river'. I was passing near to where I thought it was so did a 'quick stop' and there it was. I selected it and it guided me (and I mean this litteraly) to the door! Unbelievable.

Cruise control (which turned out to be broken when I bought it but is mended now.... eventually) is also outstanding. The difference between this and a normal cruise control is that there is a laser mounted under one of the headlights. It detects cars in front and actually applies the brake to slow you down if you get too close or if the car in front brakes. This sounds weird but it's really useful in motorway traffic because when the car in front accelerates it will take you with it. So, a usable cruise control even in traffic.

Reversing camera is a pinhole thing that you can't see unless it's pointed out to you. When you put the car in reverse the GPS screen becomes a monitor and you can actually see behind you to the back bumper of your car. I can park it with a half inch gap at the back.

Leather heated seats are comfortable and a switch on the side moves them up and down, backwards and forwards and reclines them.

Oh, and it is an excellent drive and it looks great too. 33 miles to the gallon (says the onboard computer)