Nissan Primera P12: Test Drive, Review, Walkabout (After 11 Years)
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- čas přidán 13. 07. 2024
- This Nissan Primera P12 has been my daily driver since 2010. But is it still a great car despite its old age? The video includes:
• Nissan Primera P12 test drive
• 0 - 60 mph demonstration
• helpful features, e.g. reversing camera
• summary of the distinctive dashboard
• what lies in store for rear passengers
• man climbing into the boot to check its size
• Nissan Primera P12 engine bay summary.
Get the know-how. Come with me and let’s test drive the Nissan Primera P12.
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CarSpyTV Twitter: / carspytv1
Nissan Primera Owners Club: http:www.NPOC.co.uk
Video for entertainment purposes only (not advice)
------------- - Auta a dopravní prostředky
![Nissan Primera P12 - Первая и последняя [Обзор] #P12](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/nFUY0Fl2-nU/mqdefault.jpg)
VIDEO: Primera P12: How To Fix A Water Leak In The Boot - czcams.com/video/_Jqq6Q-1c2c/video.html
Hi I really enjoyed this video & have subscribed to your channel. For this size car, P12s were years ahead of their time in so many ways. Things they were criticised for in the early ‘00s come as standard on many cars nowadays (controls through a central menu system, reverse cam, active cruise etc). They haven’t survived in the same number as some of their peers but that means it’s nice to have something different.
Spot on comment, Andy. I agree. Glad you enjoyed the video and welcome to CarSpyTV.
Love your vids mate. Keep it up!
Im also the owner of primera p12 and im loving it. The leather they used on seats is very high quality and still looks like brand new after 16 years.
Thank you, M S. Glad you're also happy with your P12. Nissan did a great job.
Love the unusual layout of the controls and dials. Really makes it stand out. Interesting vid, thanks!
Thanks. The steering wheel blocks my view of the instruments in a lot of cars, so I'm pleased they're in a different spot on the P12. Would like to see it in more cars.
Thank you for your lovely presentation - clear and easy, good job 👍
Eric 🎩 from France
Thank you, Eric. Glad you enjoyed the video. Best wishes from the UK.
I love this car! And love your tour round and honest review. It's good to see you on the road too! Your car still looks like new. I'll have to clean my Ford this weekend...
Glad you enjoyed the video. Weather looks promising this weekend so a good time to wash your car.
Absolute pristine example of p12. I love how clean it is.
Thank you, Simon. Been very pleased with it from day one. Best wishes.
Very nice, thorough review!
Thank you, Martin. Glad you enjoyed the video.
very detailed and reliable presentation of the car.
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed the video. More Primera content to follow.
Nice looking car and interesting to hear about. Good vid!
Thanks. It serves me well.
dad still has p12 since new 2004 or so. It's easy to live with, cheap to fix and maintain. no turbos, no high pressure fuel pumps or compicated other parts. But is it a good car - No. it just is what it is. economical way to get from A to B.
Hi James. 'Easy to live with, cheap to fix, not too complex, and an economical way to get from A to B.' That sounds like a good car to me. Best wishes.
I bought a P12 in 2020 from a little old man who'd owned it from new. It's an '06 1.8 petrol manual in sky blue. I much prefer Japanese cars and this one was a pleasant surprise. It's had a few bodywork issues and at 90,000 miles is probably not going to pass another MoT, sadly. I'd have another one, no problem!
Thanks for the comment and best wishes from CarSpyTV.
I have manual p12 from 2002 with same engine....well, yours seem much louder when accelerating even on the video than mine when shifted....in short, not a perfect reliability, not a trash either....build quality bad at places in interior, but very interesting indeed....mine is saloon and has about 100 000 miles when converted in the unit....
you need to put 16-inch wheels, mine is crashy at low speeds over sharp bumps and holes and comfortable otherwise, I am planing to change shocks, so we will see....the steering is very direct and quick, so I think there's some fun as well as easiness in use only because of that. two and a half circles lock-to-lock is better than most today's cars....it does lean somewhat in corners, but it remains stable for a long time.
I have it for twelve years and plan to keep it because it has a lot of character and is better than most cars to drive in most essential operation like steering/brakes/clutch/gearbox relation....nissan back then cared about that overall impression of a car that's just nice to drive. it also has excellent brakes even for today's standards of family class cars.
so, despite some shortcomings like 'strange' rear beam that manages to be 'multilink' and 'beam' at the same time which influences on slightly strange ride/handling behaviour, it also has some plus points hard to find in its more expensive competitors like audi or bmw. a4 had a very long clutch and bmw's manual 'box wasn't good at all.
Interesting comments. Thanks.
Another things to watch on these machines: The steering rack: The input shaft O-ring is prone to blowing out and this will cause steering fluid to be dumped all over the road. Leaving it in this state will cause rapid wear and failure of the steering pump due to fluid loss
This happened in mine at 36 months - Nissan's "only authorised dealer fix" is a new rack, which may fail in the same way and had a total quoted cost of £1800 (rack plus fitting)
I took mine to a reconditioning specialist who took the rack out, fixed and refitted it in an afternoon for £600 - they machined a groove and fitted a second o-ring to the input shaft to prevent recurrences of the issue whilst they were working on it as they've seen this problem many times. 15 years of trouble-free operation after this fix was made.
The universal joint between the steering shaft and steering box failed at about 12 years (wore and developed a knocking noise). Nissan's price is over £100 but you can buy a pattern part from Poland for about £30. This part has a hollow shaft which transmits road noise, etc into the cabin, so plug it up before fitting it.
Good information, Misc Bits. This could help a lot of people.
Bonjour je suis français j'aimerais avoir la traduction pour mieux m'orienter sur ma Nissan Primera 2 litres 2 diesel je suis martiniquais Je me prénomme Boisfer erembert Eddy
My parents bought a 2005 1.8 SXI with 11,000 miles on the clock 4 years. It’s a really nice drive and surprisingly nimble and economical. I just replaced the rear brake discs and pads this weekend which was £91 for parts and 2 hours of my time. Can’t complain!
£91 and two hours work sounds like a good result to me, James. Best wishes.
great video! The 2004 model of this was passed down to and it's in fairly bad shape so I have some fixing up to do but it's exciting
Thanks Ramiz. Good luck getting yours sorted.
I had a P12 estate for 2yrs. Hell of a car for the money and not as bland as I expected
Spot on. The P12 is a great car that's respected by those in the know.
Absolutely gorgeous. After my own. Getting scarcer...
Good luck finding your own Primera, Christian.
The speedometer being on the central part is awesome, it is easier to monitor when driving fast.
It's a shame a central instrument cluster isn't more common on cars. It's superior in many ways. The dials can't be blocked by the steering wheel, for example.
@@CarSpyTV exactly. Now, any other car i drive feels small and even dangerous when i drive them and have to make an effort to check rpm and speed. More reasons why I just want this car to stay alive as long as it can.
Just picked up a 2005 1.8 manual petrol 5 gear estate one.
It’s a workhorse. Paid £325 for it with 133.000 miles on it. MOTD till March 2022.
Drives like an old mans car. Once I found the MPG reader that updates with your driving I was hooked. Previous owner was getting 38 mpg. I drove from Folkestone to Hastings and got 48 mpg.
The clutch is on its way out. Very high lift before engaging. Brake discs and pads will be needed within the next 3 - 5000 miles.
Bolster broken on passenger seat.
Cheap respray on near side.
Drives a bit better now that I’ve cleaned the windows and removed a ton of brake dust from wheels.😃😂 It had the airbag warning light flashing but I managed to reset it. Might just resell it for a bit more once I’ve valeted it.
Stereo is quite powerful, if you go into settings and adjust it. Satnav updates as you drive quite well.
Sounds like you've improved it a lot already. Good luck with whatever comes next.
If you have the tweeters on the window pillars, bump up the treble to max, add a little bit of bass to it and your mind will be blown by the quality of the stereo
I'm currently loving our recently and cheaply purchased p12 primera. It too is a 2.0 CVT auto but happens to be a T-Spec so it also has bloody radar cruise control, I mean what the actual on a 2003 Nissan! I was expecting fewer rattles being honest from a relatively low (103k) miles Japanese car but knowing where it lived for much of its life with horrible old concrete roads and huge speed mountains I suppose it's to be excused. The leather is flawless and after some APC and a magic eraser it literally could be a 2 year old car. I've added some earth straps and it's amazing, the ride is too hard being honest but generally it feels a decade at least newer than it is.
Congratulations on your purchase. The P12 is certainly a great car. I’ve just stepped out of mine.
I agree that the ride isn’t this car’s greatest strength. However, in my experience tyre choice makes a big difference. My P12 is on the Michelin Primacy 4. This tyre improved the ride considerably.
I have a 2004 P12 , 2.2 diesel manual
Great car to drive , i love the clock position and the centralised space age looking radio , satnav , climste controls etc
The only drawback for me is my radio doesnt work as it should
It comes on and off at its own accord ie when it wants too
I suspect a bad connection somewhere but havent yet sussed how to the wiring / ariel connections behind it
Other than that its a very comfortable car
The P12 is prone to an earthing issue that causes various types of strange behaviour (although clearly I can’t tell if that’s why your radio misbehaves).
Either way, there’s a well documented fix. Check out the Nissan Primera Owners Club for more information at www.NPOC.co.uk
Good car
Based on Great too Renault Laguna II
I love the Space Style
Glad you enjoyed the video. My P12 has the odd Renault part. For example, the rear wiper arm and door catch mechanism. Best wishes from CarSpyTV.
Does the 2002-2005 p12 have cvt transmission educate us on cvt vs vvit
Just be aware that the QR series engines fitted to these cars are essentially "throwaway" designs - they have very few adjustments and last a long time but when they finally wear, they cost so much to sort out that they're cheaper to replace - design life is in the 120-150,000 mile range
That's what finally killed my 2003 T-spec. It was going to cost 3 times as much to keep running as the thing was worth.
One other thing to watch on the adaptive cruise control: water can get in the front glass and scarmble it. If this happens. The fromt trim ring on the LIDAR unit can be pulled off and the glass pulled off and cleaned/o-ring replaced. DO NOT attempt to pull the unit out of the car or replace it, they're over a thousand quid to fix up (ask me how I know this....)
Single most common problem: Bad earth in the tail light cluster plugs which makes all kinds of things upset throughout the car (particularly cruise control and emissions systems!)
Nissan's "fix" is to clean the contacts, but this doesn't prevent water getting back in and re-corroding the contacts. Pack the connector with electrical grease to keep out water after cleaning the contacts and the issue won't recur
Another major killer: Sunroof drains getting blocked. This is a particular issue if you seldom use it. Make sre you snake the drains periodically or you'll find you have mushrooms growing in your car!
Interesting points, Misc Bits. Thanks for taking the trouble. Some years ago, I had the earth problem on mine but it was fixed in two minutes. Best wishes.
@@CarSpyTV Yes, you're absolutely right that it's normally fixed in a couple of minutes by cleaning the connector, but on the hatchbacks it is likely to recur unless the connectors are grease-packed, even if the connector O -rings are replaced (which nissan dealers didn't do as part of the orginal recall) - particularly on the early production models.
This is what happened on mine and both sides ended up failing again 18 months after the original recall (wtih the dealer now wanting to charge £600+ for a repair). After cleaning and packing with silicon dielectric grease I got a further 15 years of trouble-free operation (I had the car 18 years)
I had the blocked sunroof and bad earth both easy fixes tho
I still have a 2003 2.2L Diesel since 2011. My other half ( who have a 2018 KIA CEED 1.6L from motorability) feels that my car give smoother ride then her's plus the seats are more comfortable.
She like the fact the front passenger sun visor has got light on either side of the mirror, which her's haven't got.
Interesting comment, Walboy. Thank you.
Hi, thanks for all of your videos, one question, yo have any problem with the cvt transmission? I wanna to buy one in my country but im scared with the comments of the people…
My car has topped 122,000 miles and the CVT is fine. Never been an issue.
Had 3 of these cars… really wish I’d not sold the last one … looking for another but not found one yet that has low miles or pristine…
Do you love or hate the Nissan Primera P12? Let me know in the comment section.
Love them! The older one drove better but the P12 was so much modern especially for it’s time … people didn’t believe me it was a 05 plate mine has interior was so modern… only thing I didn’t like was the ride comfort on mine has it was very rough… mine was a 1.8 was great on fuel and nippy enough… regret selling it tbh but looking for another
@@ChrisJamesUK1 Thanks for your thoughts, Christopher.
I've improved the ride quality on mine by getting Michelin tyres. Big difference.
Good luck with your search for your next P12.
@@CarSpyTV I think the one I had might if needed new bushes etc I will defo remember that when I finally find another… I found a 2.0 SVE with 50k on clock but was in Southampton and am in Leeds so was too far….
@@ChrisJamesUK1 Know the feeling. I've found many promising cars the other side of the country. Hopefully you'll find something close to home soon.
@@ChrisJamesUK1 Pre-facelift aka prr 2005 models have a softer suspension since it was made stiffer 2005 onwards. I just changed from bad tyres to almost new ones and holy smokes the car drives so mich better it feels like a different car!
Nice video. Im actually thinking about getting one used. It would have been great if you could have shown us the xenon headlights illumination and how good or poor that is.
It depends which bulbs you have fitted. There are different makes and models, etc. I bought brighter than typical. Best wishes.
@@CarSpyTV that's true. I was also thinking about replacing after buying with Philips or Osram. But the the light pattern itself stays more or less the same. Would have just been a great addition.
Maybe you could do a short video on that just showing the pattern in complete darkness and more illumination (within the village or city).
Funny enough, I had a similar idea for a video. It's on the maybe list.
Beautiful car. Your seats look new. How do you keep the leather so nice?
Thanks. I treat the leather with nourishing spray every three months. Only takes a few minutes.
Top tip! Thanks CarSpyTV
Your car is in excellent condition. Can I ask you does Britain CTV gear fits to Japanese? I have a british nissan p12. But in my country only japanese ones
Not sure. Might be worth asking at the Nissan Primera Owners Club via the forum. The link is www.NPOC.co.uk. Best wishes.
@@CarSpyTV thanks bro
The styling put me off these (bit too curvy and bobby) but that's a really nice and unique dashboard it has to be said.
Agreed! The dashboard is one of this car's best features. Best wishes from CarSpyTV.
Ive got a 2004 2.2 diesel manual, same colour as this and the S model. 170,000 miles and still in near perfect nick except the rev counter has been broken for atlesst 40,000 miles now 😂
As your rev counter isn't working, the following link might be helpful. See:
www.npoc.co.uk/forum/nissan-primera-p12-faulty-rev-counter_topic76317.html
Appreciate it mate but me and my dad have tried the battery disconnect method many times over the course of 4 years 😹
Can I ask a question can I fit a 2004 sat nav system in a 2005
Hello. The Nissan Primera Owners Club has info about this. For example:
www.npoc.co.uk/forum/nissan-primera-p12-2002-sat-nav-unit-change_topic70322.html
I had a diesel version of this primera a few years back. A very advanced car for its time and nice to drive. Unfortunately the engine blew up at just over 100k miles despite a full service history.
That's rotten luck, Jim! What went wrong with the engine?
If you're curious, one of my recent videos explains how to fix the exhaust with a bandage. See: czcams.com/video/JPwQR2lblxc/video.html
@@CarSpyTV Well it’s strange really because I ran a diesel Almera before that with essentially the same engine and put almost 200k on it and the engine was untouched over all those miles apart from normal servicing. On the Primera the crankshaft main bearings failed and the engine seized. My Nissan dealer told me that the engine in the Primera was uprated from the Almera to produce more power but the crankshaft bearings weren’t changed which made them weak and that what happened to my engine wasn’t uncommon it seems
That's interesting. Thanks for the information. Best wishes from CarSpyTV.
Warwickshire police used to run the 2.2 DCI with varying degrees of success, unlike the 2.0 in the P11 the common rail DCI was a Renault engine and didn't like to be worked. At the time when Renault and Nissan started sharing platforms and components, a lot of motoring journalists were saying will it benefit Renaults mechanical reliability or will Nissans get dodgy electrics. Imo the best combination are the 1.8 or 2.0 nissan petrol engines matched to a manual box.
@@AJ-tj7jm I would tend to agree. I previously ran a P11 with the 1.8 petrol engine and it was a great driving car and mechanically fault free in the time I had it although it had only covered around 60k miles when I sold it.
I bought the 2004 model about 3yr now it is a lovely car but please can someone tell me where to find the fuel filter?
The Primera P12 Factory Service Manual is readily available and answers such questions.
As I recall, which engine you have defines how to change the filter. Good luck.
nice car
Thank you, Matthew.
I have a 2004 primera qr 20 with auto cvt transmission . Its been misfiring as of late had about 140,000 miles on it its in limp mode not sure why, ive changed the cam and crank sensors since code came up for those changed coolant switch also has lack of power cause pf limp mode , has a rough idle so cleaned throttle body and mass air flow sensor but still in limp mode and wont go over 3000 rpms with a rough idle got a p1320 code im lost
Might be worth checking the ignition coils. Good luck.
Thanks a bunch mechanic told me as much , i dodnt know that even if they are all firing doesnt mean there good found out all have 1.6 oms while another was firing at 2.7 must be the culprit. down for a bit cause im making a body kit for her
Please how can I update my Nissan primera 2004 map? I have the navigation map cd that came with the car, thanks
I don't think there's a modern disc available, for 2022. I'd suggest getting a separate sat-nav if you need newer maps.
@@CarSpyTV thanks
The torque on this car is nice, added a nice sports exhaust on this and some hard suspensions, i just love how it handles curves.
Interesting to hear about the modifications. My P12 is stock.
What springs you bought?
I'm looking to get a second hand nissan primera 1.6 sx are they any good
Assume you're referring to the P11 rather than the P12?
@@CarSpyTV maybe I don't even know lol its a 2006 sx 1.8 not 1.6 my mistake
Okay. That's a P12 if it's 2006. My video summarises my thoughts on the 2.0 SVE version of the P12, and yes I rate it. Had mine 11 years and still happy.
Personally though, I'd find the 1.8 a little underpowered.
Is the 2.0l engine the Sr20ve?
According to my owner's manual, the 2.0 litre petrol is QR20DE.
Thanks
Is this car economic ? How is the fuel consumption ?
My 2.0 litre petrol auto averages about 35mpg (on a long run).
Weird car
It's certainly very different to most of its rivals. Best wishes.
@@CarSpyTV That's what happends if you colaborate with PSA 😆
@@Semialfa no PSA input here only Renault