I used to work on the production line at Nissan in Sunderland when these were built, probably my favourite primera.

i had a manual hackback one of these, handled amazing, the brakes were on a level up. the small best things : the indicator was on the right hand side and the fuel fiiler on the passenger side which ment you would always get the pumps that no one was using. The driving position and adjustment was brilliant as well.

aah memories .. my dad worked for the same company his entire career ( started as office junior .. retired as area manager ) .. at the same time as he made senior sales person the company upgraded their rep-mobiles from bluebird to these , they seemed light years of an advance

Had a 1992 1.6 petrol slx hatchback manual same colour red . 100k miles on it when I bought it . Over 200k when I sold it and was still used for years after that . Apart from servicing , brakes and tyres only changed 1 front wheel bearing. Never used a drop of oil between services . Brilliant car sorry I sold it tbh . Taxi drivers in Swansea used to swear by the diesel ones that replaced Peugeot 504 diesel ones . That's says a lot .

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These were prolific in New Zealand. My sister had two of them, a 1993 P10 1.8 litre manual and a 1998 2.0 sporty one with factory body kit and factory lower suspension. I believe the engine was the famous SR20 but non-turbo version which would rev out to 7,000 before hitting the redline. Went extremely well and very reliable.

Hahah I thought I recognised it! I saw it at FOTU last year! Such an appealing car in everyway. People forget what a fantastic handling car this and the Almera GTi were! Great review Matt. The best thing about this era is not a single bloody touch screen or piano black ANYWHERE!

Amazing this Primera is 32 years old- still looks quite modern in fact.

God how I miss "VELOUR" covered seats!! Take me back to the 90's! Great content Mat 👍

I had P10 Primera a base model ,a 1994 (M-reg) black 1.6L 4 door saloon . No rev counter a manual sunroof keep fit windows no air bag .It drove on 165 SR 13 tyres ,yes 13 inch wheels with Micra wheel trims .A nice smooth 5 speed manual gear box , a good reliable car started first turn of the key . Had the car for 5 years, It was that good my next car was a Nissan Primera P11-144 an early 2002 (51-reg) silver 2.0i Sport Plus 5 door Estate ,rev counter electric sun roof ,electric windows ,air con, 16 inch alloy wheels 205/55 SR 16 and a smooth 5 speed manual gear box. As reliable as the other Primera a part from a re-gas on air con and once in the 6.5 years of owning the car ,once i did not start it needed a new battery lucky for me I live on a hill rolled it down the drive on the rolled down 2nd gear she bounced in to life to get her a new battery, before the Primera's I've had 3 Nissan Sunny's and now I have a Toyota Avensis 1.8 petrol (never had a diesel engine car nor do I wont one) I've had this car now for 5 year's it as reliable as a Nissan I love Japanese cars apart from my First car an Escort 1.1L 1980-81(W-reg MK 3) and a Rover 416 1996 (N-reg same shape as the 45) the Escort was slow a 4 speed but reliable no trouble with it apart from being under powered the 416 was a good car no trouble with it, I sold it for the black Primera ,went from a N-reg down to a M-reg but it was worth it ,Thanks for this video brought back many memorise I miss the Primera's😀😀🚗🚗🚗👍👍👍

Worked for a lease company late 90s and they used to hand around keys on a Friday. Got a primera and the sad face turned into a massive smile by the end of the weekend. Smooth, composed and great handling from the proper front suspension..

I have driven most of the rep mobiles from that era ,the Nissan drove really well as did the Mazda 626 but Japanese cars where still frowned on by the older generation they still wanted ford or Vauxhall ,but the most comfortable and loveliest to drive in my humble opinion was the Citroen bx ,not the best built but you could drive all day and no back or leg ache when you got out ,love your videos

In 1993 I bought a new Nissan Sentra SE-R. Kind of a budget Primera (G20) with the 2.0 140hp engine. What a blast that car was. Sold it to go to college. I wish I still had it. Always wanted a 5 spd. G20…very rare in the US…so I could have a luxury Sentra

Great cars. Ford used the Primera as a benchmark when developing the Mondeo

😄 I had 1 identical to this mine was a K reg SLX 2.0 16v manual, still to this day it was the best handling car I've ever experienced it just never let go in the corners. Down side is if I stopped in the town centre people would often hop in the back thinking I was a taxi 😆

I remember having an N reg one of these as a hire car in 1995 and remember what a lovely car it was to drive

I've driven Primera 1.6L (poverty spec) as a taxi, the taxi company had a fleet of them replacing the Peugeot 405 they were running before. Whilst the 405 was more comfortable, the Primera could withstand all sorts of abuse and were only retired after a crash if the damage could not be repaired. They were running on LPG which limited the boot space but the average drunk passenger wouldn't care. Mileage was well over 300,000 km for most cars, they didn't get a chance to rust before they were scrapped 😅 There was one 2.0 GLX in the fleet with airconditioning but that car was reserved for special occasions only.

I was working for a Nissan dealership when the Bluebird was in production, as dull as it was to look at and drive it was extremely reliable. The dealer changed ownership just as the Primera came out so I only had a very brief connection with it, but found it really nice to drive, and can remember the motoring press of the time claiming it to be the best car in its class. Also of note is that Nissan went back to a timing chain when everyone had gone to cam belts.

I recognise that car! Got to see it first hand when I went to pick up Quentin. I must say its in absolutely mint condition… like it was in stasis since the 90s 😎😎😎

I had the later P11 (a mild facelift), in fact I ran three in succession. They were well screwed together and the handling was the best in class.. I remember hearing how much Tiff Needell rated them too. I only found out how good they where when I had to drive a first generation Avensis... turning into the first corner it was clear.

My Dad had a white 93 Infinity G20. Like this but with leather and a cd player. I learned to drive on this car, and while no great shakes, it was a fun and sorta sporty car that was a nice drive. Had the 2.0 litre, the only option available and was a sedan, also the only option available. It was small by US standards but I liked the feeling of it and at 6 foot 4 inches had no trouble getting behind the wheel.

A golden era for saloons, my favourite look ❤ Honda Accord too

Loved the 90s era Nissan's, drove the primera, the Almera sri and my first car was a Micra. Great cars. Never missed a beat.

So in the early-mid 90's we had the first Mondeos and Vectras available and then we got the option of the Primea and Carina E. Amazing.

This brought back some happy memories...back in the day I worked in law enforcement on a surveillance team and we had one of these in our fleet, alongside almost all the "competitor" cars you mentioned in your intro to the Primera. I thought it was a great car, good at everything but not outstanding at anything. The Sierra (police spec with better engine, gearbox and suspension) was faster, the 405 handled better, as did the Cavalier SRi, but each of those had areas which were worse than the Primera. Other cars on our fleet included an MG Maestro which was terrifyingly fast but tended to explode its engine or lose bits as you drove along, and a Rover 216 which was actually a very nice car. I cant comment on its "repmobile" abilities but I can assure you it was brilliant for chasing baddies 😂

I had the US equivalent, the Infiniti G20 with the legendary, indestructible SR20DE. Rusted out before it wore out with 275K on the clock. It had the dreaded fifth gear pop out but I ran it in fourth gear and drove it into the ground...it was, admittedly, downmarket compared to the rest of the Infiniti range but it got me and others into the dealership and the gave them the opportunity to move me up the ladder when it came time to retire it, so there's that...

Bland but very good. We had a Toyota Carina II of the same era and that was a fabulous car in many respects too. I totally agree with you that this era of car was really as good as it ever got. After the 2000's things just got more complicated for no real extra advantage.

We had a 4 door one in exctly this colour (but with those sporty stripes and a rear spoiler)! It was the 1,6 liter SLX. Sold it when it was 23 years old. Still with the 2nd battery in it! The first battery lasted 13 years and 11 months so almost 14 years old!

No joke there’s a lady in my town with a red J reg primera she’s had since new. I was talking to her on Morrisons car park about it a while ago. She’d parked it at the top of the car park right out of the way. She said so it doesn’t get “doored”. I reckon she was in her late 70’s.

My Dad had a Series 2 2.0l GX . T523 UEW. Amazing car to drive. Really underated.

Back in the day as a 17 year old I was insured on my dads company Granada and any other car in his care….. I loved the Granada and as my dad was often away with work I used to get a lift to collect his Granada to save it from the perils of the station car park overnight. This meant my dad needed a hire car to get home and thus I was insured to drive them. The Sierras were nice as long as they had power steering, The Audi 80s were real quality items, the Cavalier SRis were hilarious fun and proper hooligan machines with crazy wheelspin and axle tramp, the primera was nice, pleasant and sensible even it did kick down then immediately red line and change back up (?)….biggest surprise was one of the first Lagunas which turned out not to have standard anti lock brakes…. Fun times!

The hatchback version was a very nice car which I really wanted to buy at the time but I was treated like dirt in the nissan dealers when i wandered in. Took great pleasure showing up there in my new Cavalier Sri the following week to rub their noses in it. I think I chose wisely in the end, the Cav was fabulous & I've never contemplated buying a Nissan since that day.

I still have one which I bought from UK in 2001 owned it in UK and shipped it to Uganda and am still driving it up to date. It was a (K) reg.

So 90s. I grew up opposite a caravan park on a quiet street in Bolton. Wouldn't have been complete without a Primera, Mondeo and red Rover Metro GTI! 😁

There is absolutely no contest. The Primera was absolutely better than the Sierra or pretty much everything else of that era and segment; save perhaps the 405 for drivability. I never had one but my Dad had two (both 2l - not the eGT alas) but they were just great fun to drive and I drove them a lot. I meanwhile had a Bluebird and it was significantly roomier inside, like a tank and very comfy but had the driving dynamics of a four poster bed. Still, I did like it. First car. 🥰

A friend used to have a P10 Primera Manual in this red think it was a base L or LS Model in this shade of red. A girl I fancied back in the day, her dad had a later P11 Primera. Great cars and as always a most excellent review.

I drove an N reg Primera with the 1.6 Petrol engine from 2000 to 2001. Was in interesting car to drive. Only had it for just under a year. Sadly the bonnet flew up on me while I was on the motorway. It buckled the roof, smashed the windscreen and sunroof. Insurance wrote it off :(

A great car, I had a 1994 2.0egt p10 in bright red, really revvy and great handling in its day and a good variety of toys for it's time people were always surprised how good it was mine was a 5 door but always thought the 4 door was more handsome certainly in sportier guises

My dad had one of these when I was very small. Memory serves it was a dark blue 5 door hatch GS, with the 2.0 diesel (which he thinks was naturally aspirated) manual. We got it 2nd hand from my uncle, about 4 years old with 100k miles. Reliable as anything , but really slow!

Never sold in Australia ...we got the 1993-1995 Nissan Bluebird which was quite an interesting shape.

The trivial piece of info of the day,the 5 door hatchbacks in the SRi form,were the backbone of the Police Rapid Response teams in Greece back those days.And one more thing,The front left wheel needs a little bit of pumping up....Another lovely car,another great video.....

This brings back memories! My grandfather ( he was a sales rep in steel and machines) had a dark blue estate 2.0 turbo diesel LX and after that a green 2.0 SRi saloon with the orange striping and lettering. These where the first cars with standard airconditioning in my country. Great review, nice to see one again. These have disappeared from the roads over here.

I'm a big fan of all things Japanese in terms of reliability. However my silver gen 1 Primera was a bit of a disaster. Bought at 2 years old with 66k on it. It was an ex company car from a bank with a full nissan history. The newest car I'd ever owned. My previous car being a 150k Volvo 340 that was 100% reliable. 2 days into ownership the alternator went in the dark, in the snow. Then the n/s cv joint collapsed, then the starter motor went. Then smoke started coming out of the ignition lock. I stuck another 30k on it in 18 months, but moved it on after that. Handled nicely and was economical.

I remember in the 90s these were the cars the Asians and Africans had in London. They also used to have a tissue box usually embellished with Gold in the back window. My Dad who is English would only go for 'English' Cars such as Vauxhall or Ford. The Hondas and Nissans were for Africans. My Dad now drives a Nissan Qashqai. Times have really changed.

I remembered the name of the Infiniti G20, but not what it looked like. I had to do a search. It might have sold okay as a Nissan, but slapping an Infiniti badge on it and charging premium prices for a 140hp 4 cylinder, it was DOA in North America. They sold in very low numbers until Nissan pulled the plug in 2002. The G35 started in 2002 based on the Skyline, and was far more successful.

Always liked these especially the 2.0 eGT in saloon format. A friend of mine in France has one that's been in the family since new with 300,000km on the clock.

Had the Primera SRi P*** SOX... Electric blue with bright orange decals... Managed to clock up 18 points in six months but kept my license... Even got nicked for speeding in Spain on the way to the Portugese Grand Prix... Great car... But wasn't disappointed when the company took it off of me and gave me something a bit more sedate... That was over 27 years ago and haven't had a speeding fine since handing it back...

Hey, you can find a lot of these in Odesa, Ukraine! Somehow we have really lots of these cars and almost none of them outside this region :) we even have NPC club :) And now I guess I am the only p10 owner in Poland... I drove 2000 km in a week last summer from Odesa to Budapest, then to Bratislava and to the Baltic shore and the only problem was the air conditioner fan failed and luckily I found a used one in Bydgoszcz. 490k and still driving. 1.6 l ga16de, a car was produced in October 1995. And I love it!

Very well put together cars . Sadly like you say all gone now I loved the Nissan QX as well that was around at the same time as the later P11

Well, at last you have a classy piece of JAP/British design and manufacture. Loved this and still do 30 years on,. This was in Nissans golden era . As i said Classy tourer. took you long enuff to get there but good stuff sir.

Great review and a blast from the past indeed! I tried one of these out as a company car back in the mid-90’s but preferred the Peugeot 405’s driving characteristics. Moved company after a year and then had a Honda Accord 2.0i until I got my Alfa 156 2L TS in 1998.

Well, today I just saw a nice Primera P10 on the road and it looked brand new! I haven't seen a Sierra in over 10 years. I think that answers that question.

In the States.. US. It was an entry level Infiniti G20! Based on the Sentra. I think it lasted into the 2000s here. Fairly reliable, you still see a couple once in awhile on the road here. Great review!

One of the many cars I’ve owned was a Primera 2.0 si 16v. Was a p reg. Almost 200,000 miles on it. Just kept going and going. A great car. Very reliable.

Had a 2.0 model after this, the engine, gearbox and suspension were incredible especially after my 2.0 bluebird. Was genuinely fast AtoB because of the way it handled. Not quite as good as 405sri but it didn’t break down. Utter example of quality Japanese engineering humiliating mg/ rover and In my opinion Ford and vauxhall of their day. They did a 150 bhp gt too

The Primera takes the Sierras pants down and spanks it's bottom! In 1999 I bought a 1995/N Primera 1.6 LX hatchback. Bloody brilliant car. Only issue I had in the 3 and a half years I owned it was a broken heated rear window switch. The 1.8 litre petrol engine was never available in the UK. But a 2 litre N/A diesel was, and proved very popular with taxi drivers.

Great review, and great car which is a credit to its owner. Waves at Chris. I had a couple of P11's a hatch and a saloon, always found the 'loon to be a bit more planted on the road. I guess the extra metal acted like a rear strut brace. Either way they were awesome mile munchers frequently going Bristol to Aberdeen for in law duties. The 'loon is the only car I regret selling but the family outgrew it and we needed an estate so it had to go.

I wasn't wearing my glasses - thought your title said "the second best rep mobile of 1990?" I nodded, and thought "Yes - the 405 was better"

I had a k reg estate Primera. Really good solid and quick car. Never had any issues with it. Should have kept hold of much longer than I did.

Wish they would put velour back in modern cars. Super soft and comfy. Mix it with the higher grade plastics we now have and you'd have a nice interior.

Can't remember when I least saw one of these early (pre 96) cars on the road, but wow they seem pretty good, especially considering what else was around at the time. Put in context, this car launched almost the same time as the Mk5 Ford Escort.... And 3 years prior to the Mk1 Mondeo! Call me old fashioned but I miss these good unpretentious nice-driving family saloon/hatch/estate type cars. All these infernal modern day cross-overs and SUVs can do one! I agree the styling is a bit bland but in some ways that helps it hide it's age very well. I would think it was a mid 90s car not a 1989 design!

Had a 2.0 wagon 5 speed. It was nicely balanced on a gravel road and turned in to a corner better than I excepted. Solidly built too. Mine was a 2000 MY so I guess it was a p11.

I had a Bluebird and loved it for its toughness and comfort, but the Primera seemed to leap two generations ahead in one go.

Nissan's best era ever, the Primera had great brakes and handling.

Matt, never had prjmera, but had stanza and bluebird, the bluebird engine had datsun on it but i loved the car it was 1.8 ithink estate,great content as usual regards🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧👍

Drove a few of these- we had them as pool cars at a Taiwanese company I once worked for- excellent cars - very entertaining to drive, if a bit dull to look at or sit in. I enjoyed them a lot though.

great car , they sold very well in New Zealand too

Dismissed at the time as bland euroboxes , this generation of cars were some of the finest vehicles ever made . Now we get the Qashqai and its clones . Oh dear !

Had an identical K reg one (not quite as mint) but as high spec of not better. 2.0 naturally aspirated diesel. Proper taxi 🤣 but for £400 absolutely spot on. Horse hair around the handbrake was a memorable feature

I had four. 1.6, 1.6lx, 2.0gt and 2.0se. All-round best cars I have owned.

OMG those cassette shooters are awesome!

I took my driver’s license in 1993 in a Nissan Primera 2.0 so this will always have a special place in my memory 😃

So rare Matty a great survivor this first gen Primera saloon remember the Primera launched in 1990 in the UK as a 16 year old

You can see the Sierra and cavalier mk3 cues in places on the primera, even a bit of contemporary Peugeot

A friend let me drive one of rhese Primeras, a 2.0 manual, and I remember how it handled as well as some of the better Peugeots built since.

I'd have a 2.0i Mk 3 Cavalier today quite happily. What great cars they were.

Great cars - Im gutted a low milage early car which id had my eye on for years has just been scrapped in West Wales. This and the 405 were the most fun to drive saloons of their time.

My best mates mum had a Primeira GT with green/blue pearlescent paint - so cool

Fun fact - the first ever Bluebird built by the Washinton Nissan plant is in the Sunderland Museum.

I had a 2.0 16v sporty model , one of thr best handling cars i have ever had due to the multi link rear suspension

Had one of these in white with the hatchback body. It was a really good car which I should have kept much longer. I simply couldn't fault it as an all purpose family saloon.

I had a "bangernomics" phase and about ten years ago bought T reg a 1.8 (I think), auto GSI hatch Primera in black, it looked great, the hatchback had a Coupe feel to it :), £150.00, 65,000 miles, MOT ran out 3 months (and 12k miles) after I bought it, chucked a part worn on it and it sailed through, I did about 20,000 miles in it in total and was quite sad when the gearbox died, incredibly refined still and surprisingly fun, I always wanted to put a Skyline engine and drivetrain in it, damn I feel old now!!!

While i was watching this review a KZfaq add of a Nissan Qashqai came up... Much prefer this Primera though, great video!

Some much love for 90s family cars in this condition!

I had a 2ltr Hatchback manual - I loved it, despite the odd quirk. Well put together, kind of nice to drive, huge load space. Engines not particular flexible. The worst quirk was that it was pretty lethal in crosswinds - I had a scary moment when the whole car was entirely blown off course in a crosswind, and there was no grip from the tyres to deal with it! However, I did like it and was sad when I sold it - especially as I traded it in for the first Ford Focus, a car that I instantly hated everything about it!

Was a bit of a game changer although wasn't as popular as it deserved. My father used Fords as taxis for years going from Cortinas to Sierras then a Mk3 Granada. Each of those were an improvement on the last. But still needed a lot maintenance as the miles increased. The Cortinas would need new camshafts every 30k to stop them sounding like football rattles. By 100k they were just about worn out. He replaced the Granada at 200k and it didn't have much life left in it. His first ever new car was the Primera in 91. He ran it for 250k and it was unbelievably reliable, I'm not sure if the cam cover had ever been removed. It still drove well when he replaced it with a MK2 Primera in 98. The MK2 didn't feel as well built though. Couldn't say how reliable it would've been because he had to give up work soon after getting it.

the reason they are rare is mini-cabbers loved them - reliable frugal and spacious - thats yer cab right there

I had a 1994 Peugeot 405 1.6 GLX and there was always something that was broken. Anyone enthousiastic about the 405? I switched over to German cars afterwards, also with different succes but always a lot better than the Peugeot.

You can with a Nissan !!! A great video once again 👍👍

That would be Slaters of Abergele which has unfortunately now closed. Slaters still run a Vauxhall dealership in Colwyn Bay from where I’ve bought many a Vauxhall over the years!

Rather tasteful design, good enough performance, and probably the strongest offering in its class at the introduction. Nice to see it again.

I had one of these as a company car in the late 90s, tbf it was decent, reliable with a bit of umpf. Only problem was it always felt extremely light. Always felt like a cust of wind would blow you over😂lol!!!

we had the Estate version in the mid 90's best motorway driving car ever then family car at weekends to the lakes. Was a big car compared to the little 2 seater I drive now I still miss it low MPG comfortable seats.

Ahh the SR20DE, mine did 500,000km and was still going strong when I let it go.

i had a eGT, iam sure the reg was L717 JSA, also there was nissan gb, and nissan uk( Octav Botnar ) selling them with different trim badges

That's a really clean, elegant design.

In the USA we got (to use a phase from the UK) a tarted up version of this car called the Infiniti G20 (P10). It was crap so I can only imagine what the Nissan badged version was like. This is why Infiniti did not do so hot back in the early days as Nissan was trying to rebadge basic cars as luxo cars and the American public gave Nissan and Infiniti a big middle finger and continued to buy other cars. The regular Primera never came to the USA because Nissan USA had the Sentra and then came out with the first generation Altima in 1993 (still the best looking Altima ever made in my mind). i never understood why the first gen Altima was not sold in the UK. They sold it in Aus/Japan and NZ as the Bluebird (U13) but never in the UK.

Lost count how many of those I've pdi'd and fitted NATS to. (1996-1997), Oh and many upper wishbones as well lol 😁

All you need to do now is drive the Accord and 626 to complete the 90s Japanese repmobile lineup!

You going to the festival of the unexceptional? I am. Long drive but really looking forward to it. Like a bluebird myself. Getting scarce now.