Faults:

No faults.

Had to put a complete set of tires on shortly after purchase as previous set were badly worn in places.

General Comments:

Handles well and very nice to drive.

Automatic box is excellent. Gear changes are smooth and predictable. Really takes the effort out of heavy traffic driving.

Generally, the engine is up to the job. It can be a little noisy at high revs though. It would have benefited from a ‘smoother’ 6 cylinder.

Real cruising car. Enjoys being on the motorway.

Very stable at high speed. This means you need to keep an eye on the speedometer as 90-100mph can easily pass for 70ish.

Bland, but very functional interior.

Comfortable and highly adjustable seats.

Tons of space in the boot. Accommodates a double buggy and weeks worth of shopping with ease ;-)

Faults:

Nearside under-wing suspension bush needs replacing (under non-franchised dealer warranty).

General Comments:

By far the best car I've owned (versus Vauxhall, Ford, Peugeot &c.).

Handling is brilliant, brakes superb, ergonomics spot-on, build is solid, plenty of toys even in this basic form, economy excellent, extremely spacious and very cheap to buy (6/1997, 2 owners, F.S.H., 57k miles: £2600 with tax and 3 months warranty 3/2003).

Performance not so inspiring, but more than adequate, plus fuel is expensive and I need my licence! Ride can be harsh on scabby urban roads.

Oft-criticized looks are subjective, I happen to like it.

Faults:

Rear view mirror rattles in cold weather.

That's it!

General Comments:

It's not as quick as a GTi, but given it's a 1.6 in a heavy car, that's not surprising.

Very comfortable interior: leather wheel, handbrake and gear selector make it feel a bit special. Seats perfect, even on long journeys.

Add alloys and it looks the part.

Handling amazingly good for a car its size.

Shifts five comfortably and swallows luggage.

Absolute bargain - nothing else with air conditioning on the market for so little.

Could do with a little more power, but given it squeezes into the bottom road tax bracket, insurance group 7 and returns 35mpg, I'm prepared to forgive.

Faults:

All four tyres needed replacing when I took it over, but I'm prepared to put it down to the previous owner's erratic driving habits. My four new Pirellis have hardly worn at all in two and a half years, so the tracking is fine.

The driver's seat squeaks a bit. That's definitely the fault of my inability to abstain from pies.

General Comments:

This is a car you'll slowly fall in love with. It's a total driver's car - it's set up to make you, the driver, feel happy about booting it around on real roads, in real traffic (the same can't be said of the new Renault-ified Primera range, which I test-drove and walked away from).

It handles very competently. It's crisp, but not difficult. If you tend to drive one-handed (other hand smoking or resting lazily on the gear stick) this car will see you through.

It also has plenty of poke, although you don't really see it until about 3,000rpm. 1st gear take off is adequate, 2nd gear sees it starting to growl nicely and 3rd gear will suddenly rocket you into motorway speeds. 4th and 5th are there for cruising.

The interior trim is... well, it's there. It's grey, it's unimaginative, but it's solidly built. And heck, who looks at the interior trim? If you're driving properly, your only contact with the insides of the car is by feel. The boot is ginormous, which is saying something since it's a saloon model. The hatchback variant (which was much more common) could happily transport entire villages.

And I'll also add that's driver-oriented - the centre console is subtly angled toward the driver's seat. If you've never driven a car set up like that, you'll be amazed how much easier it makes it to operate the stereo and heater controls while moving. Which are for you, dammit, not the passenger.

My Primera came with quite a few options - alloys, CD player, air-con and sunroof. My father happens to have a very similar model, but without the options, and everything I've said about mine applies to his too - so don't be put off if you find the down-specced version somewhere. It's still a very good, useful driver's car.