Nissan Primastar road test reports and car reviews

Nissan Primastar 2004

The van is on on a 54 plate and has done 120,000 miles. It gets worked hard daily and carries around 1 tonne of weight. The passenger electric window has broken and has had to have a couple of track rod ends, but that just from mounting curbs etc. It has never broken down and is very reliable.

Responses to this review

Did you fix your window? Mine went the same, changed eveything, now I cannot get any gears - Jonathan Hingley from England

Nissan Primastar 2003

I bought a Nissan Primastar 2 years ago with 36,000 on the clock was ok for first year and a half until discs and brakes needed replacing all round at 45,000 miles then guess what gearbox went at 55,000 miles selectors became very stiff hoped it would just be the cable but turned out to be the box, drove it around for a few more miles ant it has now stalled abruptly whilst driving with a red flashing light saying there’s a serious injection fault waiting to take this in to the garage to see what’s next.

Nissan Primastar 2006

Anyone else noticed that the sills fill up with water which happily sloshes away behind the internal lining? Having removed the rear wheel arch linings and side trims, I discovered that the water can permeate both through gaps in the sill ends and also through the push in side-trim plugs. Primasters are nice looking vans but are poorly manufactured. Back to Leyland Daf for the next one.

Nissan Primastar 115 DCI 2008

I have a 2008 model with only 20k on the clock and already it’s had to go in 5 times to get fixed because of starter problems. I’ll never buy one of these vans again.

Nissan Primastar 2005

Hi! Well I said I would keep you posted so here it is. As i said in my last report i was warned next thing to go would be the gearbox, well wait for it..it is in the garage awaiting delivery of recon gear box. First thing to go were the wires that work the linkages, then the whole box. I was quoted around £1700 from the main dealer but as I was fed up being stung I shopped around and got one for £650 delivered from renault specialists somewhere in England. My local, honest-as-the-day-is-long local mechanics yard are installing it for me and hopefully it will soon be back where it should be on the road with my son driving it making money for our family business. Also, as I said in last report, I have now taken delivery of renault 155 dci trafic, don’t know if its because its a 2000 cc or what but this van seems and feels a total different breed from primastar all round more dig but have only done 2500 miles. I also put a chip in primastar and all the judders and flatness vanished, at £200 quid it will pay for itself in no time as it has greatly improved fuel consumption and makes a better drive all round. Will keep you posted, Hugh.

Nissan Primastar 2ltr 2007

Nice looking fast and very flashy... but total c**p. After 1 day no reversing sensors and they still have not managed to fix them 2 years later. At 4 weeks old it refused to start, I called out RAC and was towed to garage, it was a faulty fuel filter (not covered by warranty). It then ran OK until first service... when I called to pick up van I paid for service (£210). I started it up and the van oil light kept flashing. I stopped the engine and walked back into garage where the mechanic checks the engine - they had not put any oil in the engine! After draining it out, they fill the engine with oil, all 7 litres, and away I go with no problems. At the 36,000 mile service it required 4 brake discs and 2 sets off pads, no change from £600. I say this is a joke. 5 months old, the old wear and tear story, 40,000 miles, no air conditioning (hole in exchanger, not covered by warranty). 70,000 miles, rear antiroll bar fell off, caused by poor servicing, £240 for repair. 80,000, booked in for timing belt, off the road for two days as it was a very big job says the garage - they have never done one before... main Nissan dealer? I called after 2 days to pick van up, they have good news and bad news, the good news is that your van does not have a timing belt (that saved me money), the bad news... your turbo is whining noisily, your injection pump is leaking fuel and your power steering rack is leaking fluid - estimated cost £3,000 / £4,000. I am nearly bankrupt in a van less than 2 years old. Quick solution to the problem - trade it in and buy a Transit, or rent a wreck for a couple of hundred quid and throw it away when its due an MOT. I hope the poor sod that bought it has better luck than me, funny thing is the gearbox was OK.

Nissan Primastar 115 dci 2007

I bought this van in January 07 brand new, now 48000 miles on it. I use it every day laden with tools and often with a trailer. From day one I found the van to be very sluggish though there is plenty of backup torque; i.e. my mates 100dci Primastar is far quicker accelerating but does not pull as well as my van under load. Also from the start I found the gearox to be vague and slow to accept changes; it very very regulary crunches when trying to change up to third or down to third and fourth. So far my van has been in to the dealers to get a number of things fixed under warranty, none major yet but I suspect gearbox is coming up soon. Fixes so far have been: track rod ends, handbrake assembly, seatbelt pretensioners, fixed air conditioning, re-gas antiroll bar and bushings drop links, air conditioning radiator, all air conditioning pipes, steering rack and tie rods. Although this may seem a lot the first 4 were all done at the same time as a service, there were other items done at that time too but I cannot remember them, the other 5 were done two weeks ago. I left the van in one day, the garage gave me a loan vehicle and my van was ready next evening, all were fixed under warranty. Since it has come back though I now notice a loud whining noise from the gearbox which I couldn’t hear previously as the suspension and steering was banging so much, the whining is definitely getting worse and I reckon it is a gearbox bearing about to let go. Would I buy another Primastar? Yes I would, my van has had problems but they were all fixed with absolutely no questions or queries from my local dealer who I cannot fault. And at the end of the day my van is a work horse that has to work hard every day, it may get serviced regularly but between service works hard. No machine works hard constantly and doesn’t need repairing from time to time.

Nissan Primastar 2005

This was my second Primastar as the lad that worked for me met a large HGV on a country track and wrote it off. I went for the long wheel base instead of short as it is more handy for sheet materials. These vans seem to have same problems over time; the first being that when stopping for a short time, at junction or street end it goes into an annoying judder as if to stall, then it’s fine until the next stop. The work shop staff treat you as if it’s your imagination even though the boy that works with me witnessed it too. The next problem is with the windscreen top rubber seal that goes awol at speed on the motorway - try getting that from the fast lane - then the windscreen cracks bang on centre, this has happened to both vans at about 45k. Then the clutch slave cyl goes just on warranty up - Nissan have gone halves with me with on cost but I still ended up paying about 1.5k. And then came what they call the limp mode; the engine won’t go any faster, about 20 lorries on motorway love you as they all toot ther horns and wave as they go by - I get to garage and get humped for another 1.2 k (2 weeks of trial and error, $pound;75 each test and another part replaced, mostly fuel related I think). I was almost sleeping in waiting area as I was desperate not to let my buisness go under. I said yes to everything just to get my van back and it never quite ran the same after that and the Nissan garage that I bought my van from eventually admitted that they where embarresed learning at my expense and sent it to there Renault branch who sharply fixed it and hit me for another £500. I wonder if I could have saved 1.2k? I’m back working away trying to recover some cash to stay afloat when bang power steering goes, another £400! Then, bosh goes track ends and ball joints, more cash then the beep that you get when arming alarm doesn’t beep any more! I have replaced so much of this van that I am keeping it till it dies. Don’t laugh, but I am taking delivery of a Renault trafic with a nissan engine that I am assured by the dealer is the same van but without all the problems. On a positive note, the van is at 120,000, running at its best and giving 750 to a tank (and that’s full of tools). I will keep you posted...

Nissan Primastar 2007

I have had two major breakdowns concerning the gearbox and have found it to be unreliable in that respect. It is a very costly to have this job done, running into the thousands if not done under warranty. That is without the lost revenue whilst the vehicle is off the road, roughly two weeks at a time.