Newbie Ahoy

Outer shell is galvanised so general rust is not a big problem, any small bubbles and scratches take a long time to spread.

Callipers are prone to sticking, hard to check for but make sure the handbrake holds well without too much effort. The P11 rear calliper seems better than the P10 one though. If you can take it on a long run make sure the front wheels aren’t heating up too much, one side will if a calliper is sticking and burnt-on brake dust on one wheel is a giveaway sign of overheating. Usually not too hard to fix if they are but the back ones can need replacing if the handbrake levers seize.

You want a free revving, smooth sounding engine. They’re very reliable, if not the quietest engines in the world, so are usually fine although the timing chains can start to rattle as the miles build up and are not cheap to replace. A rattle at start up if fine, just the oil pressure building up, but it’s best if it’s reasonably quiet the rest of the time. Check the oil is near the top of the dipstick hatched area and that it’s had regular oil changes.

Gearbox can be notchy into fifth and reverse. Make sure fifth isn’t ‘too’ hard to select as that could mean bigger problems. Primera’s snap drive shafts, ask if that’s happened yet, it probably has if the car has a few miles on it. If not, it will! Nothing you can do about it.

Listen for clunks from the suspension. Any clunks and don’t buy it till you’ve checked out what it is, most clunks are cheap to fix and some aren’t! Front top links can knock like mad but still be sound and are not expensive to fix anyway. Good bargaining tool.

Windscreen wiper swivels wear out. Press the lower part of the arm down to see how much play there is. Slight play is ok but a lot and they won’t clean very well and can hit the edge of the bonnet. Not expensive to fix, another bargaining point.

LCD display on the radio often dies but radio still works fine. 6 CD changer in the boot sometimes packs in. Electric mirrors can be sticky in cold weather. Most other electrics are trouble free but check them anyway.

Interior rattles are common but we know where they all are so can tell you how to fix them ;0) Clutch pedal can click but that’s an easy fix too.

The rest is stuff common to all cars like clutch, pads, CV joints, shocks etc.

The list above seems huge, but it really is near enough absolute - don't let it worry you, chances of all that lot being wrong are minute.

Both cars look good, bargains too, and relatively low mileage too. Unfortuantely the links will probably be removed (Forum Guidelines on eBay links)

A slipping clutch at high revs could just be pedal adjustment (although there is no guarantee of this until it's done and tried).

If you're looking into Modding your Primera, then you've found the right place, and my first bit of advice would be to get Joined Up as there's plenty of stuff in the Trading Sections.

Enjoy The Forums