Category: Large Family 
Price Range: No data available
Comfortable, competitively-priced, easy to drive and own, looks distinctive
Looks a bit too distinctive, not an involving drive, depreciation could be high
Well worth a look as an alternative to a Mondeo/Vectra
The Sunderland-built Primera is a radical departure, style-wise, from its predecessor, as well as having a more upmarket feel than many of its similarly-priced mainstream rivals. It's a large, comfortable car, if not the most exciting to drive, and it's well-equipped, smooth-riding and refined to live with. Most crucially, it's neither a Mondeo nor a Vectra: this is a mass-market car that stands a little apart from the crowd.
Available as a five-door hatchback or roomy estate - the saloon has been discontinued in the UK - the Primera comes with 1.8- and 2.0-litre petrol engines (116bhp and 140bhp respectively) or the 2.2 dCi diesel (138bhp). The 1.8 is available with five-speed manual or four-speed automatic transmission, the 2.0 with six-speed manual or CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) clutchless gearbox and the diesel with a six-speed manual 'box. Specification levels are S, SX, SE, SVE and T-Spec, the latter including sat-nav, in-dash CD autochanger, leather upholstery, xenon headlamps and heated/electrically-adjustable front seats.
