I thought about buying a Primera when I last needed to replace my car. They have good handling and ride, and are fairly robust. The 2 litre engine is pretty powerful, whilst the 1.6 is merely OK. It struggles a little if you like to drive around in 5th. They are made in the UK and are also very well equipped - the GX model has ABS and air conditioning.
Things to look out for with a Primera are

1. the rear electric windows. If these aren't working, then its about £200 each to replace the motors

2. the alternator can be a bit weak. A good test for this is to start the car, then turn on the lights, fan, heated rear window and anything else you can find. If the lights dim under a big load, then it might well be a problem.

3. the multilink suspension gives excellent handling and ride, but there are a lot of bushes to replace after a high milage. Check for bumps and clonks as you drive around.

For £4-5000, you can get a clean 1997 1.6 GX 5 door Primera, which should have a lot more life left in it. I think thats a bit of a bargain. Whilst I was shopping around, I drove some Primeras with much higher milages, which still seemed pretty tight.

My wife decided she wanted a smaller car and so we didn't go for a Primera in the end. Its a shame as the only cars with decent handling and ride, ABS and air conditioning in the Golf/Astra/Focus class were new enough for second hand prices to be silly money. The MkIII Golf, MkIII Astra and Escort are significantly worse than the later models. In the end I imported a Focus for the same money that people were asking for an 18 month old second hand one.