2025 Nissan Primastar: Everything You Need To Know

05/09/2025 11:54 Share

2025 Nissan Primastar: Everything You Need To Know

There haven’t been many Japanese branded medium vans over the years, but the Nissan Primastar is here to prove that our friends in the East know how to deliver a quality commercial vehicle.

With the exception of Nissan and Toyota, Japanese companies like Honda, Mitsubishi, Mazda and Suzuki have broadly shunned the temptation to go head-to-head with the likes of Ford, Volkswagen, Peugeot and Vauxhall in Europe’s competitive van industry.

It would seem like a missed opportunity of sorts for those companies with both Nissan and Toyota making decent headway in the commercial vehicle sector in recent years.

It’s a tactic that seems to be bearing fruit too with both manufacturers now presenting a full line-up of small, medium and large vans for your consideration.

However, while both manufacturers rely on their partners – in Toyota’s case Stellantis and in Nissan’s case, Renault – for their European commercial range, the latter at least has gone to the effort of putting more differentiation into its models.

It has led to the latest generation Nissan Primastar, revealed in 2021, which may bear close resemblance to the Renault Trafic but maintains some of its own discerning features.

A Van To Warrant-y your Attention

Arguably the most interesting feature of the Nissan Primastar will only become apparent once you have taken delivery of one – its warranty.

In a category that sees almost every model given similar three-year/100,000-mile (whichever comes first) cover from new, the Primastar differs by going ahead and offering a very enticing-looking five-year/100,000-mile warranty.

This is in line with the rest of the Nissan range – passenger cars included – and endows the Primastar one of the most attractive aftersales packages. This is despite the model being manufactured alongside the Renault Trafic, which by contrast only gets three-year cover.

Not only that, the Primastar – while clearly an aesthetic relative of the Trafic – is to many the more handsome medium van. A muscular front-end, which seamlessly adapts Nissan’s design language from models like the Qashqai, Juke and Ariya, suits the otherwise boxy Primastar very well.

Of course, sexy good looks are traditionally not terribly high on the list of ‘wants’ for any van driver, but what’s the harm in looking good when you’re turning up for a job?

Nissan Primastar: Dimensions, Loads & Body Styles

Payload Capacity:

L1/H1 – 742-1227kg
L1/H2 – 902-1125kg
L2/H1 – 916-1251kg
L2/H2 – 866-1089kg

The Nissan Primastar panel van is available in four body styles comprising a combination from two lengths and two height options, plus Crew Van choices from two body lengths that seat up to six people.

Bearing identical measurements to the Renault Trafic, the Nissan Primastar’s dimensions therefore identify it as one of the largest medium vans in the class in terms of outright size both inside and out.

Even the entry L1 measures more than five metres in length (5080mm), which translates to a generous 2537mm of load length at floor. As a comparison, the Ford Transit Custom offers 2602mm and the Vauxhall Vivaro is 2512mm.

In L2 guise, the Primastar is 5480mm in length – making it longer than a Ford Transit Custom – and offers a load length of 2937mm.

Overall, the Primastar offers 5.8 cubic metres as a standard L1/H1 and 6.7 cubic metres in L2/H1 guise. This is versus the Transit Custom’s 5.8/6.8 cubic metres and the Vivaro’s 5.3/6.1 cubic metres.

Where the Primastar differs from most of its rivals in the medium van sector – including its Ford and Vauxhall rivals - is the option of a high-roof H2 version, which can be combined with either an L1 or L2 length model.

This adds another significant dimension to the Primastar’s cargo potential with H2 models measuring 2468mm in height – up from the H1’s 1971mm.

While this will demand compromises in terms of access to garages and multi-storey car parks, the added height expands the cargo bay to a mammoth 7.8 cubic metres in L1/H2 guise and 8.9 cubic metres in full L2/H2 size.

In terms of payload capacity, the Nissan Primastar’s most generous body style combination is the L2/H1, which can haul a maximum of 1251kg. However, all body sizes in the Primastar range have the potential to carry more than one-tonne depending on the trim and engine.

It also has a generous towing capacity of between 2000 and 2500kg.

2025 Nissan Primastar: Engine, Performance & Powertrains

Unusually for the medium van class, the Nissan Primastar is only available with the choice of a turbodiesel engine. It means there is no electric option, unlike its sister Renault Master E-Tech.

Despite this, Nissan offers four versions of its 2.0-litre dCi turbodiesel with power outputs ranging between 110, 130, 150 and 170PS.

Coming with the choice of either a manual gearbox or a dual clutch automatic (on 150 and 170PS models only), the Primastar offers formidable pulling power with higher-powered versions capable of more 350Nm of torque.

It should be economical too with not much disparity in the combined miles per gallon figure between the different engines. In all, the Primastar should range between 39 and 41mpg on average, while there is an Eco mode that helps to maximise fuel efficiency by restricting engine power and promoting earlier gear changes.

2025 Nissan Primastar: Specification, Features & Safety

The Nissan Primastar is available with the choice of two trim levels – Acenta and Tekna.

Features of the Nissan Primastar Acenta include:

- Driver and Passenger Airbag
- Emergency braking system
- Lane departure warning system
- Cruise control
- Driver drowsiness and attention warning
- Rear parking sensors
- Automatic headlights and wipers
- Anti-theft immobiliser
- LED headlights
- Seat height and lumbar adjustment
- Electric front windows
- Electric door mirrors
- Air-conditioning
- 8-inch media centre
- Android Auto and Apple CarPlay computability
- 6 Anchorage fix rings (8 on L2)

The Nissan Primastar Tekna adds:

- Blind spot warning
- Front parking sensors
- Rear view camera
- 17-inch alloy wheels
- Body-coloured bumpers
- 7-inch colour TFT cluster
- Satellite navigation
- 50:50 split 270 degree twin rear doors

The Nissan Primastar has a four-star EuroNCAP safety rating.

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