Overview & Reviews

Nissan was born in Japan, and like other marques from its homeland, the brand is known for crafting vehicles that place an emphasis on quality and reliability. The company's roster of products is broad, and includes sporty coupes, family sedans, minivans, trucks and SUVs.

The automaker got its start in 1933 as the Jidosha Seico Co., Ltd. The following year, this outfit merged with another Japanese manufacturer, and the new company was christened Nissan Motor Company, Ltd. Nissan initially marketed its vehicles under the Datsun brand, with the first Datsuns being built in 1934. Postwar, the brand made its presence felt worldwide, building a partnership with the U.K.-based Austin Motor Co. and establishing a presence in the United States. The first Datsuns hit American shores in 1958. Vehicles like the Datsun 1000 were based on Austin platforms.

The '60s witnessed Nissan's merger with Prince Motor Company, a union that helped the Asian manufacturer create more luxury-focused vehicles. In the U.S. it began offering its first vehicle styled for the U.S. market, the Datsun 510 sedan. By the end of the decade, Datsun had exported more than 1 million vehicles. Datsun rose to prominence in the 1970s on the popularity of its 240Z sports car. Powered by an inline six-cylinder engine, the car was coveted for its blend of style, performance and affordability. By the time the '70s drew to a close, the automaker's cumulative vehicle exports had surpassed the 10 million mark.

In 1981, Nissan shelved the Datsun name and began selling vehicles worldwide under the Nissan moniker. The '80s also saw Nissan's launch of a tuning division called Nismo for the development of performance-oriented vehicles and accessories. Nissan also brought its production to American shores, with the construction of a Georgia-based plant.

The early '90s saw Nissan's fortunes rise in the U.S. thanks to fun-to-drive cars like the 300ZX, Maxima and Sentra. But this trend didn't last long and by the late '90s Nissan's offerings consisted of anonymous vehicles. The company's future was uncertain.

After the turn of the new century Nissan bounced back, helped by a 1999 alliance with Renault that boosted the company's finances. Its redesigned Sentra and Altima boosted sales and consumer interest, as did new models like the 350Z sports car, Armada SUV and Titan pickup. Today the manufacturer is known for offering a wide range of well-regarded vehicles, including the popular Murano SUV, the incredible GT-R supercar and the all-electric Leaf.

User Reviews:

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  PROBLEM CAR - 2013 Nissan Altima
  By jagger2 - January 11 - 1:32 pm

  Please do your research before you purchase this vehicle. I have been a loyal Nissan customer for nearly 20 years and have owned several Nissan vehicles. Didnt think twice about what could possibly go wrong with a brand new Altima. Basically relied on my experience which was my huge mistake. The vehicle just had too many defects. First the whining noise and shortly after, brakes made a loud slapping noise, the fuel slosh, screen goes blank and not to mention the rubber burning smell. Addressed all of these with Nissan and even filed a complaint with BBB and MD General Attorney. Nissan did absolutely nothing other than write a response stating everything was normal. Do your research first

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  Dim Headlights - 2012 Nissan Altima
  By tsgttony - January 3 - 6:44 pm

  I have bought this car back in September, I discovered that the headlights are quite dim. no where bright as my old 2009 Subaru. I returned to the dealer 2x in 2wks each time I was told there was nothing wrong. Complained to nissan headquarters they politely listened to my problem. I have offered to pay for a portion of the enhanced bulbs, but was told by the service manager that this model can not be upgraded. I considered purchasing brighter bulbs from Napa. Was told by Service manager that this would void the warranty, I am now awaiting a call from the GM, had I knowen how dim these lights were I would have never purchased this car, furthmore turn on the high beams is not much of an impro

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  Id get better mileage with a Hummer!!! - 2015 Nissan Pathfinder
  By Lisa Colache - January 1 - 10:52 pm

  I have never owned a Nissan and decided to try one out and the 22 miles to the gallon, I figured I had nothing to lose. Boy was I wrong!! This is the biggest gas guzzler I have EVER owned!! 22 miles to the gallon?? Who rigged this thing. I get 13 / 14 city possibly 15 on a good day, and 18/ 19 on highway. What a joke this thing is!! CVT is designed to give me better gas mileage, pffffttt. I questioned the dealership and their response was" Well, it has to go through its break-in period" I have never in my life heard of this so I went home and googled it. Well, some people believe this to be true, I still think its BS, as I have passed the so called " Break - In period of 1,000 miles and the sucks ass gas mileage continues. Anyone else have this problem????

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  Poor built - 2012 Nissan Rogue
  By veldatt - December 29 - 10:17 pm

  We bought our fully loaded Nissan Rogue, after reading lots of reviews. We drove the car and it seemed nice. We have driven this SUV for 12,000 km now and it seems it is a poorly built SUV. The paint is cheap and the flap cover over the spare wheel in the trunk jumps making lots of annoying noise (as if you are carrying empty utensils). When shown to the dealer, they say this is the way it is built and when it is cold temperature outside, the rubber knobs shrink and there will some noise. The flap cover is actually loose and not tied down by screws. This is a quality issue which Nissan must address. We paid $38k for this SUV, but are repenting. We should have bought VW Tiguan or Rav4.

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  Titan burly exhaust note - 2004 Nissan Titan
  By Bob - December 29 - 2:46 am

  As to the con: burly exhaust note, this is actually one of the best features. The titan sounds awesome. Unfortunately thats the only good I see. Titan has known issues with the brakes. Apparently they chose a rotor that the metal distorts and causes the rotors to warp and the steering wheel shakes really bad. I had them done first at 13k miles and again at 19k miles. The first fix they cut all 4 rotors, and now there is a horrendous noise in the front suspension, second time they replaced the fronts with the same thing that was on there before and again said they cut the rear rotors. The service manager told me to keep bringing it back. I dont want to keep bringing it back.

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  Nissan leaf built on a Friday - 2012 Nissan Leaf
  By richardriver - December 23 - 10:24 am

  Bought the lowest price for 28K. After 3 weeks the car left me stranded, the dealer did not know what to do, it took them 8 days to figure it out. Now, after 3 months, the AC failed completely. But other than that is an excellent car for commuting. I do recommend the quick charging package Chademo with 6.6kw 240 charger. If you dont get it you would regret it, Like I did. This gives you more functionality.

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  Almost a good truck - 2001 Nissan Frontier
  By Watercolors - December 19 - 10:00 am

  ItÂ’s been reliable & very utilitarian. The bed extender works well. Front seat comfort is good,back seat is OK. The handling is numb and the fuel economy is poor but itÂ’s a four wheel drive truck. What is a problem is the paint and the carpets. The Aluminum colored bumper paint is falling off on the edges and on the roof rack. These are areas where its had little contact with anything. Also the carpet is discoloring. The trucks not been abused. Im going to take it to Nissan and see what they say but I dont have high hopes. On my previous Nissan truck there were similar problems and they walked away from them. I swore I wouldnt buy another but I did.

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  why did I buy this thing ??? - 2003 Nissan Altima
  By PUNISHER7 - December 19 - 2:00 am

  I have had to take this car in twice to have the d/s window serviced in the first 4 months of owning it. I have been affected by almost every recall on this thing and there have been about 5. The road noise has gotten to be unbearable and now the d/s window causes this reverberating sound when I drive at speeds above 60mphs even though the window is all the way up. I will never buy another Nissan product after I dump this damn thing. I should have bought the 03 cadillac CTS instead

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  worst mistake - 2012 Nissan Quest
  By cargirl1833 - December 15 - 6:02 pm

  I bought a 2012 Nissan Quest now almost a year ago. Horrible mistake. I really should have looked at the Odyssey before I made my descision. I actually am already having problems with it like other quest owners are. I cannot believe I paid over 30,000 for a van and am already having problems with it. While I was at the dealership I actually had it appraised and I was SHOCKED with they gave me the numbers. less than 25,000 miles on it and I am already $9,000 upside down. I am very upset that my investment was in no way protected. So I took the bite and went and got an odyssey and couldnt be happier. its the best!! best descision I ever made.

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  Absolutely hated it! - 2005 Nissan Quest
  By Twinmom143 - December 14 - 3:30 pm

  I owned a 2001 Quest for years and drove it to over 130,000 mi before trading it in for this. Biggest mistake I ever made! I loved the old Quest. The newer one is spacious, but the blind spots when driving it were terrible. It didnt matter where I moved to, I just couldnt see well at all. Almost immediate muffler noises and front end noise. The front brakes go often in these vehicles because they are SO heavy and the brakes cant handle the size of the vehicle. Terrible gas mileage. Nice options, but not worth it. I didnt keep it 6 months! I started looking for something else 2 weeks after getting home with this one!