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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  I love my Altima! - 2010 Nissan Altima
  By I love my Altima! - October 20 - 3:43 am

  I needed to get out of my Chevy Tahoe which was costing me over $450 a month in gas.I read an article about how the Altima sedan won as best family sedan for 2010 in 10 categories. Safety,reliability and a fun car to drive were important factors in my search.I loved my test drive so much, with the feel of the CVT, that I knew it was the car for me.Since driving it for 3 weeks I am so very satisfied.I would have had to fill up the Tahoe 3 times since then, and I havent needed to fill it up yet! My car payment is much less than what gas alone used to cost me!

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  2007 Altima - 2007 Nissan Altima
  By vlc78 - October 19 - 7:10 pm

  There are many qualities that I enjoy about my Nissan Altima, but there are a few that I am not so crazy about. I will start with the positive qualities first. The 2007 altimas interior is very spacious. I also really enjoy the push button start.... The audio features sound great, and it looks much sportier than some of the other cars in its class. However, I do have some complaints about the car. The drivers seat is very uncomfortable after about 20-30 minutes of driving. I find that my back usually hurts after long trips. Also, today it was 70 degrees here and my inside temp. said it was 41! The check engine light comes on from time to time.

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  Almost Perfect - 2007 Nissan Sentra
  By uscfan - October 19 - 6:40 pm

  Weve had ours for 1 month and 3500 miles. Nice car so far. Getting about 30 mpg with 65% city and 35% highway. Plenty of room in the car for the four of us. Trunk is bigger than it looks. The leather is nice and soft but would like to see a lumbar support and power seats. CVT is nice and smooth. Braking is a little clumsy when the CVT disengages. I test drove all the others, civic, corrola, elantra and mazda3. The Sentra provides the best bang for the buck.

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  the best - 2005 Nissan Murano
  By richard - October 19 - 8:10 am

  My job takes me on the road and the Murano is a second office for me, great place to bring my customers too.

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  Great Van - 2007 Nissan Quest
  By Ifletchr - October 19 - 12:56 am

  We bought this van after looking at the Honda, Entourage and Town & Country. The Entourage and T&C left a bit to be desired and the Honda packaging options meant we were spending a lot of money for some options we wanted and a lot for some we didnt. The main option we wouldve liked but wasnt available was AWD. The interior was by far the nicest of all the vans and although there wasnt as much storage as the Honda (lazy susan in floor), the fact that no seats had to be removed to have cargo space really helped.

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  First Year Delightful - 2007 Nissan Altima Hybrid
  By Alex in Maine - October 18 - 4:26 pm

  To start I have to say that this is a handsome car. I have gotten a lot of feedback on the way the car looks. I also get asked about mileage (32-33 MPG on average, with about 36 MPG city and 30 MPG highway). The navigation system does not have a complete set of data and I have gotten stranded once or twice in an "incomplete mapping area". I like the color backup camera, and the Bose sound system rocks. The cruise control hesitates at times, but you get used to it . Powerful performance, feels like a good 6 cylinder at all times. Phone Bluetooth is great too and easy to set-up. In general it is a techno-guys dream car.

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  Almost a Lemon - 2004 Nissan Quest
  By Dave D - October 18 - 9:00 am

  We have owned the Quest for a year and a half and in that time have had it back to the dealership for repairs/warranties/recalls/service about 15 times. Within the first month of owning the Quest, I noticed rattling noises, wind coming from the rear doors, and other "small things" that seemed much worse becasue they only added to the overall total of complaints I began to have. Couple this with the passenger side mirror needing to be replaced, rear defogger unit replaced, doors adjusted, sensors tweeked, and the kicker, the alternator and battery dying in the middle of January in Minnesota away from home, and you can see why I must say this is the absolute worst vehicle I have ever owned.

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  Amazing... - 2010 Nissan Maxima
  By Rob - October 18 - 6:43 am

  Picked up my Maxima is Navy Blue with Black leather fully loaded... Amazed with the quality of materials but more amazed with the power. I was on the verge of getting an altima v6 when the GM of the Dealership had me test drive the Maxima, a "real" v6 and holy moly... Altima was out of the race instantly and now this beautiful Maxima sits on front of my house. Could not be happier with it!

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  Bad CVT at 72,000 miles - 2012 Nissan Versa
  By Bryan - October 18 - 6:23 am

  Bought this car in October of 2013. The car had 8,500 miles on it, it was a loaner vehicle that the dealership used so I knew it was in great shape. Purchased the car, and at 30,000 miles the heat shield started coming apart. The cost to replace that was 500 dollars. At 40,000 miles new brakes were needed which is normal, but little to my knowledge the rear brakes were drum brakes, fast forward to 50,000 miles the serpentine belt snapped, the cost to replace that? 650.00 dollars. Finally at 72,000 miles my transmission started going bad, at first it started with a whining at low RPMs, then it had a hard time going into reverse and on multiple occasion would disengage from drive and the car had to be turned off and started again. Finally, when I was on the freeway, the car completely lost all power and stalled (thank goodness I got over to the shoulder). I had the car towed to Nissan, were it was determined that the transmission had failed but they couldnt figure out why because the transmission oil was good and it was at normal levels. I was quoted 4,000 dollars to replace the transmission, I almost called the auto-loan company and told them to take there car back. My uncle works for Nissan, and had me make a call to Nissan USA. After explaining my frustration with a bad transmission on a four year old car, I would never buy another Nissan product or recommend Nissan to any friend or family member. The service request was sent to a supervisor, about a week later Nissan called back and covered 3,600 dollars of the expenses. It took about 3 weeks to get the car back, as there was only one tech in the entire shop who knew had to drop a CVT and put in a new one. Ive had the car back and it has about 77,000 miles on it now. Guess what? The whining came back and the car is having a hard time going into reverse. I am trading this thing in as soon as I can get the negative equity paid off on it. The car goes back into the shop Tuesday, the transmission has a year warranty on it.

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  Best vehicle Ive ever owned! - 2005 Nissan Murano
  By SgtRich - October 18 - 1:26 am

  This is my first foreign vehicle and, so far, the best vehicle that Ive ever owned! The CVT is extremely pleasant to drive and the versatility of the interior space is outstanding. The styling of this vehicle reminds me of the cars that guys who could draw used to draw in their notebooks back in high school when wishing to design what cars of the future looked like.