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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  Quiet and smooth - 2003 Nissan Murano
  By bill hearn - January 16 - 2:00 am

  The best car I have ever driven. Quiet, smooth and plenty of power. The Morano looks like one of those concept cars at the auto show inside and out. The transmission is seemless (no feeling of changing gears). Everywhere I go someone has something to say about how great it looks. Once you test drive this car its all over with but writing the check.

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  surpasses extremely high expectations - 2002 Nissan Altima
  By markyy - January 16 - 2:00 am

  After reading reviews here on Edmunds and other car sites, I narrowed down my search for a 4 door sedan between the Altima, Passat and Accord. THough I initially leaned towards the Passat, with its nice interior and good mileage,I liked the overall value the Altima gave me. Even with the premium package, whch included the Bose 8 speaker stereo, leather wrapped wheel, moon roof, and steering wheel controls, for the stereo and cruise control the Altima came in ~ 1 -2k cheaper than the similarly equipped Passat. After a test drive in the Altima, I was hooked. Overall, a great package for the money you pay.

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  Disappointed! - 2013 Nissan Altima
  By optimistic2 - January 15 - 8:45 pm

  Less than four months into my first new car and Im finally fed up. Its time for me to move on. I have been to my local Nissan dealer on four occasions addressing my concerns of interior rattles. I noticed a rattling sound coming from the steering column at low speeds on smooth pavement and I expressed concerns over a potential loose transverse bolt. I was informed my vehicle wasnt affected and to not be concerned. The rattle persisted and I was turned away twice more with no answer. So I recorded the sound and was told they didnt hear the sound when they drove it. They did manage to replace my squeaky rattling sun visor with a squeaky rattly visor. It feels like a $25,000 joke!

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  Dang good buy. - 1995 Nissan Pathfinder
  By ikyrydr - January 15 - 2:43 pm

  I bought the car for my wife at some used car place in Jan 04. I was forced to replace the starter and belts in Nov 07, and a pulley in Dec 07. Other than that all work was routine maintenance or by choice. I have taken the car on (3) 2,000 mile round trips to CO without a problem. I have also taken the car on some pretty serious four wheeling trips for a stock car and it also did extremely well. The 4 wheel dive does great on the roads too, I drove over Vail & Eisenhower pass in a blizzard at 55 mph with ease!

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  Toyota Killer - 2005 Nissan Frontier
  By Bill Walters - January 15 - 2:06 pm

  I shopped Toyota and many other products from the American "Big Three" and settled on the 05 Frontier XE. This workhorse has style, class, dependability, a comfy ride amd all appointments in the right place. It outperforms the Toyota Tacomas in every aspect and is priced under Toyotas ( fixed pricing ). Econony is great at 24-25 MPG and the Frontier does not have that "sissy" look that Toyotas do. The ride is like driving a nice SUV. Pay load is good for a mid size truck too. Fifth gear could use a little more "beef" but a small bother compared to the overall performance of the Frontier. I would recommend it to any one. Ill get 200,000 or more miles of great service from this vehicle.

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  Great truck....Go Nissan! - 2006 Nissan Titan
  By Ned Booher - January 15 - 12:40 pm

  Makes a great work truck, and has a very comfortable ride. With 31,000 miles in 10 months, this rig is taking a beating. I recommend this truck to anyone who wants to have a lot of fun driving a very tough rig many thousands of miles. Heres to hoping I make it to 175,000mi w/out any major issues. :) PS...The brake replacement from Nissan is working nicely.

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  My Murano - 2004 Nissan Murano
  By Simpson - January 14 - 10:16 pm

  I love it - drives smooth, legroom great, I will buy another this time with leather.

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  Nissan xterra performance - 2005 Nissan Xterra
  By J Hart - January 14 - 7:06 pm

  I love my xterra...it has a great ride, lots of fun to drive and the 4wd is great in the snow! It doesnt have the greatest pickup but overall highly recommend!

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  More Than Mini - 2008 Nissan Quest
  By ithndr - January 13 - 10:10 pm

  We have owned 3 previous minivans and have been pleased with all 3 for there everyday and vacation utility to haul 4 children, a bunch of luggage and still not break your back at the gas pump. When we started out this time we set ourselves on the Odyssey EXL w/DVD or Toyota Sienna XLE. These are suppose to be the champs. We loved the Honda versus our prior Chrysler T&Cs for the style and build. We favored the Honda over the Siennas styling, we were buying the Honda. I decided after further research to look at the redesigned Quest 3.5 SE. We were instantly impressed by this luxury/sport vans handling! This blows away the concept that minivans have to be boring, unimaginative people movers

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  Happy Customer - 2005 Nissan Altima
  By Happy Customer - January 13 - 5:00 pm

  I have owned this car for 2 years. It is absolutely a good buy. It has 14k miles as of this writing. There has not been any problem whatsoever. The paint job is very good. It is just as glossy as when it was new. I averaged 25-26 miles in mixed driving. The reasons I chose Altima over Accord or Camry are simple. 1: More power, 2: Styling. Nissan makes relible cars too. I have no complaints at all for a 20K car that meets all my expectations .