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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  My 2001 Nissan Maxima - 2001 Nissan Maxima
  By Joseph - July 17 - 10:00 pm

  Since I bought the car off lease have had a series of problems. Catalytic converter went bad, Abs sensor went bad, exhaust pipe went bad, CV joints had to be replaced. Had to invest too much money fixing the car. Will never buy a Nissan product again. Their cars have a nice look but are not reliable.

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  Inherent transmission problem with 06 Maxima - 2006 Nissan Maxima
  By jaware - July 11 - 5:32 pm

  As others have stated - there is an inherent transmission problem with the 06 Maxima and other years as well. At 62k miles my transmission started to slip and the car jerked when shifting. I brought my car to a local transmission shop and they told me this is a common problem with Nissan vehicles. On their suggestion, I opened a case with Nissan customer affairs. They instructed me to bring it to the dealership for inspection and guess what? My car needs a new valve body and transmission for an estimated cost of $6,000 - a gross over estimate! Nissan contacted me to say they would offer no assistance. Everyone with a similar problem must join the class action suit underway!

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  Worst car I ever owned - 2004 Nissan Quest
  By Mirna - July 8 - 10:00 am

  I owned a Nissan Quest 2004 3.5 SL that has 66,556 miles, I was very happy with this car until last September, when out of the blue my Nissan will brake down in the middle of the beltway or stall if I stopped at a red light or stop sign, the engine will die completely with no warning signs, I took this car to the dealer Passport Nissan of Alexandria VA for the 3rd time yesterday because my van keep stalling any time I drive under 5mph or brake to a stop. This after I was told for 2nd time that they fixed the problem in a message they left me saying “we were able to duplicate the problem and fixed, we had to re-program the engine idle, that is fixed we drove it many times today and definitely

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  Garbage - 2007 Nissan Murano
  By rick - June 22 - 5:40 pm

  Purchased the Murano in August of 07. Several things have gone bad on this vehicle: ate up the tires fairly quickly, ignition switch had to be replaced along with a different key, motor mount broke, battery when out and had to replace the cvt boot. I take good care of my vehicles. At first this vehicle was great but after a while things started to fall apart, so much for reliability! I had to pay $1700 + out of pocket to replace the motor mount. Called Nissan customer service and told them bad engineering. Motor mounts should not just break-part is made up of plastic rubber and metal-go figure. Should be a recall on this. Needless to say I wont get my money back for this major flaw.

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  Expensive Junk - 2007 Nissan Xterra
  By Larry Alcoke - June 10 - 7:30 pm

  Best way to describe this vehicle. Poor fuel mileage, hurricane winds come through cabin in winter freezing you, need to make a standing date every other week to take in for repairs, trim paint coating is water colors washes off, dont use a car wash even if standing 5 ft away will wash coating off trim, poor warranty coverage regarding such. TPMS is junk. stock tires & brakes are junk wear out way to soon, no not from hard use or poor inflation. Was not my choice but couldnt convince wife much better vehicles on market. Nissan refuses to talk to you if you call them about a problem. Better buy is Hyundai Santa FE by far. Poor drive ratio for engine size, wrong tran. Heat & defrost junk.

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  Meh. We are trying to get rid of it. - 2009 Nissan Murano
  By md5045 - June 5 - 2:10 pm

  This is the first review that I have written on Edmunds. We have had our 2009 Nissan Murano SL since early 2011. I am not a fan. Here is why: -- Not a comfortable ride. Very stiff and not agile at all. It is like driving a boat. The seats are comfortable but there is something with the suspension. --Doors are very wide. Hard to park in a normal parking spot. -- CVT (Transmission) is wonky. Not responsive and sluggish. -- Acceleration in general is bad. Not responsive.

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  Poor resale value - 2014 Nissan Versa Note
  By John - June 5 - 6:38 am

  I have purchased this car and now regreting for my decision. Only one good part is fuel economy. In all other senses its a bad decision in view of facility, performance and resale value. Its resale value is remarkably low, even in next day of your purchase. There will be even 5000-6000 USD difference for low mileage excellent condition. So i will not suggest this one for many of hose people with over three family size and need to look for a resale or trade in option.

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  Great engine but fix the shimmy - 2004 Nissan Maxima
  By sletus - May 28 - 10:00 am

  This is my 4th Maxima and by far the worst. It has been to the dealer seven times since April. The steering wheel shimmys between 50 & 60 mph. Two different dealers balanced the tires three times, and it still shimmys.The rear deck rattled, they fixed that after the third try. The rear speakers stop working occassionally, that still happens. Nissan Customer Service is useless.

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  Missed the little things - 2004 Nissan Xterra
  By lakeman62 - May 19 - 7:46 pm

  have had to go back to the dealership a lot for little things like cold air around the handles and window trim falling off. the window motors are too light weight and are troublesome. Fuel economy is nothing like I expected to get, average 15.3 and thats with a lot of highway miles, you would think that with that kind of mileage it would have some power but the engine is starving for power. The A/C runs even when the system is not activated, they claim its due to the defrost system but I think they screwed up in the design and its Nissans way of getting out of a repair charge.

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  Blind Spot Warning, be warned - 2015 Nissan Altima
  By wexlerb - May 19 - 4:44 pm

  I have a 2015 Nissan Altima SV with tech package. I noticed immediately after getting the car about a month ago that when the roads were wet the blind spot monitoring system would give false alarms all the time. I took this to the dealer twice already and I was handed a bulletin on the problem. I talked directly to Nissan and they have no fix, and in their words it was designed this way. I asked for a refund of the car since this could be a serious safety issue, and you can guess where this request went. Be warned, do not buy.