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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  Lemon Rogue - 2009 Nissan Rogue
  By dcfc - October 1 - 1:13 am

  Car taken back to Nissan today. They were forced to take it back after it was titled Lemon by the BBB.Had 2 replacement transmissions by 5000 miles and still had same problems. Rogue also had air con replaced. Leaked transmission fluid, etc. See Forums on this site for further info.

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  DONT IT - 2005 Nissan Sentra
  By notonissan1 - September 28 - 8:19 am

  March 2005, I purchased my first Nissan. Faithfully maintained. Over a year and over 3K later my mechanic gave up and said take it to Nissan - 3rd cylinder misfire. How can so many owners have the same problem and Nissan doesnt recall it? NO MORE NISSANS for me.

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  bob - 2003 Nissan Altima
  By Bob - September 22 - 2:40 pm

  After one week had transmision problem, after one month had to replace radiator, after thirty one thousands miles had to replaqce front and rear brakes. The quality and quality control has sliped on this vehicle. Have has six nissans with no issues but this one has many problems. Also, nissan customer service left a lot to be desired. After six cars nissan should of been more help to this loyal customer.

• 

  A Giant Japanese Let-Down - 2006 Nissan Altima
  By Ray S - September 22 - 6:43 am

  While you would expect most mid-size sedans to hit the 100K mile mark before even thinking of having any maintenance issues, with a Nissan, who rate themselves as high or even above Honda and Toyota in quality and reliability, you should expect 150-200k before experiencing problems. Ive had several problems with mine since I bought it, and while I have owned it for over 6 years, Ive had to do far more than the regular oil and brake changes and basic upkeep of a vehicle. Front axle, wheel bearings, motor mounts, power steering, electronics, you name it; Ive had to put a lot of extra money into it to keep it running well, and it still hasnt hit the 107k mile mark. I love the acceleration and power you get from the Altima, but Im ready to get rid of it and try something else - its turning into a money pit far sooner than it should. Sure there may be Altimas out there with 200K and not a problem, but that wasnt my experience, and it has definitely soured me on ever purchasing a Nissan again.

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  Automatics should never stall - 2002 Nissan Sentra
  By Shelby - September 19 - 9:03 pm

  My parents got me this care when i learned how to drive, it was a rentl before and had 30,000 miles on it. Within 6 months the car started to die on me when i would be sitting at a light. I have taken it to the dealership more than 6 times in the past 6 months and they never seem to fix it. The car will be ok for a while and then start stalling again and its an automatic! Its a total Lemon and i absolutly hate it!

• 

  Unreliable - 2006 Nissan Sentra
  By AZ - September 10 - 6:03 am

  Im very disappointed in this car. It just got its second fuel pump about 6,000 miles ago which is going bad again, the rack and pinion had to be replaced soon after purchase, the drivers door seal leaked water and had to be replaced, the radio stopped playing out of the passenger side speakers and had to be replaced, the drivers window regulator has been replaced three times and still doesnt work properly (the dealer also broke the glass twice), the air conditioner doesnt blow cold unless your on the highway, when you turn the air conditioner on it makes a weird noise, and their is a squealing noise when you start the car and the dealer/nissan customer service are not help at all.

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  Adequate but disappointing; not a CR-V/RAV4 beater - 2016 Nissan Rogue
  By M. McLoughlin - September 10 - 2:35 am

  I bought a 2016 Rogue SL AWD with Premium Package. I sold the Rogue to a Honda dealership five days after I picked it up and bought a CR-V Touring instead. I bought the Rogue because I wanted a blind spot monitor and the forward collision warning/brake assist. I also thought the Around View Monitor would be great to have. Although I thought about other higher-end small SUVs like the upper-trim CR-V and Toyota RAV-4, it seemed like a no-brainer to go with the Nissan because of its more aggressive aesthetic and the fact that you can (and I did) buy a top-of-the-line model for around $26,000 sticker price before taxes and fees, $5-6 k less than youd pay for the others. I liked it during the test drive. I liked it far less once I started driving it 60 miles roundtrip to work two days later. The pros: nice styling, nice materials inside, sliding and reclining rear seat, the Around View Monitor system is FANTASTIC and I wish every car had it, blind spot monitor works well (though the audible warning isnt loud enough to be heard at highway speeds or with the radio on), beautiful dash, a lot of customizable features and settings, gorgeous panoramic moonroof, useful electric lift gate, intuitive infotainment system, and, of course, the very reasonable price. Unfortunately, the cons outweighed these by a lot. First and foremost, the forward collision warning/automatic braking feature did not work. At all. Utterly useless. I took it back to the dealer, which told me everything was "to spec" and my expectations for the system were too high. I said thats fine, but in that case let me take the car for a spin with a Nissan technician who can show me how it works. Which I did. And to the technicians embarrassment, he could not get it to work either and could not explain why, though he did admit that the system as presently constituted was "pretty much useless." I took the car to another, more reputable Nissan dealership 40 miles away, and the very honest service director there told me that hes been getting a lot of complaints from Rogue owners about the same system, and Nissan hasnt come up with a fix yet, let alone acknowledge the problem. That really turned me off to the car, because you dont want to feel like a sucker making monthly payments on a car in which not everything functions properly -- especially something thats advertised as a crucial safety feature that can protect you and your children riding in the back seat. Besides that, the highway MPG was lower than advertised; the acceleration was lousy, even in "sport" mode; the brakes didnt feel powerful enough; the CVT was noisy and idiosyncratic; you could barely feel the seat-heaters; the engine was too loud and whined at highway speeds; the Moving Object Detection system wasnt sensitive and didnt detect half the moving objects that passed the car -- or detected them too late; the steering at low speeds was rough and annoying; there wasnt nearly enough room for my legs (Im 61") and I couldnt find a comfortable position in my seat; there was no automatically dimming rearview mirror despite this being the "top-of-the-line" trim, which makes you feel like you got ripped off; not all of the window buttons on the drivers side are illuminated, which also makes the car feel cheap; and the center console, though it has room for two average size cups, is otherwise useless if you want to lay something flat on it like a cell phone. I knew I would feel like a chump if I kept this car and that I had to sell it before I put any more mileage on it. I went to a bunch of dealers -- Toyota, Honda, Hyundai -- and test drove their compact SUVs. I ultimately bought a CR-V; the Honda dealership bought the Rogue from me. I didnt like the CR-Vs styling as much as I liked the Rogues -- but I liked everything else more. (And in fairness, I miss the Around View Monitor, and always will. Its so cool.) Since my first priority is safety, I have to praise the Hondas Sensing package, which has adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist, and a forward collision warning/automatic braking feature that actually works. The engine is peppier and quieter, the ride is better insulated from road noise, the brakes are more powerful, its easier to fold down the rear seats, the infotainment system is more confusing but has more options as well, the steering is secure and well-balanced, the seat heaters really warm you, the keyless entry system is more advanced, and overall it just feels like a higher quality car -- I dont feel like Honda cut any corners or ripped me off on anything to save a buck (e.g., forward collision warning, automatic dimming rearview mirror). I realize that the CR-V trim I ultimately purchased was more expensive than the Rogue. However, you can get a CR-V for roughly the same price as the Rogue with all of these features except navigation and active safety. Do your homework before buying!

• 

  Died at 6950 - 2004 Nissan Quest
  By Bob English - September 8 - 10:00 am

  The transmission started slipping at 6950, every door rattles and the dash, the transmissions shift points are the worst I have ever driven (been driving over 40 years), there is a whistling sound around the outside mirrors, etc. Basically Nissan did a extremely poor job on designing and building this vehicle!!! I planning on getting rid of this vehicle ASAP!

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  Worst ever purchased...traded for Honda - 2013 Nissan Pathfinder
  By glassman53 - August 25 - 8:02 pm

  The shudder got to bad and Nissan answers phone in Manila, Philipines and stalls forever and wears you down. Dealer network very poor in our area, and traded off now because the market is all ready getting the buy backs on the market and values are falling fast. Nissan should do a recall but will not do so until forced

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  Disappointed with no way out - 2010 Nissan Altima
  By Mark - August 21 - 3:06 am

  Being an eager child I thought Id get a nice bright red 2 door loaded with everything, the Altima was one of the cheaper coupes in the marked and without thinking a traded in my previous car for this one and rolled over almost 2 grand on top of the Altima. Point of the story, Im stuck with $5000 negative equity because of the cars horrible resale value (even if I hadnt rolled over money I would be $3000 in the hole). And I cant think of a worse car to be stuck with, up or down hills the cvt underperforms, actually, its always underperfoming but especially then, the 2.5 liter 4 cyl is slow and sluggish just like the cvt, trying to get some acceleration you have take it to 4000 rpms and that itself is a struggle, the car has 61,000 miles and paint is already chipping from the spoiler and front and rear bumpers and the hood, "leather" is peeling off the steering wheel in every spot, the road noise is awful and every interior panel squeaks and rattles (common Nissan problem) I wish I had more characters to complain about the cvt because I could go on for days, but even at high rpms the engine doesnt do much, very disappointing