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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  Not even close to a sports car! - 2008 Nissan Maxima
  By Hatedit - May 6 - 7:46 pm

  This model is marketed as a sports sedan. Dont be fooled. The transmission cant figure out what gear to be in. It takes several seconds to figure out to downshift. You can confuse it by using the manual shift mode. It reacts with disdain at any aggressive driving. The brakes fade and shudder with excessive use. It handles like a cow. Torque is completely absent. The turning ration is terrible as is fuel economy. The chrome wheels peel with only one winter. Expect to visit the dealer with many problems with ignition sensors & check engine lights. I traded a 2000 Maxima which was a completely different car. Check out that trade-in value! Nissan will NEVER get my business again.

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  Punishing ride - 2000 Nissan Maxima
  By joel73 - May 5 - 12:50 pm

  Bought mine with 74k, now has 85500 exhaust was repaired 2 wks after purchase, rear frozen caliper 3 months after purchase. Hard ride is worst feature. GLE is better. Must use high test fuel. Quality of interior is lacking. Nissans are not known for comfortable ride, Maxima SE confirms.

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  Getting rid of it when I can - 2006 Nissan Pathfinder
  By kbsparko - May 2 - 8:02 am

  The gas mileage sucks for this type of vehicle. I have a full size truck and it gets much better mileage than Pathfinder. 77K miles and seats wearing thru, logos fell off floor mats, now I have transmission fluid in my radiator and coolant in my transmission. Dealer says cracked radiator! Seems to be a common problem from my on-line research. Maybe Nissan should stand by their product and recall these for radiator design flaw! Now Im supposed to shell out almost $6K for a 5 year-old vehicle! There are many other minor things that are starting to fail on this SUV. Too numerous to list from screws falling out to trim randomly coming lose...

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  Gas Hog - 2001 Nissan Frontier
  By shawn60095 - May 2 - 2:00 am

  My Nissan is a Gas Hog. I am getting 13 miles per gallon,in the winter, and 15 in the summer. I know why the differnce form weather to summer is the cold, and no my foot is not to the floor. But this kind of mileage is very very very poor. I live in the north and we have bad winter, I had to get snow tire because nissan put summer tires on a 4x4 truck(how dumb). I wish nissan would do somthing with the frontier. with out the supercharger they are the weakest small truck out there. I had a Toyota Tacoma with the v6 and was getting 19 to 20 year round. I should have kept my Toy.

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  This stinks!!! - 2002 Nissan Sentra
  By CO - April 27 - 10:00 am

  I dont know whats going on w/ Nissan, usually their car is reliable but my car has been a problem car since I bought it brand new. First, its hose was loose when I got it from the dealer. The radiator fluid leaked. Then recently, the bumper paint started to chip out. And finally, this really blew my mind, the car would not start!!! I dont think its the battery because the lights can be turned on. Now its going to end up this car being towed to the dealer for service, this is crap because I need a car everyday, I thought Nissans are reliable, guess not...This stinks!!!

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  Happy New Honda Owner!! - 2002 Nissan Altima
  By mastercaster - April 21 - 10:00 am

  Purchased the 2.5s 5spd. in 11-2002. aside from the several recalls, we had to have the oxygen sensor,camshaft sensor and fuel cap replaced. that was after it left my wife stranded. died 2 times in the middle of driving. had to be towed to the dealer for repair. nissan was not pleasant to deal with at all! wouldnt recommend nissan at all. should have listened to my gut when i bought it, and gone with the HONDA then. just bought a 03 Accord EX 5spd. LOVE it!! there is absolutely no comparison between the two. the accord is like climbing into a lexus after the nissan! really! every single aspect of the honda is better in my eyes, wallet and piece of mind!

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  Performance is fine, Lots of Little hiccups add up - 2016 Nissan Maxima
  By Gayle C. - April 19 - 1:50 am

  Decided on a lease for the first time ever. 2016 Platinum Maximum. Beautiful car. Really good power after the paltry Honda Fit that made me feel like I was going to get run over when entering a highway. Thought I would love it. The young woman who took us through the operation manual seemed to do a fine job and we were really happy with having chosen it over the Avalon. First thing we noticed was that the two USB ports that were a *huge* bonus to have so we could charge two phones at once DONT WORK. Apparently, Nissan only engineered them to charge Apple products, so were SOL with our Nexus 6 phones. They, apparently, didnt know this because they changed out the whole brain only to discover they still didnt work. Thats when they told us they are for iPhones. Who the aitch engineers a car so that only a small segment of buyers can charge their phones? There *is* the cigarette lighter dock inside the console for one phone. Back to charging only one phone. Except. My husband, an electrical engineer, figured out how to make one of the two USB ports work (the other appears to be dead), so we can use the cigarette lighter dock and one USB. And, no, we wont be telling them how he figured it out and, no, it did not involve any rewiring or any physical changes in the car. Furious about this. The Drivers seat settings only adjust periodically and never work if we change drivers using the same key. Push #2 after #1 was driving and nothing happens. Seat stays at #1 setting. Sonar seems to be off now and I cannot find a single mention of sonar, back up camera, or any number of other guesses I made when studying the Owners Manual or the Navigation manual. Additionally, I test drove the car, so did not ride in the passenger seat. Im 54" and it feels as if Im sitting in a hole. I had no idea that the passenger seat did not adjust up and down. Took it for granted that a car of that price would have both seats adjustable. Boy, was I wrong. There is no way in the world that I will ever buy another Nissan no matter how nice this one appears to be. But it was a learning experience, Ill say that.

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  I bought a Headache - 2005 Nissan Maxima
  By george_ok - April 16 - 3:51 am

  Recently I bought a 2005 Maxima without enough prior research (In fact I went to the dealership to buy a Honda and the Salesman convinced me to buying this one instead.) Now, after reading all these horrible reviews about 2004-06 Maxima, everyday I start the car fearing that the transmission is going to fail......it is a real pain to drive a car that we cannot trust....

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  Discouraging - 1997 Nissan Maxima
  By Kurt Glover - April 15 - 9:33 pm

  I bought my Maxima August of 2004. I just traded it in (November 2004). I thought I was buying my wife a dependable car but wasnt. After 100,000 miles it starts hard, plus there is a very loud noise coming from the front end that no one can figure out what it is. Keep in mind, you must use premium gas for this engine...This car did not live up to its expectations.

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  OK, but not great in bad weather - 2003 Nissan Sentra
  By Aravis - April 14 - 4:06 pm

  Ive owned this car for 4 years now. The engine seems kind of thrashy... doesnt shift smoothly. This car is HORRIBLE in any weather other than bone dry. I even put really nice all season Michelin tires on it and I hydroplane on everything from snow to rain to leaves, even going slow. Its a great first car, but I dont feel safe in it