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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  Rear Visibility would be nice - 2005 Nissan Murano
  By Greg - November 1 - 8:00 pm

  I received this vehicle as a rental. The design of the rear quarter windows creates one of the worst blind spots in any vehicle Ive driven. The layout of the controls are not very well organized. The mirror controls are way to far out of reach. Fuel mileage was very poor at 17 mpg. My 15 year old F-150 with a V-8 does better! I wish the rental company could have given me an American vehicle.

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  Dont ever buy one - 2003 Nissan Altima
  By No Happy - October 30 - 7:43 am

  I bought the car brand new in June, it had to be towed to the dealership because of the sensor (1) in October 2003, in September of 2004 the car stalled out at the light and an 18 wheeler was approaching fast, I thank Jesus for answered pray, the car started up enough to get it out of the way, I had to get another sensor (2) replaced. 2009 all three sensors (3) went out and there was a recall on two of them (Midas found them) but Nissan never sent the notices out nor did they honor them. I fought to get the cost down to $3,000.00 for them to be fixed and 7 months later the crankshaft sensor (4) went out again, they replaced it because it was under the 12 months or 10,000 miles.

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  Transmission mismatch - 2006 Nissan Frontier
  By porsche - October 29 - 10:00 am

  4 cyl. has little power, the truck weighs a lot. the gearing is poor for the engine powerband, gears are to tall, shifting puts you too low in the next gear/lugging badly. if the trans had 6 gears instead of five it may work. gas mileage at 20-21 mpg is poor for such a gutless power-plant. get the 6 cyl. and power is great and you will get 18-19 mpg.

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  Suspension - 2007 Nissan Versa
  By ken - October 8 - 8:43 am

  The second week took it back for alignment and tail light assembly. Third month replaced l/f strut. Now tires are cracking. Bumpy ride, dealer says it is normal. The car is too high, hard to control on a highway in wind. Try to pass on a highway,you hear the engine too loud and take a will to get to the next gear. I was ok buying used nissan. Now I spend more time in the shop than on the road. Bought it for my wife,I wish I hadnt. Have a car problem and a wife problem. Gas mileage is decent but not worth the hassle.I should have bought something else. Hard to imagine keeping his for few more years. Hope this is helpful.

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  Much better options on the market than this car - 2016 Nissan Altima
  By Michael S. - October 6 - 10:53 pm

  I recently rented the Altima and drive it for 5 days. I will start with the good parts of the car. The CVT transmission is smooth and the engine power is adequate. The trunk size is a decent and seats were ok for long drives. The fuel mileage was excellent. Now for the negatives. The interior of the car is just cheap. There are lots of hard plastics everywhere. The nobs feel cheap, and I dont see it holding up. The driving dynamics of the car was horrible. I felt that I had to always make corrections going down a straight highway. The transitions badly needs to be reprogrammed as it always feel like it is in too high of a gear at lower speeds which makes the engine on the verge of stall. I am sure this was done to drive better fuel economy. I just dont know why someone would buy this car or a similarly price Honda Accord which is like a luxury car compared to the Altima.

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  CVT failed for us too! Never buy Nissan! - 2008 Nissan Rogue
  By darehauf - October 6 - 7:31 pm

  We bought our 2008 Nissan Rogue SL new at the dealership and the transmission failed at 50K miles. It was replaced under warranty. Since then, our warranty has expired (130K miles now). Now, the new CVT has also failed and we have to pay out of pocket to fix it. The drive shaft also failed as did the A/C compressor. Weve put over $5K into this car in repairs since hitting 120K miles. Save yourself the money and frustration and dont buy this car or any Nissan for that matter. If you already own one, sell it before you lose all your money. This thing is a piece of junk with a warranty that conveniently expires shortly before the CVT fails for good. Argh.

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  Good value (if it doesnt break) - 2013 Nissan Versa
  By hdykiel - October 2 - 2:38 am

  I own the most basic model of the versa. For the price, the value is pretty good. The car is very roomy, more than what you would expect. Looks are also ok. Driving, it has enough power to get you places but take it easy on the road because it does not grip well and gets tossed around by the wind like a leaf. Reliability has been terrible for my car, I would be broke if it wasnt for the warranty. In one year and less than 18,000 miles, its had 4 significant mechanical problems already. Loose muffler shield, damaged sway bar links, malfunctioning valve, and foggy headlight.

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  XTERRA CHEAP SUV AND CHEAP RIDE - 2001 Nissan Xterra
  By FROCKY356 - September 30 - 10:00 am

  NOT TOO BAD BUT VALUE DIMINISHED AND BETTER MODELS CAME OUT TO SOON AND WAS LEFT WITH AN UNDER POWERED SUV WASTE OF MONEY LOST OVER 8,000 IN VALUE LESS THAN 2 YEARS

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  A Rolling Money Pit - 2006 Nissan Xterra
  By jskirwin - September 26 - 9:15 am

  Theres a very good reason why this truck has been rated as one of the worst used cars to buy. We bought our 2006 new. Mechanically things were fine for about 40k miles, and after that the truck simply fell apart even with constant maintenance. After warranty expired I replaced: Windshield. Both window lift assemblies and controls. The bearings and control arms on all 4 wheels. The rear differential. Rear lift arms. Alternator. Spark plugs and wires. Catalytic converters. But worst of all was the radiator/transmission cooler failure. That allowed the coolant to mix with the tranny fluid killing the transmission. It is a known problem - so avoid this truck and the heartache it brings.

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  stay away - 2005 Nissan Titan
  By Jim - September 20 - 8:00 am

  I Bought this new, thinking it would be more releiable than american made trucks. Ive owned dodge tucks and had some problems after 100k miles but my titan had problems from the start. the wrong size brake discs lead to break job at 8k and again at 15k. Im now now lucky to get 28k between brake jobs. I had problems shifting out of 4-wheel drive, not that I drive off road but simple winter storms or driving acrooss a wet back yard . THe clutch fan for the A/C caught fire in a school parking lot while at idle waiting for kids to get out of school after 18 months old. the truck sat at dealer for 2 1/2 weeks before they even started fixing it saying they never seen this problem before (2 years later had recall). The AC continues to have to be recharged. There is clicking when you switch from defrost to AC, so approx 5 hours of labor to take dash apart to fix. Check engine light came on (catalytic converter needs to be replaced- there are 4 in a Titan). Another $2600-3800. I may have bought a lemon, but I would recommend against buying this truck, new or used. pros -great looking, comfortable truck ,rides nice ,good sound system, with enough power cons -alot of maintenance problems, goes though front brakes often, small bed size