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:

• 

  So far so good!!!! - 2008 Nissan Frontier
  By stuclen@hotmail.com - February 11 - 6:16 pm

  The vehicle has been very good. No issues at all. It has been very reliable. Starts and runs well in all weather from 100 degress to -60 below. I live in canada and the truck gets used but not abused and has held up well. Still looks and feels like new. We have alot of bush roads up here and they are hard on vehicles. This truck does not have a squeak or rattle anywhere and thats impressive. I have driven all makes and models of trucks over the years and this is a very good truck. Mileage is good for this type of vehicle. I get around 22-24 mpg in four wheel drive on our snow and ice covered roads. I think this is pretty good.

• 

  Quest, Too Many Issues - 2004 Nissan Quest
  By Keibie - February 11 - 10:00 am

  We are a month into our new 2004 Nissan Quest, and we are not pleased with the number of issues that have surfaced with this vehicle since the initial drive home from the dealership. 1) The Passenger Manual Door Rattles, 2) The Rear Pop-Out Windows Rattle when they are open, 3) The 3rd Row Bench Seat Rattles continuously when erected (not when it is folded down into the floor), 4) The vehicle takes too long to start after it has not been running for an hour or more, 5) The Front-End and Steering wheel vibrates at expressway speeds during both driving and braking, 6)The A/C Compressor makes a load bang noise when it intially engages.

• 

  Good Driving-Body interior ? - 2004 Nissan Quest
  By Bcreasman - February 11 - 10:00 am

  The motor and driving is excellent so far. I have had problems with the body such as a rattle in the back electric hatch, window wind sound, and electric side door popping sound. All these were fixed. Hunt Nissan is where I purchased it, they are wonderful, they follow up on any complaint and make it as pleasant as possible to bring your vehicle in.This is a new body style, I think these are fixable problems. Although The Nissan Murano is NICE!

• 

  Nice Car - 2009 Nissan Versa
  By TahoeGTIMan - February 11 - 9:23 am

  I purchase this car new in Oct of 08 as a 09 model. A week after I bought the car, the car started to have a long crank. There were times that it would not start on the first try. I took it to the dealer and they replaced the Fuel Pressure Regulator. Now the car has 22500 miles. I do drive far for work. So far everything has been alright. I am averaging 31MPG on this car. It starting to have the long crank problem again for the third time. I will be taking my car in for the third time for the same issue. This is getting annoying. Good car but i would not buy another Versa.

• 

  A solid car with its own Achilles heel(s) - 2002 Nissan Altima
  By kismet1113 - February 10 - 5:17 am

  My 02 Altima has over 200,000 miles on it with little more than normal repairs. Like most Altimas my crankshaft sensor failed around 150k miles. The frame of the car is 100% rust free, except for the floor panels right under the drivers side and passenger side front seats. This again is a common failure with these cars. My radiator started leaking around 150k miles and having to jack the front end of the car up 20" or so off the ground to work the air out of the lines is very annoying, but manageable. At the end of the day I have over 200k miles on the car and have yet to run into repairs I couldnt do myself...and for a woman I cant complain about that.

• 

  Better than CR reviews - 2005 Nissan Quest
  By dabbler - February 7 - 6:36 pm

  Consumer Reports gave this car a low reliability rating but from my experience it has been great, with a couple of exceptions. Like others I noticed that the tires wear out at 30,000 miles and the brakes wear out at 20,000. And I thought my wife used the gas and brake at the same time. My favorite attraction: Safety: it had curtain air bags standard while others gouged the consumer to get them. I hear complaints about the readouts being in the center. They should get some reviewers that are not old fashioned and fixed in their ways. It only took a little while. My first attraction: it didnt have a ho-hum interior, but has a little excitement to it, even with just the standard package.

• 

  Great SUV but beware after a few miles - 2004 Nissan Armada
  By Kenadams381 - February 7 - 10:00 am

  First i would like to say i love this car! It is magnificent. It will do anything you ask of it. BUT. I have only put 5000 miles on it and I have already changed the brakes twice and the rotars once. If you are buying this car or currently have it, watch out for the PSI in the tires, i got mine with 50 PSI in them when they are only supposed to be at 35. I checked it out based on the complaints/reviews about the tire preasure from the reviews writen here! ANd the actual mileage on the gas is 8 MPG for city driving. Other then that, great!

• 

  Great Truck - 2003 Nissan Xterra
  By Todd - February 6 - 12:20 am

  At first we were looking at the Jeep Liberty, but decided to compare it with the Xterra because it was priced about the same. I have to say that we are very happy with our decision. This is one of the better truck-like SUVs you can get for the money. I say truck-like, because its not fair to compare it to those car-based SUVs. It rides like a truck, sounds like a truck, uses fuel like a truck...just like a sport UTILITY vehicle should. If youre looking for a car-like grocery-getter, look elsewhere. It has been driven in 18" of snow on unplowed dirt roads in Pennsylvania and on snow-covered roads across West Virginia to Snowshoe Mtn. ski resort, and it performed beautifully.

• 

  Good entry level sedan - 2006 Nissan Sentra
  By Ryan E. - February 2 - 10:46 am

  I purchased the 18.S Special Edition about two months ago and have been impressed. The seats are quite comfortable and I like the interior design. The ride is smooth compared to my previous 1996 Sentra, although its a bit loud when accelerating. Gas mileage is great; Ive been getting 32.6 mpg (advertisements say 35), doing highway driving as well as rural driving. Sound system was a major plus for me, 6 disc Rockford Fosgate in dash cd changer is awesome, and the speaker system sounds great. 8-inch woofer in the trunk slightly limits storage space, but sounds great. Auxiliary input lets me plug my ipod in a simple cable, and without any expensive accessories.

• 

  600 miles so far, no complaints. - 2013 Nissan Altima
  By arthurcc - February 2 - 12:12 am

  I recently purchased this vehicle and I have had no problems with it thus far. I bought it new with only the initial 16 miles on it. So far, I have put 600+ miles since getting it and have no complaints so far with it. I was surprised by how well the vehicle accelerated considering it is a v4. The only thing I dont like about the car is that it will sometimes not display the song playing on the information display; I cannot figure out how to program the caller ID for when someone is calling me while I am driving. Other than those two quibbles there isnt else that would tell me to deter you from purchasing this vehicle.