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:

• 

  Integrity Of 2005 Nissan Murano is JUNK!!! - 2005 Nissan Murano
  By mj312 - September 29 - 7:55 am

  I bought our 2005 Murano new July 2005 and have had nothing but problems. The drivers visor drop into your face, the driver’s seat is twisted when it goes up or down, the phone charger in the dash has been repaired 4 times to recall and still falls out of the dash, upholstery on the inside of the driver’s seat at the site of stitching split and has continued to tear and pull away from the fabric leaving a tear in my leather seat! The interior integrity of the vehicle is very BAD! We have replaced 2 alternators and two batteries between 11/2/2012 and 7/9/2013.

• 

  I would not recommend this car!!!! - 2002 Nissan Sentra
  By Brittany - September 28 - 10:00 am

  Ive taken my car to the dealership more times than I care to count. This car has A LOT of problems. It wont start. It dead stopped on railroad tracks, dealer said they fixed it, got the car back and four hours later it stopped in the middle of the road again!!! I had my cruise control on for 45 min. on the interstate and all of the sudden it started accelerating. My feet were no where near the pedals. I had to turn of cruise control to get it to stop. Nissan customer service really sucks and they wont help you at all!!! Ive had major recalls on this car and honestly fear for my life when I drive it. God only knows what it will do nex

• 

  let down - 2004 Nissan Sentra
  By chris190w - September 28 - 10:00 am

  I owned a 1994 Sentra, drove it 10 years, great car. Bought a new 2004 Sentra1.8s. The quality has decreased in this model compared to my old Sentra. Ive had to add power steering fluid since it was new and after switching from defrost to vent the AC stays on. Dealership is replacing part for power steering problem and they say Nissan is aware of the AC problem and havent come up with a solution yet. In the meantime I am burning extra fuel. the AC will cut off after restarting the engine. I expected a little more fuel mileage but I am happy with the power and automatic transmission.

• 

  Leaks Oil - 2005 Nissan Altima
  By Wasim Khan - September 28 - 10:00 am

  I bought the car in September, 2004. Tow weeks later I found out that, it was leaking oil. My garage floor was full of oil. I checked the dip stick. It was below low. Anyhow, I towed the car to the dealership. They were not very nice to start with. Somehow they didnt know anything about customer service. Moreover, it took them 3 days to fix the leak (thats after I had a talk with the GM of dealer). At first, they told me they didnt know when it was gonna be fixed. Im very unhappy with this car and the dealer. I will NEVER buy another Nissan.

• 

  Do NOT buy 04-06 Maxima. - 2004 Nissan Maxima
  By MNM - September 23 - 11:00 am

  The best way to describe the 04 Nissan Maxima is OK. The best way to describe Nissans costumer service and reliability is TERRIBLE. Nissan clearly has no value of their customers as they have had 600+ reviews on faulty transmissions and yet to recall it even though they know it is on them. My maxima is just over 121,000 miles and the transmission has gone. There is a horrible jerking feeling when breaking as if gears are getting stuck, sometimes acceleration has the same issues, making it even scarier because you have no control over the car. It is quiet terrifying and Nissan believes we deserve to pay them another $3,000+ to replace THEIR ISSUE.[non-permissible content removed] Ive contacted Nissan several times for help and I either can not get through to them or they tell me they can not help. Ive reported the issue with BBB as many others have and should continue to do. I am outraged with the issue and poor accommodations and services on behalf of Nissan. Several law suits have been filed but no outcome. If you or someone you know has this issue be sure to file your complaint to Nissan [contact information removed] to help us get answers! Unacceptable from such a large company. !!!!!!!!!!Do not buy a 04-06 Nissan Maxima!!!!!!!!! known for horrible transmissions.

• 

  No place for admissions test - 2009 Nissan Cube
  By nonie - September 18 - 5:46 pm

  The first problem I had was with the switch under the brake pedal to start my cube burnt out so they had to replace that. today 06-21-2100 after sitting in 98 degree heat to get my admission test my cube failed, just because the Nissan manufacturers in "japan" failed to do a better "quality control" before this cube left the final line. this was poor quality control. your people left the plug in to do this test off my car. I just retired from Nissan of North America Smyrna, Tennessee, this was my retirement car. I paid 15,000.00 dollars of my retirement lump sum for this car, it hurt me so bad to know that japan is building a car like this and leaving parts off it.

• 

  Engine Knock, High Winding transmission - 2009 Nissan Versa
  By Christine Bowyer - September 16 - 2:00 am

  Bought this car new, after 637 miles car engine started knocking. High winding transmission noises. Been in the shop for 28 days, serviced 4 times. Changed 6 different parts, then they had to install a new engine. New engine still knocks, Nissan will no longer honor warranty with only 13,000 miles. So am in Arbitration w/ BBB AUTOLINE. Hopefully this will get resolved. Other than all that car is cute, economic about 27-33mph.

• 

  My Nissan - 2001 Nissan Maxima
  By Peter Odgen stiers - September 8 - 10:00 am

  I just adore my 2001 Nissan Maxima as well as my wifes Nissan Pathfinder. We love our cars a hole lot excpecaily mine.

• 

  Worse Nissan Ever!!!! - 2013 Nissan Pathfinder
  By kuffsy2k1 - September 4 - 3:37 pm

  I owned so many Nissan cars, trucks and suvs but I was so disappointed with 2013 Pathfinder. I bought my 2013 Pathfinder SV at first I was enjoying it but after I hit more than 1,000 miles it started shuddering and losing power. All the moulding under the door became loose and when Im driving on the freeway it was vibrating so hard that the sound inside the cabin is so annoying. I brought it back to the dealer for them to fix the shuddering and losing power but the mechanic said "theres nothing wrong with. After three months of driving it I finally trade it in for the Titan which I should have bought in the first place.....

• 

  Nissan Sentra 2.0 - 2011 Nissan Sentra
  By cobalt_08 - September 3 - 8:09 pm

  With ever increasing gas prices, my old Cobalt (29 mpg highway) was getting expensive at the pump. After browsing a bit, I found a base-model 2011 Sentra w/ CVT at my Nissan dealership. Completely void of anything except the basic necessities, an affordable price with very low mileage, I bought it after a test-drive. Like all of you, I have places to go, people to see, and with a 34 mpg highway rating, I would save a bit on gas. *Sigh* The one place I wanted to avoid is now my most popular destination: The Pump. No matter what I do, this car cant get above 27mpg on the highway. Ive tried all manners of tests to improve gas mileage, to no avail.