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:

• 

  Updated Review - 2013 Nissan Altima
  By Altima yuck - April 17 - 4:45 am

  Dont buy an Altima! 70k and over $6k worth of repairs, this has been the worst car I have owned. Batteries exploding, cv joints going out at 47k miles, seats have already faded. The air conditioning smells and the dealer says its a "known issue". The key fobs dont open the keyless entry anymore. Piece of garbage!!!

• 

  CVT transmissions are terrible / stay away - 2013 Nissan Juke
  By Bernie - April 9 - 8:16 pm

  The CVT transmissions are the worst things that Nissan has ever done. I have had changed at dealership at under 100,00o miles due to what I was told overheating and lack of horse power was due to CVT wearing out. It fixed the problem but after 30,000 miles is doing same thing and it costs almost $300.00 to flush CVT again. Contacted Nissan only response was a list of information they wanted with nothing to do about my vehicle and to return AGAIN to dealership .

• 

  scam - 2017 Nissan Rogue
  By Aj - March 6 - 7:11 pm

  make sure company will not scam you with maintenance plan

• 

  No refunds. No returns. - 2017 Nissan Sentra
  By Ted - February 14 - 12:28 am

  We purchased it because we couldnt find the Toyota we wanted. It was a mistake. Their warrantee will be voiced for almost anything. ie if you dont get the oil changed on their schedule BUT some of them say change it every 3500 miles some say every 5000 miles. If you choose incorrectly your warrantee is voided. After one day, we took it in because the brakes were spongy and made a slight noise when stopping. They said nothing was wrong with them. We said we wanted to return it, and they refused. A Toyota corolla for approximately $1000 more has everything the Sentra has. To have the safety features that the Corolla has would cost $4000 more.

• 

  Noisiest car ever - 2010 Nissan Altima
  By Melvinio - February 6 - 1:53 pm

  I bought this car when it only had 40k miles after a month of driving it the brakes made soo much noise while braking so I change the breaks and it was still making the noise change routers and it was still making it at the same time the transmission was making noises as well when I started to speed up it was the loudest and most noises car I ever owned never again buying a Nissan worst car to buy thats why they are as cheap as they are finally got my hands on a Accord the car I should of bought on the first place

• 

  Transmission issue - 2009 Nissan Altima
  By Tarak - January 28 - 11:54 am

  I have seen lots of problems with my Nissan Altima and having another problem with Transmission now. It really sucks, dont buy Nissan ever.

• 

  NEVER BUY A NEW ALTIMA. - 2013 Nissan Altima
  By Debra Yeoman - January 19 - 3:52 am

  So disappointed. Saved to buy this car for my 16 year old daughters birthday. Shes now in tears because 6 months later its a piece of crap that wont run. The CVT transmission shutters and shakes and it dies at low speeds or when put into park. Of course it just went off warranty. Ive talked to others thats replaced them 2-3 times. Please Nissan , come on and admit your car is defective. How many people have to did first??????

• 

  Poor electric car, dont buy any Nissan product. - 2013 Nissan Leaf
  By Gats - January 12 - 5:52 am

  I was excited for my first electric car when I bought it last year. They say 110+ miles in sticker but dont expect more than 90 miles. If you drive highways/winter it would significantly low. The worst part for this car is the customer service and dealership. My from tire worn out in less than 10k, checked wheel alignment and its perfectly aligned but they wont even cover under any warranty, very poor quality stuff. I will certainly recommend buying electric car bit stay away from Nissan.

• 

  Freezing in winter - 2017 Nissan Rogue
  By Sandy - December 29 - 12:46 am

  There are not enough vents for the floor heater. My feet and legs are never warm. Took my Rogue to the dealer. I was told this is a common issue with the Rogue, and there is nothing they can do.

• 

  Transmission gave away at 378 miles! - 2015 Nissan Armada
  By Matts Mathews - November 25 - 11:16 am

  After two months of research, i decided to go purchase a new Armada SV to avoid the troubles that come with a used one. Everything was fine until recently & i even loved the driving experience- it even gave me 13 mpg in city as stated in their manifesto ,havent driven it long enough to comment on on Highway mpg . However just 2 weeks of ownership and 378 miles, the transmission gave away at a stop sign near a small bridge and the vehicle started rolling backwards. I barely managed to drive it back home,On further inspection the transmission fluid leaked all over the place, still dont know what the exact problem is but its most likely the transmission. Unfortunately this happened on a Saturday evening, hence no support or on call. I have to wait until Monday to report this issue to the dealership, and will update this review on how it goes after that. Either ways, this was not expected from a new Armada- which is supposed to be a rock solid vehicle. Disappointing!!!