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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  Great Deal, just needs some updates - 2008 Nissan Rogue
  By Melaniec - March 12 - 2:00 am

  My Nissan Rogue was my first new vehicle purchase. Looking back I wish I had gone with some of the packages offered, like the bois sound and fog lights, but I didnt know you didnt have to get everything in the package. My family/friends like that the rear seating is actually comfortable. My daughter wished the windows went further down but what kid doesnt. As for the dislikes, I wish there were more cup holders. Like in the Nissan cars there have several upfront. Rogue has just 2. Also the blind spots are really bad due to the rear head rests. Also the jack in the armrest is rather inconvenient. The ride is smooth and great for traveling!

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  2010 Nissan Sentra 2.0 S - 2010 Nissan Sentra
  By Peppy - March 12 - 2:00 am

  Just picked up my 2010 Nissan Sentra S. The features that come with the vehicle is amazing The stereo sounds awesome. I am extremely comfortable in the car and I am 6 feet tall and 315 lbs. The vehicle seems very well built and the 2.0 liter engine shifts flawlessly and the car has good acceleration. I paid after the year end rebate and negotiation $15,500 for the car and $1295 for the 7 year/100,000 top of the line genuine Nissan extended warranty. I expect to keep this car for a long long time. It was an excellent purchase and so much better than the civic and corolla.

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  Transmission needs to know me? - 2008 Nissan Altima
  By kmp - March 12 - 2:00 am

  Has anyone heard this one? I bought my altima coupe new & it rode well for about a year--no probs. Now the transmission vibrates at 25-40 mph, & getting worse. The dealer tells me the transmission needs to adjust to my style of driving-that they may need to reset it to the factory setting and let it "learn my style of driving."this sounds like bs to me! Also, the car keeps telling me I have no key, & the car wont start w/the push button. Ive gone through umpteen batteries in the last few months. I can put in a new battery today, & tomorrow the car will tell me my key has no battery. Very frustrating! The dealer tells me they are "going back & forth w/Nissan" & will let me know.

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  Drive train awful - 2008 Nissan Altima
  By Teal - March 12 - 2:00 am

  2 sets of bearings, one tranny failure (so far), constant brake noise. Probably the least reliable vehicle I have ever owned at the age of 63 and I owned some junkers as a kid. Get the car back tomorrow after another 4 days at the dealer service. Trading it this weekend on non-Nissan product.

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  Worst car we ever owned - 2008 Nissan Altima
  By hubiedo - March 11 - 3:53 pm

  It is terribly uncomfortable on long trips as the seats do not have a lower back support. Poor interior design with the parking brake so close to the brake. We continue to have problems with the front brakes (replaced 2x) and shimmy when applied. The motor surges when accelerating from a stop. Rear antenna or wiring continually is causing bad radio reception and cd playing to skip on the cds. We believe it is the wiring connection and have replaced the cd player 2x. Local radio stations will not play more than 15 miles from town.

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  Owned a 350z for 10 years - it just runs great - 2006 Nissan 350Z
  By Will - March 11 - 1:24 pm

  Great car. Maintenance costs are very low. Brembo brakes are costly, but you only get what you pay for.

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  Great car! - 2010 Nissan Altima
  By Mark Nolan - March 11 - 9:07 am

  I bought a used 2010 altima 4-door with the 4-cylinder CVT with 100k miles on it. The front seats are very comfortable and the visibility is excellent. The fabric is very nice and has held up well. The driving position is perfect and I really like the power seats. Its so easy to find a comfortable position. Mine has the Bose sound system which is very good. It has XM radio and you can connect your ipod and the songs will show up on the display. The backup camara is a very useful option. Its great for parking or backing up. I really like the interior of the car. Its simple yet stylish. The engine is a little loud when you start it cold. It sounds a little gruff but it runs great and the CVT works excellent. The car could be a little quieter and Im sure the new ones are. The gas mileage is very commendable (around 26 mpg) and it has a very large gas tank. You can easily go 400 miles between fill ups. I checked out camry, 6, sonata, accord, passat, and malibu. None of them are as comfortable or have as good of visibility and driving position as the altima.

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  Nissan Lack Of support on Altimas - 2006 Nissan Altima
  By dchunt - March 11 - 4:30 am

  We purchased this vehicle the last of May 2006. We have since learned that this model appears to have engine problems that have resulted in 17 engine fires. Nissan has no info in their website about this problem and has not contacted me as to what action they plan to take in this matter. If i were to try and trade this vehicle for another brand I imagine my trade in value would be much less due to this problem. My question is "What and when will Nissan do any thing to rectify this situation?" I have purchased a total of 4 Nissans over the years and have always thought Nissan was a quality company that stood behind its products but their actions up to now lead me to beliece otherwise.

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  Lots of Truck & lots of stops for gas - 2005 Nissan Titan
  By Jeff C - March 11 - 1:33 am

  In a single word..Phenomenal. after months of researching, and test driving. My choice was the f-150 or the titan. I made the right choice. The only draw back so far has been the frequent trips to the gas station. Yes, I know it is a big V-8, however it has yet to live up to the 18 miles hwy the sticker states.

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  comfortable but sturdy - 2007 Nissan Frontier
  By Steve - March 10 - 10:33 pm

  This truck was the best of all the midsized trucks I drove. It had the smoothest ride. Better than the Tacoma. It seemed to have more power also. During the first highway drive home my wife fell asleep, so that speaks to the comfort both of the ride and of the seats. The 5 speed automatic Transmission shifts smoothly and not too frequently, I believe this is because of the excessive torque of the engine. It does not have to down shift very often. The truck weighs more than the Tacoma this gives a better ride and a stronger truck for less money. If you are wondering How I liked the Ford the Dodge or the Chevy lets just say I bought the Nissan and leave it at that.