A Solid Alternative to the Camry and Accord

Author's Rating:

Pros: Great handling, acceleration, and braking. Roomy and comfortable. Feels solid.

Cons: Gated shifter annoys, placement of some interior controls could be better, radio reception only fair.

The Bottom Line: 
I would definitely recommend this car. It simply does everything well.

Author's Review
This is my second Nissan vehicle. My great experience with my 1995 Maxima sold me on Nissan quality and performance. The purchase of a 2005 Altima was definitely the right choice for me.

I opted for the SE 5-speed automatic w/ manual shift mode. My particular car has the Leather Sport Package which includes perforated leather seats (heated in front, power driver's adjustments), Bose 6-CD stereo system, power glass sunroof, rear spoiler, 17" alloy wheels, side airbags, ABS, active head restraints, Xenon headlights, auto-dimming rear-view mirror, and more. Note that some of these items may not be limited to the leather sport package.

I went through CarsDirect.com. I had to search quite a bit for an SE with the Leather Sport Package in a color other than white or silver. My first color choice was Sonoma Sunset (dark red) with black interior but none were available. I had a short timeframe to shop. I wound up with black/black and it grew on me right away. I won't elaborate too much on the exterior and interior looks of the car because that is purely subjective and you can see that for yourself anyway. I will say that the materials and workmanship look good from a quality standpoint. There are no rattles, gaps, misalignments, etc.

I have liked the Altima ever since the complete restyle (and offering of a V-6) for 2002. I test drove a 2004 Maxima SL but didn't care for the touring suspension. The SE (both Maxima and Altima) denotes a sport suspension. It is definitely sporty in its ride. It's not too harsh, but you will feel the road. This payoff translates into great handling for a car of this size and price. The steering and braking are tight and solid, however the turn radius is rather large. The 17-inch wheels look good and handle really well. The tires are wide enough that they don't get pulled by seams in the road.

The seats are supportive and comfortable. The leather is not as soft as I would like, but it is sufficient. The seats should last a long time. The gated shifter is a bit annoying; I would much prefer a straight-pull shifter. The instruments are easy to read in all levels of daylight and darkness. The radio display is not as easy to read as I would like, but it is legible at all times. The clock, which is on the radio, is on the far right of the display, making it as far as possible from the driver. The steering wheel tilts and telescopes for a perfect fit for just about anyone. This is good because you have to angle it just right to see the full instrument cluster through the top half of the steering wheel.

The ignition switch is directly behind the right steering wheel spoke, so you have to either feel for it or lean over to see it. Also, the trunk release and light dimmer switch are pretty low on the left hand side of the dash, almost out of sight. In fact, it would be pretty easy to accidentally open the trunk when feeling around for the dimmer switch. The power window/doorlock/mirror controls are well located on the door panel and work great. The steering wheel has controls on the left side for stereo volume, stereo mode (which cycles preset bands A--B--C--Compact Disc--A--B--C--etc), odometer display function (trip A--trip B--outside temp--distance to empty--avg mpg--avg speed--driving time since reset--back to trip), and disc track or disc number advance. The right side controls the cruise control. The buttons have to be operated by memory at night because they cannot be seen. I wish they were lighted.

The center console (split into a small top portion and large bottom) is huge. It is actually quite deep. There is also a power plug inside. The console therefore sits a little high, therefore my short arms are not able to reach anything in the back seat, or on the front passenger floor for that matter. I am 5'5" tall. People with longer arms may not have this problem. The rear seatbacks are split fold-down, enabling a massive amount of storage space. The trunk is large by itself, but folding seats are nice.

The climate controls are a little funny. You can't close the vents (recirculate) with the fan on without the A/C turning on. The A/C and heater work great, though. The vents are not very adjustable side to side. For example, the vent in the right-center of the dash will not adjust enough to reach the driver.

Now let's look under the hood. Awesome! The engine and transmission are matched nicely and constantly stay in tune with your level of driving aggressiveness. The transmission shifts smoothly and keeps the revs high for acceleration, low for cruising at highway speeds. The engine is pure power (250 hp and 249 ft-lbs of torque). Torque steer is assured, however it is not overbearing. Whether you start from a stop or want to pass someone at 70 mph, the power is always at your right foot. Accelerating from 60 to 80 mph is instantaneous. Mashing the gas pedal at any speed pins me to the seat. Is it Montana that has no-speed-limit stretches of highway?

Gas mileage is decent but improving. As the engine breaks in (only 2300 miles so far) the gas mileage improves. The second week I had the car I took it to Vegas (from L.A. area) and got 30 mpg doing 80 mph with the A/C on. City driving was only getting me 19 mpg to start out, but this has improved to over 22 so far.

In summary, this is a great alternative to the vanilla styling and average performance of the Camry and Accord. And Nissan has the reliability as well. The Altima is also a good alternative to the Maxima which has become very expensive. My Altima is equally equipped, better looking in my opinion, and only gives up 15 horsepower, which most people wouldn't notice anyway. The fact that I have all of the equipment I want and a less common black V-6 makes it even better, especially when heads turn.

Update
I've had the car for over two years now and I still love it. The "cons" that I originally noted in my review two years ago are still cons, but I suppose no car could be absolutely perfect in every way. I now have over 35K miles and it still runs great and everything still works as it did brand new. I guess I have two additional minor gripes, and these have existed since I bought the car.

One is the fact that the side mirrors do not pivot. Therefore if you cut it too close trying to squeeze through a tight space or someone carelessly bumps into them, they will break off rather than swivel. I have been fortunate in that this hasn't happened (yet).

The second gripe is that in colder weather the windows, especially the windshield, fog up quickly. The defroster takes care of it pretty well, but the windows seem to fog up more than they should.

Maintenance has been very reasonable. I've only had to do the regular oil changes and the 30K service. The brakes last a long time, and the front pads are just now coming due for replacement. This is impressive considering the car has nearly 36K miles on it. I will probably spend the extra and have it done at the dealer since the original pads lasted so long. The rear pads still have 80% left, according to the shop that performed my last oil change. All of the rotors appear to be in good condition with minimal wear.

I still love this car and would definitely recommend it.