As domestic automakers (here's looking at you General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Stellantis) wave bye bye to four-door sedan body styles, Eurasian automakers forge ahead with this once ubiquitous selection.
It's unfortunate because some of us old-school (and yes, chronologically old, too), seasoned road pilots enjoy the smooth riding, finely balanced and general comfort of a well-constructed quad door machine.
Nissan's Altima, a mid-size entrant, continues enticing buyers with its plentiful doors. In the 2024 calendar year, U.S. Nissan dealers sold 113,898 units. While not as strong as the preceding year, numbers exceeding 100,000 represent a pretty penny for any manufacturer. In total, Nissan and its Infiniti luxury division combined to sell 924,008 units throughout the U.S. in 2024, a tidy 2.8 percent increase from 2023.
Nissan quietly retired its slightly larger Maxima sedan in 2023 after more than forty years and eight model generations roaming the streets, creating potential growth opportunities for Altima from Nissan loyalists. Those seeking the Nissan vibe in a compact-sized sedan can turn to Sentra or the Versa with its subcompact format. Arriving on the automotive scene in 1993, the current Altima iteration represents a sixth-generation effort introduced for 2019.
Nice opportunities await as Altima offers Midwest-friendly all-wheel drive for an extra $1,500 in addition to functional front-wheel drive. The $1,500 hit represents a relatively modest dollar amount compared with two decades ago when this extra grip cost hundreds multiple Benjiman's more. Nissan markets its design as 'Intelligent' all-wheel drive.
Altima was the first of Nissan's sedans offering intelligent AWD back in 2019 during its sixth-generation debut. The system defaults to front wheel drive while tracking multiple data bits (acceleration speed, steering wheel inclination) and automatically sends additional torque (up to 50 percent) within milliseconds to the rear wheels if needed to improve grip. It's a design commonly referred to as 'on demand' all-wheel drive. This differs from full-time all-wheel drive where all four wheels receive a torque split all the time.
Four 2025 trims include S, SV, SR and SL. All but the Base S (starting at $27,000) offer the all-wheel drive option. All promote better-than-expected fuel economy. New for 2025, a special edition SV luxury-tinted package adding a single panel moonroof, rear spoiler, nifty-looking 17-inch gloss black alloy wheels, wireless Smart phone charging pad, larger multi-function screen and carbon fiber look center console trim. Who says four-door sedans must perpetually play the part of frumpy and boring?
Other major news surrounding Alimta circa 2025; the retirement of a four-cylinder turbo engine. Now standard and the sole offering in all trims, the naturally-aspirated, 2.5-liter four pumping out a respectable 182 horses with all wheel drive (188 horses when selecting front-wheel drive). This engine provides pleasant propulsion for most driving needs. It teams with a continuously variable transmission (CVT), another dependable choice but neither the engine or transmission build for zero to 60 split-second performance.
A CVT transmission works with an infinite number of gear ratios rather than a set number of forward gears (traditionally seven or eight). A CVT improves fuel economy with minimal upshift/downshift gear hunting felt sometimes with traditional automatics. It's a smoother experience but almost never the ultimate performance choice. From a driver's perspective it shifts out of park similar to a traditional automatic with a vertical sliding mechanical selector located between the front buckets for selecting PRND.
A front-drive Altima earns 27 miles per gallon city and an excellent 39 mpg highway while all-wheel drive cranks out 25 mpg city and 34 mpg highway. The 16.2-gallon tank accepts regular, 87 octane fuel and delivers an impressive highway range. The pull pad unlocking the circular right rear fender door showcasing the fuel lead resides under the dash left of the steering column, a more convenient spot then the on floor.
While Altima's 2.5-liter four-cylinder internal combustion engine returns, the Toyota Camry sedan goes full gas-electric hybrid in all trims in 2025 while Hyundai's mid-size Sonata and Honda's Accord sedans offer gas-electric hybrids optional. Neither Camry, Sonata, Accord or Altima offer a pure all-electric (EV) version, but Nissan continues strong with its Nissan Leaf five-door hatchback, one of the first mass produced, non-luxury, all-electric vehicles entering the marketplace back in 2011 and now offering up to 212 miles of pure electric driving before recharging. Nissan also introduced the all-electric Ariya crossover to the U.S. market in the 2023 model year.
Our SR all-wheel drive tester started at $30,330. A minimum number of factory options included premium exterior blue paint ($425), diminutive rear trunk-mounted spoiler ($420), sharp-looking 19-inch aluminum alloy wheels ($670) and exterior ground lighting beaming out from side door underparts ($570). Dealer add-ons featured splash guards ($245) and SR logoed floor mats ($375) for a $34,580 bottom line including $1,140 destination charge. A first row moonroof remains optional in SV and SR trims, not available in base S and standard in SL.
During our week together my shotgun photog partner and this scribe packed up long-view lenses, tripods, pricy digital cameras and long-stretched underwear for a round-trip day-cation from Chicago to LeClair Iowa. Our mission? Capture soaring eagles in flight or as they dive for tasty, gilled prey on the open waters of the Mississippi. Perfect conditions awaited the majestic avian stalkers and their paparazzi following as they visually zeroed in on their floppy prey with temperatures below zero (without windchill and good fishing conditions). However, a gathering of pelicans near the shoreline threw the eagles off their game. In the pecking order of larger birds, bald eagles generally differ to pelicans giving the long-beaked fishers wide berths.
Altima's seating positions situate somewhat lower than most five-door crossovers and even some remaining/returning sedans. Front bucket seats feature Nissan's Zero Gravity Seat Design, a patented product alleviating fatigue during long highway stretches (such as traveling five hours round trip to commune with nature). Fourteen pressure points ensure seated spines retain their natural position at all times. Cloth seating materials adorn all but the top SL trim with leatherette-styling standard. Our SR trim also arrived with sports tuned suspension, keeping tires better planted during spirited turns.
Nissan conveniently places the electronic start/stop button between the bucket seats fore of the transmission shifter, a direct access choice when compared to the lower dash where many rivals place the orb requiring a detour around the steering wheel to activate. To the right of the shifter, inline beverage cup holders.
The easy-glance seven-inch instrument panel includes two prominent analog gauges with white-at-night needles. The right-side speedometer includes a half-moon insert of fuel remaining in the tank while the left side gauge promotes tachometer readouts. Between each, a multi-panel digital window with panes controlled by the flat-bottomed steering wheel faced up-down buttons.
A flat, mid-size, eight-inch full-color, touch sensitive multi-function screen jets up above the center dash in our SR tester. The S trim includes a seven-inch screen and SL supersizes to a 12.3-inch variety (which is optional in SV and SR trims). Altima smartly includes two convenient twist knobs, one summoning on/off/volume the other station selection. Some other designs in other rivals retired these knobs for push buttons returning a rather frustrating experience. Overall, interacting with Nissan's touch-sensitive design rates as pleasantly intuitive.
Satellite radio comes standard in all but the Base S model while Google Assist voice recognition comes standard across the board. Both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto get welcomed aboard with Type A and Type C USB plug ports. Wireless charging reserves for the special SV special edition package.
All HVAC controls reside separate from the in-dash screen with large dials and push plates offering quick changes with eyes spending little to no time away from their appointed straight-ahead duties; still one of the best designs available. Merging controls inside a touchscreen increases the distraction factor. And the twist dials reside far away and of differing sizes from the multi-function screen's dual knobs avoiding confusion. The SV trim includes single-zone operation with a left dial controlling fan speed and a right orb handling temperature settings. In between, two rows of push plates handle fan direction and front/rear defroster functions.
If a vehicle wanders into the driver's side blind spot, an amber light illuminates near the side-view mirror to remind drivers of potential risks, part of Nissan's blind spot warning useful and welcome during long stretches of highway travel. All trims are well stocked with other popular safety features built into Nissan's Safety Shield 360 including rear cross traffic alert (a must-have when in reverse and pulling back front a parked mall slot), lane departure warning and pedestrian detection.
The good-sized trunk compartment swallows up 15.4 cubic feet of luggage and stuff. One suggestion for the next update, protect precious cargo with housing surrounding the goose-neck type inside hinges...or redesign with exterior-mounted shock-type styles. Second-row seat backs fold down with a 60/40 split once mechanical pull wires inside the trunk yank forward increasing cargo capacity to 58.1 cubic feet. Second row travelers get treated to ceiling grab handles, a fold-down arm rest with dual beverage holders, better-than-expected leg room and space for three adults. Outside and below the truck, dual exhausts flank each side.
Altima, as with most Nissan vehicles, qualifies for Nissan's newly initiated Maintenance Care Program covering three pre-paid oil changes and multi-point inspections at a participating Nissan dealer within a two-year or 24,000-mile time frame. Complimentary roadside assistance coverage includes three-years or 36,000 miles.
The mid-size sedan segment still survives with many worthy rivals. Altima stands tall with intuitive controls/layout, room for five, attainable, competitive pricing and plentiful gas mileage returns. Other counterparts may boost additional engine horsepower and upgraded luxury interiors, but Altima provides families all the necessities to get from point A to point B in relative comfort and safety.
2025 Nissan Altima SR
Price as tested: $34,580
Engine: 2.5-liter four cylinder
Horsepower: 182
Wheelbase: 111.2 inches
Overall Length: 192.9 inches
Overall Width: 72.9 inches
Overall Height: 56.8 inches
Fuel economy: 25 mpg city, 34 mpg highway
Powertrain warranty: Five years/60,000 miles
Assembly: Canton, Mississippi
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