2025 Nissan Altima

For 2025 the 2.0-liter VC-Turbo was dropped, leaving the 2.5-liter direct-injection four as the only engine; the volume SV FWD trim makes 188 hp, and the AWD version is derated to 182 hp. That is mid-pack-to-low output for a mid-size sedan and there is no longer a high-output alternative above it.

Naturally aspirated torque peaking high at 3,600 rpm, so there is no low-end turbo shove of the kind turbocharged mid-size rivals deliver. The AWD variant gives up a further 2 lb-ft.

Instrumented results for this carry-over 2.5-liter powertrain cluster in the mid-to-high 7s, with AWD cars measured as slow as 8.4 s. Adequate for merging and passing but unremarkable now that the 5.8-second VC-Turbo has left the lineup.

The port/direct-injected 2.5 is smooth and responsive enough in light-throttle commuting — no turbo lag to manage and no hybrid handoffs to mask — but it turns coarse and audibly strained when worked hard, which the CVT's high-rpm holds expose. Reviewers consistently rate performance the weakest part of the car.

Nissan's Xtronic CVT is one of the better-calibrated units of its type — it simulates steps under load and stays unobtrusive at cruise — but it still flares and drones under full throttle, and there is no conventional-automatic or manual alternative anywhere in the range.

Intelligent AWD is optional on SV, SR and SL — most of the range, and still a genuine differentiator against Camry and Accord history — but it is unavailable on the base S, costs power (182 hp vs 188) and fuel economy, and is a basic on-demand system with no terrain modes, low range or torque vectoring.

2025 is the year the lineup narrowed to one engine: with the 2.0-liter VC-Turbo and the SR VC-Turbo trim deleted after 2024, every Altima is a 2.5-liter four with a CVT. There is no hybrid, plug-in or electric option, so the only powertrain choice a buyer makes is FWD or AWD.

EPA rates the volume SV front-drive Altima at 31 MPG combined on regular fuel — strong for a gas mid-size sedan without electrification, though well short of the hybrid Camry and Accord it competes against. AWD costs three MPG combined.

27 MPG in town is respectable for a non-hybrid mid-size sedan but is where the absence of an electrified option costs the Altima most — hybrid rivals post figures in the mid-40s on the same cycle.

Highway economy is the Altima's efficiency high point: the tall CVT ratios and slippery sedan body return 38 MPG on the EPA highway cycle for the volume FWD trim. The larger 19-inch wheels on SR/SL cost two MPG.

A 16.2-gallon tank on the front-drive car paired with 31 MPG combined gives roughly 500 miles between fills and over 600 on a highway run — comfortably a full day's drive. AWD models carry a slightly smaller 16.0-gallon tank and a lower rating, for about 448 combined miles.

EPA's standard 15,000-mile estimate puts the volume front-drive Altima at $2,000 a year on regular unleaded — moderate running costs, helped by not needing premium, but a hybrid mid-sizer undercuts it by several hundred dollars annually.

Every 2025 Altima runs on 87-octane regular unleaded — no premium requirement or recommendation anywhere in the range, and nothing to plug in. Dropping the VC-Turbo removed the one engine in the lineup that benefited from higher-octane fuel.

NHTSA rates the 2025 Altima 5 stars overall in both FWD and AWD form, with frontal impact the weak leg at 4 stars (5 driver / 4 passenger) and side and rollover both at 5.

The 2025 Altima holds no IIHS award and posts Poor in the updated side test — the worst grade available — plus Marginal in the updated moderate overlap front. Good results in both small overlap tests are the legacy battery the sixth-generation structure was designed for; against the current protocols it is one of the weaker midsize sedans on the market.

Nissan Safety Shield 360 is standard on every 2025 trim including the base S — AEB with pedestrian detection, rear automatic braking, blind-spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning and high-beam assist — which is broader standard content than most mainstream midsize rivals, where blind-spot monitoring is still trim-gated. What holds it out of the top band is adaptive cruise: ProPILOT Assist is standard only on the $34,470 SL and reaches the volume SV only inside the optional Premium Package, so the volume configuration has no ACC or lane centering at all.

IIHS rates the Altima's forward system Poor in the updated vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention test and Marginal against pedestrians — the bottom band by the item's own guidance. Standard rear automatic braking on every trim is a genuine and unusual credit in this class, and is most of what keeps this above the floor, but the forward system is a 2019-vintage design that the higher closing speeds and motorcycle/semitrailer targets of the 2.0 protocol expose.

Blind Spot Warning and Rear Cross Traffic Alert are standard on the base S rather than trim-gated as on much of the segment, and standard rear automatic braking adds real intervention behind the car. It stays out of the top band because the blind-spot system is alert-only — no steering or braking correction into an occupied lane — no safe-exit or rear-occupant alert is offered, and the 360-degree camera that would round out the coverage is confined to the top SL.

Lane departure warning is standard across the range and the ProPILOT Assist centering, where fitted, is well regarded for smoothness — but for 2025 true lane centering reaches only the top SL as standard and the SV via a package, so the volume configuration gets warning without steering. Reviewers also note the system hands back early on worn markings.

ProPILOT Assist itself is one of the better-calibrated mainstream systems — full-speed-range Intelligent Cruise Control with stop-and-hold, combined with lane centering, and praised for gap management and smoothness. The score is availability-limited rather than quality-limited: for 2025 there is no adaptive cruise at all on the base S or on the SR, and the volume SV needs the Premium Package to get it, so most Altimas sold have plain cruise control.

No hands-free highway driving is offered on the 2025 Altima at any trim or price. ProPILOT Assist requires hands on the wheel, and Nissan fields no BlueCruise/Super Cruise equivalent in the US midsize-sedan class.

IIHS grades the 2025 Altima's headlights Acceptable — and uniformly so, since every trim gets the same LED projector low and high beams with high-beam assist. Consistency across the range is worth something (there is no Marginal or Poor configuration to accidentally buy), but no trim reaches Good and no curve-adaptive lighting is offered, which is the middle of the band.

Forward and side sightlines are good for a modern sedan, but the high rear decklid and fastback-influenced roofline pinch the rear view, and the camera compensation is weak on the volume trims — reviewers single out a low-resolution backup camera and dashboard/decklid reflections, while the 360-degree Around View Monitor is reserved for the SL.

IIHS rates the Altima's LATCH hardware Good with extra positions — the institute's top ease-of-use result, meaning the anchors are easy to find and use and there are more usable positions than the two-outboard minimum. Combined with midsize rear-seat width, roughly 35 inches of rear legroom and wide-opening rear doors, this is a genuinely easy car to install child seats in, and one of the few places the Altima outperforms its safety reputation.

Every 2025 Altima trim is a five-seat sedan with a 3-across rear bench; there is no captain's-chair or six-seat configuration in the lineup.

Generous front headroom for a mid-size sedan on the volume SV without the moonroof; ordering the SV Premium or Special Edition package with the single-panel moonroof costs 1.1 inches.

43.8 inches is at the top of the mid-size sedan band and one of the Altima's genuine packaging strengths — tall drivers fit without pushing the seat into the rear passenger's space.

Mid-pack rear headroom — the sixth-generation Altima's fastback-influenced roofline trades second-row head space for its silhouette, and the moonroof takes only a further 0.2 inch.

35.2 inches is the weak point of the Altima's cabin and trails the mid-size sedans that lead this measure by roughly two to three inches; adults fit but knees are close to the seatback on long trips.

15.4 cubic feet is squarely average for a mid-size sedan trunk — enough for a family's weekend luggage, short of the segment leaders that clear 16 cubic feet.

Conventional sedan provision with no standout ideas: a center console with armrest and 12V outlet, a lockable glovebox, four cup holders and four door bottle holders, and 60/40 folding rear seats released from either the cabin or the trunk. The wireless charging pad that would tidy the front tray is an option on the volume SV rather than standard.

Nissan's Zero Gravity front buckets are the Altima's best comfort feature and are standard on every trim, repeatedly singled out by reviewers as genuinely fatigue-reducing rather than marketing. The volume SV gets an 8-way power driver's seat, though power lumbar is an option and the rear bench is flatter than the fronts.

Composed and stable at speed on the volume SV's 17-inch tires, with multi-link rear suspension and ZF Sachs monotube dampers standard, but reviewers consistently describe a busy secondary ride over broken pavement with larger impacts coming through hard. The SR's sport-tuned suspension on 19s is noticeably stiffer still.

Wind noise is well suppressed and reviewers call the Altima quieter than expected for the price, but coarse-surface road roar intrudes and the naturally aspirated 2.5 drones through the CVT when it is asked for full throttle. No active noise cancellation or acoustic glass is listed.

The volume SV covers the basics — rear heating/cooling vents and remote engine start standard — but heated front seats and dual-zone automatic climate control are both options on it, and heated steering wheel is confined to the SL. Ventilated seats and rear-seat climate controls are not offered on any trim.

The entry S opens about $1,350 under a 2025 Camry LE and $1,300 under a base Accord LX, and it is the Altima's strongest number in this category — undercutting on sticker is the commercial argument for the car now that it fields no hybrid. The trade-off is that S is FWD-only, so the available all-wheel drive that distinguishes the Altima from an Accord costs a step up the ladder.

Nissan priced the 2025 SV just $430 above the S, which makes it the obvious buy and the volume trim: it adds 17-inch alloys, push-button start, a power driver's seat and — unlike the S — the option of Intelligent AWD for a flat $1,500. Even so equipped it undercuts a Camry LE, and the SV Special Edition package (12.3-inch display, wireless CarPlay/Android Auto, wireless charging, moonroof, ProPILOT Assist, heated seats) is the route to content the SV does not carry as standard.

The naturally aspirated 2.5L PR25DD is cheap to service — regular fuel, no turbo, conventional intervals — and dropping the VC-Turbo for 2025 removed the lineup's most complex and expensive-to-repair powertrain, while the new three-free-oil-change program covers the first two years. What pushes the figure above mainstream-sedan norms in the published estimates is the Xtronic CVT: it is the component with the segment's worst out-of-warranty repair reputation and a four-figure event once the 60,000-mile powertrain term lapses. Both Edmunds and KBB put the Altima meaningfully above an equivalent Camry.

This is the Altima's worst ownership number and, through the effective-cost item, the one that does most of the damage to the category — it is why a car that is cheap to buy is not cheap to own. Large rental and fleet volume floods the used market, roughly 10%-off-MSRP transaction pricing drags the whole price curve down before depreciation even starts, lingering CVT wariness suppresses private-party demand, and a non-hybrid gas sedan is the least wanted configuration in a segment that has electrified. Much of the discount taken at the front door is handed back at trade-in.

Nissan's New Vehicle Limited Warranty runs 36 months or 36,000 miles — the industry floor and the bottom of the framework band. It matches Toyota and Honda but is two years and 24,000 miles short of what Hyundai and Kia hand a Sonata or K5 buyer at the same price.

Powertrain coverage is 60 months or 60,000 miles, again the band floor. It bites harder on this car than on most rivals because the Xtronic CVT is precisely the component Altima shoppers most want covered, and it comes off warranty at 60,000 miles — half the mileage Hyundai and Kia give an original owner, and with none of the long electrified-hardware coverage a hybrid Camry buyer gets on the parts that worry them.

2025 is the year Nissan stopped offering nothing here: new 2025 vehicles include three complimentary oil-and-filter changes over the first 2 years or 24,000 miles under the Nissan Maintenance Care program, alongside 3-year/36,000-mile roadside assistance and a NissanConnect Services trial on connected-equipped trims. That is a real improvement, but it is oil-only — no tire rotations, cabin filters or multi-point inspections — so it lands short of ToyotaCare's full factory-scheduled maintenance and well short of Hyundai's 3-year/36,000-mile plan, and it does nothing to offset the floor-level warranty terms.

$28,570 volume-trim price minus its estimated resale value after 5 years (46% retained, or about $13,142) leaves about $15,428 in depreciation. Add the projected $5,400 in 5-year maintenance and repairs, and owning this vehicle for 5 years costs about $20,828 in total.

Average-band predictions with a genuinely favorable 2025-specific wrinkle. Consumer Reports rates the 2025 Altima's predicted reliability average (with below-average owner satisfaction) and has no owner trouble-spot data yet, while J.D. Power ranked the Altima highest in the Midsize Car segment in the 2025 Initial Quality Study. The decisive year-specific fact is that 2025 is the first model year with the 2.5L naturally aspirated four as the sole engine — the complex 2.0L VC-Turbo was dropped, and that engine family is precisely what NHTSA campaign 25V437000 later recalled for bearing failure. What holds the score to mid-pack is the Xtronic CVT and Nissan's long-term dependability drag, not anything about the 2025 car itself.

Nissan's brand record now splits cleanly by time horizon, and the item has to price both. On initial quality the brand is currently best-in-class: #1 among mass-market brands and #2 overall in the 2025 IQS. On multi-year dependability it is not a leader — the 2025 VDS podium is Lexus, Buick, Mazda and Toyota, Nissan took only two model-level awards, and the 2013-2018 Xtronic CVT failure population and its class-action settlements still shape the brand's long-term data. Mid-pack band, upper half, on the strength of the verified recent IQS result.

Light recall exposure for this model year, verified campaign by campaign. The 2025 Altima carries exactly two NHTSA campaigns, both supplier/manufacturing defects rather than design faults: improperly welded door strikers (an FMVSS 206 noncompliance shared across four Nissan nameplates) and, on a tiny 149-unit population, incorrect airbag mounting fasteners. Critically, the generation's one large powertrain campaign does NOT reach this model year — 25V437000 covers VC-Turbo engines, which the 2025 Altima does not offer. Held out of the top band by the safety significance of the door-striker defect and by Nissan's continuing brand-wide CVT judder/reflash TSB pattern.

Engine and transmission pull in opposite directions, which is the definition of the mixed-history band. The PR25DD 2.5L has been in service since 2018 with a reasonable high-mileage reputation, its known weaknesses being intake-valve carbon buildup (direct injection only, no port injection to wash the valves) and scattered timing chain/tensioner wear reports rather than anything catastrophic. The Jatco Xtronic CVT is the ceiling: materially improved over the 2013-2018 units that damaged Nissan's reputation, but dependent on fluid service to reach 150-200k and still without a Toyota- or Honda-grade record. 2025 earns a real bump over prior years because dropping the VC-Turbo removed the lineup's unproven, mechanically complex option — the one since recalled for bearing failure.

The weakest element of the category and the item where reviewer consensus is most consistently negative. The dash architecture dates to the 2019 launch and was only lightly revised in the 2023 facelift, and multiple outlets independently single out the volume of hard plastic as making the cabin feel cheap for the money. The genuine offset is seating — Nissan's Zero Gravity front seats are a repeated point of praise — and SR/SL trims add leather-appointed surfaces, which keeps this out of the bottom band. Against newly redesigned mid-size rivals it reads as the oldest cabin in the class.

The evidence splits, and the item's own guidance resolves it toward the high end: the top band is defined by 'strong initial quality scores,' and the 2025 Altima has the strongest available. J.D. Power's Initial Quality Study is a large-sample owner survey of exactly what this item measures, and the Altima won the Midsize Car segment outright while its brand led all mass-market makes. Against that, individual road-test reviewers flag specific assembly details — a gap where the dash meets the windshield, hood alignment — and those keep it from going higher. Note the deliberate separation from 6.2.1: the complaint about this car is what the plastics are made of, not how well they are put together.

Brand-level item. Physical access is not the constraint — Nissan runs one of the larger US franchised networks, comparable in dealer count to Honda and present in essentially every market — so an Altima owner is unlikely to be far from a dealer over a long ownership period. What caps the score is service satisfaction that runs mid-pack rather than class-leading, and a network that has been contracting under Nissan's US restructuring, which adds some access risk in thinner markets. Scored with low confidence because Nissan's mass-market placement in the 2025 Customer Service Index could not be retrieved this run.

The clear strength of the category, and the one item here backed by hard ownership-cost data rather than judgment. The Altima has been one of America's highest-volume sedans for three decades, so OEM and aftermarket parts are cheap and universally stocked, every independent shop knows the car, and measured annual repair and maintenance cost sits meaningfully below the mid-size average with low repair frequency and average severity. Two things keep it out of the very top: a CVT replacement is a four-figure item that dominates this model's long-term cost tail, and the L34 is late in its life cycle with production confirmed to end after 2027, which over a long horizon shifts more supply toward the aftermarket — a mild factor given the installed base, not a real risk.

The volume SV ships with the 8-inch multi-touch display; the 12.3-inch HD screen arrives only with the SV Premium or Special Edition package, or by stepping up to the SL. Eight inches is small against a segment that has largely moved to 12-inch-plus screens.

NissanConnect on the 8-inch screen is simple and quick to learn, with real climate and volume knobs retained below it, but reviewers call the base system unsatisfying and flag screen glare; the interface is a carry-over from the 2019 launch of this generation and looks it.

Wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard on every trim, but wireless projection is an option on the volume SV and SR (bundled with the 12.3-inch screen) and standard only on the top SL — textbook 'wired standard, wireless on upper trims'.

The volume SV has no native navigation at all — Nissan Door to Door Navigation is SL-only — and its standard voice control is the basic Siri Eyes Free / Google Assistant passthrough that reviewers found unhelpful. The conversational 'Hey Nissan' assistant only comes with the 12.3-inch system.

The volume SV keeps the six-speaker AM/FM system, which reviewers describe as muddy with its bass enhancer engaged; the nine-speaker Bose premium system is not offered on it at all, arriving only as standard equipment on SR and SL.

The SV and above get the 7-inch Advanced Drive-Assist Display flanked by conventional analog dials — a partial-digital cluster, configurable but small, with no full-digital option anywhere in the lineup. The base S drops to a 5-inch monochrome-style meter display.

Nissan's Remote Software Upgrade covers infotainment/map software only — never vehicle control modules — and on the Altima it rides along with the NissanConnect-equipped 12.3-inch system, so a plain volume SV without the Premium or Special Edition package has no meaningful OTA path. No feature-adding whole-vehicle updates exist for this car.

The MyNISSAN app covers the core set — remote start, lock/unlock, locate, alerts — but on the volume SV it depends on NissanConnect Services, an optional subscription-gated package, and there is no digital/phone key. Owner reports of telematics and remote-start failures on 2025 cars keep this out of the upper band.

The volume SV is adequately provisioned — two front USB ports (one Type-A, one Type-C), two rear USB charge ports (one Type-A, one Type-C) and a 12V console outlet — but wireless charging is an extra-cost package item and there is no household AC outlet. The base S still makes do with a single Type-A port.

The volume SV gets Nissan Intelligent Key with push-button ignition and remote engine start as standard equipment, which covers everyday keyless convenience. There is no phone-as-key and, as a sedan, no hands-free trunk opening; the base S does without proximity entry entirely.

A genuine strength: the Intelligent Around View Monitor 360-degree camera is standard on the volume SV and every trim above it, with rear sonar and rear automatic braking standard across the range. Image resolution is the limiting factor — reviewers call the camera feed low-resolution — and there is no automated parking.

No head-up display is offered on the 2025 Altima at any trim level, including the top SL — the specification table lists only the 5-inch or 7-inch meter display for driver information.

LATCH provision is genuinely good — IIHS rates the Altima's anchors Good+ with three top tethers — and rear door openings are wide with child safety locks standard. The limits are structural: 35.2 inches of rear legroom makes a rear-facing seat tight behind a tall driver, and 15.4 cubic feet of trunk is a squeeze for a stroller plus a week's gear.

Safety Shield 360 is standard on the cheapest Altima — automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert, rear automatic braking, lane departure warning and high beam assist — alongside a 5-star NHTSA overall rating and Good crashworthiness results. What holds it back is that IIHS rates the updated front crash prevention tests Poor (vehicle-to-vehicle) and Marginal (pedestrian), and ProPILOT Assist is not on the volume trim's standard equipment.

Second-row amenities on the volume SV are decent for the class — rear heating/cooling vents, two rear USB ports (A and C), a rear armrest with cup holders and rear reading lights — and the Zero Gravity fronts hold up over long stints. But rear legroom is the segment's tightest dimension on this car, there is no rear-seat entertainment or rear climate control, and the 15.4 cu ft trunk fills quickly with four people's luggage.

This is the Altima at its best: the Xtronic CVT is well tuned and effectively invisible in stop-and-go traffic, the controls are light, the Zero Gravity seat reduces commute fatigue, and the standard Around View Monitor on the SV removes most low-speed guesswork. The busy secondary ride over broken city pavement is the one recurring annoyance.

32 mpg combined on regular unleaded from the FWD volume trim is strong for a non-hybrid mid-size sedan, and the 2.5-liter's consumables are cheap and widely serviced. It cannot match the hybrid Camry and Accord that dominate this segment's running costs, and choosing AWD drops combined economy to 28 mpg.

A 36.1-foot curb-to-curb turning circle on the volume SV's 17-inch wheels is tight for a 192.9-inch car, and the standard 360-degree Around View Monitor plus rear sonar covers the blind spots created by the high rear decklid. The 19-inch SR and SL give up more than a foot of turning circle, and camera resolution is mediocre.

Nissan publishes no towing rating for the Altima in the US and the car has no factory hitch, no open cargo bed and a 4,328-lb GVWR that leaves only a few hundred pounds of payload after occupants. Work use is limited to carrying a laptop bag and samples in a 15.4-cubic-foot trunk.

The PR25DD 2.5-liter and unibody chassis are long-serving and cheap to maintain, and the Altima has a real rideshare/fleet following, but Nissan's Xtronic CVT carries a well-documented reputation for failure under sustained heavy-duty use, and the cabin is trimmed in woven fabric rather than wipe-clean work surfaces.

There are essentially no work provisions: a sealed sedan trunk with no tie-downs listed, no roof rails, no onboard AC power, no upfit ecosystem, and a single 12V console outlet. Nissan's own accessory list for the car runs to trunk mats, nets and hooks.

A genuinely good highway tourer: Zero Gravity seats that reviewers praise after many miles, low wind noise, and roughly 500 miles between fill-ups from 16.2 gallons at 32 mpg combined (over 630 highway miles in theory). It falls short of the top band because ProPILOT Assist lane centering is an option rather than standard on the volume SV, and the ride stays busy over poor interstate concrete.

Available all-wheel drive on SV, SR and SL is a real advantage over most mid-size sedan rivals and makes the Altima credible on snow and gravel roads. Everything else is pavement-bound: sedan ride height, 235/40R19 rubber on upper trims, no roof rails, no tow rating and no camping-friendly power or flat-fold load floor.

60/40 folding rear seats releasable from both the cabin and the trunk let long items through, and 15.4 cubic feet handles ordinary suitcases, but a sedan's fixed trunk aperture, no roof rails and no hitch mean bikes, skis and camping boxes have nowhere to go.

Secure and stable rather than engaging: multi-link rear suspension, ZF Sachs monotube dampers and Active Ride Control (optional on SV, standard above) keep the body settled through fast sweepers, but the volume SV on 215/55R17 all-seasons has modest grip and no appetite for being hurried. With the 248-hp VC-Turbo dropped for 2025 there is no sporting version left to anchor the top of the range.

The dual-pinion electric rack is quick enough at 15.3:1 and 2.8 turns lock-to-lock, but reviewers describe it as short on precision and feedback, needing mid-corner corrections — numb in the way most of this class is, without the added weight or linearity that would lift it.

Four-wheel discs with 11.65-inch vented fronts, four-channel ABS, EBD and Brake Assist standard give predictable, adequately strong stops with no regen blending to complicate pedal feel. Nothing in the hardware or in published testing suggests class-leading fade resistance or a notably firm pedal.

The Xtronic CVT is among the better-calibrated units of its type in normal driving — reviewers call it an almost invisible partner with no lurch or hunting at part throttle — but the naturally aspirated 2.5 makes its 180 lb-ft at 3,600 rpm, so hard acceleration means a long high-rpm hold and a distinctly rubber-band response.

Quiet and unobtrusive when cruising, but the 2.5 turns coarse and droning when the CVT pins it near its 6,200-rpm ceiling for a merge or a pass — the characteristic CVT sound that reviewers flag on this car and the reason performance rates as its weakest trait.

The volume SV's 36.1-foot curb-to-curb diameter is tight for a 192.9-inch mid-size sedan; the wider 235/40R19 tires on SR and SL cost 1.3 feet.

A comfortable, well-sorted cockpit: 43.8 inches of front legroom, an 8-way power driver's seat on the SV, real climate and audio knobs below the screen, and generally good forward sight lines. Rear visibility over the high decklid is poor enough that the standard 360-degree camera does real work, and power lumbar is an option rather than standard.

With the VC-Turbo gone for 2025 the Altima is a competent appliance — a 7.6-second 0-60, a CVT with paddles only on the SR, numb steering and no engine note worth seeking out. It does its job well but gives an enthusiast nothing to look forward to on the long way home.

Nissan Safety Shield 360 is standard on every 2025 Altima including the $28,140 S, which is genuinely generous active-safety content for the money, and the new three-free-oil-change program sweetens the base buy. Everything else about the base and volume spec is plain: S and SV get an 8-inch touchscreen while Sonata and K5 make a 12.3-inch screen standard, ProPILOT Assist is standard only on SL, and the wireless phone projection, wireless charging, heated seats, dual-zone climate and moonroof all sit behind the SV Special Edition package rather than coming with the volume trim.

At MSRP the case is weak: the volume SV asks $28,570 for 188 hp, a CVT, 31 MPG combined and an 8-inch screen, while a 2025 Camry LE at $29,495 is hybrid-only with 225 hp and 51 MPG, and an Accord at $29,445 offers far more rear legroom. What partly rescues the item is what buyers actually pay — the Altima transacts roughly 10% below sticker, which puts a mid-size sedan with available all-wheel drive in Sentra money. Set against that is the segment's weakest resale, which hands much of the discount back.

Four well-spaced trims from $28,140 to $34,470, with Intelligent AWD orderable on three of them for a flat $1,500 and an SV Special Edition package filling the content gap in the middle, is reasonable choice and a real point of difference against the front-drive-only Accord. Against that, 2025 is the year the range narrowed: dropping the VC-Turbo left a single engine and a single transmission across the whole lineup, with no hybrid, no V6 and no performance variant to pick, and AWD is unavailable on the entry S.

The Altima is still a serious volume nameplate — third in the mid-size class and comfortably ahead of Sonata and K5 — but the trajectory is the problem. 2025 volume fell 18% year over year to roughly 93,000 units, less than a third of the Camry's, and a meaningful share of what does move goes to rental and fleet rather than retail. A steady mid-pack seller with a clearly declining arrow.

Nissan's US brand equity sits below neutral and the Altima carries more of that weight than any other car in the lineup: lingering CVT reliability baggage, a reputation for subprime-heavy retail and heavy fleet placement, and a year of restructuring and plant-closure coverage all drag on the badge. The clearest evidence is in the money — the nameplate's resale is among the weakest in its class, which is the market pricing brand perception directly.

Scored on buyer benefit as the item directs, this is the Altima's strongest card. Every trim transacts roughly 10% below sticker, subsidized NMAC financing and lease bonus cash are routinely on the board, and dealer negotiability is wide on a nameplate with soft demand and a shrinking segment. The same market weakness that wrecks the residuals makes the car genuinely cheap to transact — nothing about its supply or demand supports at- or over-MSRP pricing.

2025 is the seventh model year of the L34 generation and the third since the 2023 facelift, on a platform with no hybrid, no digital instrument cluster and legacy NissanConnect infotainment while newer Nissans have moved to Google built-in. It is also a year in which content went backwards rather than forwards — the VC-Turbo was deleted — and the trade press had been reporting since 2023 that 2025 would be the Altima's last, so a 2025 buyer faced live discontinuation risk at the point of sale. Nissan did in the event carry the car forward, but that was not knowable when these cars were being sold.

Reviewers agree the Altima is competent and agree it is outclassed. Edmunds scored it 6.4/10 and ranks the nameplate last among the mid-size sedans it covers; KBB gave 4.1/5 but placed it only sixth among mid-size cars and summed it up as a "comfortably adequate sedan" that "swims in a sea of excellent competitors." It wins no comparison tests and holds no significant award — and unlike most rivals it is not an IIHS Top Safety Pick, having posted a Poor in the updated side test and a Marginal for rear-passenger protection. Credit stands for front-seat comfort, fuel economy and available AWD.