re: Could the Nissan brand be saved in the US?

In 1993 I bought my first new car. Was looking at the Saturn SL2, Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima (first year of production if I remember correctly), Mazda 626, and Honda Accord. After test driving all of them I dropped the Saturn (definitely rougher ride and cheaper feel) and the Honda (dealership was a headache with sales tactics and I didn't care for the road noise in the Honda). The Camry with the 4-cylinder seemed a little sluggish so I decided to pass on it.

I really liked the Altima the best because the 2.4 liter was peppier than the 626's 4-cylinder engine. The Altima did not have a theft alarm. I wanted one installed and would have bought the car if the dealership would install one (would have paid extra for it). They refused so I went with the 626 with 5-speed. Great decision. The 626 was rated 26/34 MPG but got 40 MPG on road trips. We gave it to our oldest child when he graduated high school. He finally traded it in on a used car in 2022. It still ran fine (with around 190,000 miles on it) but the fuel gauge no longer worked, the electronic door locks did not work, the trunk wouldn't open, and the sunroof leaked (had to use silicone to seal it). That 1993 626 was a new model year. The 5-speed transmission was bullet-proof and the engine only needed an air-idle control valve replaced in 1996 and a fuel pump replaced around 2010 (it was almost bullet-proof).

My wife and I both drove Nissans, and I had no idea they had that reputation with the you know who crowd.

I'm in the suburbs so I only really see well taken care of Nissans. I had a 08 Altima I used for work that had 248k on it when I traded it in last year. It was a great car.

My wife is still driving her 2013 Pathfinder with 132k.

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Nissan Frontier, which has already become the most outdated option in its class.

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Is this still true after they recently overhauled the design of the new Frontier?

I'm approaching 200k miles on my 2014 Frontier and haven't had too many complaints with it.

When it dies, I'll have to decide if I want to go with the newly designed Frontier or another mid-sized truck like a Tacoma, which I think has been having some issues with its newer models.

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Serious answer? They shifted their business model around 2010 or so. Instead of trying to compete with the other Japanese manufacturers on engineering they shifted their business model to cater to low down payment leases and loans. Essentially they moved their focus from engineering to be a financial services company. Now their product pipeline is dated and suffering and quality problems are popping up, hurting the reputation. That and the stereotype that comes along with being aligned with no down payment, poor credit buyers.

Essentially, when Renault took over the company in the late 90's / early 2000's, they intentionally stopped investing in engineering and manufacturing now that cars like the GTR, the old Maxima and yes, even the old Altima have aged out, they don't want to chase small returns reengineering their lineup. There is a ton of demand at the low end of the market for cheaply made new cars with warranties. A car like the Altima where the production has been fully amortized years ago, Nissan can price lower than the competition and offer up with very lenient financing terms and accept buyers with bad credit, because production of the vehicle (stamping, tooling, etc) had been paid for long ago.

Quality and features aren't going to win them money, and they can afford to give away marketshare because they are much more profitable per unit. They are only making vehicles to reach a particular price point and align with what their financial teams needs are. So far it's worked well for them, as they have been very profitable with this model. They target a specific portion of the market, do it profitably. In their eyes from a corporate, macro standpoint for the Renault Group, I don't think they feel they need to be saved. They are where they want to be. Nissan isn't the company they were in the 90's -- Independent and Japanese. They are a profit center of a French company that doesn't care about their history.

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It goes deeper than that. Everything was peachy until the Japanese decided they didn't like Carlos Ghosn (who had been a national hero just a few short years earlier, their Lee Iacocca in effect) and put him in jail. For those who don't know, once arrested in Japan, the conviction rate is something like 99%, and Japanese jails are Japanese-clean-and-tidy versions of medieval dungeons - concrete everything, simple 1/2" thick mat on the floor to sleep on, rice three meals/day. Then he got busted out and smuggled out of the country in a crate, which simply Does Not Happen in Japan.

Nissan has been in a tailspin as a company ever since, and the French parents at Renault have been passive aggressive vindictive in ways that only the French can be over it, while Ghosn hides out as a wanted criminal. The Japanese leadership at Nissan has been rudderless as well. Net result: Big Altima Energy.

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Is this still true after they recently overhauled the design of the new Frontier?

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I think his point was that Chevy, Ford, and Toyota have either launched a new version or will be in the next year or so. I drive a '22 Frontier Pro4x and I love it. Despite what some people will think I could have afforded a lot more, I mean it was still 45k brand new. I knew also that when I was in the market I would be getting the older version of the Chevy, Ford, Toyota since they were all making plans for new versions. by '24-'25.

The opposite story here is how Kia and Hyundai stopped being the preferred choice of poors and became 'mainstream '

Legit Street Cars bought a GTR for $30k below retail at auction because of the mileage and what they called a transmission issue.

He was able to fix the transmission immediately with a scan tool.

He also discovered that the car was displaying kilometers, not miles, so it basically had half the mileage that was advertised

I have owned I think six Altimas going back to early 90s. Everyone lasted over 200k except one that was totaled. Every one was solid and reliable until my current 2016. CVT failed but Nissan ate half the cost.

My current 2916 has roughly 140k and everything works, paint is great and not a single oil leak. Minus the CVT, they are great cars.

Their CVT reliability is what started their downfall. Prices on used Altimas plummeted and we all know what happens after that.

One thing must be done to save Nissan and that is to stop the CVT production. As loyal as I was to Nissan, I would not buy another CVT no matter how improved they claim it to be.