Used 2015 Nissan Altima 2.5 S 4dr Sedan (2.5L 4cyl CVT) Consumer Reviews
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2.5S - The good, the bad, and the ugly.
mjg1234, Kennesaw, GA, 01/22/2016
updated 06/14/2016
Nissan Altima 2.5 S 4dr Sedan (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
55 of 59 people found this review helpful
Updating my review. The airbag sensor issue described below is now being recalled: http://www.autoblog.com/2016/04/30 Also there as another recall on the hood latch. Lowering the reliability and resale values to one star. The Good: The car is a joy to drive. It has great acceleration for a 4 cylinder. The handling is great and responsive for a car of its size. The steering may be a bit too soft feeling and aggressive for some, but I like it. The car brakes well, the brakes feel tight and I haven't yet, knock on wood, had a situation where I had to engage the anti-lock brakes. The car gets great gas mileage, but I have a heavy foot so I average around 27 mpg mixed highway / city driving. The keyless entry and push button start are a convenience, but the most convenient feature of the car is the car honks when you have filled the tire up to the correct pressure. Just turn the car off. Press the start button twice with your foot off of the brake, fill up the tire until the car honks and you're off. Best feature by far when it's cold and you're pumping air not having to fool around with a pressure gauge exposed to the elements. The Bad: Engine noise. This may not be bad to people who enjoy sports cars or are used to driving manual transmissions, but this car is really loud in certain situations. It purrs when at speed, but roars when getting up to speed and coasting downhill. I'd compare coasting downhill in this car to downshifting from 4th to 2nd in a manual; you feel the car employing engine braking and a tug then the RPMs rev. I think this is a feature of CVT to keep the same MPH going downhill and not over accelerate causing the car to surge MPH down the hill. Engine noise may not be an issue with the V6. The transmission feels a bit frail after accelerating after shifting from reverse. The car flutters a little and even does it sometimes when accelerating from a standstill. I caution you not to reverse roll with this transmission. I feel it's too fragile to handle going in reverse putting it in neutral while you roll and engage the drive gear. That's a bad practice general for any automatic but may be fatal for this one. I bet that's why a few reviews said their transmission went out after 10k miles. The car feels cheaply made after driving it awhile. Road dirt and grime gets from the floor panel all of the way up to the door jamb where the car door closes. Never had that happen in any other car. The rain pings on the car like rain on a tin can; makes me feel the car has little to no noise insulation. At highway speeds there is a ton of wind noise, but one will get used to it unless that type of thing is a deal breaker. The "carpet" on the floor is paper thin. Literally. It's the cheapest carpet I've ever seen in a car. Wait until you vacuum it you'll see what I mean. Feels like it could tear easily. It seems like the carpet that comes standard in the trunk of cars. Nissan decided to cut corners and put that cheap stuff in the interior. The Ugly: The visor fell down while my wife was driving maybe month 3 into owning the car. Took it back to the dealer to get repaired under warranty and they claimed the visor would have cost $300! For that price why is it falling down?! While there we also got the fix done for the hood latch recall. Fast forward 2 months later my wife gets in the passenger seat and the passenger side airbag disengaged light came on. She got out of the car and back in and it stayed on. Drove for fifteen minutes and still disengaged, so I had to park turn the car off and back on to get the airbag to turn back on. It happened two more times. Took it to the dealer and they claim nothing was wrong but gave us a manual on how the feature worked. Mind you the 2014 Altimas had this very same issue. It has happened once since taking it back to the dealer. Trip three to the dealer was because of squealing brakes on a brand new car. If it rains and the car has been sitting they squeal. If it's cold and the car has been sitting they squeal. This is a "feature" of the metal on metal brake pads the dealer says. I say another corner was cut. The projection headlights are dangerously dim. They work OK in dry conditions, but in the rain forget about it. You can barley tell they are on. Just compare other cars' headlight beams on the road to the Altima you'll see. The interior windows fog at the drop of a dime. I live in a humid region and this is a constant problem even with the recirculation off! It takes the defroster awhile to address the fogging. The technology package and Nissan connect are a joke. It barely connects with my Droid Turbo, and partially connects with my wife's iPhone 5s and her Droid MAXX, it did the best with her Galaxy S3. I have to turn the Bluetooth off and on on my phone several times before it connects and when it does the entire system freezes on the In Call for 0:01 display until the car is reset. Does not recognize voice
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Well balanced car for the $$
Brenda, Los Angeles, CA, 05/18/2016
Nissan Altima 2.5 S 4dr Sedan (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
22 of 23 people found this review helpful
We were not in the market for a new car, but after driving a 2015 Altima S for a week as a rental, we fell in love with it and decided to get one. We opted for the 2016 due to the sportier design changes. Also the the back up camera came standard now with this model (previously was an option). For the price, the S had a perfect balance of things we were looking for: Great gas mileage, smooth quiet ride, large trunk, exceptional acceleration for a 4 cyl., great visibility, and we loved the way the dash was designed with all the key features (electronics, warnings and entertainment screens) were laid out. We have not had the car for more than a couple of weeks so cannot comment on maintenance and repairs, but so far we are pretty happy with our purchase. Seats are very comfortable, although I almost liked the fabric on the 2015 better (they have upgraded to a different type of fabric and design). We average 29-30 MPG commuting to work mixed city/freeway driving and long freeway trip netted 39, but I'm sure we could do better if we maintained the minimum speed limit the entire time.
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Value your money Dont buy a Nissan
mavis nvodjo, Allentown, PA, 09/30/2015
Nissan Altima 2.5 S 4dr Sedan (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
8 of 8 people found this review helpful
After a month of the car,I started having issues with the car> it started with just the radio resetting itself while driving am driving> the LCD screen begins to flash and my car eventually slows down and stops. The first time it happened,I had to call Triple AAA to come help me. The second time the same issue happened,I was in my neighborhood and the radio starting resetting on and off and again my car slows down and stops. After turning the car off for a good hour, the car started perfectly with no issues for about 10 days. Then,one fine Saturday this car ruins my whole day by deciding not to start at all. I took the car to Nissan and they told me, the car is not the problem it my phone. Apparently, my Samsung galaxy note Edge is so brilliant it can mess up a car. I didn't know phones could actually disabled a car's function. Is Nissan,trying to do anything to fix this car,absolutely not.Apparently since I bought a new car,I have to buy a new phone,If I believed the phone was the problem I would go a buy one. It my first car purchase and I regret ever buying a Nissan,I should have stuck to buying a toyota or a Honda. Yes the people are nice but I would stay away from Nissan from now. I wouldn't even recommend my enemy to buy a Nissan.
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Great All Round Car
S vess, Clarksville, TN, 10/19/2015
Nissan Altima 2.5 S 4dr Sedan (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
22 of 25 people found this review helpful
I bought this can back in June and now have approximately 7000 miles on the car, I am very impressed with the overall ride, comfort, and gas mileage of the car. This is the first new car I have ever owned (that I personally drive all the time) and I am 60 years old. The brakes on the car are outstanding and I bought the technology package with the car so I can use my iPod. I drove several different cars when traveling on business and quickly found that this was the car I liked best out of all the different cars that I had rented. The CVT transmission makes the car great to drive on a long trip and in the mountains it will climb steep grades without all the down shifting that you normally see with other cars. So far I have averaged 38-39 MPG on my daily drive to work (50 miles total mostly interstate driving). CVT can be somewhat jerky when in stop and go traffic at times but other than that the CVT is very impressive for the performance and the MPG I get. The car will comfortably seat 4 adults and the trunk size is great for a trip. Only a few things concerns me about the car, the sheet metal is very thin and it would not take much to make a ding in the sheet metal. The motor rattles when it is first started after sitting for a period of time, I believe this is due to the type of lifters they used and the very light weigh oil used in the car. I plan on changing over to 10-W30 at the next oil change since I don’t live in a cold weather area. Once the car is hot the problem goes away, I have been a technical type of guy (electrician/mechanic) my whole life and I am not overly concerned at this point. These problems are not a major issue but in fairness I thought they should be mentioned. I highly recommend this car to anyone who is looking for a great all round car.
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Impressed- but.
johntc88, Ballston Spa, NY, 04/16/2015
updated 04/17/2016
Nissan Altima 2.5 S 4dr Sedan (2.5L 4cyl CVT)
30 of 35 people found this review helpful
I needed a vehicle that was 1)economical 2)durable 3)comfortable(back issues) and Nissans offering was unbeatable. I bought the 2015 Altima S and although initially impressed that feeling tapered off after 3 recall visits and 1 warrantee engine light oil pressure switch failure. The recalls consisted of rust occuring on the trunk where the chrome strip attaches to the plate area-fixed, the hood latch inspected and lubed and finally the hood latch replaced. Now none of these things caused me to be stranded but they did eat up a lot of my time and $ for fuel. The oil pressure switch/sensor was more concerning as it was not known if the pressure was lost due to oil pump failure-fixed and no damage done except for lost time and again $ for fuel. Now don't let this put you off from purchasing a Nissan product as they are at least staying on top of issues- not like other manufacturers-ignoring problems just to later have those issues come back to haunt them: sticking fuel pedal and steering wheel lock mechanism/ignition failure-remember those ? My mileage diminishes to 30mpg when temp drops below 10 F but comes back to 39mpg when temp is above 50F (? don't know why but runs fine in either climate) . I still like this car and will give Nissan the oppurtunity to have my business/money again in another 9 years as my experience with their products has proven to be cost effective with minimal requirements for maintenance required, thanks again Nissan.
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