Tremendous exterior styling, 6CD/8spkr BOSE, strong Frame integrity at high speeds, excellent handling for a large sedan, lots of goodies for the price, incredible engine output (185hp) for a 4cyl, large cabin, good size trunk. Nice Rims.

Fuel Economy isn't so great (I average around 18mpg in town and about 24 on the highways). Small Glove compartment.

I brought home my '03 Altima 2.5SL in April 2003 and am happy to say I haven't had any problems with it whatsoever. The 3rd Generation Altima is a fantastic combination of style, performance, and price. Even the people who write negative reviews on here admit that its exterior design is sleek and striking. Every time I sit down in my leather drivers seat, I seriously feel as if I'm in a $35,000 low-end luxury car (BMW, Lexus), Nissan has gone out of there way to add as many goodies into the cabin as possible (6 dish/8spkr Bose, Steering Wheel mounted Radio controls, Moonroof, Travel calculator (VERY useful in computing fuel efficiency), and lots more. And I have to say, this car WANTS to be driven, if you get a clean, open stretch of highway, go for it! Its too bad the governing chip caps the speedometer at around 115mph, because the stiff frame handles triple digits extremely well. As for the quality of the interior, I think its fine, I realize its faux-wood paneling, but its a $23K car, I don't expect to get ALL the trimmings for the kind of money I spent. I think Nissan did an excellent job of not wasting interior space (no tape deck, which I'd never use anyway, "hidden" cup holders, arm rest that retracts), making the cabin feel very roomy. My sister has an '03 Accord and it feels very cramp compared to my Altima, especially the backseat. The gated shifter is fantastic, it takes a few weeks to get used to, but once you do, its very useful (because of its tactile design, u never have to look down to see what you are shifting into). The rims are VERY sharp too, Nissan is clearly marketing this car to 18-35 year old guys (and I'm 26 so I feel like they built this car specifically for ME!!!) For anyone considering an Altima, I highly recommend spending the extra $2K and getting the SL model, the leather, BOSE system, and the unsung "HomeLink" (can program it to open your home garages, don't have to fumble around with clickers anymore!).

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2003 Accord

BOSE stereo, nice head room. Nice styling for a mid-price sedan.

THE CAR WONT START!

If only I read previous reviews before I purchased this vehicle, I know I would not be writing this today. I purchased this car this past Sunday (2.29.04-remember, a day that comes only once every four years). I was looking at this vehicle for a couple of weeks, and was impressed with it's styling along it's 0.9% financing. Even though I was somewhat disappointed with the sales team, I came back and purchased this vehicle. The SL model offering the leather interior along with the BOSE in-dash six CD stereo system were the reasons I probably chose this car among others that I looked at. That was Sunday. Monday, I drive the car to work, and the CHECK ENGINE SOON lights up. Since I was bringing the car in on Monday afternoon to have them buff out some stratches I've noticed, I thought it would be a good time for them to check out this light. The master technician was not there, but they reset the system. The light disappears. I take the car home. Tuesday, I am running a little late for work, but looking forward to my drive in my brand new Altima. I turn the ignition, the car does not start. The dealership has to tow my car to their service department. I was offered a rental vehicle (a Ford Escape-a SUV that I was really impressed with by the way). I pick up my car Thursday evening. I was assured this won't happen again for a long time-it was a battery cable that was loose). Friday morning comes. Okay the car does start, but the CHECK ENGINE SOON light reappears and stays lit. I stop by the dealership, and at this point I am very frustrated. I don't want this car any longer. I want to exchange it for any similar model knowing that this car will never work correctly. They show me a graphite silver with a moonroof-the MSRP was a little more than the one I purchased. It was the color I wanted, and the extra perk was the moonroof. They said, we will see what we can do. After that long wait, they tell me, we can't do the same payments, but we can get you into a XTERRA for $400 a month. I thought this trade would be the least they could do. I really feel I wanted to give NISSAN another chance. Of course, they disappoint me once again. I bring it in early Saturday morning. I hope to pick it up Saturday afternoon, but the master technician is not there to review this problem, and I was informed that Monday afternoon, it should be ready. So folks, this is where I stand. It has not even been a week, and I can't see this story having any happy ending. I liked this car for the head room, I liked the car for the options. Nissan really can make a stylish car for the price, but what good is a car if it doesn't run?

Good acceleration and reasonable fuel economy if driven easy. Nice styling

Interior design and overall build quality only fair. High price for an economy car with some bells a whisles. Nissan willingness to help with the design flaws. Weird placement for a front turn signal.

Nice looking car but is really a rather cheap dressed up economy car. Brutally harsh ride. Another name for sports tuned suspension is " bad ride quality". Problems with interior parts, poor design and quality. Auto Trans hesitates on acelleration at times and causes a jerking sensation when on and off the gas during normal driving. Front struts clunk over entering and exiting driveways. Front head room needs to be better.

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Honda, Toyota, Buick

Good acceleration Smooth ride and handling (except tight cornering) Quiet Comfortable seats Good stereo

Turns corners like an aircraft carrier Bottoms out easily - low clearance Mediocre A/C Excessive tire wear

My wife bought the car used shortly before I met her in September '01. It's been a good car overall but it's been hard keeping tires on it. Several alignments later the tires still wear unevenly and we're on the third full set in 50,000 miles. It's been to two Nissan dealers and they can't figure it out. otheriwse it's a great car. Lots of power for a 4 cyl automatic and it handles and rides very well, much better than other small cars I've driven. Great stereo, comfortable seats (leather option) but the A/C leaves a lot to be desired. It's a black car and really holds the heat and shows the scratches but that's true of any black vehicle. My chief complaint (other than the tire issue) is the ridiculously wide turning circle. My 4x4 Toyota pickup turns a lot tighter. I often have to back up when trying to get into a parking spot due to the limited steering radius. It also requires caution on speed bumps or dirt roads as it rides low and bottoms out easily.

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Geo Prizm

Reliable.

I have not found any weakness during my ownership.

Got this car 4 year back when it had 30K miles. Drove it for 4 year until a Jeep hit me last month and it was total loss. This car served me very well, gave me a lot of joy, added 45K miles, no problem during my ownership, just replaced the tires once. I do my own maintenance and put in good oil and filters. Since I am out of $$$ now, otherwise I would buy a Altima again. For now, I am settle on a compact car with basic options. It is more bumpy than the Altima ! Now I always missed my Altima. I wish no one hit me last month and I could drive that Altima for next 10 years. Please only drive when you are driving. You could cause damage to other people's life, $$$$, time and more.

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96 Honda Civic 03 Mazda Protege 03 Toyota Highlander 84 Toyota Celica 96 Nissan Quest

exterior, style roomie trunk and interior

Brakes repaired early on Terrible in the snow- upstate NY! many recalls many minor interior problems- boot on stick shift, door woulndn't open, heater blew only cold air...

I was an avid Nissan consumer...Never owned anything but. I absolutely loved the Altima when I first purcahsed it! Now...too many recalls, flat front tire, rear brakes replaces at a cost of 400$ because only covered under warranty until 18k. I had 24K.

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- Roomy, nice exterior design

- Cheap interior design (feels like plastic) - Conti tires are bad and dangerous.

I got this car in Mar03 and was happy with it as it offered more interior room and more power than my previous VW Golf 94. The exterior look was amazing and the handling of the car was OK for an old geezer like myself (31 years old). However, in Aug03, I was on the highway when I had a flat tire (Conti tires). It turned out that my tire was completely shredded. It was as if someone took a knife and cut the tire all around from the back. I thought it was a road hazard until I read, on the internet, the following from other Altima 2003 owners: - "Do not buy this car!... The car had 2 tires shred within the first 2 months of ownership. To top it off, the tires put on the Altima are not only cheap, but very rare, and impossible to find." - "3 sets of tires in 5000 miles is outrageous" - "Disappointment due to noise, premature wear and defective sidewall on one tires after only 9,000 miles" - "I own Nissan Altima 2003. Just bought it (3 months),... and now service found that tire is totally bad" -"The Conti guy mentioned to my tire guy that there is a problem with the Altimas..." I guess I was not the only one with this problem. I had to pay for the tire replacement, as it is not covered by the warranty. What annoyed me the most is that I sent a letter and an email to Nissan Canada quoting the comments above and reciting my story. I also attached pictures of the terribly shredded tire. At the end of my letter, I asked the following from Nissan: "What I am looking for is a reassurance that the Nissan Altima 2003, a car manufactured by your esteemed company, is safe and that the tires installed have been tested, certified and matching your standards of quality" Guess what? Nissan Canada never replied. I totally recommend AGAINST buying this car!!! Yes, do not buy this car. It is either the tires are very cheap and unsafe or Nissan is an extremely irresponsible company.

Lots of leg room, spacious trunk, lots of places to put your CD's & other items, AWESOME acceleration even in the 4cyl (6 cyl is really peppy!), not a lot of road noise, turns tight, agile.

The front cup holders are horrid, the interior mouldings need to be fitted closer together, the a/c isn't cold enough (although it does push out a lot of air), no place to put change.

This is a nice car for the amount of money we spent. We bought the 4 cyl with the standard stuff (pwr windows & locks, stereo, etc.). The body style caught our eye on the web on Wednesday & by Thursday, we were driving it home. We've been driving it since May 2002 & we haven't had any major problems with it. We were experiencing something that sounded like the car was shifting too soon. We took it to the dealer & found that there were 2 recalls & that it might be due to one of recalls. After they fixed it, we never heard it again.

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94 Geo Prism, 99 Toyota Camry, 2000 Chrysler Sebring conv.

Fast,fun to drive,handles great and all of this on a 4DOOR FAMILY SEDAN,not a sports car

To much fun to drive

Great car,everything works.To many people rate it as if its suppose to be a sports car,its not.

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The power and handling left you wanting more.

The valve cover gasket and radiator are an issue. We had to replace the gasket 4 times and the radiator blew after 100,000 miles.

This car was a strong running vehicle that was fun to drive.