2016 Nissan Altima S 2.5

Summary:

Not great, but not bad either

Faults:

Nothing.

Too much road noise.

Rough, pounding-punishing ride over bad streets and freeway surfaces.

Paint quality is poor, lots of orange peel and haziness to the paint.

General Comments:

I am currently leasing this car through Uber, and it wasn't my first choice, but it was the only used car on the lot that had the least amount of miles on it. So this is why I chose it.

First off, the car gets amazing gas mileage, and this is another reason why I like these Altimas so much. Its performance is actually pretty surprising for the 2.5 and CVT trans. Most people don't like the feeling of a CVT, but in this case, it's really smooth and the shifting is seamless. The only issue is at times the CVT isn't as responsive as I would like. You have to press the accelerator down quite a bit to make the trans react if you are wanting some get up and go power, and sometimes it can get a little jerky. Otherwise, the engine idles smooth and the transmission is great, no harshness or funky shift points.

The interior is OK quality wise; I expect and accept loads of plastic in modern cars these days, there's just no way avoiding it, even in luxury cars. But the plastics seem properly fitted and solid, not ultra flimsy plastic like you would see and feel in cars of the 80s and 90s. My only issue is just that they scratch really easily, especially the lower door panels. The door panels are nicely padded in the right areas, and it feels higher end compared to a Sonata I sat in before.

Also for being a 2016, the interior looks exactly the same as it did 3-4 years ago in the older Altimas. So that's disappointing. The LCD screen is too small and outdated looking.

The features are OK, I have the S model, so it doesn't have all the latest and greatest tech features, but enough to satisfy me.

The seats are one of my favorite things about the car, they are truly one of the most comfortable seats that I have sat in for a midsize car. They are supportive and have lots of thick padding. I can drive for hours and my body and back doesn't hurt at all.

The interior is also quite spacious and legroom is plentiful.

One of the most disappointing aspects of this car is how rough the ride can get over poor road conditions. The ride is generally bumpy and bouncy, it's like the suspension has zero wheel travel. Not sure if it's the tires, but generally driving around town under 40 mph in the car is very quiet and smooth for the most part. But once on a concrete freeway, the interior road noise is really noticeable and intrusive. The car jolts you when going over pot holes, and you can feel the cracks from the road entering the cabin of the car easily. It's like the car doesn't absorb road impacts whatsoever. The plastics in the cabin vibrates and creaks if the road is coarse and in poor shape.

So on one hand, the car rides well on smooth streets and, but acts like Dr. Jekyll and Mrs Hyde on rough stuff.

I guess after driving my 94 Cadillac for so many years, I am used to being isolated from the outside world. So when I got this car to drive every day for Uber, I will never buy an Altima as a future purchase. I want something that is more comfortable to drive over rough roads, and is quieter.

I wish I could turn it back in, but I am stuck with the lease for at least 2 years.

Overall the Altima is a good car, gets great gas mileage, is well built, has great power for a 4 cylinder, it's just the ride quality sucks. Living in California with our horrible road conditions, it's probably best to look elsewhere if you live in a city that has extremely poor infrastructure.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Don't Know

Review Date: 27th April, 2017

30th Apr 2017, 03:16

Excellent, thoughtful review.

Nissan owns a stake in the CVT manufacturer, JATCO.

As such, the fine art of such things as power train matching are well done at this point.

Translation: Fuel economy, Acceleration, and - the icing on the cake - Driveability, are attended to.

Please keep us in the loop as time goes on :)

30th Apr 2017, 22:12

OP here. I will, I think getting better tires for the car will help in the ride quality department. The ones that are on the car now are Hankook Optimos runflat tires. Run flats have an extremely rigid side wall, so I think this might have something to do with the harsh ride and road noise.

I read online that Nissan added more sound deadening material in the car to lower the noise, which made a difference compared to a 2013 altima I rented before, which was very loud inside while on the freeway. It's still somewhat noisy, but not nearly as bad like in the previous years.

The car is great in many aspects, so hopefully with new tires my perception will change in the near future.