5 Discontinued Nissan Models We Wish Were Still Available Today

Questioning the decisions of professionals is a time-honored tradition of sports fans and automotive enthusiasts alike. Professional athletes train their entire lives, honing physiques, sharpening minds, studying every aspect of their chosen game, only to have thousands of fans spilling beverages while scrutinizing every move and shouting suggested improvements. While automotive enthusiasts aren't as vocal, we suffer the same angst and spill the occasional beverage when discussing the state of automobiles for which we've developed a passion. 

One area in particular that gets our blood boiling is news that a beloved model is getting the axe just because some corporate bean counter (no offense intended to those tasked with the counting of beans) placed more beans in the "cons" column than they did in the "pros." We won't include the Nissan MID4 among our lost loves since it was discontinued before it even rolled off the factory floor, but the recently announced discontinuance of the Nissan GT-R has already left a hole in some of our hearts. 

In addition to the GT-R, the Nissan Titan XD is among the top brand cars and trucks being discontinued in 2025 that we wish would stick around. Other Nissan models we wish were still available include the Xterra, Juke, and Murano CrossCabriolet.

If you hurry, you might be able to snag a new Nissan GT-R, but with the beloved model's slated demise following a limited 2025 production run, your opportunity to be the first owner of one of Nissan's most iconic sports cars is slipping away, at least for a while. The suggested prices of the 2024 Nissan GT-R range from $121,090 for the Premium AWD version to $221,090 for the AWD Nismo. Intermediate models include the Skyline Edition and T-spec AWD. In all, these model names are reminiscent of some of the best special edition Nissan GT-Rs ever made.

The top-spec 2024 Nissan GT-R Nismo AWD features a specially-tuned 600-horsepower twin-turbo 3.8-liter V6. The Nismo V6 produces 481 pound-feet of torque and gets an estimated 22 mpg on the highway using premium unleaded gas. Power transmits to all four tires through a six-speed auto-shift manual transmission and limited-slip differential system.

The final GT-R features independent double wishbone suspension up front and independent multi-link rear suspension with front and rear stabilizer bars. The rack-and-pinion steering mechanism features hydraulic power-assist and speed-sensitive operation.

The Titan is another discontinued model you might still find on a dealer lot if you hurry. While the Cummins diesel-powered Nissan Titan XD, discontinued following the 2019 model year, was never particularly well-suited to compete in the heavy-duty pickup truck segment it was often associated with, it served a noble purpose nonetheless. It was the worst truck, the truck that other trucks aspired to be better than. With the Titan XD's absence, other automakers could let their trucks slip into the lowest position and begin to feel comfortable there. The loss of diesel-powered half-ton trucks, and entire V8-engine lineups, are the slippery-slope that the Nissan Titan XD once held firm.

While rumors of the Nissan Titan making a comeback in 2025 appear false, the gas-powered 2024 Titan XD is likely still available, although it's also being discontinued. The 2024 Titan XD featured a 400-horsepower 5.6-liter V8 with 413 lb-ft of torque. Its drivetrain consisted of a nine-speed automatic transmission, a two-speed switch-operated transfer case, and Nissan's standard four-wheel drive while the Titan XD PRO-4X trim came with an electronic locking rear differential. However, we wish the 5.0 Cummins diesel-powered Nissan Titan XD was still available.

We'll admit that if you peruse the pages of SlashGear you'll find the Nissan Xterra listed among the used Nissan models you should steer clear of at all costs. But that was the 2005 model year that kicked off the Xterra's second generation. Of course, we'd like to see a host of improvements associated with the return of the Xterra, but hopefully with enough of its rugged charm to compete with other off-road-oriented SUVs dominating the market today.

Early versions of the Xterra included the XE and SE trims. Engine offerings were divided between a 2.4L inline four-cylinder and a 3.3L V6. We'd expect a returning Nissan Xterra to share drivetrain specs with the ongoing midsize Nissan Frontier pickup truck. For 2024, the Frontier featured a 310-horsepower 3.8-liter V6 delivering up to 281 lb-ft of torque, a nine-speed automatic transmission, and a two-speed transfer case on 4x4 models.

Hopefully, if it returns, the Xterra doesn't devolve into another soccer-team-transport vehicle best suited to traversing mall parking lots. It would be nice to see an Xterra equipped to compete with the likes of the Ford Bronco Raptor, or Wildtrak.

The Nissan Juke, with its quirky front turn signals perched atop its fenders like raised eyebrows, didn't present a face everyone loved. Nissan introduced the Juke, a compact crossover, in 2010. Inspired by the Qazana concept vehicle that debuted at the Geneva Motor Show the year prior, the innovative Juke featured torque-vectoring technology, the first for a compact car.

In the early model Jukes, it was common to find a naturally aspirated 188-horsepower 1.6-liter engine under the hood. However, before the Juke was discontinued in the U.S. and replaced by the Nissan Kicks following the 2017 model year, Nissan changed up the Juke's engine lineup. Starting in 2014, Nissan began offering the Juke with a smaller 1.2-liter DIG-T 115 (Direct Injection Gasoline-Turbo offering 115 ps, or 113 horsepower) and a revised 188-horsepower DIG-T 190 engine for the Juke Nismo with 177 lb-ft of torque.

Of course the Nismo RS sits on top of our Nissan Juke wishlist. It not only featured race-inspired seats, an aerodynamic body kit, and Nismo-tuned suspension components, its engine produced 215 horsepower and 210 lb-ft of torque.

Up to this point, our wish list for returning Nissan models has included a sports car, a diesel pickup, a rugged off-road vehicle, and a quirky yet sporty compact SUV. For our final wish, provided we can find a genie that grants five wishes, we'd like to see an updated version of the Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet.

Sure, maybe the Murano CrossCabriolet, arguably one of the weirdest SUVs ever made, was ahead of its time when it debuted in 2011 as a convertible SUV with soft suspension and odd steering. And its low sales volume suggests that the SUV-buying public didn't warm up to its uniqueness by the time Nissan pulled the plug on it after the 2014 model year. But the world has changed in the 11 years since its departure.

The basic Nissan Murano, now in its fourth generation, has proved quite popular with U.S. SUV buyers, although it flopped in other parts of the world. Given the Nissan Murano's staying power and the popularity of convertible SUVs like the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco, the CrossCabriolet is sure to find some buyers given the proper treatment and an affordable suggested price from Nissan.