2025 Nissan Altima Review: Solid Sedan Does Enough But No More

Ultimately, what is the chief purpose of a car? It's to provide transportation in a way that's better than walking, running, biking, or using a horse. Anything else is just gravy on top, though you don't need to be an auto industry expert to know that particular cars also have a designated purpose. A sports car like the BMW Z4 is meant to carve along the road with the top down, and for enjoying the best of German engineering. A Ford Ranger is made to haul and move stuff. A Cadillac Escalade V-Series is meant to serve as a warning to the collective misdeeds of humanity.

The 2025 Altima, meanwhile, is made by Nissan to simply be a car that's at least a step above the bottom floor of basic transportation. That's nowhere near a bad thing, mind: it's a strategy enshrined with automotive greats like the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry. It's a car for car's sake. In 2025, it's also one of the last vestiges of non-luxury midsize sedans, and while that's not a particularly exciting superlative to anyone but me and a small portion of the people who may be reading this, it's worth noting nonetheless.

The 2025 Nissan Altima 2.5 SV AWD that arrived on my driveway carried all of the presence and panache of a fax machine that happened to have a nice paint job. The white finish was positively rental car-spec, but the black gloss wheels moved the style needle ever so slightly higher. Fortunately, I did not lose it in any grocery store parking lots, assuaging my initial fears. I don't want that to be a knock against the Altima however, that's not the car's goal. As I learned over the week, the Altima is perfectly capable of doing its job, and maybe even a little more.

Mechanically, the Altima isn't going to be accused of being pulse-pounding. It has a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine that makes 188 horsepower and 180 pound-feet of torque, connected to a CVT that transfers power to all four wheels. Given that I reviewed this car in the dead of winter and I live in Southern Pennsylvania, all-wheel drive was a really nice addition. All-wheel drive can often hamper fuel economy, and it does over the standard front-wheel drive Altima, by all of two miles per gallon. Nissan estimates you can get 28 combined miles per gallon with the all-wheel drive Altima, which is actually pretty good over other all wheel drive cars.

Given that it was snowing over a significant portion of the week, I didn't risk life, limb, and sheet metal and thrash the Altima about in the snow. However, I did manage to have at least a little bit of fun taking the affordable Nissan through some back roads and around icy parking lots. I can attest that the all-wheel drive system works well enough that the Altima felt confident to drive in slippery conditions. It didn't behave in anyway that could be construed as unpredictable. Not a lot of power on tap with a competent all-wheel drive system makes for an easy to drive car.

Alex Hevesy/SlashGear

The interior, much like the outside, isn't really that special, despite the "SV Special Edition" package here. It has cloth seats, Apple CarPlay, a sunroof, a wireless charging pad, and some faux carbon fiber accents. It doesn't feel cheap or flimsy, but it's far from luxurious, too. 

I could regale you with philosophical ramblings about automotive norms and whether or not a car's purpose as intended by the manufacturer spoils reviews. Additionally, I could spend several thousand words listing features the Altima doesn't have and bemoan the absence. However, that would betray the spirit of the car. The Altima doesn't have a lot to say, not because it's lacking insight or aiming for the moon and missing. It knows exactly what it is, a less expensive midsize sedan with all-wheel drive, and it fulfills that purpose to the letter. It's not loud because it doesn't have to be and it's content in its mundanity. 

Given Nissan's general body of work, you may guess that the Altima doesn't top the price bracket and you'd be right. The bare basement 2025 Altima S starts at an even $27,000. The SV trim with all-wheel drive sets the price at $28,930; for the SV Special Edition — which includes a sunroof, wireless Apple CarPlay, the faux carbon fiber accents and a tiny rear spoiler — add an additional $1,090. Floor mats will set you back $365 and exterior ground lighting adds $570. A $1,140 destination charge rounds out the price to $32,520. That's right within the ballpark of the Honda Accord and Toyota Camry.

I do however have some qualms with the Altima and it's not a problem with the car itself, which was nothing short of stellar. It's priced right and it does what it says on the box. My problem, however, is with Nissan, a company that is, to use internet parlance "going through it." Nissan hasn't done anything to elevate the Altima above "just a car." It isn't available as a hybrid. Fuel economy is just "fine." The styling doesn't grab you and the available features list only rises to what you would expect and absolutely nothing more.

I'm not asking for a turbocharged sporty Altima that can liquefy other cars at the track. I'm fine if it remains a regular commuter sedan. But Nissan could have put a modicum of effort into making the sedan a more attractive option compared to its well-esteemed competition. The Nissan, although it isn't a bad car at all, has nothing to make it a better option over the Honda or Toyota. The 2025 Nissan Altima may be fine, but it's neither surprising enough to be great, nor exciting enough to be truly excellent, and that blame falls more on the ambitions of Nissan than the Altima itself.

Nissan's future is uncertain and, by extension, that means the Altima is on shaky ground. I'd like to remain hopeful that, whatever happens to the automaker, the Altima will get some sort of glow up in future iterations, in the form of a more interesting drivetrain or at the very least gaining a distinct personality. Right now it's a cheap car, but rivals are offering cheap and cheerful.