When it comes to identifying the proverbial bread-and-butter model in Nissan’s lineup, chances are good you will assume crossovers like the Rogue and the Kicks have the mantle. However, a third model also has this role but it doesn’t get as much attention as it deserves. This model is the 2025 Altima sedan with the Altima being Nissan’s enduring entry in the mid-size sedan segment.
Age is starting to show its presence in the Altima but do the extra wrinkles prevent the Altima from standing out in a sedan segment where design has rapidly reasserted itself as a key tool to help them get extra attention from buyers?
Altima exterior carries over unchanged
Nissan gave the Altima some styling tweaks for the 2023 model year but chose to use the 2024 and the 2025 model years as an opportunity to go on cruise control with the model carrying over unchanged when viewed from the outside. Our tester arrived with a $425 coat of Tactical Green paint with the sazzy hue also giving our tester bronze-colored 19-inch alloy wheels. Look past these visual gimmicks and the core styling formula carries over unchanged with the front fascia getting a large V-Motion style front grille and slick-looking headlights.
The side profile has a playful demeanor and it leads out to the back where the Altima gets tweaked taillights and a small rear spoiler. The look allows the Altima to have a sportier demeanor, but it’s easy to see how old the styling has become too with some of its rivals in this smaller segment having long benefitted from styling updates that make them look fresher than the Nissan.
Interior tries too hard
Slip inside the Altima and you’ll find a cabin that’s comfortable and roomy with the front seats having plenty of comfort and support thanks to Nissan’s nifty Zero Gravity material. Our only real complaints center around a few items that make it seem like the Altima is trying too hard to pretend it’s something that it’s not. For example, the flat-bottomed steering wheel and the faux carbon fiber trim on our SR grade example wrote checks that don’t quite reflect the Altima’s modest performance behavior (more on that later.)
An 8.0-inch infotainment system is standard on most Altima models with the SL and optioned versions of the SV and SR getting access to a bigger 12.2-inch screen. Our tester arrived with the bigger 12.3-inch screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standard. The system looks crisp but in practice, we noticed sluggish operation especially when inputting certain commands and accessing windows. The rear seats are typical of the segment with the raking roofline eating into headroom which is a shame since legroom is not that bad. The trunk is spacious however with the space capable of swallowing several pieces of bulky luggage. Wireless phone charging is available too but only on certain trim levels.
One engine lineup pitches the turbo for economy
Our SR model arrived with a 2.5-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder with this trim level losing its beefier VC-Turbo four-cylinder for 2025. This simplified engine lineup is across the board but here on the SR, it feels like the customer is missing out on something with the engine in our car producing 188 hp and 180 lb-ft of torque. An all-wheel-drive model like our example makes two more horsepower but at the cost of the same amount of torque with that figure going down to 178 lb-ft of torque.
Nissan’s CVT is the lone transmission available and here in the Altima, it robs some of the fun that you get on acceleration with the noisy four-cylinder not providing much grunt off the line. The Altima is not a formal performance model per say but with some of the visual upgrades our particular tester had, we were disappointed to see that it was mostly for show with very little go on tap.
The company says that the lack of performance is made up by fuel economy with the EPA saying a front-wheel drive Altima in S or SV trim can get 27/39 mpg in city and freeway driving with all-wheel drive making those numbers dip slightly to 26/36 mpg in the same categories. Braking in our tester was on par for the segment with the rest of the Altima’s dynamic behavior also walking the proverbial middle line when it comes to delivering the goods especially in handling.
Value Quotient:
Pricing for the 2025 model starts at $27,000 even for the base S before taxes and fees are factored in. As you climb your way up the trim ladder, the pricing stays below $30,000 with an SR model like our example having a base sticker of $28,830. The light sprinkling of options (including the attractive wheels and paint) caused our tester’s final sticker to go just above $30,000 when all was said and done.
As a whole, the 2025 Nissan Altima continues o be one of the most intriguing sedans on the market today with the Altima continuing to provide sharp styling and technology to sedan buyers. However, it’s also no secret that the Altima also represents some of the troubles tha Nissan is going through and with the company silent on when we could see a revamped version, it remains to be seen if the Altima will continue to be the sales success that the company wants it to be.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.