How Reliable Are Nissans? Here's What Consumer Reports Says

Each year, various automakers go headlong into battle with each other in the Consumer Reports (CR) reliability survey. The study provides data about which car brands build the most and least dependable new models you can buy. The findings are based on owner surveys, in which thousands of subscribers are asked to share their experiences with their vehicles over the past 12 months. CR analyzes the cars across 20 trouble areas, including engine problems, transmission faults, and interior issues. 

This year's study included more than 300,000 vehicles with model years from 2000 to early 2025. According to the results of the survey, Nissan ranked 12th out of 22 manufacturers, making it the lowest-ranked Japanese brand in the study. Other Japanese automakers dominated the top 10, with Subaru coming in first in the rankings, followed by Lexus, Toyota, Honda, Acura, and Mazda, in that order. If you've been keeping up with Nissan, you'll know its lackluster performance in comparison to other Japanese brands is par for the course. 

In many circles, Nissans aren't considered to be as reliable as vehicles from other mainstream Japanese car brands. Indeed, the Yokohama-based automaker has often been criticized for its troublesome continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) and ongoing issues with the clever but problematic variable-compression VC-Turbo engine. Both the 2.0-liter four-cylinder VC-Turbo and 1.5-liter three-cylinder versions of the engine have undergone intense scrutiny. Recently, nearly 450,000 Nissans and Infinitis were recalled and became the subject of a class action lawsuit, due to issues with the variable-compression engines. 

Nissan used to be among the highest-rated car brands for reliability. So, it will come as little surprise that many consider older, used Nissans to be of higher quality than newer ones. CR's list of the most reliable used car brands, which considers vehicles between 5 and 10 years old, puts Nissan in eighth place. That's four spots higher than the 12th place finish it achieved in the new car rankings.

The study assessed used vehicles with model years between 2015 and 2020, including Nissan models like the Altima, Leaf, Rogue, Rogue Sport, Frontier, Murano, Pathfinder, and Sentra. Interestingly, some of these Nissan vehicles have known issues, as they were equipped with Jatco-supplied CVTs that presented major problems, leading to recalls and lawsuits across multiple years. Some of these vehicles had such severe issues that they made our list of cars you would never recommend anyone buys.

These faulty transmissions can cause various symptoms, including issues like shudders or vibrations, strange noises, and severe overheating that causes the vehicle to enter limp mode. However, while these issues were pretty common, not every person who owns a Jatco CVT-equipped Nissan has faced them, which may explain the brand's top 10 placement here.