I have a 1999 Altima Most reliable four cylinder I have ever owned never an issue an extremely good on gas this is probably the last of the reliable Altimas
It is the last. My first new car was a 99' SE limited in Ultra Red. The powertrain never let me down. I can also attest to the functionality of the Super Toe control after rounding an unexpected 20 mph curve at 55 mph. Saved my life one night! I passed it down to my mom (drove it from 08-17) and then she passed it to my brother at 214k. After a yr the timing system needed repair and he never fixed it. It ended up getting junked last yr. People who only know 00' and up Nissans will NEVER know how exceptional Nissans were prior to! The only real issue I had with it was the braking system. Never used as many pads and disk on any car as much as the Altima.
Its ironic that despite making better cars than most competitors from the 70s to late 90s, by 1999 Nissan was on the verge of bankruptcy. Their pre 2000 cars were as reliable as the best brands and gave superb value for money.
They were always so hit and miss in styling and performance, with no real marketing direction or good positioning. Plus, poor management and wasteful spending (Infiniti, Pulsar WRC program, LMP racing program). But man, their quality was top notch and they had some extremely talented engineers.
You have made a very good point. You can still see the older 1996 Nissan Maxima on the road. These cars were bullet proof reliability and fantastic cars to drive with the 5 speed manual. The 2002 Nissan Maxima on the other hand, were unreliable. I had a friend of mine who had 1996 Maxima Se with 5 speed. That car ran with no issues, and the power train was reliable. I have owned the 2002 Nissan maxima with 4 speed auto, and it gave me a bunch of headaches. I had to replace the transmission, radiator l, exhaust, fan blower, and the fuel pump because the fuel gage stopped working. My friends Maxima all he had to place are brakes, oxygen sensor, and other basic maintenance.
Grew up with gma's emerald one, it rusted in the rear left wheelhouse, but a beautiful little plant started growing through it. Need my own green machine!
I had a ‘96 Sentra 5spd. It was an extra car..I sold it for some pocket cash to attend my wedding. (it was up north where my in-laws reside). Ugh..as a die-hard Honda guy, I know what I had. I had 42mpg, decent radio, CHEAP tires, ice cold a/c and oddly enough it was almost fun to drive.
I saw one last week looking back love the first generation seemed looked better than 3rd generation was beautiful sadly new model car had numerous problems catalytic converter issues and oil consumption problems on 02-04s think was fixed on 05-06. The 4th generation was my favorite was best looking out all of the generations besides the newer model looks so much wish had automatic standard on SR and Platinum models. I think Nissan is a comeback now the CVTS gotten better wish they could had merged with Toyota, they were good cars not as good before Renault took over the brand but they had to do was best not Nissan been in the graveyard years ago along Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Saturn, Mercury, Hummer and Saab.
Crazy that the flagship Maxima got a twist beam rear, while the cheap-ish Altima got Super Toe Control. The twist beam wasn't that big an issue, but still..
The worst Nissan of the era. The 93 Altima was so beautiful compared to this monstrosity. I'm a 90's Nissan aficionado, but this was a bit of a stumble.
This gen Altima was developed as Nissan faced bankruptcy, you can see evdience of cost cutting everywhere from it's conservative styling to its somewhat downgraded interior trim and quality.
