I know that nissan cars are not as reliable as honda or toyota but I was wondering if the Nissan altimas(pre 2013) with a manual transmission and v6 would be a somewhat reliable car? I heard Nissan makes good v6 engines but are always paired to bad automatic transmissions, so I was wondering if getting a manual would help. The cars are way cheaper than Honda or Toyota v6 cars so in a time like this with high car prices I was hoping to save some money but not sacrifice a ton of reliability. Any information at all is appreciated.
One of Scotty's latest videos says the Nissan V6 is a very good engine. It's just that the automatic transmissions suck. A manual paired with this engine, according to him is a good combination.
Thanks will watch the video after work. I also wonder if the sentra spec v would be good but that is a 4 cylinder with a manual. That one is a option I was looking into as well.
It is better than the automatic but the Nissan quality is not there. I would not consider them as a good one.
You have some opposing views than what the 2 other people have said so far. I do think you are right I don't think it's good as honda or toyota but what do you think about when scotty and other people say they have strong v6 engines. Do you think there are other areas where there are weak reliability besides power train I should know about. Keep in mind I am talking about pre 2013 altimas.
They did have some dashboard melting issues but keep in mind a Camry around the same year range had the exact same issues.
Ah so take a look at the dash and maybe order a dash cover. That's what I've noticed, the camrys had oil burning problems, ik you can keep adding it. Each car isn't 100 percent perfect and I didn't expect the nissan to be but I think it would be a better buy in the configuration I was talking about then other cars from the time. Ford fusions from that time are fairly reliable but the automatic transmissions are still not great and their water pumps tend to fail. Also accords from the generation have bad automatics compared to most and even the v6 manual is know to have synchro issues. So it just seemed like this may be an okay car ya know.
The general quality is not only related to transmission and engine. It goes to how the car is held up over time. As far as I know, Nissan does not hold up as Toyota or Honda.
Thanks for your input
You're welcome and good luck with your purchase.
Nissan especially those year ranges hold up just fine over time as long as you maintain them as with any other vehicle on the planet. With the v6 and a stick it will be a very reliable little rocket they are very quick for a sedan and are fun to drive.
Cool, that's really good to know.
Those can actually be good cars with a V6 and manual. The V6 and CVT combos are also not bad apparently because they are better made with the V6 compared to the 4 cylinders so there is less of a chance of tranny failure in a V6 CVT Nissan, compared to the 4 cylinder CVT combo which was not good. Still, a manual is the better way to go and it can last a really long time, just make sure you get it checked out by a mechanic, and if it's all good, go ahead.
