2026 Nissan Altima Review | UNDER $28K!!!

[music] >> What's up, you guys? Welcome back to another one. If you are new to this channel, I am Goldpony. I do new car, truck, SUV reviews on YouTube. And today, we are in the brand new 2026 Nissan Altima, courtesy of Younger Nissan in Frederick, Maryland. For more information on their inventory, please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. Dang, these turn signals are loud. But anyways, today we are in this one because there's a new trim level structure for 2026. I'll be going over that. All-wheel drive is available and it's definitely one of the perks to the Altima as well. And you do get 2 years or 24,000 miles of complimentary maintenance. That's going to save you a little bit of money there, too. But ultimately in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this one from acceleration to braking, steering feel, ride quality, sound system, exhaust clip, all that fun stuff. So, having said all of that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. And so, like I said, there's a new structure for the trim levels for 2026. There's no more S trim level or SL trim level for the 2026 model year here. So, you got the SV starting at $27,580, SV special edition for $28,880, SR for $28,980, and lastly the SR Midnight Edition. That one starts at $30,980. But regardless of the trim level that you go with, the power plant for the Altima is going to be the same. Powering the beast is a 2.5 L naturally aspirated inline four-cylinder. It puts out 188 horsepower at 6,000 RPM, 180 lb feet of torque coming in at 3,600 RPM. That power being sent to the front wheels or all wheels through a continuously variable transmission. As far as the 0 to 60 time goes, it comes in at 7.4 seconds. With MPG numbers coming in at 26 in the city, 36 on the highway for the front-wheel drive, and then 25 city, 33 then on the highway for the all-wheel drive taking regular unleaded fuel. So, before we do any kind of fun acceleration test here in the Altima, I did want to mention you guys the drive mode. It is singular, it's just a sport driving mode, and it's not labeled that way. So, it's kind of interesting. It's actually just this circular line located just beneath the shifter here. And when you press that, it's going to adjust things like the shift points and the throttle response. So, now we've got all of that out of the way, what do you guys say let's go ahead and find a straightaway. Let's put the acceleration here to the test, and let's see how quickly we can get our new 2026 Nissan Altima here up to speed. All right, pulling out onto the road here, kind of merging into traffic. Let's kick it. That's actually not bad. That felt kind of quick. Now, you can definitely tell it's a continuously variable transmission, so it's not like it's anything that's going to really simulate an automatic. Um some of them do, but uh it's pretty darn quick. Like, I I didn't have any issues with that. That was kind of cool, but anyways, to go along with that acceleration, as always, braking is equally important. So, up front you will find 11.7-in ventilated front discs, in the back 11.5-in solid rear discs. Far as that 60-0 stopping distance goes, it comes in at 120 ft, which is perfectly fine, right on par for the course there. As far as braking feel goes, since there's nobody behind us here, it's maybe a little bit on the softer side of things, but it definitely brings you to quite a nice stop. And that 120 ft is actually borderline sports sedan. Typically, you hit the one teens when you're in the sports sedan territory, so there is nothing wrong with that number whatsoever. But anyways, then touching on suspension and handling, up front you're going to get an independent strut type front suspension, in the back independent multi-link rear suspension, front and rear stabilizer bars. But I did want to also mention with that SR trim level only, you also get a sport tuned suspension. So, that is going to make you feel a little bit more of the road, but it's also going to give you better handling at the same time. But anyways, as far as ride quality goes, it's been perfectly fine in my short little test drive here today. And I will say these seats are super comfortable, so that makes it even better. Um we'll get to the seats a little bit later in the video, but I love these seats. But as far as steering feel goes, it's definitely on the looser side of things. It's not a heavy steering feel. I would say the center is actually a bit better of a playful steering feel than the Altima. I guess that makes sense though. It's more of a sportier compact car, but um definitely a little bit on the looser side, but there's nothing wrong with that. This is more of a commuter car anyways. Uh touching on cabin noise, we're going 40 mph. I'll be quiet here for a second. It's okay. It's honestly nothing that would bother me, so that's perfectly on point as well. And taking a look at rear visibility, looking at my rearview mirror, I can see perfectly fine out the back, so definitely should not have any issues there either. But that pretty much rounds out the performance segment of this review, you guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior now of our brand new 2026 Nissan Altima. All right, so here she is, you guys, the new 2026 Nissan Altima finished in super black. In case you were curious of our exact exterior color name, but as always, let's go ahead and start with where the Altima is made. Taking a look at the VIN, first character is the number one, indicating that the Altima is built and assembled here in the US. But starting up front, of course, you got that chrome V-motion front grille that does come standard, but black V-motion front grille is available for trims like the SR. And then we kind of have like a kind of like a brushed silver accent, I guess you could call it, but SR badge found in the front grille for that SR trim level then as well. To the sides, LED headlights with LED daytime running lights. Get the automatic feature with those headlights. You also get automatic high beams. So if you have your high beams on at night and that senses the vehicle coming in the opposite direction, it's going to automatically dim them back to low beams. And when that vehicle is gone, it's going to automatically bounce it back up to high beams for you there, so that's always convenient. But that pretty much rounds out the front end of the Altima. Let's now go ahead and swing around to the side. All right, so with that said, since we are around to the side of this one. Chrome belt line molding does come standard. You get a little bit of a floating roof line, which isn't as apparent when you have a black exterior cuz the floating roof line is accented in black, but nonetheless, it's there. You got body-colored side mirrors, at least for the SV trim level, then gloss black side mirrors for the SR. Then take a look down at the wheel setup. You do have 17-in aluminum alloys for the SV trim levels, and then 19-in machine-finished aluminum alloys for the SR, but that pretty much rounds out the side profile. Let's now go ahead and swing around to the back. All right, so Vanessa, so we are around to the back of the Altima. Starting all the way to the top, you kind of have a body-colored shark fin antenna there. Rear spoiler is going to be available. Let me get up a little bit closer because we do have that availability here on our Altima. So, that is what that looks like. It's kind of a lip spoiler there. Uh no LED tail lights. That's kind of interesting for a 2026 model year vehicle. So, uh you just got the halogen bulbs back there. You get a little bit of SR badging on the trunk if you go with that SR trim level, of course. And then to the sides, uh dual exhaust outlets with chrome tips. So, they did that right for sure. So, having said that, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next here. As always, here is that exhaust clip. All right, so Vanessa, so we are around to the back of the Altima here. When it comes to opening that rear trunk, uh there is a button on the key fob, actually, to open up that rear trunk. There's a rubberized button on the trunk itself, then as well. But, once opened up, cargo capacity comes in at 15.4 cubic feet. If that was not enough space, there are some levers in the cargo area to fold down those rear seats, and uh there's a 60/40 split, so quite a bit of extra space then if you needed it there. There is cargo lighting back there. There's grocery bag hooks and they're massive grocery bag hooks, two of them actually. So, that is pretty nice with two hooks on each of the two grocery bag hooks, which means four. So, that's kind of cool. And then if you were to lift up underneath that cargo floor, you'll find a spare tire, which you guys know I always love to see. But, then making your way up to the rear legroom, that comes in at 35.2 in for reference. I'm not even 6 ft tall. This is how much space I had in the back seats there. There is a rear USB charging ports coming standard. That's USB-A and USB-C, so one of each. That's nice. Then there is a rear center armrest with cup holders and looks like we got rear ventilation, too. So, it's got pretty much everything you need back there. But, then making your way up to the front seats, eight-way power driver seat does come standard. I liked that. Sport cloth for the SR, cloth seating for the SV, and then a leather is going to be optional. So, we got that cloth seating on this one. A heated front seats are also going to be optional, but like I said, overall as far as seat comfort goes, you sink into these things, man. Even though they're cloth seats, they are power adjustable and they are super comfy. So, you definitely sink into them. So, I had no issues whatsoever when it comes to seat comfort in the Altima here. But, then taking a look at the steering wheel, it is tilt and telescoping. It's going to be wrapped in urethane for the SV trim level and then leatherette wrapped for the SR. So, didn't have any issues with that. I kind of like this flat bottom, too. That's kind of cool. But, then making our way to the startup, let me start by showing you guys the key here. Typical Nissan key. Got your Nissan logo at the top. Lock, unlock button to pop the trunk and that circular button, that is your remote start, which believe it or not comes standard on all trim levels across the board. So, you can warm this thing up on super cold days in Western Maryland, unlike today. It's kind of nice out today. But, still it's there for you if you need it. But, it is all keyless entry with a push-button start. So, all I'm going to do here is simply put my foot on the brake and press that gloss black engine start button located just in front of the shifter here. And so, once started up, when it comes to the gauges, this is a analog gauge cluster with a digital screen front and center. So, tachometer is going to be on your left, speedometer is on your right. And there are steering wheel mounted controls found on the left-hand side of the steering wheel to control what is on the digital portion of the gauge cluster there. You can set up as a simple digital speedometer front and center. That's probably what most people are going to leave it on. Also can give you your average miles per gallon. There's your trip A, trip B, audio information, there's safety information up there. So, pretty much everything you could possibly need. And of course, you have your outside temperature and how many miles you have left until you hit empty in that bottom right-hand corner then as well. But, now let's go ahead and make our way to overall interior quality and let me start with my favorite part. We got a power moonroof. It is optional by the way. It actually comes on the SV special edition. Um, and that is the trim level that we have with us here today. So, that's why we got the power moonroof. So, I love that. Also looks like we got an overhead sunglass holder. I liked that as well. Wireless phone charger also going to be optional and it's located just in front of the shifter here. So, when you put your phone on there, there's an orange light that's going to light up to indicate that you are charging your phone, which is where I have my phone right now to hopefully show you guys that it is charging. Uh, just to the right of the shifter here, you have your cup holders, little bit of storage behind the shifter. And I love how everything surrounding the cup holders is finished in this carbon fiber look. Um, sure it's just plastic, but it's a carbon fiber look kind of trim. They could have left that a matte black or a matte gray plastic, but they didn't. They went a little bit of buff and beyond there. Then within the center armrest, there's enough space in there. I don't have any issues with that. Also like how just underneath of the the climate control vents here, just above the passenger side glove box, they kind of have this wood look trim. Again, I don't think it's real wood, but it definitely looks good. They brought the carbon fiber trim look onto the doors as well. That's pretty nice. Also on the surrounding the power window buttons. So, all of that looks definitely very nice. Well, one thing I wish they would change is they got halogen lighting everywhere in this thing. So, the interior lighting is not LED. It is halogen. And it looks like it's honestly straight from the '80s or '90s. And again, the tail lights as well, also halogen. So, LEDs need to be replacing all of these halogen bulbs. I will say that. Also, the door handles are a matte black plastic. Would have liked to have seen them finished in maybe the carbon fiber look. That would be cool. That would be the best. Or something that just doesn't look like they might have forgotten about it or something like that. But, anyways, overall it gets the job done. But now, let's go ahead and look at the infotainment screen because this is actually kind of impressive. So, 8-in color touchscreen display comes standard on the SV. But, there is a 12.3-in color touchscreen display that comes standard on the SV special edition that we have with us here today and up. So, all the trim levels higher than that as well. So, you get Bluetooth and audio streaming either way. But for the SV special edition, you get wireless Android Auto Apple CarPlay. Otherwise, you still get Android Auto Apple CarPlay. not wireless for that SV. Driving statistics up there as well. There's this cool kind of analog clock to the right there in digital format, of course. And then you got your radio information up there. So, when it comes to the sound systems, there's two of them. You get six speakers coming standard, but then there's a nine-speaker sound system with the SR premium package. So, therefore, we got the six-speaker sound system with us here today. So, let's go ahead and turn on the radio. Let's see what we got playing today and let's test out the clarity of this one. >> [music] >> It's actually not bad for a six-speaker sound system. That was decent. Now, Nissan always does a pretty good job with their bass and that's definitely the case here in this six-speaker sound system as well. Believe it or not, it's still six speakers. So, it's nothing crazy. It's not going to blow you away. But, I've heard worse six-speaker sound systems. That's all I'm saying after testing over a thousand cars here. So, it's actually decent for a six-speaker sound system. But, last thing I wanted to mention to on that infotainment screen at least is when you do put the Altima in reverse, you will find a rear view camera coming standard across the board. Not the highest quality rear view camera out there, but again, it certainly gets the job done and that is always is going to lead us in the safety. And so to start, believe it or not, this one is an IIHS top safety pick plus, which is the very highest designation given by IIHS. So, honestly, that pretty much says it all right there. Front, side, side curtain airbags do come standard, driver and passenger knee airbags as well. In the back, you got latch, aka lower anchors and tethers for children for the rear car seats, rear child door locks, tire pressure monitoring system, but also coming standard, forward collision warning, autonomous emergency braking with pedestrian detection, blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert. That's definitely nice. And reverse automatic braking and rear parking sensors actually as well. That doesn't always come standard on the competition. So, overall, what are customer final thoughts? Let me just start with what I just said. Brilliant safety. It doesn't get any higher than an IIHS top safety pick plus. So, that's definitely nice. Also love that all-wheel drive is available for the Altima because not all the competitors can say that. So, that's pretty cool, too. As far as room for improvement goes, uh got a few things here. A kind of a boring gauge cluster. The black and white theme is just kind of a eh, you know, they could have added splash of color or made it a little more interesting in one way or another. Also, all of the halogen lighting in this thing, whether it be the interior lighting or the tail lights, uh that should both be switched out to LEDs at this point. Also, I think ambient lighting, multi-color ambient lighting would look pretty darn good in here as well. And I don't think that's something that would cost too much to add on to the Altima. Maybe in the next generation if they uh if they go that route. But anyways, let me know what you guys think of the Altima in the comments section below. That's about it for this one, you guys. Thank you so much for watching. Feel free to follow me on social media stuff at the bottom of the screen if you want to see what's coming next on the channel before it gets to YouTube. Be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into car reviews. That is what I've been doing for 12 years now. I do appreciate you guys watching more than you know, and I will see you guys all in the next video. Stay gold. >> [music]