Is Nissan a Luxury Car?
Nissans are not considered to be luxury vehicles, but there are definitely some fancy options available under the Nissan badge.
Written by Jason Tushinski
Reviewed by Jessica Barrett
Nissan has never been known as a paragon of automotive luxury. In fact, the Japanese carmaker has a separate luxury arm: Infiniti. However, there are definitely some fancy options available under the Nissan badge, ranging from affordable to very expensive.
Even without making the leap to Infiniti, you’ll be able to find plenty of luxury with a Nissan. Sure, you’ll get what you’re used to—dependability, practicality, subdued stylishness, and great value for your money. But like other luxury brands, leather upholstery, plenty of options, panoramic sunroofs, and even jaw-dropping speed can all be found on certain Nissan vehicles.
Nissans aren’t luxury cars, but they’re popular for a reason. Whether you’re on the hunt for a sedan dipped in gold (okay, not really), a new electric crossover (hello, Ariya), or a sporty coupe (such as the Z), Nissan delivers. Read on as
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Is Nissan a luxury car?
To the lazy eye, no—a Nissan is not a luxury car. But to the discerning eye, it could be! Nissan may not be known for fancy flashiness, but along with its renowned safety practices and dependable engineering is a surprising amount of luxury. Just look to the stylishly sleek
Maxima
, the flashy GT-R supercar, or the Platinum trim of the Armada
SUV for proof.What makes a luxury car?
Some car enthusiasts would scoff at the notion of calling a Nissan a luxury vehicle, with the brand’s image distinctly centered around affordable, dependable, and practical vehicles. But Nissan pulls off luxury with aplomb when it wants to, building cars that easily meet the following (subjective) criteria for a luxury automobile.
Here are some traits we here at Jerry think of when we think of luxury:
- Performance features: Muscular engines and tuned-up suspensions to swallow bumps
- Comfort features: Power-adjustable, heated, and ventilated seats; leather upholstery, roomy cabins, and quiet interiors
- Technology features: Top-notch safety features, smartphone integration, high-end audio systems
- Style features: Premier and eye-catching exterior styling, carbon-fiber, wood, and aluminum interior trims, ambient lighting
Sure, most regular vehicles have a smattering of these traits, but they certainly won’t have all of them, as many luxury vehicles do. After all, there’s a reason why they’re called luxury cars—you just can’t beat the top-of-the-line performance, gorgeous interiors, and off-the-charts technology that you’ll find in the best luxury vehicles.
Is Nissan a good luxury brand?
Considering the luxury options Nissan offers, the carmaker comes close to being a luxury brand. But are Nissan luxury vehicles on the same level as traditional luxury carmakers? Probably not.
You might be surprised at what you can find within the Nissan lineup, but if you’re looking for an opulently luxurious experience, you’ll probably want to look elsewhere.
Still, if you do go the luxury route via Nissan, you’ll get the fanciness you crave along with Nissan’s trusted engineering chops, top-notch safety ratings, and renowned reliability. Who knew finding a luxury vehicle without going into debt was this easy?
The best Nissan luxury cars
For our purposes, three Nissan cars can be considered luxury vehicles—the powerful GT-R, the nimble Z coupe, and the Maxima sedan’s upper trim.
GT-R
Starting at $115,000, the GT-R—or Godzilla as it's known to car heads—is Nissan’s version of a supercar. It offers prodigious speed, ultra-quick acceleration, and plenty of cornering panache.
Granted, the interior design is a bit dated, but it still offers a luxurious feel. After all, luxury is secondary when driving the GT-R, especially when it goes from 0 to 60 miles per hour in a blood-curdling 2.9 seconds.
Standard features include:
- Leather and suede-covered upholstery
- Heated front seats
- Front and rear parking sensors
- Bose audio system
- Built-in navigation
- Apple CarPlay capability
- Dual-zone climate control system
Opting for the Special Edition package is mostly an exterior upgrade, but it does get you black-painted 20-inch wheels with red accents, a carbon fiber hood, and Stealth Gray exterior paint.
Key specs | 2022 GT-R |
|---|---|
Engine | 565-horsepower 3.8L V6 |
Transmission | 6-speed automatic |
Drivetrain | All-wheel drive (standard) |
0 to 60 | 2.9 seconds |
EPA fuel economy (mpg) | 19 combined / 16 city / 22 highway |
Nissan Z
A throwback to the legendary
Nissan 300ZX
, the new Z is an affordable roadster with luxurious touches. Starting at $41,015, the new Z boasts a ton of power, decent (but not great) cornering chops, solid handling, and a six-speed manual transmission to up the fun factor. Standard features include:
- Leather upholstery
- Power-adjustable seats
- Dual-zone climate control system
- A 12.3-inch digital cluster gauge and an 8-inch touchscreen
- Sirius satellite radio
- Six-speaker stereo
- Driver-assist technology including automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and blindspot monitoring
- A Bose premium sound system and a WiFi hotspot are available as options
Key specs | 2023 Z |
|---|---|
Engine | 400-horsepower twin-turbo 3.0L V6 |
Transmission | 6-speed manual or 9-speed automatic |
Drivetrain | Rear-wheel drive (standard) |
0 to 60 | 4.5 seconds |
EPA fuel economy (mpg) – automatic | 23 combined / 19 city / 28 highway |
Maxima
Luxurymight not be your first thought when hearing the words “Nissan Maxima,” but the top-trim
Maxima Platinum
offers a luxurious ride for considerably less than you’d pay for a traditional luxury sedan. Starting at $45,000, the Platinum offers plenty of style, a comfortable and refined cabin, and V6 power—not to mention a slew of automotive baubles. Its drive isn’t sporty though, owing to its rather uninspired continuously variable transmission (CVT). Still, the 2023 Platinum-trim Maxima puts older sedans to shame.
Standard features include:
- Power-adjustable seats
- Rain-sensing windshield wipers
- Leather upholstery featuring diamond-quilted inserts (he-lloooo)
- Heated rear seats
- Power rear sunshades
- Dual-zone climate control system
- Wood interior trim
- Electronic vehicle monitoring
- Remote start and door lock capability
- Adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, forward collision monitoring
Get yourself the Reserve Package to upgrade your Maxima with a charcoal-colored headliner, a two-tone leather-wrapped steering wheel, and 19-inch wheels.
Key specs | 2023 Maxima Platinum |
|---|---|
Engine | 300-horsepower 3.5L V6 |
Transmission | CVT with manual shifting mode |
Drivetrain | Front-wheel drive (standard) |
0 to 60 | 5.7 seconds |
EPA fuel economy (mpg) | 25 combined / 20 city / 30 highway |
Nissan luxury SUVs
Who says SUVs can’t be luxurious? Well, if you’ve been paying any attention to the car market for the past two decades or so, you’ll know that SUVs can be plenty lux.
Nissan has its own luxury SUV offerings, even if high-end vehicle aficionados might thumb their noses at such a middle-of-the-road automaker putting forth luxury offerings.
The 2023
Nissan Armada
, starting at $51,595 with the Platinum trim, packs a fancy punch as a decadent and plush sport utility vehicle. You’ll get a smooth, comfortable ride quality and a slew of popular features in an SUV that drives with authority. The Platinum Armada nets you a ton of standard lux features, including quilted leather upholstery, ventilated and heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, one-touch power-folding third row, a digital rearview mirror, and NissanConnect Services. Don’t forget about the rain-sensing windshield wipers and the nifty wiper de-icing system, too.
And the Armada isn’t the only lux SUV offering from Nissan. The all-wheel drive 2023 Nissan Ariya, starting at $47,125, is an all-electric crossover SUV that is already garnering attention for its sleek and angular bodywork, smooth and minimalistic interior design, and up to 300 miles of electric range.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the Ariya comes standard with Nissan’s renowned zero-gravity seats for maximum comfort, voice control capability, in-dash navigation, both USB-A and USB-C ports, and the elusive Amazon Alexa integration (along with the old reliables, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well).
How to save on Nissan insurance with Jerry
We all know that luxury vehicles can cost a pretty penny to insure, even luxury rides produced by less-luxurious brands like Nissan. However, there’s nothing set in stone saying your insurance premium has to be expensive.
With
Jerry
, scoring a robust car insurance
policy at a great price to protect your luxury Nissan has never been easier. Sign-up takes just 45 seconds, and then Jerry gets to work comparing quotes from more than 50 top insurers so you get the policy you want at a price you can afford. Best of all? The average Jerry user saves more than $800 per year on car insurance!
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Is Nissan more luxurious than Toyota?
We could say yes, or we could say no—ultimately, it’s up to you to decide whether the Nissan of your choice is as fancy or fancier than a comparable Toyota. Do your homework and check trusted sources such as Edmunds and J.D. Power to compare the luxury features of the car brands you’re considering buying. Luxury truly is in the eye of the beholder.
Are Nissan cars expensive?
Again, this depends on you. If you’re looking at a Nissan Versa, you should know that it's considered one of the most affordable cars on the market today, starting at just over $16,000. Then again, if you’re looking at a fully loaded Platinum-trim Armada SUV, your price tag will start north of $51,000.
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