2012 & 2013 Nissan Van Reviews & Ratings

The first Nissan vans were produced in 1978 and were somewhat hit and miss. Nissan has never really been thought of as a van producer and the original Vanette was put into production more out of a perceived necessity for Nissan to be involved in van production. Nissan actually no longer produces vans for the Japanese market and instead does all production outside of Japan for markets overseas.

There has been a checkered history for Nissan van production and sales in the USA. In th... (full review continues below)

The first Nissan vans were produced in 1978 and were somewhat hit and miss. Nissan has never really been thought of as a van producer and the original Vanette was put into production more out of a perceived necessity for Nissan to be involved in van production. Nissan actually no longer produces vans for the Japanese market and instead does all production outside of Japan for markets overseas.

There has been a checkered history for Nissan van production and sales in the USA. In the early 1990s when Nissan was battling its fierce rivals Toyota and Mitsubishi they modified their existing van the C22 to compete. As part of the modifications required in order for the van to be suitable for the American market such as adding air conditioning and increasing the power output of the engine, the existing framework of the Nissan van was pushed beyond its capacity causing fires which resulted in the recall of all Nissan vans in 1994.

The resulting loss of face from this prompted a strict review within Nissan and they came back with a newly designed van that has been a model of durability ever since and is still one of the strongest competitors in a market that is almost entirely dominated by the various brands of Ford van such as the Ford E 150 and Ford Transit. In America there are only a very small number of manufacturers who actually produce vans apart from Ford and other key producers include GMC Savana, Chevrolet Express and the Mercedes Benz Sprinter.

There are currently 3 models of Nissan van on the market, the Nissan NV 1500, the Nissan NV 2500 and Nissan NV 3500. They are all designed based on a beefed frame of a Nissan Titan truck. The base model the NV 1500 (the NV stands for Nissan Van) retails starting at just under $25,000 and features a 4 liter V6 with 261 horsepower and 281 pounds per foot of torque with the NV 1500 SV cargo van retailing at just 26,500. In the middle of the range of vans is the Nissan NV 2500 with 4 different trims the S, SV, S and the SV High Roof. The Nissan NV S the basic model retails at a starting price of just over $25,000 and features a 4 liter V6 261 horsepower engine. The top of the NV 2500 range also has the same engine and with the high roof version retailing at $30,000. The final van design in the trio is the Nissan NV 3500 which is the big daddy of the three Nissan van models. The starting price for the budget NV 3500 which is the NV 3500 S is just over $28,550 and comes with a powerful 5.6 liter V8 engine that produces 317 horsepower and deliver 385 pound per foot of torque at 3,400 rpm. There are 4 trim models in the range with the SV High roof retailing at just over $32,500.