Sept. 17, 2003

I rolled up to Ms. D. and pulled the car to a stop, as I'd successfully navigated the Hertz desk and become the proud temporary proprietor of a red 2003 Nissan Altima. "It's got bird #$@% on it," she said, pointing. n fact, she did not say "#$@%," but rather an actual expletive that I feel I should censor here in the interest of our discerning readers. I will admit that I was not shocked, however, as I have been conditioned to expect this behavior.

I was impressed when the Altima first rolled off the assembly line in the early 1990s, as it followed my theory that an affordable, efficient car that was also attractively styled could sell like crazy. Nissan got that part right with the original Altima, then designed a slightly boring replacement in the late 1990s.

With the current model, Nissan got at least half the equation right—the Altima is well styled. A cursory glance shows that the Altima has certainly gotten larger, which worked for us. Our plan was to take a Saturday and drive some copies of the JFP to various college towns in Mississippi—after tossing about 1,300 copies in the trunk, we still had room for some overnight bags and more in the 15.6 cubic-foot trunk (a Ford Taurus, by comparison, offers 17 cubic feet).

I also really like the exterior styling of the Altima. OK, I'm a sucker. The clear headlamp and brakelight "pods" make the car futuristic, sporty and classy-looking to me. But I can just hear Mr. K—Ms. D's automobile genius of a brother—saying, "How much does it cost to replace those #$@% headlights?" Ms. D's people enjoy their expletives. The 2.5-liter four-cylinder (23 city/29 highway) was incredibly responsive—for an efficient engine, it can push you back in your seat. Of course, our rental had an automatic transmission, and one without any sort of clutchless shifting technology, which dampened the fun somewhat. And the car doesn't quite track down the road like a sports car—the steering is a bit loose and doesn't quite connect with the road.

If I'm driving an automatic with good power and a smooth ride, then I like to be able to lean back and really get comfortable. (The Jaguar X-Type and Cadillac Deville are two models I've driven in the past few years that come to mind.) Unfortunately, comfort was the Altima's biggest drawback for me. Even with electronic seat adjustments, I couldn't ever quite find a good driving position. The door's windowsill is hard on the elbows and the center console's armrest is a downright silly contraption that tries to pop up and forward to sit under your elbow.

The seats actually offer good lateral support, but they only just make the car feel a little more schizophrenic—Ms. D complained of the seat's hardness before abandoning me to her post-supper nap. Some interior materials can seem cheap (particularly the metallic-looking plastic), although I liked many of the features, including the trip/efficiency computer and the steering wheel-mounted stereo controls. In fact, the stereo was a real highlight, offering rich reproduction of the PRM tones that tend to accompany us on these Mississippi jaunts.

I wouldn't be hard on the Altima if it weren't for the price—with an automatic and a V6, it's headed toward $24,000—although a 4-cylinder model mated to a 5-speed can be cheaper and might be a lot more fun. On the under-$20K side of the Altima price spectrum, this is a great sedan—midsized, good leg room, plenty of trunk, sporty styling. Creep too far north of 20 grand, though,and I think we all deserve a good armrest.