05 Nissan Quest?

[ajay]

We are currently looking at an almost new 05 Quest. I have no experience with Nissans or the Quests and I'm wondering if there's anything I should be looking out for? I like the latch positions but I'm wondering if there is more than one tether in the back seat? Thanks so much for any hints (good or bad!) anyone can give me! :)

[jmm3]

We have an 05 Quest and love it! I heard there were some issues with the 04s that were improved in 05. Ours has not given us any trouble. One downside is that there is only one tether anchor in the 3rd row (center--also has lower anchors).

I think I read that you can't add more TAs either. It hasn't been an issue for us because we only need two TAs right now, so we use the captain's chairs for those. My ds sits in the 3rd row in a booster. He has no problem climbing back there, and the captains chairs tip forward even with a carseat installed on them, which I like. Adults can ride in the 3rd row pretty comfortably too.

We have the power sliding doors and tailgate and love that. Ours also has the skyview roof and dual DVD screens which the kids like.

We really like ours and always wonder why it's not recommended more. It has great safety ratings, but on informedforlife.org, there is one category that it was not ranked in, so it makes it look lower than it really is.

Other than having more TAs, I think the only other thing I would change is that the 2nd row windows don't open.

I'll try to answer any other questions you might have.

[ajay]

Thank you so much! Would you believe we called the dealer a few hours later to go ahead and buy it and they had already sold it?! It was an AMAZING deal, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but to say I'm disappointed is an understatement. :(

We are definitely back in the market for a Quest though. Thanks for your input- it's so nice to hear from someone actually using it! We have an 07 Freestyle now, but we're finding we need easier access to that third row of seats.

[codex57]

We really like ours and always wonder why it's not recommended more. It has great safety ratings, but on informedforlife.org, there is one category that it was not ranked in, so it makes it look lower than it really is.

It was supposed to have had some serious quality issues. A lot of it stemmed from the fact that the plant making it was new and the workers were inexperienced. Basically, teething problems. Wasn't just the Quest, but all the models that factory produced.

Once a product gets a bad rap for quality, it's gonna stick around for a while. Since it's a japanese brand, most people are just gonna move on to the competitors. If it were American, then it'd still get bought by die hard Big 3 fans despite the bad quality rep. However, since it's Japanese, many consumers are just gonna slide over to the Odyssey or Sienna which don't have the bad quality rep. Those are considered the "best" in minivans anyways so why buy anything other than the "best" if you don't have a patriotic reason? A Japanese car isn't supposed to have bad quality. That's why you buy a Japanese car (generalizing here) instead of an American one (I'm talking general perception, not necessarily reality). So, if a Japanese one has a rep for bad quality, that's sort of a kiss of death.

That's why it's not mentioned much. Had a bad rep starting out (no idea if it's true any longer) but since it didn't have any new distinguishing features, there's no reason to recommend it. Since it apparently doesn't have as many LATCH positions as the Toyota/Honda, sounds like it's lacking a bit in some things as well. Objectively, there's no reason to mention it when someone asks about which minivan they should get.

My old co-worker bought one. Around 04 or 05. Not sure exactly. Seemed nice. He and his wife liked it just fine. Might not be anything wrong. But, with the bad quality rep and no distinguishing features, it's not gonna be mentioned as a suggestion since it's just another also-ran.