TTAC Throwback: 2011 Nissan Quest
by Tim Healey
January 27th, 2023 5:59 PM
Share
Last week, our TTAC throwback was a 2012 model. This week, we're staying in that era and bringing you a minivan instead of a sports sedan. Remember the 2011 Nissan Quest?
Michael Karesh's review is a bit harsh -- did his experience jive with yours, if you bought a fourth-generation Quest? Or rented one?
Or maybe you never drove a Quest but just want a weekend trip down memory lane. Check out Michael's thoughts here.
[Image © 2011/2023 Michael Karesh/TTAC]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Comments
Join the conversation
I've had a 4th Gen Quest since 2014, still do at 165k miles, and wrote about it here on TTAC also:
Reader Review: 2014 Nissan Quest LE | The Truth About Cars
I had many of the same observations as Karesh (very soft ride / traditional American luxury car handling, nice interior appointments), but some different. For one, with the LE version with the nicer wheels and accents, the design looked better to me, and I believe has really aged well. All the practicality nitpicks (no stow & go, etc.) go unrealized for us, as the van has done everything we've ever needed it to do, and that includes moving lots of different large items, many long vacation trips, even towing light duty trailers (wouldn't put anything legitimately heavy on a CVT).
We've changed the CVT fluid every 60k miles and have had no real issues on the vehicle. It's been honestly a great family van for us--comfortable, reliable, efficient, spacious.
The JDM thing made this van cool to me. I spent a year in Asia and a lot of time in Hong Kong, and these fancy JDM vans were the king way to get around. The Elgrand (same as Quest) was one of the coolest. So in the end, we've had a reliable vehicle for our family of 5+ Labrador for 9 years that is a little cooler/more interesting than the other options we had available at the time. that's a win
I like the ergonomics and the looks of this better than any other minivan of it's day, but I can hear it's CVT failing thru the pictures.
Compromised safety test results and minivans do not go well together.
A shame as the looks are neat (the last interesting van) and the CVT/V6 powertrain is better than a lot of people give it credit for.
Im just glad mkaresh is a thing of the past here.