Rental Review: 2018 Nissan Armada

MikeNH · June 24, 2018

I haven't done one of these in forever as I rarely travel for work these days and when I do, I have a company car and not a rental.

I'm in Arizona this week and picked this as it was the only thing National had that wasn't a boring sedan or crossover in Tucson. It wears Nissan's bold styling better than the sedans do but I still prefer the more boxy style of the big GM SUVs and the Expedition. This rental is a mid-level SL which gets you leather and all the usual power accessories. My first impression is how slow all these powered items are. The liftgate opens slowly from the exterior switch and the inside button at the driver's seat requires a long press. The 3rd row is power-folding and those take an eternity to fold down. I also ended up folding the second row because the absolutely giant head rests block nearly all the view out the back window.

The interior is a mixed bag. Climbing up into the Armada is easy with assist handles for all 4 doors and you plant yourself into an extremely comfortable seat. The Armada's interior layout does allow one big advantage over the GM SUVs in that when I adjust the driver's seat to my preferred position, there is still ample room behind me for a passenger. The GM rigs somehow have a snug back seat despite their size. But that is where the positives end. The controls are not laid out well and Nissan has what must be the absolute worst infotainment of any brand out there. Toyota's is horribly outdated but at least it seems reliable. The system is very laggy and has a mult-direction knob that doesn't seem to allow you to scroll through the endless menus the system has. One interesting feature of this nearly 6000-pound SUV is the infotainment has a G-meter. In unrelated news, the stability control cannot be fully disabled.

The 5.6 liter V8 and 7-speed automatic are nicely matched and there is plenty of power on tap but you don't get much of an experience driving it as the truck is extremely quiet. Letting some of that V8 sound into the cabin would be welcomed. Fuel mileage with the Armada has not been all that great- I've had it for about a week now and in town I only see 16 MPG and on the highway I've been able to crack 20 but that's it. The Tahoe can do a couple MPG better in both city and highway in my experience. One note that is unique to me being in the southwest this time of year with temperatures above 100 degrees just about every day so far is that unless you're on the highway, the AC is very weak. I've noticed that for whatever reason, Nissan and Toyota have stuck with clutch-driven fans for their big pickups and SUVs and my best guess is these fans just do not move enough air across the condenser at low speeds or when stopped. The temperature gauge has never budged, even driving up and down Mount Lemmon (where the photo was taken) so I suspect it is not very accurate. To the best of my knowledge, there is no way to bring up component temperatures on either the infotainment or the dash screen which is something every other large SUV can do.

Nissan sells this rig overseas as the Patrol and it is tremendously popular in the Middle East, right up there with the Land Cruiser with a reputation for extreme reliability. It may be well built but I can't think of any reason to pick this over one of the GM fullsizes or the new Expedition which seems to be getting rave reviews (I have not driven one yet).

newdude · June 26, 2018

That 5.6 in a Titan with the windows down off of a concrete barrier wall sounds awesome stock. That engine has quite the snarl, almost Dodge 5.7/6.4 Hemi-like. The 7 speed left some to be desired for me though.

I give Nissan credit for finally upping their truck/BOF SUV fleet. They've caught up, but still need more work. It seems their hiring of ex-Ram guy Fred Diaz years ago was what they needed to turn their truck/BOF SUV boat around. They just need to keep the boat floating.

Edited June 26, 2018 by newdude

SnakeEyeSS · August 3, 2018

How was the AC weak I wonder, especially for a favorite of the middle east? I didn't like the Altima I rented but the AC was insanely cold, even in Moab at 102 it was so cold in the car my kids and wife were using blankets. Probably the coldest AC I have ever experienced outside of the old 90s GM trucks, maybe they use the same parts in every vehicle they build. Did it have automatic climate control? Every weak AC car I have has was equipped with ACC, save for my 4th Gen Z28, which just had too much window.

Edited August 3, 2018 by SnakeEyeSS

MikeNH · August 6, 2018

Yeah it had auto climate control and I agree that when it's extremely hot it can get a bit goofy but in my Jeep if I go back to manual control, it'll still freeze you out. This just had crappy AC. I'm honestly not impressed by anything Nissan builds. This thing may be a tank but it just does nothing for me.