2020 Nissan Altima Gets Small Price Bump, Expanded Safety Tech
The Nissan Altima was fully redesigned for 2019 and rolls into 2020 with a few changes, including slightly higher pricing and expanded availability of its active safety technology. Nissan said the 2020 Altima is arriving at dealers now.
Related: Accord Vs. Altima Vs. Camry: Which Is the Best Mid-Size Sedan?
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Shop the 2019 Nissan Altima near you
The Altima continues to set itself apart among mainstream mid-size sedans — a category losing ground to SUVs — as the only one offering optional all-wheel drive. It also offers the first production engine with variable compression — a 248-horsepower, turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder, as an upgrade to the base 188-hp, 2.5-liter four-cylinder — though the more powerful engine is available only with front-wheel drive. Both use a continuously variable automatic transmission.
New for 2020 is availability on all Altimas of the advanced package of safety and driver-assistance technology that Nissan calls Safety Shield 360. It adds pedestrian detection for the automatic emergency braking, rear automatic braking, rear parking sensors, automatic high beams, lane departure warning and a blind spot warning with rear cross-traffic alert. Higher trims offer Nissan’s ProPilot Assist system, which adds lane-centering steering and adaptive cruise control that both work down to a stop to allow semi-autonomous driving within a lane on highways. Finally, a 360-degree camera system comes on the top Platinum trim.
All 2019 Altimas already have a standard front collision system with automatic braking, but the full 360 system was formerly only on the midrange SV trim level and above. It now will be standard for 2020 on the second-level SR — the sportier Altima — and will be an optional package on the base S trim level.
Other than the safety gear, 2020 changes are limited to more piano-black interior trim on the SV, SL and top Platinum trim levels, and a new mirror memory for the Platinum grade.
Pricing for the 2020 base S trim level starts at $24,995, an increase of $100 (all prices include an $895 destination charge, unchanged from 2019). All-wheel drive is offered on all trim levels with the 2.5-liter engine for an additional $1,350.
Moving up, the 2020 SR trim level starts at $26,595, an increase of $350 over the outgoing model but including the upgraded safety technology. And an exception to the price increases is the midrange SV model, which starts $300 lower at $28,775.
The higher SL trim level starts at $31,135 — $150 more — and the top-of-the-line Platinum starts at $33,075, also up $150. Altimas with the variable-compression turbocharged 2.0-liter, only with front-wheel drive, start at $30,645 for the SR VC-Turbo (an increase of $350) and $36,075 for the Platinum VC-Turbo (up $150).
Editor’s note: This story was updated Aug. 28, 2019, to clarify the differences between Safety Shield 360 and ProPilot Assist.
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