Submitted by MussleGeeYem t3_zhjo2x in CambridgeMA

I live close to Harvard University, and even though Toyotas and Hondas are prevalent, I have seen very few Nissans parking at parking spaces (either parallel parking or parking lots) within a 5 minute walk from my apartment. In fact, I took a short walk several hours ago and only 3 out of 100 cars are Nissan (actually, one of them is a Dominos car and another is a Nissan Leaf), even though Nissan is the third largest Japanese automaker. In fact, I have seen more Subarus, Mazdas, BMWs, Mercedes Benzes, Audis, Volvos, and VW than Nissans despite the fact Nissan sells more cars than 7 of these brands, especially Volvo. Why is Nissan so rare over here, despite Toyota and Honda are both extremely common in Cambridge?

Fun fact: I have a cousin who is in her late 30s and she currently drives a 2018 Nissan Altima 2.5 S (she totalled her 2006 Toyota Corolla LE during an accident and replaced the Corolla with a used 2018 Nissan Altima 2.5 S in late 2018). Her husband and her both share the 2015 Nissan Murano SL AWD they bought new in 2015 (from what I heard, using cash). From what I heard, my cousin is a manager of a company and her husband (who is also Vietnamese) is a CEO of a biotech firm. Her husband's family has been quite loyal to Nissan in the recent years with her parents in law (husband's parents) owning a 2010 Nissan Altima 2.5 S they bought new that is still in good condition (they still use that car as their daily driver and they took good care of it) and her brother in law (husband's oldest brother) trading in his 2004 Honda Civic Si for what I assume is a seventh generation A35 Maxima of which he bought around 2 years ago for $7,000. Now all of them are quite affluent, and they are also Nissan Drivers. They however, are totally unaware Nissan has some issues with its CVT transmission as well as its build quality and would just assume that since Nissan is Japanese, it is reliable. Also, Nissan engages in subprime loans as well, meaning people with poor credit could get it.

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Hhankland t1_izml5bo wrote

Late night car thoughts I see...

Nissan is a pretty bad car. That would be my guess.

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brianphil98 t1_izmnvv1 wrote

harvard sq is v pinkys up. residents in the area would naturally gravitate towards expensive cars. nissan is absolutely popular in massachusetts. my landlord, mom, and SIL all have nissans.

more economical people would get a honda and toyota for the perceived reliability. nissan has a general consumer belief of being a cheap, beater car. you must remember, these people (camb residents) are not car people. they dont car about their car, its for them to get around.

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yesimon t1_izovru6 wrote

>since Nissan is Japanese, it is reliable

Nissan build quality went downhill after Renault bought it, and is also associated with scandal-ridden Carlos Ghosn. If you wanted to buy a Japanese car, why not Toyota and Honda? They sell much higher volume overall so parts availability and mechanic familiarity will be much better than Nissan.

Those looking for a reliable car who don't drive much wouldn't want to pay slight premium (for some reason Nissan is marginally more expensive than Toyota/Honda) for Nissan just to differentiate themselves. That decision might pan out different for different demographic groups in different parts of the US.

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member_member5thNov t1_izp468l wrote

Lots of multimillionaires with Honda Civics in Cambridge.

Buy a reliable car with all cash and then never think about it again until you do it again two decades later.

Cars, clothes, and other extravagant displays of wealth offend both WASPs and Academic sensibilities.

If it’s your hobby then fine but we’ve got a noticeable lack of car consumer culture here.

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