Yonkers, N.Y. - Consumer Reports - infoZine - The redesigned Nissan Altima accelerated to the top of Consumer Reports' ratings of family sedans in tests for the March 2007 issue. Rated "Excellent" overall the Altima now ranks alongside CR's top-rated Volkswagen Passat, Honda Accord, and Toyota Camry. The Altima 3.5SE virtually ties with the Honda Accord V6, Consumer Reports' top-rated family sedan. Among four-cylinder sedans tested by CR, the Altima 2.5S ranks just behind the Volkswagen Passat 2.0T. "The redesigned Altima is a well-rounded family sedan in both 2.5S and 3.5SE trim levels," said David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports' Auto Test Center in East Haddam, Connecticut. "Both the 2.5-liter four-cylinder and 3.5-liter V6 engines deliver very good performance while getting good fuel economy." For the March issue, Consumer Reports tested basic and uplevel versions of five family sedans-the Altima, Kia Optima, Saturn Aura, Pontiac G6, and Chrysler Sebring.

Family sedans: The redesigned Nissan Altima accelerates to the top ...

The best family sedans provide agile handling and quick performance, and get decent fuel economy. And for years, the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, and Volkswagen Passat dominated our Ratings. But the redesigned Nissan Altima, perennially an also-ran, now ranks near the top of this segment.

For this test, we gathered basic and uplevel versions of five family sedans. Our selections include the four- and six-cylinder versions of the redesigned Nissan Altima, Kia Optima, and Chrysler Sebring. We also tested two versions of the new for 2007 Saturn Aura with different V6 engines, and four- and six-cylinder versions of the slightly revised Pontiac G6 (all models are available to subscribers). Prices ranged from $20,785 for the base G6 to $31,995 for the V6 Altima 3.5 SE.

Lack of reliability data keeps us from recommending some new vehicles, including the top-scoring Altima.

Firefighters lift car, pull boy to safety

Firefighters and paramedics rescued a young boy who was trapped underneath a car in a Tuxedo parking lot this afternoon.

The boy, estimated to be about three years old, became trapped underneath a Nissan Altima driven by an elderly woman about 1:45 p.m. this afternoon in a parking lot at Doncaster Street and Willow Avenue, near the Manitoba Youth Centre and the Asper Jewish Community Campus.

It is unclear whether he ran up to the car or was hit unexpectedly, but he was stuck underneath the car�s front end until firefighters lifted the car and pulled him to safety.

The boy was crying and his nose was bleeding, but he appeared to not have any life-threatening injuries when an ambulance later whisked him away.

2002 Nissan Altima 2.5 S from North America - Comments

I have a 2002 Nissan Altima that I bought new. First the heat stopped working at idle unless I was traveling at high speeds. I took it to the dealer 3 times before the warranty expired and 3 times after and the heat is still not fixed.