2005 Nissan Quest Review

To paraphrase Nissan, the Quest is the cure for the common minivan. It eschews soccer mom styling for radical design. It boasts a powerful V6, the same engine used in the Nissan 350Z. Its smooth five-speed automatic would be perfectly at home in an expensive luxury car. Crisp steering, responsive handling and good high-speed stability make it more fun to drive than other minivans.

Its radical styling carries through inside with jetliner-style seats, optional Skyview glass roof panels and centrally located instrument cluster and secondary controls. Its cabin is comfortable and innovative. Its back seats are roomier, more comfortable, more functional and more interesting than those in other minivans.

The Nissan Quest ranks among the largest of the minivans. It's also one of the most versatile. Its long wheelbase, wide track and radically arching roofline contribute to its practicality: Its sliding doors open wider than those on other minivans. It boasts the latest features, including power sliding doors and a power rear liftgate, power rear-quarter windows, a sonar park-assist system and overhead mood lighting. And it can tow up to 3500 pounds.

Quest comes with the latest in safety features, including curtain airbags for all three rows, the required frontal airbags, active head restraints, electronic stability control (VDC), traction control (TCS), and anti-lock brakes (ABS) with electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) and Brake Assist, plus a tire-pressure monitor. Side-impact airbags are optional.

Nissan introduced the Quest as an all-new model for 2004. The 2005 Quest starts at a lower price with the addition of a new base model.

Nissan's designers have tried hard to make the Quest look different from a traditional minivan. Gone are the slab sides and flat roof. Instead, the Quest gets bold fender flares that run along the sides with shoulders that sweep up as the lines blend to the rear. The result is a vehicle with curvaceous character lines that does not look nearly as big as it is in reality. Part of this illusion is due to the long wheelbase with relatively short overhangs at front and rear.

Quest has dual sliding side doors, as expected, but they are four inches longer than those on other minivans. That makes getting in and out easier, especially to the third row of seats. The sliding doors work very well, and will open simultaneously from a distance when the buttons on the remote are pressed, though they seem reluctant to respond at times. The sliding doors have pinch protection, but seemed to push pretty hard before deciding the passage was blocked and reversing direction. Due to the swept-up hipline, the slot for the door runners is in the middle of the bodywork rather than being disguised along the lower edge of the side windows.

The power tailgate works well, also. I was able to interrupt its opening by pressing the remote again when I noticed it was parked too close to a tree to swing open. Again, it was slow to respond to the remote.