Compare the2025 Nissan AltimaVS 2025 Kia K5

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Nissan Altima have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Kia K5 doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Nissan Altima has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The K5 doesn’t offer a front passenger side knee airbag.

The Altima offers optional NissanConnect Service, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The K5 doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the Altima and the K5 have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

The Altima’s 5 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the K5 runs out after 100,000 miles.

Nissan pays for scheduled maintenance on the Altima for 2 years and 24,000 miles. Nissan will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance (up to 3 visits). Kia doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the K5.

There are over 36 percent more Nissan dealers than there are Kia dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Altima’s warranty.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Altima second among midsize cars in their 2024 Initial Quality Study. The K5 isn’t in the top three.

On the EPA test cycle the Altima gets better mileage than the K5:

The Altima has a standard continuously variable transmission (CVT). With no “steps” between gears, it can keep the engine at the most efficient speed for fuel economy, or keep it at its peak horsepower indefinitely for maximum acceleration. The K5 doesn’t offer a CVT.

The Altima stops much shorter than the K5:

For better traction, the Altima has larger standard tires than the K5 (215/60R16 vs. 205/65R16).

The Altima S’ standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the K5 LXS’ standard 65 series tires.

The Altima has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The K5 doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

The Altima handles at .91 G’s, while the K5 GT pulls only .86 G’s of cornering force in a Car and Driver skidpad test.

The front grille of the Altima uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The K5 doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Altima has .2 inches more front shoulder room and 1 inch more rear shoulder room than the K5.

If the windows are left open on the Altima the driver can close them all at the outside door handle. The driver of the K5 can only close the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Altima’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The K5’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

Consumer Reports® recommends the Nissan Altima, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Nissan Altima outsold the Kia K5 by almost two to one during 2023.