Remember when a four-door sedan was the family car of choice? Those days are over, but midsize sedans still attract a steady following of buyers seeking a balance of comfort, efficiency, and practicality. Two long-running players in this segment, the 2025 Toyota Camry and 2025 Nissan Altima, remain among the most recognized and widely cross-shopped options. Both are five-passenger cars with reputations for value, reliability, and everyday drivability, though they take somewhat different approaches to appeal to today’s buyers.
In 2025, the Toyota Camry continues its reign as the segment's bestseller, backed by decades of refinement. Its new-for-2025 all-hybrid powertrain lineup delivers impressive fuel efficiency without sacrificing power or ease of operation. While the Camry goes all-hybrid for the 2025 model year, the Nissan Altima drops its once-vaunted variable-compression turbocharged (VC-Turbo) engine, concentrating on a simpler, more conventional setup: a 2.5-liter four-cylinder paired with a continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT).
The current Camry sports an upgraded interior that combines functionality and style. It offers intuitive controls, a smooth-operating infotainment system, generous storage, and the added option of all-wheel drive (AWD) to broaden its appeal. While the Altima's performance may not be as engaging as some rivals, it offers a well-crafted interior with a practical emphasis on physical controls that deliver excellent ease of use. Like the Camry, it also offers AWD versions.
Both sedans feature comfortable ride quality, spacious trunks, and impressive advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Other pluses? Both earn strong initial quality and vehicle dependability scores, reinforcing their solid reputations.
In the following sections, we’ll explore how the 2025 Camry and Altima stack up across key categories such as performance, interior design, technology, and value, helping you decide which fits your needs best.
2025 Toyota Camry SE AWD
The 2025 Toyota Camry is available in four trim levels: LE, SE, XLE, and XSE, with each version offered in either front-wheel-drive (FWD) or AWD configurations. Pricing starts at $29,895 for the base LE, while the range-topping XSE AWD begins at $37,620. Prices include the $1,195 destination charge.
All 2025 Camry sedans come with Toyota's connected services, which provide a 10-year Safety Connect trial for emergency support and vehicle-location services and a 10-year Service Connect trial for maintenance notifications. Toyota also includes a 30-day trial for in-vehicle Wi-Fi hotspot capability. Additionally, every new 2025 Camry comes with ToyotaCare, which provides complimentary scheduled maintenance for two years or 25,000 miles, plus two years of unlimited-mileage roadside assistance.
The 2025 Nissan Altima offers potential buyers the choice of four trims: S, SV, SR, and SL. All 2025 Altimas have standard FWD and employ a CVT; AWD is optional on all but the base S trim. The S is the least costly Altima trim with a suggested base price of $28,140. The Altima SL sits at the top of the heap, with a base suggested retail price of $34,470 with FWD. Prices include the $1,140 destination charge.
Nissan supplies 2025 Altima buyers with complimentary roadside assistance for three years or 36,000 miles and free scheduled maintenance for two years or 24,000 miles. Except for the base S trim, all 2025 Altimas offer NissanConnect services with a complimentary five-year trial of Select and Plus packages and a three-year Premium package trial.
Advantage: Neither
Why? The various Altima trims are less expensive than their Camry counterparts, but the Camrys feature high-mileage hybrid powertrains.
2025 Nissan Altima SV Special Edition
The Toyota Camry ranks highest in the Midsize Car segment in the JD Power 2025 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS), which assesses owner-reported problems during the third year of ownership.
The Camry also ranks highest in its segment in the JD Power 2024 U.S. Initial Quality Study (IQS), which tracks problems experienced by owners during the first 90 days.
The 2025 Toyota Camry offers a standard three-year/36,000-mile warranty and a powertrain warranty of five years or 60,000 miles.
The Nissan Altima ranks second in the Midsize Car segment in the 2025 VDS and second in its segment in the 2024 IQS. Its warranty coverage matches the Camry.
Advantage: Toyota Camry
Why? The Camry ranks highest in its segment in initial quality and vehicle dependability, though the Altima is right behind in both.
2025 Toyota Camry XLE
The 2025 Toyota Camry offers two hybrid powertrains. The standard setup combines a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine with an electric motor to power the front wheels. The hybrid setup produces 225 horsepower and pairs with an electronic CVT. Camrys with AWD add a second electric motor to drive the rear wheels, increasing total output to 232 hp.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the most efficient FWD 2025 Camry will achieve 51 mpg combined, while AWD versions deliver an estimated 46 mpg combined.
Inside, the five-passenger Camry features an upscale cabin with quality materials and a standard 7-inch digital instrument cluster, with higher trims offering a 12.3-inch version. The spacious seating accommodates five, and a split-folding rear seat expands access to the trunk's 15.1 cubic feet of cargo space. A remote trunk release is standard on the key fob. Additional practical details include two front and two rear cupholders, plus bottle holders in all four doors.
The 2025 Nissan Altima sheds its former top engine, the innovative VC-Turbo; it now offers a single powertrain. The Altima’s 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine cranks out 188 hp and 180 pound-feet of torque. In base trim, it supplies motivation to the car’s front wheels via a CVT. All-wheel drive is an option for all but the base trim.
According to the EPA, the most fuel-efficient 2025 Altima is rated at 32 mpg in combined driving, while the AWD trims get a 28-mpg estimate for combined driving.
The 2025 Altima's interior is one of its strong points. Mimicking the look of more expensive sedans, the cabin offers comfortable seating for five and good rear-seat legroom. Most trims feature cloth seats, but leather seats are standard in the SL. Acceleration is sedate, but the ride is smooth and quiet. The Altima's trunk holds 15.4 cubic feet of luggage, and the rear seatback folds in 60/40 fashion to accommodate additional stuff.
Advantage: Toyota Camry
Why? The Camry offers two closely related hybrid drivetrains that deliver more power and better fuel economy than the Altima’s lone conventional four-cylinder.
2025 Nissan Altima SV Special Edition
At this point, it is reasonable for any consumer to expect a brand-new vehicle to include the following safety features:
So, how do the Camry and Altima stack up? Let's take a look.
Toyota equips the 2025 Camry with a comprehensive ADAS suite in its Toyota Safety Sense 3.0 (TSS 3.0). While blind-spot and rear cross-traffic warnings are not part of TSS 3.0, Toyota includes both as standard equipment on every Camry trim. Additional ADAS include adaptive cruise control, lane-centering assistance, traffic-sign recognition, and Proactive Driving Assist, which provides automatic braking and steering support when negotiating curves.
In government and industry safety testing, the 2025 Camry earned a top five-star overall rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Meanwhile, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) also recognized it as a Top Safety Pick+ for the 2025 calendar year.
The 2025 Altima offers an ADAS suite of its own in the Nissan Safety Shield 360 package. In addition to the systems outlined at the beginning of this section, it includes automatic high-beam headlights, a driver monitoring system, and rear automatic braking. The top-level SL trim offers a surround-view camera. ProPilot Assist—standard on SL and optional on the SV trim—provides hands-on-the-wheel assistance with steering, acceleration, and braking on the highway.
The NHTSA gave the 2025 Nissan Altima five stars overall in its safety rating program. The IIHS gave the 2025 Altima “Good” ratings in three of the Institute’s five crashworthiness categories but did not name it a Top Safety Pick for 2025.
Advantage: Toyota Camry
Why? Both sedans feature impressive ADAS rosters, but the Camry offers better results in IIHS crash tests.
2025 Toyota Camry XSE
The 2025 Camry comes with a Toyota-engineered infotainment system. Lower trims feature a standard 8-inch touchscreen, while a larger 12.3-inch touchscreen is standard on XSE and XLE trims and available on the SE. Both systems include wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring, Bluetooth connectivity, and a three-month SiriusXM satellite radio trial. A nine-speaker JBL premium audio system is optional on XLE and XSE trims.
Every 2025 Camry includes Toyota Safety Connect, which provides an SOS button, collision notification, stolen-vehicle locator, and Service Connect for vehicle health reports. Both are complimentary for 10 years. Remote Connect, available via subscription, adds remote door lock and unlock, remote engine start, and guest-driver monitoring. In addition, all 2025 Camrys come with a 30-day or 3-gigabyte Wi-Fi Connect trial, enabling in-car hotspot access for multiple devices.
Toyota's Camry connectivity offerings are available in three tiers. The Go Anywhere plan emphasizes navigation, featuring Drive Connect with real-time navigation updates, live-agent support, and a virtual assistant. The Music Lover plan delivers unlimited integrated streaming, allowing users to connect Apple Music and Amazon Music accounts. Both include Remote Connect services. The Premium plan combines the full suite of navigation, virtual assistant, and unlimited music-streaming capabilities.
The 2025 Nissan Altima comes equipped with an easy-to-use infotainment system. The standard 8-inch touchscreen offers wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, SiriusXM, and Siri Eyes Free and Google Assistant voice-recognition systems. The available 12.3-inch touchscreen unit, standard in the SL, features wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and a nine-speaker Bose premium audio system.
All 2025 Altimas offer basic NissanConnect services, which include hands-free text messaging, Siri Eyes Free, and voice recognition. All but the base S trim add a three-year NissanConnect Services Premium trial, which offers security, navigation, and remote access, along with a five-year trial of NissanConnect Services Select for maintenance alerts, over-the-air updates, and Alexa integration. A three-month SiriusXM with 360L trial provides on-demand entertainment features.
The Altima features a class-exclusive "Easy-Fill Tire Alert" system, which simplifies tire maintenance by notifying drivers when tires are properly inflated. It also offers an optional factory-installed dual-camera drive recorder, featuring forward- and interior-facing cameras to document activity outside and inside the car. The system's G-sensor automatically activates the interior camera in the event of a break-in. Captured footage is saved and is shareable with insurance providers, law enforcement, and other interested parties.
Advantage: Toyota Camry
Why? The fact that all Camrys get wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto—and the Altima doesn’t—is the deciding factor.
2025 Nissan Altima SV Special Edition
The Toyota Camry retains its best-selling status in the midsize sedan segment by delivering well-rounded performance. This is hardly surprising, given Toyota's decades of experience refining the Camry into one of America's top-selling models. The Camry offers a spacious cabin, a comfortable ride, non-threatening driving dynamics, and impressive fuel efficiency thanks to its all-hybrid powertrain lineup.
In the past, the Camry’s interior design lagged behind some rivals, but the current sedan addresses that with an attractive, user-friendly cabin. Controls are logically placed, the infotainment system operates smoothly, and the car provides ample storage options and a roomy trunk. With the availability of AWD and competitive pricing across the model range, the Camry continues to be a leading choice among midsize sedans.
When Nissan pulled the VC-Turbo engine from the Altima for 2025, the model lost one of its key differentiators. At the same time, it is likely that the technology wasn’t resonating with midsize sedan buyers. So instead of a sedan with the option of a leading-edge powertrain, the 2025 Altima is simply a high-quality, middle-of-the-road five-passenger car. Its 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine is adequate, but acceleration is sedate.
The Altima offers a well-tailored interior, and I like the fact that it continues to provide buttons and knobs to control functions rather than forcing occupants to rely on touchscreen taps. The standard infotainment system is easy to operate but requires wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connections.
The SR trim looks sporty but doesn't offer added performance, while the SL trim is filled with good stuff, but costs $4,000 more than the SR. On the plus side, the Altima offers excellent initial quality and vehicle dependability. It also features Nissan's Zero Gravity front seats, which are perhaps a bit more comfortable than rival sedans.
Advantage: Toyota Camry
Why? While the Nissan Altima is likable enough, the Camry’s power and fuel efficiency combination is a deciding factor.
To learn more about these midsize sedans, read our expert reviews of the 2025 Toyota Camry and the Nissan Altima. To find out how people like you rate models in this segment, check out our ratings from verified vehicle owners.
Additionally, please note that although the information in this article was accurate and up to date as of June 4, 2025, it may have since changed. Always confirm product details and availability with the automaker’s website or your local dealership.
Jack R. Nerad has reviewed cars, trucks, vans, and SUVs for over three decades. He also managed the editorial efforts of MotorTrend, JD Power, and Kelley Blue Book. Jack currently hosts the Sports Byline Network program "America on the Road," available on Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Spotify, Audacy, Amazon Music, and other platforms.
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