Can the 2025 Nissan Frontier's More Appealing Equipment and Updated Price Help It Stay Relevant?
The refreshed 2025 Nissan Frontier offers a bit more than before—key in a segment that's ever newer.
We are just a few short weeks away from the release of the 2025 Nissan Frontier, which is set to hit dealerships before the end of the summer. This new model year brings more of a subtle refresh with some equipment upgrades rather than a page-one rewrite, but it’s certainly worth a look.
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We’ll forgive you if you’ve forgotten about the Frontier amidst the recent blast of new or revised small and midsize trucks. Ford has been setting the truck world on fire with the Maverick, which is joined by another all-new entrant, the Hyundai Santa Cruz, in the re-emerging small truck segment. The mid-size class, specifically, has seen an explosion in redesigns, from the recently redone Chevrolet Colorado (our 2024 Truck of the Year) to its sibling, the GMC Canyon, to the latest Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma. The Frontier is easily lost amongst all this newness, having seen its last big update for 2022, just before the latest wave of new-ified competitors landed; Nissan also is on the verge of killing off its only full-size truck, the Titan.
Our brushes with the newest 2024 Nissan Frontier have left us impressed with its rugged styling and solid towing ability but less than enamored by its mediocre fuel economy and its lack of some standard driving assist features, and the driving experience is decidedly old-school. Can the 2025 Nissan Frontier turn things around? Let’s see what it's revised equipment levels has to offer.
New Coat of Paint
The 2025 Nissan Frontier has some subtle styling changes over the outgoing model. The front fascia has been revised with a more “squared-off appearance” according to Nissan, and there’s a new tailgate finisher for the Pro-X and Pro-4X trims. All trims will also now come with a sliding rear window standard.
There is a new 17-inch wheel design along with the returning designs. The wheels will be standard on trims starting with the SV. However, the most noticeable visual change is the new “Afterburner Orange” paint which is louder than the jet engine component it’s named after.
Interior Upgrades
The 2025 Nissan Frontier gets some interior quality-of-life functional revisions that the automaker says are a result of customer feedback. A telescopic-adjustable steering column will now be standard on all 2025 trims. The Pro-X, Pro-4X, and SL trims will all come standard with a four-way power adjustable front passenger seat. On SV trims and higher the power driver seat will also get two-way power lumbar support.
SV trims and higher will get a new 12.3-inch touchscreen display to manage the infotainment system which is also getting wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. SL grades get a wireless smartphone charger and Nissan’s “Intelligent view” 360-degree parking monitor.
More Choices Are Always Good
In another effort to respond to customer feedback, the 2025 Nissan Frontier is more flexible with its offerings across the trim line. The Crew-Cab long wheelbase with the 6-foot bed configuration is now available on SV, Pro-X, Pro-4X, and SL trims.
For those who choose the Pro-4X for off-road excursions, they will now have an “Off-Road Mode” for use with the Nissan Intelligent Around monitor at speeds up to 12 mph. This upgrade should help drivers spot obstacles more easily when off-roading, as it keeps the cameras available at higher speeds than before.
More Standard Driver Assist Features
As we’ve already mentioned, one of the biggest flaws with the current Nissan Frontier is the lack of standard driver assist features. Nissan is wisely addressing that in the 2025 model. Lane departure warning, blind spot warning, rear cross traffic alert, rear parking sensors, high beam assist and intelligent cruise control are now standard across all 2025 Frontier trims. The SL trim will get traffic sign recognition. That is a big step in the right direction, but it doesn’t address all of our gripes.
No Mechanical Upgrades
Previously, the Frontier's transmission struggled to find the right gear next to suffering lousy fuel economy, a noisy V-6 engine, heavy steering, and clumsy handling. With no mechanical upgrades for 2025, it looks like none of those issues will be improved in the new model, though fans of a yesteryear-style driving experience still have the Nissan to look forward to. Obviously, there’s always the chance that those problems have been quietly addressed, but on paper the new Frontier looks to drive much the same as before.
2025 Nissan Frontier Pricing
Obviously, pricing will be a big factor in updating our take on Nissan’s mid-size truck, and it's gone up slightly (but for new and updated equipment, it's not a huge increase). The Frontier S King Cab 4x2 is still one of the cheapest trucks starting at $33,560 including MSRP and destination fees and it'll cost $3,000 more for the 4x4 version of the same trim. The Crew Cab configuration is $1,400 more than the base trim. The Pro-X model starts at $39,990 for the 4x2 Crew Cab and the Pro-4X models start at $43,280.
Andrew Beckford’s passion for cars started as a middle schooler when his friend Richie explained how an internal combustion engine works. He was bitten by the bug and the rest, as they say, is history. He dug deep into the tuner scene and eventually wrote for Turbo Magazine, Import Tuner, Super Street. He covered car shows, feature builds, and reviewed racing games for those magazines in addition to covering motorsports including Formula Drift, Indy Car, and F1 for his personal blog. Eventually Beckford joined MotorTrend to cover the daily automotive news beat. Besides being a gearhead, Beckford has been a gamer since the ’80s and is a huge fan of the arcade racing games of the ’90s like Daytona USA, SEGA Rally, and Ridge Racer. Beckford’s a movie buff as well, especially comic book films from DC and Marvel. When car culture crosses over with gaming and entertainment, rest assured Beckford is aware of it. In addition to serving as a consultant on a “triple A” racing titles, he’s reviewed major racing games such as Forza Motorsport, Need for Speed, Gran Turismo, F1, and more. He’s also interviewed blockbuster directors including Steven Caple Jr. (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts) and Neill Blomkamp (Gran Turismo). His biggest profile to date was with Robert Downey Jr. on his love affair with cars and his show Downey’s Dream Cars on MAX. Beckford’s profile of Downey Jr. was the first print cover story written by an African American in MotorTrend’s history. Along with KJ Jones, Andrew Beckford also heads up MotorTrend’s celebration of Black History Month by spotlighting diverse voices in the automotive industry and motorsports. Beckford’s first car was a 1982 Nissan Stanza affectionately named “Stanley” by his late mother.
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