Truck people tend to be fiercely loyal. They are loyal to drinking Busch, giant flags mounted to their trucks, and the trucks themselves. Of course, I’m only kidding about the beer part… For real, though, people tend to be loyal to whatever brand of pickup they have. You’ll rarely see someone switch from a Chevy Z71 to a Ford F-150. It just ain’t right. This type of fierce loyalty eventually leads to a decent truck getting overlooked, like the 2021 Nissan Titan. 

Is the Nissan Titan a good Truck?

Sure! Consumer Reports gave it the second-highest rating behind the Toyota Tundra and the Ram 1500, which are tied for first in the full-size segment. The Nissan Titan got an overall score of 55 out of 100. Granted, that isn’t the greatest score ever, but relative to other trucks that are way more popular, it is pretty impressive. 

The Chevy Silverado and Ford F-250 are both trailing the Nissan Titan by a bit. The Ford F-250 is nipping at the heels of the Titian with an overall score of 53. However, the Chevy Silverado is deep in the cheap seats with an overall score of 45. 

What makes the Titan score higher on Consumer Reports than the Silverado and  F-250?

CR’s general overview shows that the Titan is outperforming the F-250 in a few categories. Most importantly, The F-250 got abysmal scores for routine handling and emergency handling. These two factors could have been outweighed by the Ford’s other strong suits like high towing rates and owner satisfaction, but the handling was so bad it killed the overall score. The Nissan and Ford playa pretty close game, but the Nissan takes it in the end.

The Silverado does not play nearly such a close game

At first glance, Chevy’s staple full-size truck seems like a much closer fight than it really is. Across the board, the Silverado gets decent scores. It outperforms the Titan on the road test, fuel economy, and predicted owner satisfaction. However, the predicted reliability shoots the Silverado out of the sky.

With little exception, since 2014, the Silverado has been plagued with issues with the transmission, brakes, paint, and in-truck electronics. Without reliability, it’s hard for a truck to be that good. 

How reliable is the 2021 Nissan Titan?

Reliability hurts the Titan, too. Even though it’s not as bad as the Silverado, the low predicted reliability score is what keeps it from potentially getting into first or second place. CR gave the 2021 Nissan Titan a two out of 5 on reliability. That is a killer for a truck. The Titian scores well in most other areas. 

But that’s not why the Nissan Titan isn’t as popular

Let’s be honest; the Titan isn’t more common on the truck scene because it isn’t a Ford or Chevy. Those trucks can always get worse reviews and be less reliable and useable, and the truck folks will likely remain loyal to their Fords and Chevys. 

I’m not making a critique of truck folk’s loyalism. In fact, I respect it, but if you have no loyalties, you might be in better shape by including the overlooked options like the Nissan Titan. Even if you don’t buy one, put some respect on the Titan’s name.