Nissan Serena

While the cabin of the Nissan Serena is almost a decade old now, it still looks attractive, thanks to its unique layout. The Highway Star variant can be had with a fabric grey or optional black leatherette upholstery, while the Premium Highway Star variant is available in two leather upholstery choices – brown quilted Nappa leather and black quilted Nappa leather. 

Featuring an asymmetric layout for the dashboard, the Nissan Serena has a theatre-like arrangement for the instrument console, which is again divided into two halves – a fully digital speedometer on the right and a 7-inch TFT screen featuring tachometer, fuel gauge, clock, gear indicator and other details on the left. 

The Nissan Serena also has a flat-bottom three-spoke tilt and telescopic adjustable multi-functional steering wheel and a floating island-themed centre console. Finished in gloss black, this centre console has a touchscreen infotainment system at the top, knobs for the climate control in the middle and a transmission lever and push start-stop button at the bottom.

The vertical AC vents on the sides of the centre console and trapezoidal AC vents on the corners of the dashboard get chrome surrounds. The second-row captain seats have individualistic armrests and feature a long-slide function, while the third-row seats have a 50:50 split-folding facility. 

Pros and Cons:

Pro: Premium quilted Nappa leather seats 

Con: Theatre-like arrangement for the instrument console can take some time to get used to

Features and Technology

The Nissan Serena comes only with the basics of comfort and convenience features, with the MPV leaving considerable room for more features on board. Currently, both the MPVs get a touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto – a 6.75-inch screen for the Highway Star and a 9-inch screen for the Premium Highway Star variants.

A split fully digital speedometer with a 7-inch TFT screen for the secondary display, seven USB ports and dual-zone automatic climate control with rear AC vents in both second and third rows are also common to both variants. The Premium Highway Star variant of the Nissan Serena gets additional features like a dual-channel front and rear driving video recorder, an 11.6-inch roof-mounted monitor for rear-seat entertainment, LED cabin lights, and V-Kool tinted windows. However, given today’s times, the Nissan Serena does miss out on many features, which could have made it more premium. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Roof-mounted monitor for rear-seat entertainment is purposeful in long journeys 

Con: No modern features like wireless charger and heated and ventilated seats

Boot Space and Storage

Where the Nissan Serena impresses heavily is the host of small and large storage spaces it offers in the cabin. With all the seats up, the Nissan Serena has a decent boot space of 210 litres, which can be increased after folding down the third-row seats.

There are plenty of thoughtful and convenient things in the cabin, including the front cup holders, front and second-row shopping hooks, bottle holders in all three rows, and folding table and cup holders in second rows. The additional functional storage spaces in the cabin of the Nissan Serena include a driver compartment storage, glove box, centre cluster compartment, glove compartment, front passenger compartment, and compact compartment in the second row. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Plenty of usable storage spaces 

Con: Boot space with third row up could have been better

While a sleeker, all-new sixth-generation Nissan Serena is available overseas, this facelifted version of the fifth-generation model still looks relevant and pretty fresh. The Serena's typical boxy profile looks premium, and the optimal use of chrome all around enhances the minivan's premium appeal.

At the front, the Nissan Serena comes with an angular, wing-shaped, split headlamp assembly, which has LED projectors with auto levelling functions and LED DRLs. These headlamps have chrome elements dividing them into two portions, with this chrome element seamlessly flowing towards the side edges of the V-Motion grille.

Featuring a chrome finish for the side and lower edges, the large trapezoidal grille of the Nissan Serena has segmented chrome inserts within it, which are arranged horizontally. The aggressive-looking front bumper of the Nissan Serena has L-shaped housings for the LED fog lamps, which also get slim air curtains in their upper halves. 

From the side, the Nissan Serena looks massive, thanks to the large window panels, including the front and rear quarter glass panels. There is a prominent curve that flows from the front fender to the rear edge of the rear fenders, which adds a sense of continuity to the side profile. While the Highway Star variant gets 15-inch silver alloy wheels, the Premium Highway Star variant comes equipped with 16-inch black alloy wheels. 

The rear profile of the Nissan Serena also has the typical minivan-like look, with the upper half having a massive vertical windscreen, while the lower half has slim, vertically-laid tail lamps with unique curvy-looking LED inserts. The lower half has a gloss black panel just below the rear windscreen, below which there is a trapezoidal license plate housing.

The three colour options of the Highway Star variant of Nissan Serena are Brilliant White, Tungsten Silver, and Diamond Black, while the Premium Highway Star variant has three dual-tone colour choices Dark Metal Grey, Brilliant White, and Diamond Black, all of which get a Diamond Black roof panel. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Premium-looking design, especially at the front

Cons: Could have had larger wheels

Nissan claims a fuel efficiency figure of 14.2 kmpl in ideal driving conditions, with which it claims a very impressive full tank range of 852 km. For an MPV with an old-school big naturally-aspirated petrol engine, this fuel efficiency figure is decent, and that’s mainly due to the mild-hybrid system on offer with the powertrain. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Decent fuel efficiency on highways 

Con: City fuel efficiency could have been higher

With independent Macpherson struts at the front and a torsion beam axle at the rear, the Nissan Serena has a supple ride quality, making it a perfect match for its minivan body profile and comfort-oriented cabin. The Nissan Serena has a turning radius of 5.5 metres, which is decent for a minivan this large and enhances its driveability.

Pros and Cons:

Pro: Comfortable ride quality

Con: Nothing much actually 

Both the variants of the Nissan Serena sold in Malaysia come with a mild-hybrid powertrain based on a 2.0-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine under their hoods. This petrol engine is assisted with an S-Hybrid system, comprising of an energy control motor with an electric power regenerator and secondary battery for idling start-stop and torque assist functions.

Paired with a conventional CVT gearbox that features adaptive shift control, this 2.0-litre petrol engine generates a maximum power output of 150 PS, while the peak torque output is rated at 200 Nm. For a 2.0-litre petrol engine, these figures are very modest, with the Serena having decent mid-range, but a weak top-end grunt. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: Refined and reliable petrol engine

Con: Weak top-end grunt

Both the variants of the Nissan Serena come with a host of essential and advanced safety features as standard. While the essential safety features in the Serena include six airbags, ISOFIX mounts for the child seats, ABS with EBD and brake assist, vehicle dynamic control, front and rear parking sensors, traction control and hill start assist, the Nissan Intelligent Mobility suite of ADAS features consists of forward collision warning with forward emergency braking, blind spot warning, rear cross-traffic alert, lane departure warning, around view monitor with moving object detection and driver alertness monitor. 

Pros and cons:

Pro: ADAS features are offered as standard

Con: No hill descent control

Competitor Comparison

The direct rivals of the Nissan Serena in terms of pricing are the Toyota Hiace SWLB, Hyundai Staria, Maxus G10 SE, and Citroen Grand C4 Spacetourer. The Serena is also a more affordable alternative to more premium minivans like the Kia Carnival, Toyota Vellfire, Maxus Mifa 9, Xpeng X9, and Denza D9. 

Conclusion and Final Verdict

Despite the arrival of the more modern-looking and luxurious sixth-generation model overseas, this fifth-generation model still feels sensible for the amount of practicality and comfort it offers, while still having a premium flair in its exterior look. That said, the cabin has begun to show its age, and so is its limited equipment list. At its price, the Serena feels like value for money for the passenger and storage spaces, and the comfortable ride quality it delivers.