Old Nissan Kicks Will Be Sold Alongside New One, but We Don't Know Why You'd Buy It

The renamed Kicks Play is only $310 cheaper than the all-new model

written by Steven Ewing^{Director, Editorial Content
Steven Ewing has worked in the automotive industry since 2003. In that time, he's written thousands of articles and tested just as many vehicles. Steven is Edmunds' director of editorial content and has previously been on staff at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog, Motor1.com, CNET, and was the U.S. correspondent for Top Gear magazine. Steven has also contributed to Automobile magazine, Car and Driver, The Drive, Jalopnik, Porsche Panorama, and dozens of other publications. In his spare time, Steven loves to play the drums, cook, and drive his 2000 BMW M Roadster.}
edited by Nick Yekikian^{Senior News Editor
Nick Yekikian has worked in the automotive industry since 2019. He has written close to a thousand car-related articles and tested and reviewed more than 200 vehicles over the course of his career. Nick is the Senior News Editor at Edmunds and has also contributed to MotorTrend, Automobile Magazine and Super Street. When Nick isn't zipping around town in his latest used-car find, he's probably making digital art in Photoshop or playing disc golf with friends.}
12/18/2024
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Nissan will keep selling the old Kicks crossover alongside the new model.
The older Kicks is now called the Kicks Play.
You'll only save $310 going with the old model, and to us, it's not worth it.

The 2025 Nissan Kicks is a pretty solid value, starting at just $23,220 (including the $1,390 destination charge). But if that's still just out of reach for your budget, Nissan announced this week that it'll keep selling the outgoing Kicks — now called the Kicks Play — alongside the new model. It's a tactic we've seen before from several automakers, including Nissan. But since the Kicks Play only comes at a savings of $310, we have no idea why you'd buy it over the new one.

Priced at $22,910 including destination, Nissan says the 2025 Kicks Play "boasts a compelling level of standard equipment," including a 7-inch touchscreen multimedia system, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 16-inch wheels and the company's Safety Shield 360 suite (lane departure warning, blind-spot warning, pedestrian detection and rear cross-traffic alert, etc.). That's all well and good, but all of these same features come standard on the new 2025 Kicks for, again, just $310 more.

Also, that isn't the Kicks Play pictured up top; that's a more highly specced Kicks SR. The Play has less aggressive front-end styling, smaller wheels and different headlights. You can see it on Nissan's build-and-price website.

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This is a higher-spec 2025 Kicks SR, but you have to admit, it looks so much better than the old one.

What else do you get for that extra $310? Significantly increased passenger room, more cargo space, and standard LED headlights and taillights (the old Kicks' halogen headlights are trash). Not to mention a much more modern design with nicer materials inside.

Then there's the powertrain. The Kicks Play uses a 1.6-liter inline-four with 122 horsepower and 114 lb-ft of torque. The 2025 Kicks upgrades that to a 2.0-liter inline-four with 141 hp and 140 lb-ft. The only benefit to the smaller engine is that it's slightly more fuel-efficient, with the EPA estimating 33 mpg combined, compared to 31 mpg combined for the 2.0-liter Kicks with all-wheel drive. And, yes, you can add all-wheel drive to the 2025 Kicks S for just $1,500, something you were never able to get on the old car.

Comparing the 2025 Kicks Play to the 2025 Kicks S doesn't really reveal it to be a value proposition, and a $310 difference in MSRP spread out over months of car payments amounts to a few bucks more per payment. We appreciate the value-minded thinking, Nissan, but this one's a hard pass.

by Steven Ewing

Steven Ewing has worked in the automotive industry since 2003. In that time, he's written thousands of articles and tested just as many vehicles. Steven is Edmunds' director of editorial content and has previously been on staff at Winding Road magazine, Autoblog, Motor1.com, CNET, and was the U.S. correspondent for Top Gear magazine. Steven has also contributed to Automobile magazine, Car and Driver, The Drive, Jalopnik, Porsche Panorama, and dozens of other publications. In his spare time, Steven loves to play the drums, cook, and drive his 2000 BMW M Roadster.

edited by Nick Yekikian

Nick Yekikian has worked in the automotive industry since 2019. He has written close to a thousand car-related articles and tested and reviewed more than 200 vehicles over the course of his career. Nick is the Senior News Editor at Edmunds and has also contributed to MotorTrend, Automobile Magazine and Super Street. When Nick isn't zipping around town in his latest used-car find, he's probably making digital art in Photoshop or playing disc golf with friends.

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Old Nissan Kicks Will Be Sold Alongside New One, but We Don't Know Why You'd Buy It

The renamed Kicks Play is only $310 cheaper than the all-new model

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