A Nissan driver showed that his Altima has the ability to do something that’s probably not a good idea, yet might appeal to some drivers.
The instructive TikTok video comes from JonnySteele (@jonny_steele). It got more than 48,000 views as of Monday.
“Nissan knew who they were marketing to with this,” he begins. He noted that it might be possible for drivers to dim the gauges on their dashboards, dim their screens, and even turn their screens off.
Then comes his reveal.
“But the Altima has one more trick,” he says. He gets all the instrumentation in the car to shut off while the car is still on.
“Complete dark mode while driving,” he says. “No lights on, no instrument cluster, no screen. Complete darkness.”
Rating the Nissan Altima
While that might be impressive to some, more conventional car reviewers, such as those at Car and Driver, call the latest 2025 edition of the Altima solid if not spectacular.
“Consider the 2025 Altima family sedan a well-rounded player that posts a respectable batting average without hitting many home runs,” it begins with a baseball metaphor. “It’s affordable, efficient, comfortable, and attractively styled, the standard four-cylinder engine is entirely sufficient, it delivers up to 39 mpg on the highway, and the continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) gets the job done without too much undesirable droning.”
The reviewer notes that “Altima’s standard 8.0-inch touchscreen has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto capability.” It adds, “The infotainment interface has a customizable main menu but otherwise few personalization options,” and that “the touchscreen we tested responded slowly to inputs.”
The reviewer made no mention of dark mode.
Viewers aren’t all that impressed
A number of people came into the comments section to say the reveal did not wow them.
“Nissan has been doing this for 20 years,” claimed one.
“My 88 Blazer could do this,” claimed another. “Just don’t step on the button on the floor to turn on the lights!”
“Thanks for pointing out the most pointless feature a vehicle could have,” someone else sniffed.
That led the creator to retort, “I feel auto start/stop would be more pointless.”
But not everyone felt the same way: One commenter indicated the feature was “bada–” and wished their truck could do the same.
@jonny_steele Nissan Altima Tricks…Dark Mode Parked while filming, no laws broken #nissan #altima #dark #mode #ghost #hack #car #2025 ♬ original sound – JonnySteele
The Daily Dot reached out to the creator via TikTok direct message and Nissan via email.
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