Faults:

I bought this car from my grandmother who bought it brand new, so I knew that it had been well-maintained and was never in an accident.

At 39000 miles an airbag sensor broke ($800).

At about 45000 miles, the mass-airflow sensor (MAS) broke. The car would repetitively stall at low speeds, although it was an automatic. If I stopped and put the car in reverse, it would always stall, etc. I had it checked by the dealer, the told me the problem, and it cost almost $900 to fix.

Although the transmission was never actually found to be defective, I ALWAYS had problems with it. The shifts were always extremely harsh, and often times would slip in and out of gear. Granted it was a cheap car that was almost 6 years old, but it had under 50000 miles on it!

The power windows & locks had a mind of their own. They shorted out several times. Sometimes the lock switch would lower the driver's window, and sometimes the passenger window switch would unlock the doors... it was very frustrating!

Although many cars have quirky gas gauges, the Sentra's would remain at the 'full' for way too long... at times even 150 miles into the tank of gas. It would then spontaneously drop to a quarter tank.

That's all I can think of right now!

General Comments:

Though I had many problems with this car, I still loved it and pampered it. After all, it was my first car! If you are considering a Nissan, however, I strongly suggest against getting one with an automatic transmission. Mine needed help, my mother's 1995 Maxima needed a new auto transmission at 55000 miles, and a friend's 1995 Quest also needed a rebuilt transmission. Something went wrong at Nissan in 95! Also, inspect the back bumper carefully...I've noticed that lots of 95-97 Sentras appear as if they've been hit from behind (the left side of the bumper under the trunk frequently looks distorted). Mine looked like this, but I was never hit from behind.

Other than that, have fun! (hint: I love the new Sentras! I almost bought a 2001 SE manual, but didn't for other reasons.)