Faults:

The switch for the fan only works at the max, but works great nonetheless.

I always wanted to buy Hondas, but having this car for about a month, with that many miles on it, I've changed my views. It's a great car, runs very smooth, the tires needed to be changed... my mechanics tell me it should last a while.

I'm very happy with this car thus far. If you want to save on gas and want something to get you from place to place, with power everything and a decent sound system, and a couple thousand less than Hondas, this is the car... thank you to Nissan.

General Comments:

I love this car. I'm very happy with it, considering I bought it for 3000. And don't expect the same power as you did out of those big engines.. I had a Ford Taurus once, boy did that car accelerate, but it gave me many problems and also finalized my decision to sell it by giving me 15 miles/gallon.. may I never buy a Ford again!

Faults:

The most significant problem so far has been with the fuel pump. At around 85,000 miles I had to have the car towed and the fuel pump replaced. To be fair, it was showing signs of trouble long before it died, but Pep Boys was unable to properly diagnose the trouble. I should have taken it to the dealer in the first place, as they fixed it right up.

The paint has also been a big problem. The paint on the rear bumper faded dramatically and looks really bad. It is also starting to chip off on the roof and hood. I purchased my car used (it was a former lease) and it may have been given a bad paint job before I purchased it. I've never seen other Nissans with the same paint problems as mine.

Aside from these two problems and some blown tires (my fault) the car has been very reliable. No engine or transmission problems.

General Comments:

With this car you get a lot for the price. It came well equipped with power doors and windows, automatic transmission, and a decent sound system (although cassette only).

For an economy car with an automatic transmission it has a good amount of get-up-and-go. 115 horsepower isn't a lot, but it's more than other economy cars of the same year. It does rock a little on turns and doesn't feel especially sporty, but it responds nicely when put your foot down.

As an economy car it is okay, but I had been hoping for better fuel economy. I get about 27-29 miles per gallon, which is decent, but I wanted to break the 30 barrier. My Tercel was a manual transmission and got about 37 miles per gallon. I knew I'd lose a little going to an automatic, but I didn't think it would be a whole 10 MPG less.

Faults:

The interior light sensor on the driver's side door has gone bad.

General Comments:

Not a bad little box, although that is all it is. When coupled with the 5spd transmission, the 115hp 1.6L DOHC powerplant packs a punch, doing the quarter mile in 16.7 seconds. When driven sanely, in mostly city driving, it gets me 33mpg.

The handling on this car is tuned for economy, which is to say, its non-existent. Tiny little 175/70/13s and a suspension more tuned for ride comfort than performance do not inspire confidence in the twisties. The steering is over-boosted and it feels twitchy at 70mph+, it does not have the solid feeling my old car (a Pontiac Bonneville) had at high speeds (even when I pushed the Pontiac into triple digits it still felt planted and very stable).

Interior is spartan, this particular example of a Sentra has power nothing, no vanity mirrors or ever a cigarette lighter (the plug is there, just not the lighter). I console myself with the realization that there is less stuff to break now (haha). The one thing I do not like is the absence of a tachometer. That and the ugly rubber shift boot are the two things I intend to fix on the car.

For what it was designed to do (provide cheap transportation), it does it well, and the power is a nice plus (seeing as visions of 19-second Geo Metros had rolled through my head whilst car shopping). A couple little modifications and it will be perfect.