1982 Nissan Sentra 1.6 E16 from North America

Summary:

A great economical car

Faults:

Transmission had slight bearing noise at time of purchase. At 179k, it finally went. New transmission is on order.

The choke doesn't always function properly. It will stall sometimes if not warmed up long enough.

Seats are in good shape for its age and mileage.

The rear window defroster is strange. The switch does not function, yet the rear window always stays fog-free.

CV boots are torn, hums at highway speeds.

General Comments:

This car handles great in all kinds of terrain and weather.

You can't beat performance and reliability on Sentra's. The 1.6L engine is nearly bulletproof.

I'd take it on a cross-country drive any day!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 11th January, 2003

1982 Nissan Sentra 2-door sedan from North America

Summary:

High on reliability, but low on coolness

Faults:

When I bought it, the previous owner had replaced all CV joints and the alternator. Standard maintenance for an older car.

The brakes shriek the first couple of times I use them after starting the car. It's really embarrassing, but they work very well.

Miscellaneous wiring problems... digging around in the steering column and dash fixed most of them. The headlights wouldn't always come on when the switch was flipped, the heater wouldn't switch between floor/dash/defrost, etc.

The rear window defroster doesn't work.

The car slips out of fifth gear over about 65mph. It's a pain, but not really a safety issue.

This car DOES NOT like to run cold, and the choke doesn't stay on long enough to keep the car from stalling, so I have to sit and partially depress the gas for about five minutes in order to warm it up enough to drive without killing the engine.

The speedometer is about 10% off.

General Comments:

This car has all the power of a riding lawnmower, but it gets really great gas mileage (around 40 miles to the gallon).

It's reliable. Even if I do drive it when cold and accidentally stall it, it restarts immediately.

The handling is pretty good for a car without power steering, but the tires are narrow, which means gusting winds really drag the car all over the place.

The whole car is basically a thin metal box, which means there's quite a lot of road and engine noise while driving.

It really bothers me that this car has no tachometer. But then, neither did my last one. :)

The windshield wipers only have two settings: off and fast, which is a royal pain when it's only sprinkling outside. I have to constantly turn the wipers on and off. On the flip side, the wipers work really well with none of the water smearing you see in a lot of cars.

The seats are comfortable, but there are no armrests on the doors. What gives with that?

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 10th October, 2001

1st Mar 2002, 02:31

I live in the UK where the Sentra is known as the Sunny and I have an '84 2-door.

I have exactly the same problems with the rear screen defroster not working and the headlights which don't always come on right away with the switch- this seem to be worse when it is cold. Did you manage to fix these and if so how?

Likewise mine hates the cold weather. It always starts on the button but splutters when any kind of load is put on the engine- as you say it is as if the choke comes off too early.

I still rate it as a superb car though!