Faults:

Camshaft Sensor at 110,000 (Recall Item)

General Comments:

Our Sentra so far has been very reliable, Very affordable to buy and drive, For the most part I've been pleased... Except in heavy snow, the car is low to the ground and gets caught up easy so it feels like your clearing the road... But I'm sure all other models in it's class would do the same... and to be fair the snow was over 6 inches deep. For the money it's a good deal, we also looked at the Honda Civic & Toyota Corolla their resell value is higher but the Sentra's purchase cost was lower. No major repairs thus far, it seems if you treat it well it will return the favor.

Faults:

Battery leaked and died -- replaced it entirely.

Changed all 4 tires after brakes locked and car skid.

Re-aligned the car twice.

Sunlight has damaged the steering wheel.

General Comments:

Good student car -- good mpg (31-33), low maintenance generally. You get what you pay for though -- the seat cloth is cheap and interior began to wear from sun damage after just a couple years. The lack of antilock brakes almost caused me a horrible accident after a sudden stop on California's Highway 5. Otherwise, the sentra is a good deal in terms of having a good exterior look (in my opinion, superior to corolla or civic) and drives similarly at a lower price.

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with this car!

General Comments:

The Sentra has been an excellent car for us and a very good value.

It currently has 77000 KM on it and aside from regular maintenance we have not had to put any money into it.

We have not even had to replace the brakes yet; we check them on a regular basis and the mechanic says that they are still okay.

My only complaint is that the tires that Nissan put on the Sentra were not very good.

Faults:

At 36,000 miles the car started stalling while idling at intersections. Mechanics cleaned air flow sensor. Three months later, same problem. Mechanics replaced air flow sensor - $700 part which the dealer indicated was not covered under warranty. Three months later, same problem again. Towed it to the dealer where they replaced a couple of recalled items and tested the air flow sensor which they said was fine. There was some confusion as to whether the air flow sensor should have been covered under warranty and I've never gotten a straight answer about that yet. After this service, the throttle started sticking. Had it replaced - not covered by warranty. Three months later, same problem, dealer couldn't recreate, five months later it is in the shop again - same problem. While waiting in line spoke with another customer with a 2003 Sentra and she says she's had same problem as well as various others. I'm afraid the warranty will wear out before the dealer figures out what is wrong with it.

General Comments:

This would be a great, zippy little inexpensive car if it would just stop stalling at intersections. Years ago, I owned a Datsun B210 and a 510 station wagon and my mother had a Nissan sports car. They were all very dependable and lasted for many, many years! But this little car has a problem.