Faults:

The front end paint was chipped. Overall, the paint is very easily damaged.

The brakes throw a lot of brake dust onto the rims. I washed the car twice a week because of it.

Car threw a check engine code, turns out I didn't put the gas cap on properly.

The 6 speed transmission has to be seriously babied until it warms up. Then it's smooth as butter.

The rear end is ugly!!!

General Comments:

The car has plenty of power in the city and passing on the highway.

The car has an awesome heater in the winter. I've never owned a car that heats up that quickly, and living thru Canadian winters was much more tolerable. It does need winter tires though.

The car corners great, but gives a rough ride mainly due to the low profile tires. During winter with higher ratio tires, the ride was a lot nicer.

Decent gas mileage. 23-25 city, 29+ highway. (Premium fuel, but runs fine on regular)

I t-boned an old man in this car and wrote it off. I was travelling 60 km/h when I hit him, and I walked away without a scratch, bruise, or even a sore muscle. I was surprised that this small car would let me walk away from an accident like that.

These cars are durable if not abused.

Faults:

ECU went out about 1 year, covered under warranty (later there was a recall for this -- mine died before the recall notice was sent out)

Problem with temp control knob.

Had the butterfly valve issue; caused very rough running.

All items fixed under warranty.

General Comments:

I chalk the above issues to "so what?" The car is really fun to drive, cheap to maintain (well, some of the maintenance trips can be high -- $500+, which blows).

I've experienced the problem getting the thing into reverse, just need to be careful, let it roll forward an inch or two... shifter can still be a little crunchy, but I've learned where to shift on the RPM curve and this isn't much of an issue. Still love how smmmooooooth the engine is. Just a wonderful plant.

Great handling, great feel... good feedback through the steering wheel. The original Conti's are too slick for rain (hydroplane VERY easily) and impossible in the very infrequent ice/snow in Dallas... Fuzon's do much better in the rain.. MUCH better, but maybe a notch lower performance-wise on dry pavement.

Love the l-s differential (remember that, guys?) Only chagrin is: hey Nissan, you can tweak this baby for more horses/torque, afterall it's a 2.5l. Does anyone remember that idiotic 210hp *supercharged* v6 Exterra from a couple of years ago. I know, everyone dumbs down their engines, but they can do better by the Spec V and we ALL KNOW IT.

Incidentally, I drove this thing from Dallas to Reno and back in early 2004. No problems, no kinks in back or butt... very, very nice ride. And, I still think it looks great, preferring the more aggressive front end treatment. I did add a pair of tweeters in the front pillars... brought the front soundstage a little higher and closer to my ears (and added a little "crystal" to the sound).

Faults:

Nothing has gone wrong with this car. I like this model so much, it is the second Nissan Sentra I have owned. My 1991 Sentra lasted 10 years. I fully expect this car to last 10 years or more.

Faults:

Head gasket blew with engine only at 48k miles. crankshaft seal leak at 18k miles. Engine suffered damage from leaking head gasket. now it takes a little longer to start the car.

General Comments:

The car was bought as a commuter vehicle. I read reviews of the Nissan sentra with the 1.6l and reliability was strong. However, those vehicles were built in Japan with the 1.6L. Nissan shifted building the sentra in Mexico and an updated 1.8L. boy things have gone wrong with this!