Owners have filed 5,082 complaints on the Nissan Sentra, covering 1982–2026. The system named most often is Power Train (1,059 reports). Worst years by volume: 2013, 2014, 2015; cleanest: 2026, 2023, 1987. 475 reports describe a crash, 102 a fire, 12 a death. On average the car was 4.8 years old when the problem happened.
What breaks on Nissan Sentra
Grouped by the system owners named — percentages are shares of all 5,082 Sentra complaints. Open any row for the full reports in owners' own words.
Power Train 1,059 Read
Transmission failed, as I went to turn left it stalled and on coming traffic had to slam on there brakes and 6 veh. Ran into each other i dud not get hit but feel so bad that the 2914 nissan sentra i drive caused this traffic hazard. 2 people had to go to the hospital. It should be illegal to sell these cars with ctv…
Driving on freeway less than 35 mph, car made loud noise for 1-2 minutes at same time I felt under floor board something pulling. I tried to slow down, brakes didn't work. I rear ended a car. The car gear shift popped into reverse; I pressed harder on brakes & they finally worked. I noticed a big light on the…
I was driving my vehicle and it was locked into gear I want to press on my brakes it would not slow down I rear-ended a vehicle, and the airbags did not deploy
Air Bags 517 Read
Rainy night 55 mph crash. Air bags did not deploy. Wet road, car ran off road, hit a sign post, went down embankment, flipped and rolled over into ditch. Daughter was seriously injured... 4 broken lower back vertebrae, 9 broken ribs, numerous pelvic fractures, lacerated spleen and kidney. Seems like these injuries…
I was driving this car but had stopped to let traffic by (in a turn lane) when an oncoming truck barrelled toward me & hit me head-on, going about 40 mph. His truck bent in the whole front of my sentra but my neither my driver-side or passenger-side airbag went off to protect me & my daughter! There is a recall on the…
I rear ended another vehicle and my airbags did not deploy
Electrical System 478 Read
The contact owned a 2013 nissan sentra. While driving at 45 mph, the vehicle veered off the road and crashed into a ditch. The vehicle burst into flames and was destroyed. The driver sustained fatal injuries. A police report was filed. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 33,000
Dt: contact stated while driving vehicle stalled. While pushing the vehicle off the road another vehicle hit the contact's vehicle from behind. The contact stated there was NHTSA recall campaign 03V477000 but the contact wasn't notified about this recall. The contact and passenger sustained injuries
When it rains the car hydroplanes and the traction on the tires are no good. Also the door locks don't unlock properly and the door won't open. Also the warning for vehicle collision front and back doesn't work properly and doesn't warn you when a vehicle is going to hit you from behind. I was rear-ended and it didn't…
Steering 281 Read
My accident was with Nissan Sentra veering out of control. I was lucky, see others who weren’t in past few weeks: https://kfoxtv.com/amp/news/local/deadly-accident-in-collision-on-i-10-at-lee-trevino https://www.wvlt.tv/2022/02/03/maryville-man-dies-after-car-lands-little-river/…
The contact owned a 2017 Nissan Sentra S. The contact stated that while driving at 35 mph, the steering wheel seized and the RPM's increased. The brake pedal was depressed however the contact crashed into a curb and then a fire hydrant causing the vehicle to flip. There was smoke and a burning odor present. The…
To the best of my knowledg The front LH drive shaft came off the transaxle case leaving me no power of steering or breaking forcing me into the center divider. If this happened on a freeway driving speed limit or a busy street the accident would be fatal. Problem has been confirmed by Nissan themselves the year and…
Service Brakes 248 Read
Took new 2014 nissan sentra in 2times to tri cities nissan to be looked at and fixed week after got it when trying to stop the front end shakes real bad like tires are falling off. They told me it was normal for the front end to shake I also informed the brakes would be hard then to the floor they said oh its fine. So…
The contact owns a 2021 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the emergency brake warning light had illuminated. In addition, the contact stated while depressing the brake pedal the vehicle did not come to a complete stop and rolled forward. The contact stated that they had crashed…
My daughter was driving her 2020 Nissan Sentra the other day and was trying to avoid hitting a dog that ran in front of her car she crashed into a park car. Our Nissan Sentra anti brakes did not stop the car nor make a noise before hitting that parked car. No warning from our car to prevent this head on collision.…
Engine 216 Read
The contact owned a 2018 nissan sentra. The contact stated while driving approximately 10 mph, the vehicle caught fire. The contact stated she may have seen smoke from under the hood near the windshield wiper. The contact stated she kept driving until she saw flames and all the warning lights illuminating as well as…
The contact owns a 2013 nissan sentra. The contact stated that while driving 55 mph, a burning odor was present. The contact pulled over to check under the hood and discovered that the engine was on fire. The fire department was called to extinguish the fire. The fire department was unable to determine what caused the…
While driving, a piece fell out of the bottom of the car, after which the engine began to smoke and the car began to lose power. I pulled off the road and turned off the car, at which point the engine became engulfed in flames. The car has had no problems to date, and the check engine light has never come on
Engine And Engine Cooling 170 Read
On november 11, 1998 my daughter was driving south on interstate 57 by askum, il. Going 65 mph. She claims the engine lost power and she had to naviage the car to the side of the road to avoid being rear ended by oncoming traffic. The car lost all power and would not restart. She got out of the car and looked under…
The contact owns a 2010 nissan sentra. The contact started the vehicle, and was unable to shift from park to reverse. She then shut the vehicle off and checked outside of the vehicle to see if the wheels were straight, thinking maybe the wheels were locking the transmission. The consumer stated when she started the…
My 2007 nissan sentra caught on fire wile I was driving on highway
Vehicle Speed Control 141 Read
I pulled into a chick-fil-a drive thru. This fast food chain has employees outside that come to your car and take your order. The guy that came to me asked me if something was wrong with my car. He said it sounds like the engine is racing. I didn't recognize it until he mentioned it. While I was sitting in the line…
Collision avoidance failed and accerator appeared to stick resulting in accident.in motion approaching lovers lane on noble avenue when driver passed out resulting in multiple rearend stationary object and side collision
1-- the dashboard is has a bigger gap on the driver side in relation to the door than the passenger side. 2- tires don't respond immediately when driving off from a parking lot where the surface is not too smooth(not smooth enough) 3.the brakes don't work properly when driving les than 35 miles an hour it rolls…
Sentra years to avoid — and the clean ones
Complaints per model year. More reports usually means more cars on the road as well as more trouble, so read the crash and fire columns alongside the count.
| Model year | Complaints | Top system | Crashes | Fires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Forward Collision Avoidance,lane Departure | — | — | |
| 2025 | Air Bags,forward Collision Avoidance | 5 | — | |
| 2024 | Air Bags | 5 | — | |
| 2023 | Back Over Prevention,forward Collision Avoidance | 1 | — | |
| 2022 | Air Bags,forward Collision Avoidance | 1 | — | |
| 2021 | Back Over Prevention | 13 | 1 | |
| 2020 | Back Over Prevention | 8 | — | |
| 2019 | Air Bags | 16 | 1 | |
| 2018 | Air Bags | 16 | 3 | |
| 2017 | Air Bags | 26 | 5 | |
| 2016 | Air Bags | 17 | 2 | |
| 2015 | Air Bags | 19 | 3 | |
| 2014 | Air Bags | 25 | 6 | |
| 2013 | Air Bags | 24 | 4 | |
| 2012 | Air Bags | 8 | 4 | |
| 2011 | Air Bags | 17 | 6 | |
| 2010 | Air Bags | 9 | 3 | |
| 2009 | Air Bags | 6 | — | |
| 2008 | Air Bags | 14 | 2 | |
| 2007 | Air Bags | 19 | 10 | |
| 2006 | Air Bags | 16 | 1 | |
| 2005 | Air Bags | 9 | 3 | |
| 2004 | Air Bags | 16 | — | |
| 2003 | Air Bags | 10 | — | |
| 2002 | Air Bags | 15 | 4 | |
| 2001 | Air Bags | 13 | 2 | |
| 2000 | Air Bags | 16 | 3 | |
| 1999 | Air Bags | 11 | — | |
| 1998 | Air Bags | 11 | 1 | |
| 1997 | Air Bags | 20 | 1 |
The same model year, different builds
Every complaint carries the first 11 characters of the VIN — plant, year, body and engine. That is a production series, and complaints are spread across them very unevenly.
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Distinct production series | 1,002 |
| Average complaints per series | 5.1 |
| Worst single series | 61 complaints |
| Average age at failure | 4.8 years |
A model average of 5.1 hides a worst series at 61. Enter a VIN above to see the numbers for that exact build instead of the model as a whole.
Owners reported these. Find out if yours is one of them.
- Complaints matched to the exact production run, not just the model
- What the car is worth given what tends to fail on it
- The original window sticker and factory options
- Full research report as a PDF for the pre-purchase inspection
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- No ads, no tracking — and much more
How we count
Every figure here comes from complaints owners filed with NHTSA — 1,100,006 of them, covering 1,982 models built between 1981 and 2026.
A complaint is an unverified report: someone wrote down what happened to their car. It is not a confirmed defect and not a recall. What makes the volume useful is the pattern — when thousands of owners of the same build describe the same failure, that is a signal no marketing brochure will give you.
Two things we do that the source does not. First, we compute the age of the car at the moment of failure from the incident date and the model year. Second, we group complaints by the first 11 characters of the VIN — the production series — so a bad plant run does not disappear into a model-wide average.
Frequently asked questions
What are the worst years for the Sentra?
By complaint volume, 2013, 2014, 2015 drew the most owner reports. Bear in mind that popular years put more cars on the road, so check the crash and fire columns too.
Which Sentra years are the cleanest?
2026, 2023, 2025 have the fewest complaints on file. For recent years that can simply mean the cars are young.
How many complaints does the Nissan Sentra have?
5,082 owner complaints filed with NHTSA, covering 1982–2026. Of those, 475 describe a crash and 102 a fire.
Are these complaints verified?
No. They are unverified reports from owners. NHTSA publishes them as filed and investigates only a fraction. The value is in the pattern, not in any single report.
Can I check complaints for one specific car?
Yes — enter its VIN above. We match the first 11 characters, which identify the plant, year, body and engine, so you get complaints on that exact production series rather than the whole model.