What ownership is like, what breaks at what mileage, what the repairs cost, and what to check before you buy one.
← All Nissan Sentra generations
NHTSA complaints per catalog listing run from 0.26 for 2025 (31 complaints across 119 listings) to 3.98 for 2020 (207 across 52), against a generation median of 0.85. The highest year, 2020, is 4.7 times that median. No year reaches the 2.0x our rule needs together with an above-median ad share and 30 or more listings, so nothing is flagged. MileageCurve counts 511 NHTSA complaints for 2020-2025 with steering the largest area at 27.8% and a median of 40,000 miles (complaints, not a failure rate). 2020 is the highest year but rests on 52 listings and no enriched-ad count, so the ad half of our rule cannot be met; it is not flagged. Our 2020 pull is led by Steering (39), Unknown Or Other (26), Forward Collision Avoidance (25).
| Miles | Item | Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| any | Tie rod recalls (bent tie rod, loss of steering control) | Free at a Nissan dealer: replace both tie rods, up to 2.0 hours (campaign bulletin) | 21V461000 names 2020-2021 Sentras and 23V581000 names 2020-2022. Consumer Reports (Aug 2023) reported the repeat recall. A bent tie rod can break and cause loss of steering control. Confirm by VIN even if a seller says the work was done. |
| any | Driveshaft not fully seated in the CVT (2024-2025) | Free at a Nissan dealer when open | 24V304000 names certain 2024 Sentras and 26V410000 certain 2025 Sentras: the front left driveshaft may not be fully seated in the CVT. Confirm by VIN. |
| any | Recalls on file (12 campaigns in our records): 21V461000 (2020-2021), 22V244000 (2020), 23V421000 (2022), 23V581000 (2020-2022), 23V628000 (2020-2021), 24V154000 (2023-2024), 24V304000 (2024), 24V498000 (2024), 25V153000 (2025), 25V807000 (2025), 26V023000 (2025), 26V410000 (2025) | Free at a Nissan dealer when open | Other campaigns include rearview camera harness (23V628000), LED headlight aim (22V244000), cowl seal (23V421000), windshield bubbles (24V498000, 25V807000), a seat frame (25V153000) and door strikers (26V023000). Confirm each by VIN. |
| Not verified | CVT warranty and cost data for 2020-2025 | Not verified: we found no sourced repair costs or Nissan warranty extension for these years | The CVT extensions we read cover 2013-2019 cars. We did not find a sourced mileage window or price for 2020-2025 CVT work, so none is given. |
No year in this generation was flagged. A year is flagged by our rule only when all three hold: (1) its NHTSA complaints per catalog listing is at least 2.0x the median for its generation, (2) the share of ads that mention a problem is above the generation median, and (3) we track at least 30 listings for that year. The cutoff was fixed before we looked. Ad mentions are not failures, and a flag is a reason to inspect harder, not a verdict on any one car. We also re-ran the ad test with the 'rust' flaw left out, because the ad reader counts phrases like 'no rust' as mentions, and publish a flag only if it passes both ways.
| Year | Complaints | Top components | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 207 | Steering, Unknown Or Other, Forward Collision Avoidance | |
| 2021 | 133 | Steering, Electrical System, Forward Collision Avoidance | |
| 2022 | 81 | Steering, Electrical System, Unknown Or Other | |
| 2023 | 20 | Unknown Or Other, Electrical System, Back Over Prevention | |
| 2024 | 41 | Unknown Or Other, Power Train, Steering | |
| 2025 | 31 | Tires, Unknown Or Other, Visibility |
source: NHTSA complaints database (api.nhtsa.gov). Complaints are owner reports, not confirmed failures.
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We don't tell you to skip a year; we flag by a fixed rule, and it flags 2013 (638 complaints across 141 listings, 4.52 per listing against a 2013-2019 median of 1.94) and 2007 (154 complaints across 35 listings, 4.40 per listing against a 2007-2012 median of 2.14, on only 35 listings). Third-party lists name 2013-2015 and 2004-2005. In our data 2014 has 2.05 per listing and 2015 has 1.94, both under our cutoff.
Sources disagree and none is a Nissan quote. Transmission Audit, a shop-written site, gives $4,200 to $5,800 for a remanufactured CVT on 2013-2019 Sentras. CVT Mechanic's owner-forum estimates for all years are $4,000 to $6,000 new, $3,000 to $4,500 rebuilt and $2,500 to $4,000 used. A Nissan dealer blog gives $5,000 to $8,000 remanufactured.
Yes, for 2013-2019. A Nissan owner letter covers 2013-2017 Sentras at 7 years/84,000 miles, and 2023 bulletins cover 2018-2019 cars built 9/18/2017 to 11/23/2019. The 2023 notice says owners who opted out of the class action are excluded, and the window runs from the original in-service date, so a dealer must check the VIN.
For 2013-2019 cars, Transmission Audit puts first drivability complaints at 70,000 to 120,000 miles, and MileageCurve's analysis of NHTSA complaints gives a median of 77,000 miles. The MileageCurve figure is a median of when owners reported, not a failure rate.
Campaign 23V581000 names 2020-2022 Sentras and 21V461000 names 2020-2021 cars. A bent tie rod can break and cause loss of steering control; the dealer repair is free. Check the VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls, because a later campaign repeated the recall on some cars.
We don't rank generations. Our own numbers: 2013-2019 has a median of 1.94 NHTSA complaints per catalog listing and 2007-2012 has 2.14. Those rates are not directly comparable across generations, because newer cars have had less time and different ways of being reported.