I currently on the market for a small Janpanese car,Sentra is cheaper than Coralla and civic ,engine is little bit bigger than Civic(1.8 vs 1.7) ,qulity should be not bad,I'd like to hear soneone who own one of these.

I had an '89 Sentra for a while a looooong time ago, very reliable car. They can be had stripped for just under $10k right now, best new car deal around. There's a long thread on fatwallet.com about this.

Scott

It's a cheaper car than a Corolla or a Civic. Having ridden in a '05 Civic EX coupe, and driven a '05 Corolla LE, and also ridden in a 2004 Sentra 1.8S, I can say that the Sentra would be my last choice. It looks like an attractive car, and I acutally considered one at one time. You get a lot of features for the money. What you certainly don't get is quality or reliability. (It's not built in the US, Canada, or Japan like the Civic or Corolla. It's built in MEXICO. Earlier models were built in Japan, and they hold up well) I remember I was rather impressed with the car after riding in it for 25 minutes or so. I then talked to several friends who own Sentras, and they have all had electrical issues, build quality issues, and numerous interior pieces fall off their cars. That was a major turn-off to me. I was not about to buy another car that would need constant trips to the dealer.

If I were looking for a small car and didn't want to spend as much as it took to get a new Corolla or Civic, I'd buy a two year old one before I'd buy a new Sentra.

idk much about nissans, but my great aunt is giving me her 94 4 door atx sentra and im going to use it for a beater car. you cant pass up free. it needs a few things like an oil pan, belts and hoses and other stuff but other than that, its better than driving the z or the tour when i dont have to.
steve

One of those consumer groups or magazine or newspaper called sentra bad car but only cuz of bad crash test scores.

If you look up the Sentra on MSN autos, you'll find that it has a lot of problems with emissions related items including PCM (powertrain control module) failure. These problems are occuring on cars as new as three years old.

If u want a small car get a 1985/86 Toyota Corolla...aka AE 86, Turineo

Originally posted by Kremithefrog:

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One of those consumer groups or magazine or newspaper called sentra bad car but only cuz of bad crash test scores.

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Consumer Reports has also found it to have worse-than-average reliability. The Focus is a better deal. Far more pleasant and more reliable for not much more money.

It's also more than $10,000... a stripped 1.8, lacking A/C, a radio, or anything is $13,280 delivered. A/C and a radio adds $1250.

The Focus ZX4 S... is $14,460, A/C is $910 extra. A little more for a lot more car. ZX3 S is $13,860, A/C is again $910 extra. So a ZX3 with A/C is $230 more than a Sentra 1.8 (and more likely to be rebated/discounted).

A Hyundai Elantra has better reliability, though not quite as nice as the Focus (on par with the Sentra). A standard Elantra delivered which includes A/C and a cassette radio and power accessories is $13,844 (or $686 less than the Sentra with A/C). A CD player and cruise control is $600 extra.