About Sentra
The Sentra has spent more than four decades as one of the cheapest ways into a new Nissan, a compact sedan that arrived in 1982 and became a fixture of first-car lots and commuter lanes. Most were humble, efficient and forgettable. A few were anything but: the 1991 SE-R, with its rev-happy 2.0-liter and limited-slip differential, is still revered as one of the great affordable sport sedans, and the Spec V of the 2000s carried on that spirit with a big four-cylinder and a six-speed manual.
The latest generation, built in Mexico, is the most stylish Sentra yet, with a low, wide stance, a much nicer cabin and a tech package that embarrasses some pricier cars. Under the hood it remains a sensible machine with a four-cylinder and a continuously variable transmission, and reviewers have praised its comfortable ride and value while noting it is no performance car. Price increases have stayed modest, which matters in a segment where every dollar counts.
It competes with the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Kia K4 and Mazda3, a field that has thinned as other automakers abandoned small sedans. With the Altima leaving the American market, the Sentra has become Nissan's only conventional sedan in the United States, giving it new importance to a brand that once sold four-doors by the boatload. Enthusiasts have reason to watch too. Nissan brought a 300-horsepower Sentra concept with a manual gearbox to SEMA, reviving the Spec V name and a little of the SE-R's swagger, and the reaction will tell whether a hot version is worth building. This page also follows pricing, safety ratings, recalls and the steady stream of comparison tests.