2019 Nissan Sentra
Complaints about this year name radio far more often than the other years of this generation — 11% of them, about 13× the usual rate of 0.8%.
Last year of its generation. This Nissan Sentra ran from 2013 to 2019, so it had the whole run for its faults to be found and fixed. Last years are usually the most sorted of a generation.
NHTSA opened a defect investigation into this model year.
| Complaints filed | 423 |
|---|---|
| Median for this model | 154 |
| Involving a crash | 32 |
| Involving a fire | 2 |
| Recalls | 2 |
| NHTSA crash rating | 4/5 |
| EPA combined | 30 mpg |
What the complaints were about
- radio — 17.3% of this year's complaints, against 5.7% across the other years of this generation (3×). Owners wrote it as: radio, itself, turns, car off.
- collision — 14.4% of this year's complaints, against 4.6% across the other years of this generation (3.1×). Owners wrote it as: collision, collision warning, emergency brake, affairs.
- emergency — 12.8% of this year's complaints, against 3.8% across the other years of this generation (3.4×). Owners wrote it as: emergency, automatic, because car.
Words owners used for the same problem are counted together, so a fault written four different ways is measured once. Grouped by which complaints they appear in, not by a list anyone wrote in advance.
Also unusual this year
- battery — 13% of complaints, 5× usual
- malfunction — 11% of complaints, 7× usual
- exterior lighting — 9% of complaints, 12× usual
What owners wrote
Radio turns on intermittently when the car is not on. Drains battery. Has caused the car to not start several times and left my daughter on the side of the road.
Several electrical and transmission problems. Vehicle over exerts battery. Transmission goes out of overdrive while driving . Collusion avoidance radar constantly goes into malfunction modes. Car over heats.
Verbatim from NHTSA complaint filings, with identifying details removed.
Recalls for this year
- 21V135000 EXTERIOR LIGHTING Fixed free of charge.
- 19V654000 BACK OVER PREVENTION Fixed free of charge.
How this was worked out
Every year of the Nissan Sentra was compared against its own history rather than against other cars, which removes popularity and age from the answer — a common car draws more complaints at equal reliability, and an older one has had longer to accumulate them. A year is flagged when it drew at least 2.5× this model's median and at least 50 complaints.
This is a fault record, not a review. Nobody files a federal complaint to say the car was fine, so it shows what tends to go wrong — not whether owners liked it, and not whether it is a good car.
Source: NHTSA complaints, recalls and investigations, retrieved . Look this vehicle up directly on NHTSA's site to check anything here.
Own a 2019 Nissan Sentra? What happened to yours?
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