2009 Nissan Sentra

[2002 Maxima SE]

Am I nuts or is this a good car? I just returned from a business trip to CT. Picked up a 2009 Nissan Sentra rental from Hertz with (are you ready) 10 miles on the clock. I drove it from Hartford to Groton and back. The car was smooth and quiet, and the road was far from perfect. Bumps and potholes were soaked up much better than my 2002 Maxima or 2000 Ford Taurus. The CVT kept the engine quiet and within the right power band. I never felt like it was straining. I couldn't get over how quiet it was inside the car. No wind noise.

Seating position was high and the cloth seats were comfortable. Trunk seemed spacious but I didn't really have a lot of luggage to test it out. All in all, it seemed like it would make a great second car.

I only had three dislikes:
One was the "rubber band" feeling on hills and dips. Letting off the gas, the car slowed down a bit too fast on it's own. Going up hills you had to give it a bit more gas to encourage the CVT to move up the RPM.

Another was the thickness of the A pillar. Driving around city streets I was constantly moving up and back to see around it.

Lastly, the orange lighting on the radio and guage cluster. It was really annoying at night.

 

[SLCraig]

Of course it's a good car, its a Nissan

 

[rationull]

I think it's a pretty good car. I test drove it with both transmissions (the CVT and the 6 speed MT) when I was looking at cars back in late 2006 (looking at the new 2007 models). Styling-wise I think it looks a little too much like a squashed Altima but it's not bad. I remember being impressed with the ride quality and quietness, like you mention. The engine seemed very smooth at idle as well.

Although I wanted to stick with Nissan (I was coming from a 280zx) I went with the Civic coupe over the Sentra because it felt faster and the handling and ride quality were sportier, plus was rated for a little better gas mileage. If I were going for a smoother or more practical car (bigger trunk, glove box, etc) I might've gone with the Sentra instead.

 

[peterdaniel]

typical Nissan.. Built very well, will last nearly forever, excellent engineering and and drug seeking, alcoholic strung out on heroin person in charge of styling. Ugly doesn't do the new Sentra justice.

And yes, I have had plenty of Nissans... 1972 240Z, 2008 350Z, 1997 Nissan Hardbody 4x4 and my father has had Maxima's and now drives a Quest. Sometimes they wake up sober and design something that is beautiful but they have designed some seriously ugly cars! lol

 

[ViragoBry]

They did try a bit too hard to make it look like a shrunken Maxima, and not all the design elements made the transition well.

Glad to hear that it drove nicely though. Not sure I could deal with the CVT. It was unnerving to me the first time I drove a Murano. I knew it was a CVT, but it just felt like a regular transmision that had some sort of mechanical problem. Reminded me of how a boat accelerates.

 

[ryansride2017]

I had a 2003 Sentra, which I recently sold, that served me reasonably well (227K miles). Since I drive nearly 40K miles a year due to my work, I don't think I could buy a new Nissan with their CVT's. As of yet, they are not proven to me to be durable enough to last a few hundred thousand miles. It's too much of a gamble for me I can't afford to take.

 

[Cutehumor]

Originally Posted By: peterdaniel
typical Nissan.. Built very well, will last nearly forever, excellent engineering and and drug seeking, alcoholic strung out on heroin person in charge of styling. Ugly doesn't do the new Sentra justice.

And yes, I have had plenty of Nissans... 1972 240Z, 2008 350Z, 1997 Nissan Hardbody 4x4 and my father has had Maxima's and now drives a Quest. Sometimes they wake up sober and design something that is beautiful but they have designed some seriously ugly cars! lol


drive my dad's 03 1.8L nissan sentra. you would change your mind

 

[JTK]

At a quick glance, the new Sentra looks like a Saturn Ion to me. Other than that, they've always seemed to be a notch above most in this segment, with maybe Corolla and Civic being better. We loved our 1993 and 2001 Sentra GXEs. Very durable, reliable cars for us. As I've said in other threads, I do like the CVT in my inlaw's Rogue.

Joel

 

[ryansride2017]

Originally Posted By: Cutehumor


drive my dad's 03 1.8L nissan sentra. you would change your mind

Cutehumor,

As painful as this experience was for you and your dad, you have to let it go or ease up a bit. Everytime there is a Nissan thread, I sit and wait to see how long it is before Cutehumor shows up to give us his same highly negative view of Nissan because of his experience. I don't want to necessarily diminish your experience but to automatically assume the latest version of the Sentra is as bad as the one you had, is completely unreasonable. A 2009 Sentra and a 2006 Sentra have absolutely nothing in common....not the engine, transmission, obviously the body, let alone the suspension, etc.

Just because G.M. had an even more well known problem with headgaskets a few years ago (3.1 & 3.4) doesn't make me to conclude that all G.M.'s are trash and unworthy to be on the new car lot. G.M. makes fine automobiles and has learned from their mistake....as Nissan assuredly did as well. It is just unfortunate that they had to learn from you on their path to making good vehicles.

There's no problem with saying you never will buy another Nissan product based upon your experiences. Just don't shoot the whole brand down when someone brings up the possibility of buying one of their cars. Currently, Nissan does make some fine cars/trucks. The Xterra, Pathfinder, Frontier and Altima are all considered recommended buys by Consumer Reports. I own or have driven several of the vehicles listed above and they are darn good vehicles that I have no doubt will last me a long time.

Hopefully I didn't ruffle your feathers too much as I understand what it is like when you go through something like a headgasket problem with a manufacturer. It's incredibly frustrating and you feel like you were ripped off. We had/have three 2003-2006 Sentras in our extended family. None of them showed signs of the dreaded headgasket issue with over 500K miles between the three of them. Just strange luck I guess.

 

[kkreit01]

I drove one for about 1 week while my car was in the body shop last summer. I think it was an '08. I too, was impressed. It was a nice little car. Power was good -- even with family of 4. However, given the choice, I'd rather have a stripper Fusion vs. a loaded Sentra. The problem I have with small cars, once you add the options you want, they are as much as an entry level mid-sized car. At the time, the MPG wasn't a whole lot better than my 2.3 Fusion (but I did drive the Sentra harder -- HEY -- it was a "rental"!).

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: kkreit01
I drove one for about 1 week while my car was in the body shop last summer. I think it was an '08. I too, was impressed. It was a nice little car. Power was good -- even with family of 4. However, given the choice, I'd rather have a stripper Fusion vs. a loaded Sentra. The problem I have with small cars, once you add the options you want, they are as much as an entry level mid-sized car. At the time, the MPG wasn't a whole lot better than my 2.3 Fusion (but I did drive the Sentra harder -- HEY -- it was a "rental"!).


Not everyone wants a bigger car. If you live in a big city it is very hard to find a parking space let alone a big one. Small cars get you around just as good and makes finding parking much easier.

 

[Dominic]

I like the CVT, fuel economy, engine options, price, and storage abilities. I think its a cool car, but the versa is the better deal for $5000 less and more room Still keep the CVT too!

 

[Quattro Pete]

How does Versa compare to Sentra in terms of interior/material/appointments quality? From all I've read, Versa is extremely spartan in that department. Then again, is it really that important on an economy car? I certainly pay attention to it, but most people don't.

BTW, the '07 Sentra rental I drove a while back was pretty nice. Decent fit/finish/materials, and the CVT was not bad either. Nice little commuter car.

 

[Hazmat]

I test drove the Versa, Sentra, and Altima when I purchased a car last year and found the Versa to ride better and have more interior room (with the hatchback) than the Sentra. I ended up purchasing the Altima for the larger engine, but my second choice would have been the Versa.

 

[crinkles]

wish they still made the sentra (pulsar) down here. instead they replaced with a girly vehicle called "tiida" advertised by one of the girls off sex and the city. worst marketing move in australian motoring history.