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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2016 Nissan Sentra — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 270 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

270
Complaints
filed with NHTSA
18
Involved a Crash
owner-reported
2
Involved Fire
owner-reported
13
Injuries
across all reports
Years to Avoid

Nissan Sentra — Complaints by Model Year

Years flagged AVOID have at least twice this model's average complaint count — the strongest public-data signal of a bad year.

144 complaints

142 complaints

180 complaints

638 complaints

380 complaints

351 complaints

270 complaints

231 complaints

185 complaints

222 complaints

206 complaints

132 complaints

81 complaints

20 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Power Train 127 reports
Engine 48 reports
Electrical System 45 reports
Unknown Or Other 43 reports
Vehicle Speed Control 27 reports
Air Bags 24 reports
Service Brakes 21 reports
Fuel/propulsion System 18 reports
In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Fuel/propulsion System ODI 11292187 12/30/2019

MY 2016 NISSAN SENTRA HAS ALWAYS SKIPPED SOME, ACTED LIKE IT DIDN'T WANT TO GO, BUT THE OTHER DAY, WHEN I PRESSED THE GAS, IT WOULDN'T GO. THIS WAS AS I WAS RIDING DOWN THE ROAD. AT TIMES, THE GAS PEDAL WOULD ACCELERATE SOME, BUT THEN THE CAR WOULD START JERKING. TO MAKE IT HOME, I HAD TO ACCELERATE, COAST, TRY THE GAS PEDAL AGAIN, AND COAST SOME MORE. NO ENGINE, OR WARNING LI…

Electrical System ODI 11499439 12/29/2022

This 2016 Nissan Sentra has parasitic battery draining. There is a great safety issue in not having a ready vehicle for emergency situations. I am also not confident the vehicle will start when away from home. The highest grade AGM battery was purchased to replaced the original battery to no avail. The vehicle requires continuous jump starts. Alternator appears to be func…

Electrical System ODI 11291858 12/29/2019

THE PUSH BUTTON START IS VERY UNRELIABLE I HAVE HAD TO HAVE AAA TWICE FOR STARTING PROBLEMS AND TOWED TWICE TO THE NISSAN SERVICE GARQAGE I THIK THIS IS A SERIOUS SAFTEY ISSUE I AM NOT COMFORTABLE GOING ANYPLACE AND KNOWING THAT IT MAY NOT START AFTER PARKED IT HAS THIS PROBLEM IN PARKING LOTS AND HOME GARAGE I AM 82 YEARS OLD AND ALL I WANTED WAS A SMALL DEPENDABLE…

Power Train ODI 11632880 12/28/2024

The problem with the car is that after a stop sign, the car no longer moved forward, it stayed in the road, this was blocking traffic and it was dangerous to get out of the car, the tow truck arrived to move it from the road, several mechanics examined it and said that the transmission was damaged, the car has only traveled 78,140 miles.

Power Train ODI 11498805 12/25/2022

When driving on the interstate above 45 miles per hour, the car jerks and does not want to go. The car almost did not make it thru the intersection with another vehicle coming on more than one occasion. Car finally stopped and had to be towed. Informed that a new transmission was needed.

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2016 Nissan Sentra, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

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Problems Checker

Any year, make and model: open the Car Problems Checker. Data: NHTSA (US DOT, public domain), cached up to 7 days.

Questions

FAQ

Is the 2016 Nissan Sentra reliable?
Owners have filed 270 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2016 Nissan Sentra, most often about power train. Compare the complaint counts across model years above — a year with far more complaints than the model's average is the strongest 'avoid' signal in public data.
Which Nissan Sentra years should I avoid?
The rule of thumb used by analysts: a model year whose complaint count is well above the model's own average (we flag 2× or more) usually had a real manufacturing or design problem — not just noisy reporting. Use the year-by-year strip on this page.
Where do these complaints come from?
Directly from NHTSA, the US government road-safety agency. Any owner can file a Vehicle Owner Questionnaire; NHTSA publishes them as public domain data. We cache each lookup for up to 7 days.
Do complaints mean a recall is coming?
Sometimes. NHTSA opens defect investigations when complaint patterns emerge, and investigations can end in recalls. Check the recalls page for this vehicle to see what has already been recalled.