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Owner-Reported Problems · NHTSA

2018 Nissan Sentra — Problems & Complaints

NHTSA has 185 owner complaints on file for this vehicle. Every report below was filed by a real owner with the US government's road-safety agency.

185

Complaints

filed with NHTSA

Involved a Crash

owner-reported

Involved Fire

owner-reported

11 / 1

Injuries / Deaths

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.

2011 Nissan Sentra

142 complaints

2012 Nissan Sentra

180 complaints

2013 Nissan Sentra AVOID

638 complaints

2014 Nissan Sentra

380 complaints

2015 Nissan Sentra

351 complaints

2016 Nissan Sentra

270 complaints

2017 Nissan Sentra

231 complaints

2018 Nissan Sentra

185 complaints

2019 Nissan Sentra

222 complaints

2020 Nissan Sentra

206 complaints

2021 Nissan Sentra

132 complaints

2022 Nissan Sentra

81 complaints

2023 Nissan Sentra

20 complaints

2024 Nissan Sentra

41 complaints

2025 Nissan Sentra

31 complaints

Problem Areas

What Owners Complain About Most

Power Train 46 reports

Service Brakes 40 reports

Unknown Or Other 38 reports

Electrical System 32 reports

Forward Collision Avoidance 24 reports

Engine 22 reports

Vehicle Speed Control 19 reports

Exterior Lighting 15 reports

In Their Own Words

Recent Owner Reports

Service Brakes ODI 11291729 12/28/2019

ON 12/16/19 I REPORTED AN ISSUE WITH THE AUTOMATIC BRAKE SYSTEM WARNING IT'S UNAVAILABLE. I'VE HAD THE VEHICLE IN 3 TIMES TO FIX THE ISSUE AT METRO NISSAN IN MONTCLAIR CALIFORNIA. THEY CAN'T FIX THE PROBLEM AND KNOW ABOUT IT FROM OTHER VEHICLES. THEY HAVE NOW CHOSEN TO BLAME ME FOR THE ISSUE. THIS DEALERSHIP IS THE WORST POSSIBLE. NISSAN IS WELL AWARE OF THE ISSUE AND DOESN'T …

Unknown Or Other ODI 11290470 12/21/2019

THE FRONT RADAR IS NOT WORKING. WE GET AN ERROR SAYING 'THE FRONT RADAR IS UNAVAILABLE OBSTRUCTION'. I'VE CHECKED WHAT I THINK IT THE RADAR MODULE AND IT'S NOT OBSTRUCTED. I'VE ALSO SEEN A TON OF SIMILAR COMPLAINTS ABOUT THIS ISSUE.

Electrical System ODI 11560955 12/19/2023

My gas gauge said 60 miles until fill up, I ran out of gas with no warning, no check engine light and no gas light, in the middle of the street. I was not able to wheel it to the side as I was going uphill at the time and the steering went out. Traffic had to avoid hitting me as I was completely locked up. There is nothing previously wrong with the car.

Vehicle Speed Control ODI 11162246 12/18/2018

FRONT RADAR SYSTEM TURNS OFF AND THEN RESETS FOR NO APPARENT REASON. DASH MESSAGE IS 'FRONT RADAR UNAVAILABLE DUE TO OBSTRUCTION'. IT IS TIED INTO THE AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING SYSTEM AND INTELLIGENT CRUISE CONTROL. HAPPENS WHEN VEHICLE IS IN MOTION ON VARIED ROADWAYS. THERE IS NO OBSTRUCTION. *DT CONSUMER STATED HE IS CANCELLING REQUEST.*JB

Unknown Or Other ODI 11631147 12/17/2024

I put my foot in gas pedal, goes all the way down, won't drive now.

Same Vehicle

Recalls & Crash Tests

Complaints are one half of the picture — see the official recalls and NHTSA crash-test stars for the 2018 Nissan Sentra, or check your exact car by VIN with the free VIN lookup.

Check Another Car

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 2018 Nissan Sentra reliable?

Owners have filed 185 safety complaints with NHTSA for the 2018 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.