Reader Review of the Week: 2010 Nissan Sentra
“Former Chevy Owner” from Pompano Beach, Fla., has — as you can no doubt guess — owned several Chevy sedans in the past. When he went shopping for a new car, though, he decided to jump over to Nissan with the 2010 Sentra, and he learned he could get a lot more bang for his buck. Check out the complete reader review after the jump, and then be sure to write your own review here.
“I traded in my '04 Chevy Cavalier for a 2.0 Sentra, and it was the best thing I ever did. I have owned two Cavaliers, and they were basically 'disposable' used vehicles for the money. I was originally looking at the four-door Chevy Cobalt until I did research on the Sentra. This vehicle offers so many more standard options than the Cobalt; it has better styling and is a more solid vehicle for a similar price.
“Even though I would have preferred a 'punchier' engine for my Sentra ('cause I have a lead foot), I'm still very happy with the car's performance, gas mileage and quality. It's a great daily driver and very comfortable. The vehicle is well-insulated from road and wind noise versus my previous two vehicles. The engine noise is not as prominent as I have read on other reviews.
“The fit and finish of the interior and exterior components are excellent. The plastics in the car are not as bad as other sites have said. The quality is better and doesn't look cheap compared to the Cavalier and Cobalt. The storage bins and trunk are plentiful, but I did wish the center console was better designed to have a functional armrest for longer trips. Other than that, I have no complaints after the owning the car for a month.”
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I recently test drove a Sentra (and a Versa) and was very impressed with the Sentra, especially the interior. It was very nicely-designed and felt more upscale than many competitors. It had a very solid feeling. Enjoy your new car!
I'm sorry but I have to question the validity of this review.
Anything would be better than a Chevy Cavalier. This reviewer not only bought one, but two, of these horrible cars. The Cavalier was the poster child of mid-90's GM design- cheap interiors, mediocre build, steering knuckles that would crack and pop, and a rough (but powerful) engine. As the writer put it- they are "disposable". Aside from an Ion- there really hasn't been a worse car in recent memory
The fact that they would consider another one or it's replacement, the somewhat better Colbalt, makes me question this person's taste in cars.
The current Sentra is not a terrible car- but isn't a good one either. I rented one a few years ago and didn't find it comfortable, solid, or fun to drive and couldn't wait to get out of it.
A Focus, Elantra, or even a Corolla cost the same, and are much better cars.
Saying the Sentra is better than a Cavalier is like saying a watered-down ham is better than Spam in a can.
I definitely don't agree that a Focus is a much better car. I know several people who've had lots of problems with theirs.
I have a 2005 Focus and it has been mostly trouble-free. The only things to go wrong are the cruise control and wheel bearings. Ford quality may not match the Japanese cars, but Nissan is notorious for being a mixed back in reliability as well.
As far as driving dynamics and the feel of the car- the Focus is a nicer car to live with
I so disagree with Ryan, i own a 2008 sentra and even though I wouldn't call it a "great car" it is definetly so much better than a corolla or a focus. the only complaint that i have about the car is how its suspention is a bit hard and it lets you feel some imperfetions of the road. other than that the car has pretty much everything that one could need in a mid size sedan. its reliable, the millage its exelent its conftable and the safety standars are very high (beat that toyota). also i worked as a driver for enterprice rent a car wich gave me the chance to test drive pretty much every car within that category and I know that I made the best decition for my money.
@ Ryan: Nissan as a mix bag in reliability? I remember saying that 10 years ago when it was about Fords. My family has owned Nissan's, Honda's, and Toyota's and Nissan's are up there in reliability. They test these cars to the utter limit before putting it out for the public to buy. You most likely are a Ford owner and never owned a Nissan so you do not have the right to say things like that. The Focus is a good designed car but when it comes to interior amenities, build quality, and reliability, Ford is a mix bag as well, their newer designs are more reliable but they have a stigma of 'not being reliable', which they are weeding out. I have driven the new Sentra and my mom used to have a 1988 Sentra and that was spot on reliable.
Ryan,
I was the one who wrote this review. I had wrecked my first 2000 Chevy Cavalier after 5 months of ownership in a head-on collision 5 years ago and had two weeks on a limited budget to replace my vehicle before school started again. The only car that I could afford at the time was an '04 Cavalier while still paying on the wrecked car.
So, I do not know why you would doubt the validity of my review. My husband in a master ASE technician and was the one who suggested that I get a Nissan instead of wasting the money on another Chevy. He had worked for Nissan and Infinity for a number of years before working for Jaguar.
Several of my family and friends have Nissans and two of my close friends had Chevy Cavaliers and did nothing but complain about how unreliable the EcoTec engine was. I did not experience any problems with my old Cavalier, but I was sick to death of driving a 'dixie cup' that needed a ton of money sunk into it. It was mechanically old and needed to be replaced.
Went to Honda,Toyota and Nissan Dealers to compare the Civic,Corolla and Sentra.I found the Sentra was superior in every way to the other 2 cars,It`s more comfortable,powerful and smooth.