2013 Ford Fusion, Lincoln MKZ, Mercedes-Benz C-Class Join NHTSA's Five-Star Club

Several new vehicles joined the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's five-star club today, earning the top score of five stars overall in crash tests performed by NHTSA. New inductees are the 2013 Ford Fusion, 2013 Lincoln MKZ and the 2013 Mercedes-Benz C-Class. Meanwhile, the all-new 2013 Ford C-Max Hybrid and redesigned 2013 Nissan Sentra didn't fare as well, with both having to settle for four stars overall.

The Fusion's and MKZ's front-, all-wheel-drive and hybrid models all received five stars in the frontal crash test and four-star ratings in side and rollover crash tests. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class' rear- and all-wheel-drive models scored five stars in the side crash test and four stars in frontal and rollover crash tests.

Both the C-Max Hybrid and Sentra fell short, receiving five-star scores in only the side crash test and four stars in the other two tests.

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2013 Nissan Sentra: First Look

• Competes with: Honda Civic, Hyundai Elantra, Toyota Corolla
• Looks like: A baby Altima
• Drivetrain: 130-hp, 1.8-liter four-cylinder and six-speed manual or CVT
• Hits dealerships: This fall

Nissan is in the midst of refreshing most of its lineup, and now it's the Sentra's turn. The Sentra is redesigned with a new engine and a more upscale look, inside and out. The compact sedan gets lighter, longer and more fuel efficient for 2013.

The Sentra grows 2.3 inches longer this year and gets exterior styling updates that tie it to Nissan's recently redesigned Altima. It wears the Altima's new trapezoid-shaped grille and similar wraparound headlights with LED accents. 

The new Sentra will be available in base S, FE+ S, SV, FE+ SV, SR and SL trim levels. Sporty SR versions add 17-inch five-spoke aluminum-alloy wheels, sport-oriented front and rear fascias, a unique grille, lower-body side sill extensions, a rear spoiler with integrated LED brake light and a chrome-tipped exhaust pipe.

2010 Nissan Sentra Gets New Look, Lower Price

How does Nissan try to convince car shoppers it has a legitimate compact in its lineup that can compete with the big boys, named Civic and Corolla? Well, for 2010 it’s lowered the price a bit on some and refreshed the styling a tad on all Sentra models. The 2010s are arriving at dealers now and officially go on sale today.

If you’re shopping the base Sentra 2.0 with a continuously variable automatic transmission, the MSRP has dropped just $130, to $16,600, but move up to the 2.0S and the price falls $600, to $17,160. Move up to the higher SL, SE-R and SE-R Spec-V, and the price savings come down $1,100 and $1,080, respectively. A full price breakdown is below.

Changes to the Sentra for 2010 include a slightly revised front and rear end, although we can only see the changes to the front, which has a new grille and lower-bumper treatment. Wheel covers and alloy wheels are also new for 2010. Inside, nothing has changed.

Nissan has changed some of its option packages and added a tech and navigation package for the SL. Again, a full price breakdown of option packages is below, along with a few more photos of the 2010 model and how it compares with the 2009.

2009 Nissan Sentra FE Adds 1 MPG

In January, Nissan started production on a slightly revised version of its Nissan Sentra lineup. All Sentras with the continuously variable automatic transmission now get 26/34 mpg city/highway, an improvement on the previous version’s 25/33 mpg. To get the mileage recertified with the EPA, Nissan had to change the trim designation of CVT-equipped trim levels, adding an FE — for Fuel Efficiency — to them. Yesterday, the company announced the addition of an entirely new trim level, the FE SR. That makes the current Sentra lineup look like this:

• Sentra FE 2.0
• Sentra 2.0 S
• Sentra FE 2.0 S
• Sentra FE 2.0 SR
• Sentra FE 2.0 SL

There are also high-performance SE-R models that, along with the manual 2.0 S trim, have not seen any mileage gains.

Nissan Offering Zero Percent Financing on Five Models

Nissan has been offering cash back on its models sporadically for a while now, but the company has yet to really ramp up its financing offers the way some other companies have. That will change in November. Starting Nov. 4, Nissan will offer customers 0% financing for 36 months on its most popular models: the Rogue, Murano, Altima, Sentra and Versa hatchback. The offer ends Nov. 30.

What does that mean for buyers? Let’s take a Versa hatchback with a price of $16,210. Using our financing calculator, the difference in monthly payments between the current average financing rate for new cars, 6.6%, and a 0.0% one is about $40 a month – from $436.16 to $394.72 on a 36-month deal with $2,000 down for a total savings of $1,492. Obviously, the more expensive the car, the more 0% adds to the bottom line.

Nissan is also offering $199 per month lease deals on Rogue and Altima.

Check out a full list of current incentives on our Cars.com Incentives page.

End-of-the-Model-Year Deals: Nissan

It's that time of year again: Manufacturers need to make room on dealer lots for new 2009 models, so the 2008s have to hit the road, and that means more incentives. We'll be highlighting deals from a number of manufacturers, along with notes on which models will change substantially for 2009.

Like many manufacturers, Nissan is offering huge cash-back offers on its trucks and SUVs — the Armada and Titan, specifically — but is also offering a good variety of cash-back deals on other 2008 models. A full list of 2008 Nissan deals from our incentives page is below:

• 2008 Altima: $1,000
• 2008 Armada: $5,000
• 2008 Frontier: $2,500
• 2008 Maxima: $2,500
• 2008 Pathfinder: $2,500
• 2008 Quest: $3,500
• 2008 Sentra: $1,000
• 2008 Titan: $5,000
• 2008 Xterra: $3,000
• 2008 Versa: $800

Those offers are available across a variety of regions we tested, but as always, be sure to use your own zip code to make sure offers apply in your region.The deals are good through Sept. 2.

The Maxima is all-new for 2009, and you can read our coverage of it here. The Frontier and Xterra receive some upgrades, but they aren't as significant. Check out the changes here.

Recall Alert: 2007-08 Nissan Sentra

Nissan is recalling 170,000 Sentra compact sedans due to a faulty brake cylinder. The part can potentially leak, leading to a brake warning light illuminating. If left unaddressed, the problem could eventually lead to brake failure.

Nissan says there have been no accidents or injuries reported due to the problem, and the company will replace the faulty cylinder.

Contact your Nissan dealer to schedule the necessary repairs.

Nissan recalls Sentras due to brake problems (MSNBC.com)

Video: 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer GTS vs. 2008 Nissan Sentra SE-R

Last week we got to look at two models head-to-head that we hadn’t been able to get together before. The 2009 Lancer GTS has a new engine, and the Sentra SE-R Spec V is an under-the-radar model. Kelsey Mays takes both on the track and on the street to deliver his verdict in this video.

Frugal Compacts Add Up with Basic Options

The compact car segment is no new place to find low base prices and a good deal on a new car. After having three major players in our hands over the past few weeks, including the 2009 Toyota Corolla, 2008 Honda Civic and 2008 Ford Focus sedans, we were scraping together specs and options to evaluate the competition. When we started to compare the cars, something surprised us. Mostly optional features that we think are necessary for a comfortable and safe daily driver — automatic transmission, air conditioning, power windows, cruise control, keyless entry, power locks, antilock brakes, side airbags and a CD player — have a funny way of changing each car’s relative value.

Best Cash-Back Finds: 01.25.08

Ford, Lincoln and Mercury are dolling out pretty darn good deals through the end of February, and we had to be selective about which ones we picked for this round of our top finds. We could have gone with the Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner with decent cash back, or numerous SUVs, but we went a different way. We also added one fun-to-drive model that’s surprisingly still in decent supply. For a complete list check out Cars.com's Incentives page.

2008 Ford Taurus/Mercury Sable

MSRP: $23,485/$23,780
Cash back: $2,000
Percent off MSRP: 8.4-8.5%   
Expires: 2/29/08
5-Year Ownership Costs

Just this week, Ford’s CEO said the company is going to redesign the Taurus completely for 2009. That kind of move would usually have us telling folks to wait and see, but the Taurus and Sable were just updated this year, and we just spent a week in the new Sable and found it to be a great daily driver. The new Premier trim had a pretty nice interior, too. Both also look much better in person and offer a ton of space in the second row and trunk.