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2018 Nissan Sentra

Owner reports · Recalls · Investigations

Similar to other model years

Owner complaints for the 2018 Nissan Sentra do not stand out strongly from the model-year median of 116.

About this comparison →

How this year compares

Owner complaints by model year

Compare all Sentra years →

Counts vary with age, sales and reporting. They are not failure rates.

What owners reported most

All reported categories

Tap a category to read its complaints. One report may name several components.

When problems were reported

Mileage at the reported incident

97 reports with mileage · 88 unknown

NHTSA’s mileage field refers to the reported incident, not necessarily the filing date. This shows report counts, not the likelihood of a failure.

What to inspect

Issues worth paying extra attention to based on owner reports.

  • Power Train. Review the 46 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Service Brakes. Review the 38 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →
  • Electrical System. Review the 32 owner reports in this category and discuss these concerns during a pre-purchase inspection. Read reports →

NHTSA owner reports · September 18, 2026 snapshot.

17 crash reports3 fire reports9 injury reports

What owners actually said

185 reports
32,000 miles · Sep 27, 2022
Exterior Lighting

The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the front passenger’s side headlamp failed without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and diagnosed with an electrical failure. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure m…

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The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the front passenger’s side headlamp failed without warning. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic and diagnosed with an electrical failure. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 32,000.

NHTSA ODI #11486763

Mileage unknown · Sep 21, 2022
Power Train

There needs to be a safety recall on Nissan CVT transmissions. The company can not knowingly continue to sell a faulty/detective product and pass the cost onto customers. I purchased my 2018 Nissan Sentra brand new October 2018. I had began to have transmission issues May 2019. I brought the car in several times and finally go…

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There needs to be a safety recall on Nissan CVT transmissions. The company can not knowingly continue to sell a faulty/detective product and pass the cost onto customers. I purchased my 2018 Nissan Sentra brand new October 2018. I had began to have transmission issues May 2019. I brought the car in several times and finally got a replacement in October 2019. July 2022 its the same issues again, hesitation when getting on the freeway, the car will jerk while driving and the RPMS will began to spike. I don't we are suppose to replace transmission every year or year in a half. My car is not even 4 years old I shouldn't have this issue.

NHTSA ODI #11485627

Mileage unknown · Jul 5, 2022
Air Bags

Currently, my passenger airbag light is always illuminated indicating that the airbags are off, even if a full-grown adult is in the vehicle. I reported this problem to my local Nissan dealership prior to taking a road trip. They said they did a zero point reset. They assured me that the issue was resolved and that the passenger…

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Currently, my passenger airbag light is always illuminated indicating that the airbags are off, even if a full-grown adult is in the vehicle. I reported this problem to my local Nissan dealership prior to taking a road trip. They said they did a zero point reset. They assured me that the issue was resolved and that the passenger air bags were working properly. After driving 400 miles with my family, we realized the issue was not fixed. I returned to the same Nissan dealer and they said it's now a faulty OCS sensor and control unit. The OCS sensors and control unit are faulty in my 2018 Nissan Sentra and it only contains 70,000 miles. The dealership says this unit will need to be replaced and I won't have passenger airbags until it is fixed. I'm worried about the safety of my passengers and I no longer have confidence in my Nissan dealer to correctly diagnose/repair the issue.

NHTSA ODI #11472440

29,000 miles · May 12, 2022
Exterior LightingCrash

The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Sentra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V135000 (Exterior Lightning) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power, causing her vehicle to be side-swiped on …

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The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Sentra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V135000 (Exterior Lightning) however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power, causing her vehicle to be side-swiped on the front and rear driver's side by another vehicle. Additionally, the driver's and passenger's front tires had to be replaced every month due to damage from the front end of the vehicle. No injury was sustained and no medical attention was received. No police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic who diagnosed that the suspension, lower control arm, tie rod, tie rod ends, wheel bearing, gas strut, and CV shaft needed to be replaced; however, the mechanic only replaced the suspension. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 29,000.

NHTSA ODI #11464397

Mileage unknown · May 9, 2022
Unknown Or Other

When I try to start my car all the dash lights and power come on but the vehicle will not start.

NHTSA ODI #11463939

Mileage unknown · May 6, 2022
Forward Collision Avoidance

The forward radar will randomly stop working while driving. When this happens it will be out anywhere from a few seconds to up to 10 minutes so far. This failure causes the cruise control to stop working as well as the collision warning, emergency braking, and pedestrian safety to fail to operate.

NHTSA ODI #11463658

Mileage unknown · Apr 19, 2022
Electrical SystemEngineForward Collision Avoidance

Trouble starting car as if there were no gas in engine. Radar warning coming on with no obstruction and, trunk poping open at the same time.

NHTSA ODI #11461265

Mileage unknown · Apr 18, 2022
Exterior Lighting

The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Sentra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V135000 (Exterior Lighting) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer had been made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable a…

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The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Sentra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 21V135000 (Exterior Lighting) however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. Neither the dealer nor the manufacturer had been made aware of the issue. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The contact had not experienced a failure. VIN tool confirms parts not available.

NHTSA ODI #11461118

83,000 miles · Apr 5, 2022
Latches/locks/linkages

The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that after opening the hood and filling the windshield washer fluid bottle, the hood failed to close securely. The contact that the hood release failed to retract into place causing the hood to remain unlatched. The contact was notified by a friend of NHTSA Campaign Numbe…

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The contact owns a 2018 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that after opening the hood and filling the windshield washer fluid bottle, the hood failed to close securely. The contact that the hood release failed to retract into place causing the hood to remain unlatched. The contact was notified by a friend of NHTSA Campaign Number: 20V315000 (latches/Locks/Linkages) however, the VIN was not included. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 83,000.

NHTSA ODI #11459754

Mileage unknown · Mar 25, 2022
Power Train

Car will only go in reverse. While driving down a busy road my car stopped accelerating in forward and now no longer will drive forward at all. I have kept up with all routine maintenance, and had no warning sign that this was going to happen. My warranty expired at 60,000 miles and I am at 64,000. I bought the car brand new in …

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Car will only go in reverse. While driving down a busy road my car stopped accelerating in forward and now no longer will drive forward at all. I have kept up with all routine maintenance, and had no warning sign that this was going to happen. My warranty expired at 60,000 miles and I am at 64,000. I bought the car brand new in October of 2018, and still owe on it. So now I am stuck with a car payment for a car that I cannot even drive.

NHTSA ODI #11458293

Official recalls

2

21V135000 · Exterior Lighting:brake Lights:switch

Mar 3, 2021

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2016-2019 Nissan Sentra vehicles. The brake light switch may become contaminated, preventing the circuit from closing and the brake lights from illuminating.

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: The brake lights may not illuminate, increasing the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Dealers will replace the brake light switch and install a protective grommet, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 1, 2022. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800867-7769. Nissan's number for this recall is PM971.

19V654000 · Back Over Prevention: Sensing System: Camera

Sep 12, 2019

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Nissan Altima, Armada, Frontier, Kicks, Leaf, Maxima, Murano, NV, NV200, Pathfinder, Rogue, Rogue Sport, Sentra, Titan, Titan Diesel, Versa Note and Versa Sedan vehicles, as well as Infiniti Q50, Q60, QX30 and QX80 vehicles. Additionally included are 2019 Nissan GT-R and Taxi and Infiniti QX50, QX60, Q70, Q70L vehicles. The back-up camera and display settings can be adjusted such that the rear view image is no longer visible and the system will retain that setting the next time the vehicle is placed in reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Consequence & remedy

Consequence: The lack of an image in the back-up camera display increases the risk of a crash.

Remedy: Nissan will notify owners in phases, having dealers update the back-up camera settings software, free of charge. The recall began November 11, 2019 and all affected VINs should be activated. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669 or INFINITI customer service at 1-800-662-6200.

Model-level recall history does not show whether a particular VIN is affected or has received a repair. Check a VIN with NHTSA ↗

NHTSA investigations

0

No exact-year investigations in this snapshot.