2014 Nissan Sentra problems: recalls, complaints and whether this is a year to avoid

Is 2014 a good year for the Nissan Sentra?

Complaint volume is fairly even across this nameplate, so the model year is a weaker signal here than it is on many cars. Read the components below rather than the totals.

Older years have been on the road longer and collect more complaints for that reason alone, and a year that sold in higher volume collects more while being no worse.

This retrieval holds 6 of the nameplate’s model years. 2013, 2015, 2017 are absent, which means no records came back for them — not that they were clean. The ranking above is among the years shown.

The 2014 accounts for 28% of every complaint filed against the Nissan Sentra in this retrieval, which works out to 31.7 complaints per year on the road across the 12 years since it was sold new — the figure to compare against other years, because it removes the advantage a newer car gets simply from having had less time to accumulate reports.

Complaints rose sharply against the preceding year: the 2014 carries 2.1 times the reports of the 2012. A jump that size between consecutive years usually means something changed in the car rather than in how many were sold, and it is worth asking a seller what was done to this one.

Which recalls cover the 2014?

Take the campaign number to any franchised Nissan dealer. Recall repairs are free with no mileage or ownership limit, and they follow the car rather than the owner, so a used 2014 with an unrepaired campaign is a free repair you can claim. How recalls work.

Recall text is abridged from the NHTSA record. Search the campaign number at nhtsa.gov/recalls for the full notice and affected VIN ranges.

What do owners report on the Nissan Sentra?

Across every Nissan Sentra year, not the 2014 alone — NHTSA does not split component totals by model year.

• Power Train — 483 reports
• Electrical System — 187 reports
• Unknown or Other — 141 reports
• Air Bags — 129 reports

Which other Nissan Sentra years should you compare?

← 2012 Nissan Sentra · 2016 Nissan Sentra → · All Nissan Sentra years

If you are deciding between years, the table above is the short answer and the Nissan Sentra page carries the full run with the component breakdown. Before money changes hands, run the VIN for open recalls and read the inspection checklist — ten minutes in the seller’s driveway finds most of what matters.