2008 NISSAN SENTRA Complaints

FRONT SEAT COVER RETAINING CLIPS COME FREE FROM SEAT FRAME, AND CAUSE CUTS TO OCCUPANTS LEGS. *TR

I WAS STOPPED AT A REDLIGHT BEHIND ABOUT 3 OTHER CARDS. WHEN THE LIGHT CHANGED TO GREEN I BEGAN TO REMOVE MY FOOT FROM THE BRAKE WHEN THE CAR SUDDENLY JOLTED FORWARD AT A HIGH SPEED. I HAD THE BRAKE PEDAL TO THE FLOOR BUT THE CAR DID NOT STOP. I MANEUVERED MYSELF ALL OVER THE ROAD TO AVOID PEDESTRIANS AND ONCOMING TRAFFIC AT THE INTERSECTION. I WAS ABLE TO AVOID ONE HEAD-ON COLLISION THAT ONLY DAMAGED THE MIRRORS AS WE PASSED BY EACH OTHER. I WENT ONTO THE SIDEWALK TAKING OUT SEVERAL FEET OF CYCLONE FENCE. THE FENCE POST NEARLY PUNCTURED THE FRONT WINDSHIELD (LUCKY) AND DAMAGED THE HOOD AND OTHER PARTS OF THE VEHICLE AS IT BOUNCED OFF. THE CAR CAME TO A STOP AS QUICKLY AS IT BEGAN. THE NISSAN "ENGINEER" COULD FIND NO CAUSE THE UNINTENDED ACCELERATION. I TRAVEL THIS ROAD EVERYDAY.THIS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE. I WAS NOT CHARGED BY THE POLICE WHO SAID," I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU PULLED THIS OFF". I SENT A COMPLAINT TO NISSAN AND TO CONSUMER PRODUCTS SAFETY BUT I DID NOT HEAR ABOUT FHSA UNTIL TOYOTA BEGAN HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM. IF THERE WAS A PROBLEM WITH THE CAR, NISSAN DENIED IT. BASED ON AN INTERVIEW WITH AN ELECTRONICS ENGINEER THAT I HEARD ON NPR, ISN'T IS POSSIBLE THESE ACCELERATIONS ARE EXTRANEOUS? THIS PERSON CLAIMS CELLS PHONES AND OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES CAN CAUSE THIS. I WAS LESS THAN 1 MILE FROM A VERIZON CELLPHONE TOWER. WHO KNOWS? MAYBE HE IS RIGHT AND THE LOCATION OF THE INITIAL UNINTENDED ACCELERATION MAY BE WORK INVESTIGATING. *TR

THE STEERING OF THIS CAR NEEDS CONSTANT CORRECTION. IT'S LIKE IT CANNOT DRIVE A STRAIGHT 1 MILE LINE. IF THE CAR DRIFTS TO THE LEFT, I TURN BRIEFLY AND SLIGHTLY RIGHT BUT THE CAR WILL THEN GO RIGHT. I THEN TURN SLIGHTLY LEFT BUT THE CAR WILL CONTINUE TO GO LEFT UNTIL I CORRECT IT AGAIN. IT'S LIKE IT CANNOT KEEP A STRAIGHT LINE. IT IS DANGEROUSLY SENSITIVE TO THE SHAPE OF THE ROAD. I NEED TO MAKE CORRECTIONS EVERY FEW SECONDS. THE SEVERITY OF THE PROBLEM DEPENDS ON THE ROAD, MOSTLY OBSERVABLE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. I BELIEVE THAT 5-7 SECONDS OF NO CORRECTION WOULD BE ENOUGH TO CROSS INTO ANOTHER LANE CAUSING A CRASH. *TR

WHILE DRIVING TO FLORIDA FROM DC FOR VACATION, THE ENGINE STARTED MAKING A RATTLING NOISE. SINCE WE WERE ON A TRIP, I FIGURED I WOULD TOP OFF THE ENGINE OIL JUST IN CASE. THE ENGINE WAS BONE DRY. THE NOISE SEEMED TO GO AWAY AFTER ADDING OIL AT FIRST, BUT THEN THE NOISE BECAME LOUDER, AND THE ENGINE LIGHT CAME ON. WE TOOK THE CAR TO THE NEAREST DEALER WE COULD FIND. WHEN THEY LIFTED THE HOOD AT THE DEALER, THE OIL HAD EXPLODED AND WAS EVERYWHERE. WE WERE TOLD THERE WAS CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE IN MY 2008 SENTRA, BUT THEY COULD NOT DETERMINE THE EXACT CAUSE. SINCE I DID NOT HAVE MY MAINTENANCE RECORDS WITH ME (I WAS ON VACATION), THEY REFUSED TO EVEN CONTACT NISSAN WARRANTY WITHOUT PROOF OF ALL OIL CHANGES. THEY CLAIMED THE ENGINE FAILED DUE TO LACK OF OIL CHANGES. I COULD NOT AFFORD A FACTORY ENGINE, SO THE PURCHASE OF A USED 2008 SENTRA ENGINE VOIDED MY EXTENDED WARRANTY. AT THE TIME OF FAILURE, THE CAR HAD A LITTLE OVER 35K MILES. FURTHER RESEARCH ONLINE INDICATES A POSSIBLE OIL CONSUMPTION ISSUE, WHICH THE DEALERSHIP DENIES. *TR

I PURCHASED A NEW 2008 NISSAN SENTRA. THE FIRST WINTER DRIVING THE CAR I NOTICED IT DROVE POORLY ON WET OR SNOW COVERED ROADS - IT FELT LIKE IT WAS SLIDING OR WANDERING. I WAS GOING TO PURCHASE SNOW TIRES BUT DID NOT. AFTER ABOUT ONE YEAR I NOTICED THE REAR TIRES WERE GREATLY WORN. I PAID TO HAVE AN ALIGNMENT DONE AND ALSO PURCHASED NEW TIRES. I WAS TOLD BY THE TIRE STORE THAT THE REAR COULD NOT BE ALIGNED DUE TO A MANUFACTURING DEFECT. I THEN DISCOVERED THAT THE ALIGNMENT ISSUE WAS WELL KNOWN TO NISSAN BY THIS TIME. THE CAR DEALER SHOULD HAVE CHECKED THE ALIGNMENT, AND IF FOUND DEFECTIVE SHOULD HAVE FIXED IT PRIOR TO TRANSFER OF THE CAR TO ME. I FEEL MY SAFETY WAS AT RISK DUE TO THE ALIGNMENT PROBLEM. I FEEL THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN A RECALL AND THE PROBLEM CORRECTED BY THE DEALER. I SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO DISCOVER THIS PROBLEM MYSELF, SINCE IT WAS A KNOWN PROBLEM BY NISSAN AND ITS DEALERS. *TR

AT 26K MILES A VERY LOUD, GRUMBLING, DRONING NOISE STARTED COMING FROM THE VEHICLE'S TRANSMISSION. APPARENT AT 25MPH. THE CVT TRANSAXLE ASSEMBLY WAS REPLACED BY THE DEALER BUT THE NOISE IS STILL PRESENT . IT IS WORSE THAN BEFORE. THE NOISE INSIDE THE PASSENGER CABIN IS UNBEARABLE,DEAFENING SPECIALLY AT HIGHER SPEEDS. IT FEELS LIKE THE VEHICLE IS STUCK IN LOW GEAR. IT IS VERY DIFFICULT TO HEAR OTHER CARS OUTSIDE AS I HAVE TO INCREASE THE VOLUME OF MY RADIO AND OPEN WINDOWS TO TRY TO MASK THE NOISE. SIMILAR COMPLAINTS HAVE BEEN FILED WITH OTHER NISSAN MODELS USING THE SAME TYPE OF TRANSAXLE. *TR

2008 NISSAN SENTRA, SO FAR HAD TO REPAIR AND REPLACE BRAKE MASTER CYLINDER 3 TIMES ALREADY SINCE PURCHASED THE VEHICLE. *TR

AT 50,000 MILES, I HAD A CATASTROPHIC ENGINE FAILURE WITH MY 2008 NISSAN SENTRA 2.0. WHEN I PULLED INTO THE GAS STATION, MY CAR HAD NO COOLANT AND NO OIL AT ALL. THE OIL PRESSURE LIGHT DID NOT ILLUMINATE AND THE COOLANT GAUGE APPEARED NORMAL. THE DEALERSHIP CANNOT TELL ME WHY THE WARNING LIGHTS DID NOT ILLUMINATE WHEN FLUIDS BECAME LOW. I SERVICE MY CAR REGULARLY. MY CAR GAVE NO INDICATION OF ANY PROBLEMS. DEALERSHIP STATES THAT THERE IS NO EVIDENCE OF LEAKAGE. NISSAN IS STATING THAT IT IS DUE TO LACK OF SERVICE - MY POINT IS THE WARNING LIGHTS DID NOT ILLUMINATE AT ALL WHICH RESULTED IN ENGINE FAILURE. IF I HAD BEEN ON THE HIGHWAY THIS COULD HAVE RESULTED IN SIGNIFICANT INJURY, FIRE, ETC. *TR

2008 NISSAN SENTRA REAREND TOE OUT AND CAN NOT BE ADJUSTED BY DEALERSHIP. THIS CAUSES THE REAREND TO BE UNSTABLE ON WET OR SLICK ROADS ALSO WEARS OUT TIRES IN LESS THAN 12,000 MILES. *TR

WHEN STEPPING ON THE ACCELERATOR THE CAR WILL NOT MOVE, THE ENGINE REVS UP BUT THE AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION DOES NOT MOVE THE CAR. IF YOU KEEP YOUR FOOT ON THE ACCELERATOR IN A COUPLE OF SECONDS, THE CAR WILL SLAM INTO GEAR AND MOVE WITH A LOAD BANG. THIS IS AN INTERMITTENT PROBLEM, HAS OCCURRED APPROX. 6 TIMES IN 30K MILES. THIS CAN OCCUR FROM FIRST STARTING OUT OR WHILE DRIVING IF YOU LET YOUR FOOT OFF THE ACCELERATOR AND THEN GO TO ACCELERATE IT DOESN'T ACCELERATE, IT IS LIKE IT IS IN NEUTRAL. *TR