10.0

really awful
Crashes / Fires:
1 / 0
Injuries / Deaths:
3 / 0
Average Mileage:
65,743 miles

About These NHTSA Complaints:

This data is from the NHTSA — the US gov't agency tasked with vehicle safety. Complaints are spread across multiple & redundant categories, & are not organized by problem.

So how do you find out what problems are occurring? For this NHTSA complaint data, the only way is to read through the comments below. Any duplicates or errors? It's not us.

2011 Nissan Sentra miscellaneous problems

miscellaneous problem

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2011 Nissan Sentra Owner Comments

problem #17

Feb 052023

Sentra

  • miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

I was driving my car to work between 9 and 10pm on/around February 5, 2023. I lost control of my car and it couldn-€™t brake. I couldn-€™t have been hit if it was rush hour or ran into a car or someone. I turned to a around on the right to get out of traffic. The road had a little hill, I started to slide down the hill. I took my car to Nissan in Monroeville PA. When I picked my car back they had wrong VIN number and Year for my car. They said they scan the VIN not type it so the at wasn-€™t a typo. I am concerned that they said they changed codes and no main issues and mentioned some issues but the documentation was all wrong about a car with a VIN and Year that isn-€™t mine and under my family information. I am concerned about if my car is okay, and why Nissan gave me wrong VIN with two wrong errors in the numbers and letters and wrong year and they also might or might not have fixed problem. They said my car was 2008 but it-€™s 2011. I am concerned about if my car was fixed for the problem i took it on for and also if it was manipulated with old parts because it is not 2008. I went to the police in Monroeville PA they helped me find correct VIN. I bought my car at Subaru and they said my car VIN is as they said and is 2011. Did Nissan fix my car? I don't trust they did if documentation of VIN and Year are wrong, I-€™m now concerned about fraud possibilities. I took my car to Nissan Feb 15. It started to work fine on Feb 5 when I restarted it but I needed them to check why it didn-€™t work that night; until I restarted it. They said it might be coding which they fixed.

- Pittsburgh , PA, USA

problem #16

Apr 182021

Sentra

  • 119,850 miles
I went on a road trip that was 240 miles each way. We were about half way when you began to have problems. I realized the car was having problems at that half way point because it was jerking, clanking, stalking check engine light. My car could only go 60mph on the way home on I-15. People were flashing their lights and riding my ass. I eventually had to get off the nearest exit, in payson Utah, just make sure I would be okay. Normally my car gets about 36mpg on the freeway but it was getting about 20mpg on the way home. Initially I took it to a local service mechanic shop and they changed the fluid charged me $286 and they recommended a transmission shop to look at the vehicle. The transmission shop mechanic diagnosed bad internal parts in the transmission. With estimated repairs of $3500. The car currently has been 120,140 miles. It broke down 04/18/2021

- Salem, UT, USA

problem #15

Jul 012020

Sentra

  • miles
The car charger refuses to adhere to a car charger that came as an accessory with a cell phone package.but my phone car charger works for any other random C- charger that my cell phones uses

- Nashville, TN, USA

problem #14

Feb 282020

Sentra

  • 93,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

Like many other complaints I am reading I have had multiple times I have been driving down the road and my vdc off light will appear and my car will start jerking and have trouble accelerating, I then have to get over to the side of the road and shut my car off for a few, this luckily has only happened to me in the city as after it happened I was too worried to take it on the highway. With this many issues/complaints Nissan really needs to look into this before it costs someone their life

- Terre Haute, IN, USA

problem #13

Feb 172020

Sentra

  • 128,000 miles
Electrical system: Battery: Cables - Nissan Sentra 2011 - my car was running well for all these years, no problems at all, but one day, didn't want to start, it didn't make no noise, nothing. My husband checked the battery right away, it was a little bit loose and he adjusted it. The car wanted to start but never did completely. The tow guy said it looked like the key was deprogrammed so we were hoping it was just that. So we towed the car to Nissan dealership and found out it was the engine control module. It costed more than $2,000 dollars to get if fixed. Searching online I found out that Nissan Sentra's 2010-2011 have a recall on this issue. The article says: (due to a machining irregularity, the bolt/washer surface on the positive battery terminal cable end may allow for a gap to occur in the contact area of the terminal. This can result in a voltage drop that may cause difficulty starting the vehicle and could cause damage to the engine control module) exactly what happened to my car! we talked to the Nissan manager about it, but he didn't honor the recall, since my car doesn't have this recall when I apply the VIN#. he gave us a phone # to call: 1800 nissan1, so I hope they can reimburse the money we paid for it. Please, if you have a problem like this, report it, so they can see there is more vehicles affected that don't qualify for this recall and I don't think it's fair because it is a manufacture issue. Thank you!

- Fairfield, CA, USA

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problem #12

Dec 202019

Sentra

  • 157,000 miles
The vehicle stalls after running for a few minutes at fir now stalls when stopped at red light and while making a turn and while driving.

- Shreveport, LA, USA

problem #11

Sep 072018

Sentra

  • 120,000 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

We put our VIN into the recall database and it did not come back as being one of the cars affected. However, we have experienced what is described in the recall: Engine stalling and having to be turned off and restarted; no power to engine when stepping on gas while in drive. It has been okay on the highway, but will often cut out when driving in city, especially when starting back from a start or rolling start. Happens occasionally with no predictability other than has never happened on the highway.

- Cookeville, TN, USA

problem #10

Apr 172019

Sentra

  • 103,000 miles
Check engine light is on, when I accelerated on the gas it the car started to jerk and it wouldn't let me get past 40 mph. After I stopped at a stop sign, the car would not move faster than 20 mph before it started jerking. I called a mcclarty Nissan dealership in North little rock and they told me that the recall listed on this website did not affect my car even though your website does when I look it up by the VIN like they did.

- Cabot, AR, USA

problem #9

Mar 222017

Sentra

  • miles
About a couple months after I purchased the car a service engine soon light started to turn on and off, so I took it to get checked at auto zone. They then told me that it was a sensor or spark plug. The light went off but then about a year later I was driving and a vdc off light along with a traction light came on while I was driving, causing the car to jerk so much that I have to pull over and shut it off for a few minutes. When I turn the car back on it gone. I started to search for similar issues to see if any other Nissan like mine were having this problem, and found that this is a common issue. I checked to see if there was any recalls which there isn't but one of the recalls you have listed, has similar problems to which im having. It's now to the point when I put my car in reverse for some reason it shuts off or if I brake to much the issue worsens. Please help!

- New Haven, CT, USA

problem #8

Mar 012017

Sentra

  • 75,000 miles
Flapping sound on driver side when speeding. My vehicle makes a flapping sound when I speed more than 65 mph. I can hear it on the driver side only. It causes the steering wheel to vibrate. I had the shocks replaced and it still makes the sound.

- Winnetka, CA, USA

problem #7

Mar 202017

Sentra

  • 1 miles

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S

The vehicle suddenly and unexpectedly hesitates loses power and stalls. I have been told by two independent Nissan repair shops that the ECM needs to be reprogrammed and updated to the newest version. Because other components that are tied in together is causing the check engine light to come on. AP0101 diagnostic code states that the maf sensor is bad. The maf sensor has been replaced, the gas tank cap has been replaced with an oem, etc. I believe that the ECM is not communicating correctly with the maf sensor signal and is what is causing the engine to stall unexpectedly. This has happened three time and I can have an accident due to the engine sttalling without any warning. I can be severely rear ended in the freeway.

- Los Angeles, CA, USA

problem #6

May 262016

Sentra

  • 112,600 miles
We driving out of state and when the climb started the car started to lose power and was driving only 25 miles an hour. We arrived at a dealer of Nissan and the diagnosis was that the transmission oil is heated and needed to install an additional cooling kit...my car has 112600 miles and that happens on may,26,2016.

- Phoenix, AZ, USA

problem #5

Oct 152015

Sentra

  • 135,000 miles
When driving the car sometimes the vdc light comes on and the car will not go. It acts like it will not take the gas and it does not want to go. We have tried to cut the switch off but could not. We had to cut the car off and let it set for a few minutes and then start it back up and it would be fine. It has happened a couple of times and its a really scary feeling when your driving down the road and it happens. I would like to know what can be done about this and what the problem might

- Crumpler, NC, USA

problem #4

Sep 072015

Sentra

  • 65,476 miles
When driving from a stop position the car will appear to hesitate upon acceleration. Some hesitations are longer than others. It's scary as if the car doesn't want to move but as of yet will then go.not sure of the problem components related to the hesitation. It is intermittent as this time and new to my possession of the car. I fear the car will at some point not go when pressing on the gas. Scary.

- American Canyon, CA, USA

problem #3

Jul 292011

Sentra

  • 6,000 miles
I purchased the car March 14, 2011 and the vehicle has had issues with making noises and vibrating. I return the vehicle the following week and dealership could find no problems, but referred to Nissan service. On July 29, 2011, my mother moved my car out of a fire line at approximately 20-25 mph. The gas pedal went way to the floor and she attempted to depress the brakes. At that time the pedal traveled more than 3/4 to the floor almost instantly. She did lose control of the vehicle and crushed into a tree to stop the car. She never regained the use of the brakes. I did go to the towng company and took picture where the gas pedal is still in 3/4 inch from the floor.

- Portsmouth, VA, USA

problem #2

Apr 012011

Sentra

  • miles
I have the intelligent key system with this car. I was told when I purchased this car that in order to start the car, my foot must be on the brake. You can put the car in auxiliary mode with the foot off the brake but in order to start the car the foot must be on the brake. I discovered that I was able to start my car with my foot off the brake. I took the car in for service to dealer that I purchased the car from. I was subsequently told that with my model car I could start the car with my foot off the brake. I called Nissan since I was getting conflicting information and they informed me that in fact I should not be able to start my car in this manner. They created a file regarding this problem, file #7139963, then I was told that I should take my car in to another dealer and have them look at this problem. I'm not sure if other Sentra owners are having this problem also or whether or not this could become a safety issue (which I would think it could be, especially if a young child was somehow able to start the car and put it in gear) but I figured this should be on record since all Nissan suggested was that I take it to another dealer.

- Canonsburg, PA, USA

problem #1

Feb 022011

Sentra 4-cyl

  • 2,700 miles
The vehicle has had issues with ABS actuator making noises and vibrating. Dealership could find no problems, but referred to Nissan service bulletin. On February 2, 2011, I was traveling at approximately 20-25 mph. As I approached a red light I attempted to depress my brakes. At that time the pedal traveled more than 3/4 of the way to the floor almost instantly. There was a loud metallic clanking and grinding sound and a very strong vibration coming from under brake pedal. I almost lost control of my vehicle as it pulled to the left and almost traveled into the oncoming lane. After 2-3 seconds I regained the use of my brakes.

- Imperial, CA, USA

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