I bought my Sentra after the unfortunate demise of my '96 Toyota Corolla. As much as I love her, there are some serious shortcomings with this machine.

The Background -
I bought this car from a local dealer with about 100,000k miles on it. I've since put about 40k more over the past 3 years or so.

The Ride -
Overall, I'm relatively pleased with the comfort of the car. Being a stick shift, I tend to sit pretty close so I never worry about foot room. My wife, however, is 6'1", and is pretty cramped sometimes. The back bench is kinda small for an average-sized adult, and there is a decent amount of trunk space including a place for a spare tire (not full sized, though) and the tire changing necessities.

At highway speeds, the small engine begins to make a difference. It does just fine around town, but once you hit about 60-70mph, your ability to accelerate seriously diminishes. If I'm going up even a slight grade on the highway, I have to down shift just to pass, and I often floor the gas pedal at 75mph with no apparent effect.

The steering is pretty responsive and the turning radius is tight. I seem to have a relatively large amount of vibration in the steering wheel even after having the tires balanced. The air and heat work well, and the rear defroster is effective except where the contact got damaged, severing the top half of the defroster from the power source. The cabin isn't super loud since the engine is small, but you get a decent amount of noise coming in from passing semis.

Maintenance, Repairs, and Upkeep -
Excluding the transmission and clutch, the maintenance has been pretty simple. Oil and oil filter changes each 3k miles, air filter, wiper blades, coolant flush, steering fluid, tires, and so on. All of that except the tires I did myself, since the tasks are relatively simple and and I have minimal (but non-zero) vehicular knowledge.

The transmission has been the real bane of this car. After about 6 months of owning it, my clutch went out. This is understandable on a car this old (who knows how it was driven before I got it), and it hasn't given me any trouble since. But one day I was driving and I suddenly heard a click when I engaged in 5th gear. Soon this progressed to a grinding sound and within a week I had no 5th at all. I took it to a transmission place and had it rebuilt (to the tune of about $2k), and it happened again this year! Apparently this is a pretty common problem with this car, but I'm getting very tired of sinking $2k into a car that only cost $4600k in the first place. I usually ride my motorcycle these days, so I haven't given it the chance to die again. Next time I'm just replacing the old girl.

Quality and Craftsmanship -
The car is near the bottom of the Nissan line, and it shows. The fabric on the seats and floor is cheap and easily torn and discolored. The dash lacks a much wanted Tachometer (the only vehicle I've had a tach on was an automatic), and I've had some minor trouble with the electrical system, including dash lights not wanting to come on and the sudden loss of intermittent windshield wipers. Besides that, it seems like a pretty sturdy car. I'm not afraid I'm going to break it or that something will fall out the bottom while I'm driving.

The Fun Factor -
I have to say that I love riding a small stick shift in town. It's quick and responsive at low speeds, and I feel like I'm in full control of the vehicle. Even up to highway speeds, she's a lot of fun to ride. It's just the interstate where she mellows out and starts to balk at acceleration.

All in all, I really do love my car. It has its issues, and I doubt I'll own another, but this car was very reasonably priced, and I think it may be a good fit for some drivers.

Amount Paid (US$): 4600
Condition: Used
Model Year: 1995
Model and Options: GXE