I bought the 1996 Sentra because Sentras have a name for reliability. I had the car in the service department twice after first buying the car but have not had it in since then. The main problem with this model is that it does not do well with hills. It will go up a hill well if you are going slowly, but if you are on a freeway trying to go sixty, you sit just above a speed where you should use 4th gear and enough below 5th that you will lose speed. It will not take a hill at more than 60.

The other problem is that occasionally the cruise control kicks off and you start losing speed until you shift down a couple of gears and reaccelerate.

Aside from those two problems, the car has been reliable for the four years I have had it. Aside from regular maintenance I have not seen the service department in over 3 years.

Since I now live in an area surrounded by hills, when I need a new car I may look for something with a little more power. If the hills were not an issue there is no doubt I would buy another Sentra.