Used 2008 Nissan Sentra Consumer Reviews
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Warm Slippers
Rimantas Aukstuolis, 10/09/2015
updated 10/15/2020
2008 Nissan Sentra 2.0 S 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl CVT)
91 of 92 people found this review helpful
We bought the car new in 2008 and now have 111,000 miles. Normal maintenance, replaced part of exhaust system. Otherwise totally reliable.The "expert" review is critical of the ride smoothness. Let me be clear. This is the most comfortable riding car I have ever owned in over 40 years of car ownership. I attribute it to the French, Renault heritage of the chassis platform. If I have a criticism of the suspension it may be that the smoothness of the ride does sacrifice some handling characteristics in that it is not nearly as sure footed as my Honda Civic or Subaru Legacy (rock solid). Build quality appears cheap but is functional and durable. Exterior I believe is classic. Smooth lines. Subsequent model years have messed up a fundamentally clean style. Interior is nothing fancy but comfortable seats, roomy with well placed controls. We bought a hybrid Honda Civic the same time we bought the Sentra for about $8,000 more. Honda was built better with higher quality components, inside and out and better gas milage but we sold the Honda and kept the Sentra for "around town" transport. It's just more comfortable, easier access, more capacity and almost as reliable and trouble free. Like an old pair of well worn slippers. Update: April 2017- still going strong at 111,000 miles. No serious issues. Great for around town. An additional thought. I have experienced relatively poor handling in snow despite using winter tires. A tire store (which has also done repairs and has an incentive to find things wrong) did note an alignment problem in the back end which they said could be fixed with shims but the process of fixing it could rapidly escalate if they broke any of the fittings which were corroded. I opted not to fix and drive on, being careful in snow (with winter tires) and not noticing any appreciable, unusual tire wear. I mention this as there have been other postings which refer to the same alignment problem. At October 2016, 119000 miles still going strong. Headlight burned out and I had garage replace all front lights because change meant removing headlight assembly, not just twisting out a socket as on other cars. Also developed hole in exhaust ahead of catalytic converter. Garage rewelded and saved me $1900 for new converter. My old Honda had stainless exhaust which is significant. Passenger side auto door lock now buzzes when I unlock. Annoying. It will fail at some point. Repair isn't worth it as it would require disassembly of inside door panel. April 2017 = 125,000 miles. New tires (Kumho). Rolls right along. October 2017 = 127,000. Oil change, no issues. October 2018 = 135,000 no issues. Replaced rear drum brakes and pads (first time!). April 2020 = over 145,000 miles. Only issue was rotting rubber intake tube between air cleaner and manifold. This caused engine to stop at low rev's. Easy fix for under $200.00. Otherwise runs very well.
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CVT TRANSMISSION
pswanee, 10/06/2012
2008 Nissan Sentra 2.0 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl CVT)
46 of 48 people found this review helpful
This is the third transmission installed on my 2008 Nissan Sentra. After 67,672 miles the first one broke down where the car had to be towed 95 miles to the Nissan Dealer. The second one broke down at 68,845, only 2 weeks after getting it back, 173 miles. Nissan extended their warranty on this CVT transmission, because of the problems, from 5 years 60,000 miles to 10 years 120,000 miles. Since the transmission broke down at 7,672 miles from the initial warranty, the BBB advised the Lemon law cannot be applied since it is after the initial warranty 5 years 60,000 miles even though it was extended. Nissan being aware of this will not buy back the vehicle but just keeps replacing the transmissi
Affordable econobox
Terry Reiber, 04/03/2017
2008 Nissan Sentra 2.0 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl CVT)
23 of 24 people found this review helpful
Sentra gets good gas mileage, cheap to insure and repair. Sentra is easy to drive, average comfort. The CVT works well, with the car running about 2,000 rpm at 60 mph. The CVT is tuned for mileage, so 0-30 feels a little wheezy because the transmission tries to maintain lows revs while accelerating. The car warms up or cools down quickly because of the "egg" shape of the cabin. Cheap to buy second hand. The Sentra is a little bit of an ugly duckling. The cab forward design (front and back wheels moved forward and aft) leaves the handling a little clumsy and uninspiring at low speeds, however the car really stretches out and works great on the highway. I can fit into the car easily at 6 feet. If your a taller person, or looking for an econo box that works well on the highway and fits 4-5 people, take a look. As a second hand vehicle, they sell for cheap and cost very little to maintain and insure, while fuel economy is very good. I would recommend it for the person who is less than discerning in terms of low speed handling and acceleration, but more interested in a fiscally conservative, reasonable ride.
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Snappy Sentra
Steve Rich, 08/12/2015
2008 Nissan Sentra 2.0 S 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl CVT)
22 of 23 people found this review helpful
This 08 Sentra is called the big mans little sedan,four six footers will be content. Rocket launch acceleration is not in this cars DNA, but hyper milling is the order of the day, every day, and that's how I drive it, it makes me feel like "Cool Hand Luke". Car has been very dependable and very predictable,which is good! One Big Secret to NISSANS is; any CVT Nissan produced from 03-10 has a 10 year, 120,000 mile warranty on the transmission (I called Nissan direct and they read the memo to me over the phone...twice). They had some bad CVT parts out there and wanted to cover their bases! Well done Nissan. I would like to see some better sheet metal designs come out of Nissan, hopefully Carlos will do that (CEO of Nissan). Nice car, I have put about 30,000 miles on it with no problems, well ok the factory tires could be better! Also this 08 Sentra has a nice seat height!
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I love my Sentra!
jessbugg, 08/05/2012
2008 Nissan Sentra 2.0 S 4dr Sedan (2.0L 4cyl CVT)
10 of 10 people found this review helpful
I bought my Sentra used from a dealership in early 2010, it was originally a rental car so had a few extra miles on it. I have put over 40,000 miles on it mainly driving back and forth from TN to FL for school and I have never had any problems. It's a great car, gets good gas mileage on the highway and I have not had problems with an "uncomfortable ride" I only recently replaced my tires & brake pads but the car has 70,000+ miles on it now. I've had no issues with the engine or anything under the hood, but I do get regular oil changes and maintenance checks since I do so much highway driving. Everyone always thinks my car is newer than an 08, I love it!
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