Used 2012 Nissan Sentra Consumer Reviews

Love this car.

This car is amazing. I traded in my 2000 Ford Focus for this Sentra. I bought it at 85,000 miles, which was scary at first. However, I received a lifetime warranty and a great deal for it. I've put 12,000 miles on it in 7 months, and it still drives beautifully. $20 gets me 415 miles, and even with commuting a lot for school and work, I fill up every week and a half. The car handles wonderfully. Very smooth. Even after so many miles being put on the car,I've never had any issues with it. A month after buying, I actually T-boned another car. The only damage was my bumper being ripped off. Nothing under the hood was damaged. Extremely reliable, safe car. Great mileage and I feel secure in it. I was always a Ford girl, but this car changed my mind for life.

Better than expected

The little Sentra is probably overlooked by most people interested in a small car, and that is too bad. It has more interior room than most of its competitors, you sit a little higher off the pavement, and the driving dynamics are good. Add to that some outstanding gas mileage when driven gently - way better than the EPA estimates so far for me. And all of that for a price that is easily as good or better than its competitors. And due to good resale values, you can get really great lease payments - much smarter than buying a 1 or 2 year old used car.

You won't catch your granny in THIS one!

Great car. Fun to drive. Abundant acceleration. Sharp handling. I've embarrassed plenty of supposedly "better" cars at the stoplight, including the Acura Tsx, and Audi A4 1.8T. The rear seats don't fold in due to the trunk mounted V- brace, but this is a driver-oriented car so that shouldn't matter to the intended market. If you plan on driving in the snow at all, you'll need to buy some all season tires, as the stock summer tires won't do much in the snow.

This car is underrated!

Before you search all the other popular models - test drive and price the Nissan Sentra. Can't believe the amount of features for the price I paid. Also proven reliabilty vs. the Focus or Cruze. Great featurs such as I-pod connection, Alloy Wheels, Steering Wheel Radio Controls, etc. Drive mostly highway with some rush hour traffic and I am averaging almost 36 MPG. Some complain about the CVT, but it is better than the low end torque of the others. Overall great car for the price if your looking for a base commuter car with excellent reliabilty and a smooth ride.

CVT in 2012 Nissan Sentra (Texas)

I have a 2012 Nissan Sentra, n the transmission went out @ 74K miles. I know face a $3500 cost for a vehicle with a fair market value of $7K. Then, after a repair, the warranty is only for 12 mos., 12K miles. Nissan is well, well aware of this inferior product. The AC has also gone out.

Great car!

I just recently purchased the 2012 Nissan Sentra SR Special Edition and I love it! It is so quiet and the gas mileage is incredible. Plus, for a small car it is actually pretty roomy. I was very impressed with the price, especially since this package comes with bluetooth phone, GPS navigation, moonroof and XM radio (only for 3 months...then you can either subscribe or cancel). I must admit that I had to get used to the CVT since my previous cars did not have that. But all in all, this is a great car!

I wasn't planning on liking this car

This car and I didn't start on good terms and that was my fault. I previously owned a 2009 Nissan Altima. That car was financed through Nissan's financing arm. I didn't miss a payment on that car which is how I found myself owning my 2012 Nissan Sentra Special Edition. Nissan finance has a deal where they will guarantee you financing if you never missed a payment with them previously. I got a 6 year loan at 5.74% and my FICO score sucked. My Super Black Special Edition Sentra has been flawless and CHEAP to own so far. Ins./Gas/Payments are LOW. Special Edition pkg. is worth $. I'm tall of torso and I can fit easily in this car. Engine is strong enough and smooth. Easy to get into.

YOU WILL RUN INTO THE SAME PROBLE WITH CVT TRANSMI

2012 Nissan Sentra just stopped moving in rush hour traffic. Needs a new transmission. The dealership won't cover it. I will never purchase another Nissan. I have always had Toyota's and they last me years/over 200,000 miles with no problems. Got a good deal on the Sentra but will never buy a Nissan again. YOU WILL RUN INTO THE SAME PROBLE WITH CVT TRANSMISSION AND THE COST IS $3700.00 TO GET IT FIX AT THE DEALER

Crap!

Will never own a Nissan again! Bought the car used in 2015 and got an extended warranty. Thank goodness I did but still not worth the headache. Within two weeks of having the car the shifter nob stuck so needed to be replaced. When oil change was coming up noticed the oil light would come on when pressing break. Called the dealership and said they would need to do a mileage oil consumption test because I had low oil. Checked every 500 mi. for the next 3000 and in the end was told there was no issue. Still had oil issues where oil light would come back on when oil change was coming due. Finally took it to a Nissan dealership and they we had to do another oil consumption test. While in the process of doing this car started losing power when going up hills. Took it in to be looked at and said I needed a transmission. Because of an extended warranty that was covered minus $200. Still doing the oil consumption test as well. Took the care out of town the next week and then the battery died. Replaced and took the car in when I came back to do the oil test. Service person said that puddles of oil were dripping in his bay. Looked at the engine and then said that needed to be replaced. Extended warranty stepped up and paid for that as well. Another $200 for me though. After these issues while driving the car when I applied the brake I felt a slip or shift. Contacted Nissan the evaluated and said that is was a brake switch pay $75. Replaced but still always had slipping issues and never really felt the same after being replaced. When engine was replaced about a couple of weeks later my car started sounding loud. Found out that pipe for muffler broke off on the weld area. Nissan said that was not their fault took it to a muffler shop and they could not 100% say is was because of the engine replacement but it was likely. Another $85 spent. Final straw service engine soon light came on took it to Nissan did a diagnostic and said it was the catalytic converter cost $1300 I would need to pay because my warranty expired. Went and got rid of that piece of crap that night and got a new car. Still had to pay $85 for the diagnostic though because the dealership still wants nickel and dime you as much as possible. Don't ever buy any Nissans. Junk cars, unreliable, and a worthless company that does not stand by their product. Performed all maintenance as required when required.

Edmund's Review is WAYYYY off the Mark! AMAZING CAR!

I got a Sentra SR Special Edition (GPS, Bluetooth, Sunroof). The review that Edmunds gave this car was completely wrong. First of all, this car drives COMPLETELY Quiet and Serene. It's quiet and the Nissan CVT Transmission (Best transmission on the planet, hands down) was smooth and made no "groaning" noise at all and was serene. The reviews are correct that it does make a "clunk" sound at 30 MPH, but this only happens once when it's warming up because it's and ABS system check. Honestly this is the nicest car I've even driven, the interior is well designed and comfortable, it's very roomy in the front and back, and the MPG is great, 29 MPG overall. Way nicer than Honda and Toyota.

Don't buy this car!

I bought my car 1 year ago with 60k miles. I was expecting to have this car without problems for a while. After six months the car went into safe fail mode not wanting to accelerate at all. I took it to the dealer and they told me it needed a new transmission plus a transmission cooler. The transmission over heating causes it to damage the transmission. The car goes in safe mode when the transmission gets over heated making it very dangerous if you are driving in the freeway and suddenly you loose all power. The dealer said the warranty expires at 60k miles. Nissan knows of this defect. 2013 and up comes with a transmission warranty extension of 120k. It also extended the warranty for 2010 models. 2011 and 2012 warranty were not extended! Never buying a Nissan again!

Read other transmission reviews

We purchased this car brand new, had every recommended service performed on time, and gently drove the car. Still, the transmission went out and had to be replaced under 100k miles.

Fun little car

I bought this car new in early 2012 and now have about 27k miles on it. It's in Super Black with the optional upgrade package. I was looking for a fun, quick compact sedan w/ a manual transmission and some bells and whistles (navigation system, moonroof, etc). The car feels like a go-cart going around turns and I always feel like I am in complete control. Overall, it's a great value for the performance when compared to other similar vehicles and I am very happy so far. I use the vehicle as a daily driver (~20mi highway commute to work) and have driven it across the country twice w/o incident.

Engine problems

Bought a used Nissan Sentra at 100,000 miles after 12,000 miles added and frequent oil changes the cylinder blew. Not sure if it’s a common problem in this car, but after replacing the engine in a car I just bought 6months ago I am not happy!

I think I got a bad one

I loved the car when I first got it on 1/31/2012. It did perfect at first, did the "clunk" at 25 - 30 mph and was told it was normal for the car. But it wasnt long before I started to notice little things and some big that were going wrong and I babied this car. About 5 months into ownership the window regulator failed and had to be replaced. A month or so later I started to notice a lot of clunking when I would back up, not cv joint type noise, but more like a series of little clunks. The driver side door and hood seemed to be poorly aligned as the door scraped the paint off the running board and the hood had a major gap on one side. The last straw was the failure of the A/C. I traded it.

Sentra Suprise

I just purchased a 2012 Nissan Sentra, and ..... I was pleasently surprised on how solid this car really is. It is super quiet, very peppy, and saves me at the pump. I purchased the Sr model with the value package. So I was able to get a sporty car, with sunroof, navigation, nice looking wheels, for only 17,900. I just put 250 miles on only 1/2 a tank, my 2006 Mustang Gt, would have been on less than a 1/8th of a tank at this point.

Nissan sentra special edition

This car definitely worth that money. Standard budget car class is one step higher than hyunday accent and similar models.

Fun, Smooth and Stylish!

I recently purchased the Sentra SR model and I am very happy with it so far. I initially was interested in a Versa hatchback, but after test driving both, I feel that you get more for your money out of the Sentra. It's very roomy inside, quiet and smooth. It can turn on a dime and has very responsive handling. The CVT transmission is a little odd at first since it doesn't make the typical "vroom vroom" noise when you accelerate. It quickly got used to it and I found that it actually makes the whole driving experience quieter and less jerky. All in all it was a pleasure to drive. It feels like it's made with quality, moreso than the Elantra, Scion xD, Focus, and Corolla I test drove that day.

Summertime Horror

AC blower motor went out at the height of the summer. It costs $1000+ to fix because of poor placement of part in chassis. Not worth fixing in a car worth only $5000. This car is cheaply built with crappy plastic parts. No more Nissans for me!

CLUNK! CLUNK! POP! POP!

Bought a 2012 Nissan Sentra about 6 weeks ago. Owned several vehicles and this is by far the worst of the worst. Never had bought a Nissan but will never buy another. This vehicle pops on right turns and braking & after turning and straightening the wheel and evidently there are several Nissans that has this as an issue. As I understand there are no recalls and Nissan has not addressed this issue. Will get it checked out with a mechanic on Monday. Hope to get the issue resolved since it is hard to trade with so recent of a purchase.

People Need Retraining

I only heard one or two reviewers mention this car was a good value. The cars CVT takes some getting used to because it accelerates in a linear manner but overall this is a very well built car. I have owned Scion and Honda's and this car's power is just as good as a Honda and much better than a Scion. I have also owned a Kia and have had friends who own Hyundai. They are good cars until you get into a collision in them. Then they will sit in the auto body shop for at least a month while you wait for replacement parts to come from Korea. I bought a SR Special Edition Model for under 16.5K. There are none of the competitors than can match the options and accessories for this Price!

Easiest car to DIY maintenance. Great workhorse!!

Just unbelievable simplicity!! Pop the hood and see for yourself. Spacious room to work. Engine part placements are great accessible. You don't even need to jack it up for many maintenance jobs. Good acceleration! Great engine bay ventilation. You don't worry about this car ever overheated. Awesome A/C!! Suspension is stiff but I like it when it bounces over rough terrain. It holds the road well and quite stable at speed 95 mph with minimal wind noise. Hey! test drove it through New Mexico desert when I flew at that speed. The spoiler helps to stabilize at high speed. Don't underestimate the little 2.0L. It has adequate power to take this little light weight car up the mountainous roads of New Mexico-Colorado with no issue. And yet it sips gas. The steering is not that great. Mine does not feel like it returns to center though I am not annoying much with that. And it feels bouncy a bit. It is no way a flashy show off sport car, but a great daily workhorse. I don't like the look of newer midsize version Sentra1.8L. This small compact size is just right for most of the time I drive by myself. It has timing chain! In summary, it's a good economy car that lasts a long time and little maintenance cost, if you keep it regularly maintained. I hope Nissan will continue to make Sentra this good for many more years. Update: Now at over 100,000 miles it’s reliable gem with nothing major but normal wear and tear. Replaced tires, wipers, 2 front struts, regular oil change every 3-5000 miles depends on synthetic or regular oil, transmission oil every 60,000 miles. And it goes great!!

30 MPG town and 35-36 MPG Highway (under 75mph)

Great car, clean, a little to high of a coefficient of drag. Wife and I hypermile and can get the CVT to get us 30 MPG town and 35-36 MPG Highway (under 75 mph). If you drive like a 16 year old boy in heat, the CVT will keep you in the power band and use up a lot of gas, its true. If you drive smartly, it serves you well. Great handling/excellent lateral g for a car of its class (2.0 S model). Look, standing acceleration from stop (0-60mph) is poor; however, passing acceleration (60-80mph) can't be beat since it has high torque and the CVT revs it to 6500RPM. If you really need to get going, put it in Low until you reach 30mph, it will improve the start 0-60, but not usually recommended. Update, no longer hypermile, bought rims, lost gas mileage due to wider rims (drag) and larger wheel size diameter (not sure which contributes more to the loss of miles per gallon. Has a performance intake and does great without a check engine light. Improved throttle response. I replace the CVT fluid every 40000 miles (at 70,000 currently). Do not push the tranny before it warms up (ie. Wisconsin winters), this will cause it to whine and may damage it. So far, the CVT is still working perfectly. All CVTs from this year whine when pushed, but a loud whine is not good. I have only heard it two times and I let off before too long to prevent damaging the CVT. MPG now 26 with modifications.

Great Car!!

If your thinking about buying the Civic, or Corolla take notice of the Sentra... Instead... Why? 14.5 Gallon Fuel tank... 27-34 MPG... That means you will get at least 350 miles or 400 deepending on how you drive and where you drive. I have put 500 Miles plus on the car since getting it in mid October. And it has given me my money's worth back in Gas... I had an old Dodge Neon 2000 ES and all it did was eat gas on a 9 Gallon tank... I only got 90 miles... Yes that car lasted me a full 11 years... But it had to go the Transmission was going.

Clunking Noises

Bought 2012 Nissan Sentra SE..I am sick of all the clunking noises when I drive slow ..backing up..turning wheel etc. I have been at the shop 3x they say its normal .Its driving me nuts I just bought the car 1 month ago and I hate it. It also does like aloud grind only the 1st time it goes between 1.5 and 2.5 rpm and you can feel it on the gas pedal as well. I am not happy with this car at all !!!!

Saving $$$ on gas!

My previous car was an 03 Xterra and had it for ten years. Nissans quality of cars have never been less than excellent for our family. With my commute that went from 24 to 80 miles a day, I wanted something smaller and better on gas. After a trip to Puerto Rico this past summer, we rented a sentra and that's when I fell in love. I've put only 100 miles on my new SR but absolutely love the ride and comfort!

Bought another one

I had a 2007, the beginning of this model's current design. I was hit by a red light runner and the car was a total loss. I bought the car for $18,500.00 and after four years of ownership I received a check for $13,000.00. That means this great car was mine for only $114.59 a month. I could not believe it! It held its value so well.

good value

good auto for commuting. roomy inside , good exterior curves on sr model. only ,it should have more h.p

Awesome value and performance

Ive had my Special EDITION for about 6 months so far put 10,000 miles on it. MPG has been 31 for city and around 34 for HWY. All my friends and family love this sport Sedan. So far its quiter on the road then my wife's CIVIC SI and our Corolla. I paid around $18,500 for this and it came with all the bells and wistles like NAV, Sunroof, Premium Audio, Camera. This like is just like a CASH in the hand at all times. Whenever you want to sell it, without a doubt you will get a good resale value for this. But i plan to keep mine till the end. AWESOME car and fun to drive.

“surprised you made it this far”

i got this car 2 years ago and it now has 150,000 miles on it and the transmission went out, and when we tried to go get it fixed they said they were surprised the car had made it that far with it’s known terrible transmission. as well as most mechanics refused to touch it.

The worst car i own

After driving for an hour fron san francisco to los angeles with a temperature of 110 degrees the car wont past 60 miles per hour.I had to moved out of the freeway like three times. I dont recomend you this car, in another ocassion i went to arizona and i have the same problem with high temperature and the nissan company know about this issue, Worst car.

AWESOME CAR

<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves/> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:DoNotPromoteQF/> <w:LidThemeOther>EN-US</w:LidThemeOther> <w:LidThemeAsian>X-NONE</w:LidThemeAsian> <w:LidThemeComplexScript>X-NONE</w:LidThemeComplexScript> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:SplitPgBreakAndParaMark/> <w:EnableOpenTypeKerning/> <w:DontFlipMirrorIndents/> <w:OverrideTableStyleHps/> </w:Compatibility> <m:mathPr> <m:mathFont m:val="Cambria Math"/> <m:brkBin m:val="before"/> <m:brkBinSub m:val="&#45;-"/> <m:smallFrac m:val="off"/> <m:dispDef/> <m:lMargin m:val="0"/> <m:rMargin m:val="0"/> <m:defJc m:val="centerGroup"/> <m:wrapIndent m:val="1440"/> <m:intLim m:val="subSup"/> <m:naryLim m:val="undOvr"/> </m:mathPr></w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]-->I love this car one of the best ove had .. No probs as of yet and ive had it a for over a yr. Now .. Would buy another one.. Thx Nissan..

ugh

this car breaks down like every month i DONT UNDERSTAND

2012 Nissan Sentra S (Auto)

Great car for cheap money. The car feels solid and is very quiet. The car handles great with a smooth ride. The only downside is gas mileage, I get between 24 and 28 mpg. I got the same mileage with my V6 Honda Accord. I expected better mileage with a 4 cyl. engine.

Car has transmission problems

Nothing fancy but gets the job done

got horrible gas mileage!!!!

I got my certified pre own sentra just 4 mounths ago and hate it now! I traded in my 2002 pt cruiser for ths becase it was newer and had all the options(except leather and auto dimming mirror)but I just drive it back and forth to work and I only live like 7 miles from work and the past few mouths ive gotten 18mpg or less! and the comfort is horrable too wish never traded my pt!

No need for a key

I was hoping for better fuel economy but I live in a very hilly and mountain area of the northwest and I am getting 24 to 29 mpg. The 29 mpg was achieved with more expressway driving, less hill driving, limited air condition use and a thought of how to maximize fuel economy at all times (smooth breaking, cruise control, smooth acceleration). Other than that the car is perfect for people that are fat, commuters, couples, green philosophy and an affordable car.

Bad Stereo

I love my new Nissan Sentra special edition. I bought this over the Altima because of the navigation.. Bad mistake, the stereo sucks and NEVER get reception. I can't depend on the FM to receive any service if I am 10 minutes out of the City. I am now looking at replacing it and it is going to cost me 1500.00 to get a stereo with navigation. Wish I would have bought the Chrysler 200 with streaming video and a great sound system.

Rear ended at 70

This car has always been good mechanically, I've needed suspension work, coil packs, O2 sensors, and exhaust work, but it has always been cheap to fix and reliable, someone rear ended me when I was stopped for traffic on the expressway, and totaled the car, I walked away with no lasting damage, the car took it like a champ, 10/10

Its Plain Jane

Our car has had quite a career. The first owner had a major accident which totaled it. Someone rebuilt it, so it has a rebuilt title. I bought it in 2021, for cheap, only because I could not find an inexpensive third car for our big family. In the three years we've had it I've had the heater blower motor replaced (very costly) and some other minor repairs done. But otherwise It's been really reliable. The passenger seat airbag has gone bad, it thinks someone is always in the seat. Other than the dash light, nobody would care. It gets great gas mileage and handles pretty well for what is such a basic economy car. The seats are comfortable and its roomy enough for trips of up to a few hours.