NISSAN Sentra as a first car

[Shant J.]

Chances are, I might be getting my first car somewhat soon and I was wondering how Sentras fare. The Sentra seems to be the car my dad is inclined to even though the Versa is less expensive.

Are they safe? Reliable? Is the insurance decent? (I'm 16, BTW) And so on...

Personally, I kinda like the new Sentra. What do you guys think?
Modified by Shant J. at 3:01 PM 8/23/2007

[RED_DET]

The Sentra looks better than the Versa IMHO. Both would be very reliable and the Sentra has only been a worthy car.

[VMPhil]

a brand new sentra or a used sentra? specify and we can give you will get a more thorough answer.

[nametakennow]

I got my Sentra as my first car 4 years ago. The SE, at the time, was the top trim and the sportiest, but insurance ran only ~$800/6 months for full coverage with good student and defensive driving discounts. I got one ticket when I was 17 that didn't change my rate.

Of course, the car was a couple years old at the time, but still, that's not a bad rate at all.

Anyway, IMO a sporty-ish Sentra is a darn good first car. It's quick enough to be fun and has great handling for a front-driver, but it's not fast. Every 16y/o does stupid crap in their car, so the key is to have a car that's not fast enough for you to kill yourself in (any car is, technically, but you get the idea).

As asked above, will this be new or used? If used, check the stickies for things to watch out for, though somehow I don't see your parents being too hip on putting a header on a car they just bought...

[Cameron]

get a 240sx

[Shant J.]

The Sentra would be (hopefully) brand new. The one thing I don't understand about my dad is that one day he acts like he's on the verge of getting me a car, and the next day, he seems to avoid the subject entirely.

[NSR_s30]

Even if it's not NEW the Sentras are a solid first car to have. Sporty and great on gas.

[VMPhil]

the new sentra is fine for a first car. now depending on what your intentions are it should be solid. It looked like you wanted to get an SE-R. im not sure how reliable the New QR is going to be. the last generation had a few serious issues that look like they have been resolved in the current gen but who knows what else might have been broke in applying the new engineering changes. the MR20 (in the base sentra) should be a solid engine though. are you planning to mod or stay stock?

[Shant J.]

I would love to have the SE-R, but will probably be getting the regular one since insurance will be nearly suicidal for me. And I do plan to do some modification over time. How does the MR20 fare with forced induction (low PSI)?
Modified by Shant J. at 3:20 PM 9/10/2007

[Buzzman]

My son and I were car shopping, and we test drove the new Sentra and a new Versa.We both agreed that we preferred the Versa. Hard to quantify, but the Versa just felt better. After 5 minutes in the new Sentra, my butt was getting uncomfortable. I also preferred the Versa interior over the Sentra's.In the end, I bought an '06 Altima dealer demonstrator (only had 5K on it), and sold my '03 Sentra SE-R to my son. We were both happy.

[VMPhil]

idk. the platform hasn't been out long enough for a qualifying analysis. i have yet to hear of a Boosted 07 sentra.

[nametakennow]

The MR20 has not been around nearly long enough to have been fitted with a turbo. Being the base engine, I doubt anyone will bother for quite awhile.

[Shant J.]

Interesting... thanks for the info guys. At the moment, I'm torn between the praticality of the Sentra and the coolness factor and styling of the Altima coupe.

[gotak]

I have a 2007 SE-R. It's nice I think. The safety was a huge factor because the new Sentra scored very well in all the crash tests. The old one didn't do that well actually. You can find that online just search crash test.

I think the engine will be fine it is the same engine as the last one with some refinement. Almost all manufacturers had some engine problems at one time or another. After they get past it they usually don't have the same problems again.

Insurance wise it's wasn't even as much as a regular Civic LX for me and since we do the house and car insurance with the same company we get a good discount.

The Altima is a nice car if you need the space but for less you can get the SE-R with the same engine as the base Altima. It's funny how people will go on and on about the QR engine in the Sentra but no one mentions anything about it in the Altima. CVT paddles reacts instantly to your inputs on the SE-R so it's not like most tiptronic systems. However, the Spec-V would be better if you can afford the gas and you can drive a manual.

If you are getting the Sentra don't be like so many kids getting the base model then pouring money into modding it. There's nothing cool about 18 inch rims on a car with drum brakes in the back. Pay the extra, get the SE-R with 4 disks.

[nametakennow]

Wrong. The QR melted down in the Altima as well, it's just that the majority of cases where it happened were in the SE-R. Most 2.5 Altimas had/have automatic transmissions, and for some reason those have proven less prone to sucking their cat back up than manual ones.

It's kinda silly that Nissan still uses rear drums on any of their cars.

[gotak]

Wel Subaru just downgraded the Impreza from 4 disks to drums in the back for 2008. Just cost cutting where they don't think the consumer will notice.

[nametakennow]

That's probably Toyota's fault. Uglyfying and cost-cutting, great.

[dex-]

The Sentra is a great first car. I bought a '96 Sentra GLE back in '01 as my first "real" car. I drove damn near 100k miles on it before I had any major problem. (Which was the exhaust pipe rusting out from the muffler.) I used it for a newspaper route, a 50 mile round-trip commute through rush hour every day for 3 years, as well as a few 1000+ mile road trips. The only things that I replaced on it were the brakes, tires, battery, and alternator, aside from normal maintenance. That car took so much abuse and never complained. I realize that the car I'm talking about is a good 12 years older than what you're looking at, but I'd still highly recommend picking one up.

[Shant J.]

Well, all this help is making my head spin. Thanks for all the input. I think I can justify a SE-R because it's a bit cheaper than the Altima coupe and is more practical.

[i240sx]

dude get a beater..or something old...a 240sx, nx2000, 91-94 sentra se-r, 200sx se-r, 91-96 g20..all those would be nice. plus you get all sr motor except the 240. why spend more money for a new car when those are just as reliable as the new one. up to you dude...

[gotak]

A beater is ok if all you do is putt around the city or shot highway trips an hour or less.

For those long trip, before I got my new car, me and my friends used to rent cause partly we really didn't want to ding up our own car (street parking is like the only parking in Montreal) but mostly we don't want our old beaters to die in the middle of no where. That's dangerous especially at night on the highway.

For me having that extended 6 years warranty and knowing everything should be expected to work is well worth the cost of a new car. Watched a friend buy a loaded 98 Maxima for 10k CAD couple years ago only to spend close to 7k on repairs within 3 years. For me that's not value that's idiotic. His air bag warning lights are on cause they no longer works. Frankly my life and the life of people riding with me is more important then saving couple Ks.

[ser91]

I got a b15 for my first car but ended up selling it to get a classic ser (91-94) Thats the way to go!!!!