1998 Nissan Sentra problems
Owners have filed 76 complaints with NHTSA about the 1998 Nissan Sentra. Air bags is the most reported problem area, at 21% of complaints. After that come wipers, windshield & visibility (18%) and brakes (12%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 76 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Air bags 21% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 21 and 3
- Injuries and deaths
- 20 and 2
- Typical mileage
- 102,000 miles 25 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 0 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 3 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 0 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 6 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 2 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 7 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 3 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 0 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 1 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 0 |
| 200k+ miles | 3 |
What the data shows
Among the 25 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 102,000 miles.
Safety-related details: 21 complaints mention a crash; 3 complaints mention a fire; 20 injuries reported; 2 deaths reported. Its complaints are more severe on average than those of 98% of model years in our database.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1998 ranks 32nd most-complained-about out of 37 model years of the Nissan Sentra with enough data (35 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 1 safety recall campaign.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
While driving another vehicle crossed over into consumer's vehicle lane and hit the nissan head on. Upon impact, both airbags did not deploy, and the driver 's seat belt sheared off during the collision. This caused the driver to be ejected from the vehicle. It then crashed into the concrete barrier. Passengers sustained minor injuries, and were transported to the hospital by ambulance. The driver was doa. Vehicle was towed and totaled by the insurance company. This information was furnished by the wife.
Master cylinder was not pumping anti-lock brake fluid properly, causing brakes to fail in an emergency stopping situation. Dealer has been contacted. The customer had brakes fixed twice but failed again causing accident. Air bags also failed to deploy.
Consumer's vehicle was involved in a frontal collision at 40 MPH with another vehicle and neither frontal air bag deployed. Driver sustained minor injuries to the shoulder and the right arm from the seat belt. Insurance company reported the incident to the dealer and manufacturer.
Coming to a stop in a l turn lane, with foot definitely only on brake, at under 3 MPH. Just as I stopped, brake faded, engine raced, and car surged violently forward, simultaneously. I barely controlled this surge with extreme brake pressure. Event lasted approximately 5 seconds. It did not trip a trouble code, or recur. Approximately 255,000 miles on chassis. No damage, but risk of it very high. Mcgregor, texas, turning l off of us 84 eastbound onto tx 317 northbound.