2003 Nissan Sentra problems
Owners have filed 240 complaints with NHTSA about the 2003 Nissan Sentra. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 44% of complaints. After that come electrical system (15%) and fuel system (8%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 240 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 44% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 17 and 1
- Injuries and deaths
- 9 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 67,000 miles 181 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 | 30 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 20 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 21 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 50 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 16 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 15 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 17 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 4 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 4 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 3 |
What the data shows
Among the 181 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 67,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 70,000 miles (94 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 17 complaints mention a crash; 1 complaint mentions a fire; 9 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 2003 ranks 16th most-complained-about out of 37 model years of the Nissan Sentra with enough data (117 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 7 safety recall campaigns.
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 40 MPH consumer t-boned another vehicle due to the other vehicle not stopping at a traffic light. Upon impact, both frontal air bags did not deploy.
My 2003 nissan sentra was rear-ended by a driver travelling approximately 60 MPH. The rear seat virtually collapsed and if there were anyone sitting there they would have been killed. My wife and I were sitting in the front seats. She spent a week in the hospital with head injuries and I spent two days. Why aren't cars tested for rear impact, similar to our accident, instead of only front and side impact?
Consumer was involved in a collision, and the airbags failed to deploy. Vehicle involved in collision and the air bag equipment failed to deploy.
Dt: at 32,000 miles the consumer had to take the vehicle back to the dealership 15 times for repairs. The main issue was at 15,000 miles. The fuel pump was replaced. After that, the consumer had problems when turning, when he took his foot off the gas the vehicle sputered. The service manager test drove the vehicle and said it was normal. The consumer never experienced any problems until the fule pump was replaced. The vehicle had other problems such as 2 new fan belts, trunk flooded once.
Tl* the contact owns a 2003 nissan sentra. The contact was driving 5 MPH and depressed the accelerator pedal but the vehicle would not accelerate over 5 MPH. The contact shut the engine off and the vehicle resumed normal operation once restarted. Several minutes later, the failure recurred. The contact took the vehicle to the dealer to determine the cause of the failure was the vehicle was neither diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 114,000.