2005 Nissan Sentra S 1.8L. Bought this in 2007 with 110k on odometer (hard to believe - 110k in less than 3 years, it's mostly highway mileage though), so far a year of driving is pretty smooth, no major/minor problems/indications, right now it has 120k miles. The previous owners used this car for towing, so as a precaution I replaced transmission fluid, coolant, brake fluid, put new tires and brake pads/shoes, none of these were a problem, I'm just extra careful, driving steep mountains in NM.

What I do like:

-because of a little weight, fast accelerations/stops with a driver only, but if 3 people inside, goes slower/weaker;

-it gets 35 mpg on average, highway/city as 50/50;

-cornering is nice, I put Z-rated tires on it, did the balancing/alignment, suspension can definitely handle more than this model weights, 16 inch aluminum disks, tires 205/50R16;

-short height, a driver seats lower than in Civic/Corolla, more equilibrium and less air resistance; at high speed

-engine performance: 2000 rpm at 60 mph, 3000 rpm at 80 mph, 4000 rpm at 100 mph; maximum torque comes at 2500 rpm, which is typical city rpm and much better than any Honda/Toyota class related model, they give a mix torque at 4000 rpm, Nissan engines rules! ;

-fancy dancy anti theft ignition lock system;

-a lot of space under the hood as for a small car, easy to access most of the parts;

-no timing belt and expensive replacement, a lifetime chain instead;

-powered windows/steering, which is unusual for small cars like this;

-overall a reliable model and very cheap to maintain;

What I dislike:

-driving uphill in the mountains is harder than Civic/Corolla, it's 7000-10000 ft altitude, low pressure;

-noisy at high speed, a little weight trades off with sound insulators, plus a timing chain;

-very limited leg space at a passenger seat behind a driver;

-front disk brakes are good, but rear drums look like a cheap bargain, Nissan should have set up disk brakes on rear wheels as well, an inexpensive investment into performance/safety, although the car weights 2450 lbs, brakes stop the car just fine, I drive steep mountains sometimes, so some extra braking power would be great;

-a saloon looks economical, after all nice things they put into a drive train, it would be worth to spend an extra thousand on a saloon as well;

Conclusion: it's a perfect car for an everyday commutes as well as for highway. Cheap to maintain, fast as for 35 mpg. My next car will be the same model. The newer Sentra 2006 is bigger, taller, wider, and heavier, worse mpg. Can't see any progress after 2005 Sentra, it's a good competitor for Civic 2004, and cheaper.

Crucial: replace fluids and filters in time, and it will run longer than any Civic/Corolla.

God I love 16' disks with wide race Z tires.

Hello everyone I am the person who wrote this review on this car, I didn’t know how to edit my original review so I decided to add this as a comment.

After I have written the original review I have already schedule 2 appointments with the service department to check the squeaking noise that I hear from the front wheels of the car. I had a ride with a technician and he told me that the bearing was bad, so I had my bearing changed.

Right after I got my car back from the dealer I was still hearing the same noise just that this time it was louder. I took it back again and they said now that it is the rotor, so now I am waiting for the rotors to be delivered to the dealer to get my next service appointment.

However, today March 10, 2007, the car gave me an additional problem. Every time that I turn my car on I can hear a rattling noise as if something was loose. I have not driven the car hard in any way. 1 because I like taking care of my cars, and 2 because the car has given me problems ever since I purchased it. I just took my car for a short road trip, around 50mil one way (therefore 100 miles in total,) and now my car sounds like it is going to fall apart while I am driving it too.

I will call the dealer again tomorrow to report this problem. It is a pity because the car is very fun to drive and very good looking, and it comes with a decent sound system. However, if the car keeps on having problem after this last service appointment I will strongly consider in changing the car.

It is very sad because I have not driven it for more than 3000 miles, which means that I haven’t had the car long enough to even do an oil change to it.

I will not recommend anyone to buy a Nissan after this experience with this SER Spec V, I feel ashamed because I am half Japanese and this is a Japanese brand. I hope they improve their quality in the future, but for now I cannot recommend this brand to anybody. Go for a Toyota, Honda, or a Subaru if you are thinking of purchasing a Japanese car.