2004 Nissan Sentra SE 1.8 review from North America

The day after I got the car home, a squealing noise started under the hood. I took it back to the dealership and they said the belts were loose. After they tried to tighten the belt, they said the belt wasn't loose after all and it was coming from the pulley on the alternator. Whatever the problem REALLY was, it was never resolved while I had the car.

After I had been driving it for a week or so, the transmission began making a chirping sound when it shifted from 2nd to 3rd gear and sometimes gave a tiny lurch forward. The dealer said this was a minor issue and was simply fixed by topping off or changing the fluid. This did nothing whatsoever to fix the problem. The dealer then claimed they couldn't hear the sound, but it was easily heard even with the radio and a/c on. I looked at an online Nissan repair site and according to it, it was a major problem caused by something faulty INSIDE the tranny, meaning it would have to be completely disassembled in order to fix it.

The CD player stopped working only a few months into driving the car and that was never fixed, although I probably could have just replaced it.

Engine power was nearly nonexistent and it seemed the engine was mightly loud to be a small car.

Fuel economy was crap. My new Corolla has the same horsepower and the fuel economy is exponentially better.

The car also got knocked out of line very easily even in normal, highway driving conditions.

All in all, I hated the car from almost the moment I bought it and often lamented getting rid of my Ford Focus.

My husband and daughter hated the car from the moment they laid eyes on it.

I like some other models made by Nissan, but I'm not sure I would ever trust Nissan again.