2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V from North America - Comments

Trunk Seal (Warranty)

Clutch Sticks (Dealer could not replicate see below)

Intermittent Turn Signal issues (same as above)

Heat shield fell off of engine after recall (fixed myself, I was fed up with the dealer)

Severe engine malfunction (no resolution)

Heavy Oil Consumption 1qt 3-400 miles (no resolution)

Engine Control Module died @ 75mph (out of pocket)

Worn Interior - seats, shift knob, trim panels.

VERY POOR SERVICE FROM DEALERSHIPS - -10 out of 10.

I own a 2003 Nissan Lemon, I mean Sentra SE-R Spec V. It now has 93,000 miles on it.

I wanted to kick myself for trading in my 1992 240SX for this car. I traded it in with nearly 240,000 miles on it and it still ran very well. Over the life it needed maintenance, an electronic speedometer (which was NOT cheap) and tires. I actually felt great about buying a new Nissan.

Around 23,000 miles I hit a pothole which flattened my tire. Upon retrieving my spare out of the trunk, I realized it was nearly full of water from the rain that week. I took it to the dealer to have the seal replaced. It took several days to receive the car back, and I was told that they do not hand out loners or rentals. I had to borrow a car from my parents for the time it was in the dealership. I was only 20 at the time, and the service advisors continuously made me feel like a punk kid when I walked in even though I considered myself very well spoken and polite.

I received a letter for a recall with the hangers on the catalytic converter possibly causing an engine fire, and reprogramming the computer to fix a problem with the catalytic converter overheating. Once again, several days without a vehicle. When I got the vehicle back, it had a terrible rattle. In the recall, it said that the converter should be inspected for damage as it may cause heavy oil consumption. It was never pulled off the car.

3 weeks later, I find the heat shield sitting in the engine bay OFF the engine. I bolted it back on, and just forgot about it. It wasnt worth the trouble of telling them how stupid they were, I was just a dumb kid to them anyway.

I took the car to the dealer because the turn signals were acting up, and the clutch would stick after extended driving. Same story... several days, "hitch a ride buddy". They said they could not reproduce either problem, and nothing was done. My car had 1 mile more than when I left it with them. At that point, I decided the car would NOT see the dealership again.

At 63,000 miles, I noticed that the car was burning oil more heavily than I was used to.

At 79,000 I started to see that I was putting a quart of oil in the car about once every 2 weeks.

I started this ordeal at 91,000:

I called the 800-Nissan 1 number to report that my car burns a quart of oil every 300-400 miles. When I called, they notified me that there were 2 open recalls on the car, and they would get the dealer to run diagnostics as to why its burning so much oil. The two recalls involved a computer reprogram and removing a foam surrounding the computer. Okay, we're off on the right foot.

I took it to the dealership, they provided me a rental mainly because it was primarily recall work. I had the car back the next day. The service adviser (REALLY cool guy) said they had to change the oil to start the "Oil consumption test" and to bring it back in either 700 miles or when it's a quart low.

ONE WEEK LATER (to the hour of getting it back) : I am driving to work at 75 mph to keep up with Charlotte traffic and not get run over. The engine stalled, and would not start back. I had it towed back to the same dealership and they tell me that the computer is not responding to anything they do to it. It shows no signs of being fried, just stopped working. The service adviser said he tried to get Nissan to possibly assist the repair, but he was shot down at minute 1. I told him I would call Nissan myself. Rental car? HAHAHAHA! no.

I call them upon leaving the dealership. It takes a couple days for them to respond to me. Finally they do asking me where I took the car to get it serviced. "I'll call you back in a little bit".

I get the phone call in 2 days. They say there is nothing they are going to do about the car because its supposively 50,000 miles past the warranty period. Wouldn't this be covered under powertrain, making it 30,000 miles out of warranty? Also, didn't it break a week after your dealership messed with it?

They want a second opinion. I'll get a call back in a few more days. The MLK holiday passes, still without a car, and I get the same response back. I've already ordered a used computer from a scrap yard. I'm so mad about it already that my temperature rises a few degrees when I even hear the words Nissan, or Sentra, or computer. "The two are not related, so we will not be in position to provide assistance. Had the problem happened before the recall was done, we might could". So a problem surfaces, that's recall related 1 week after the recall work is performed? He keeps trying to tell me how simple and petty the work they did to the car was, and how it could not be related. Isn't that why the car was recalled? If it was so petty, why was it RECALLED!?

I haven't even gotten started on the oil problem yet, I'm still trying to get past the whole computer ordeal right now. As for Nissan, my lover was driving me around the week and a half that I waited for my car. We spent a lot of boredom time looking at what might be the "next car". Needless to say that Frontier he wanted is now out of the question.

This sums up my 02 SE-R experience. Constant problems, I traded it in with under 70,000 miles just as the head gasket began to go.

Yup, that's what happens when car manufacturers move there assembly facilities to Mexico. Owned a 2000 Sentra and it was total garbage. I traded my 1996 Corolla for the Sentra. Just traded in the Sentra for a used 2002 Chevy Cavalier and up to now the Cavalier is a dream compared to the Sentra. I guess we are proof that even Japanese car makers have issues, especially when they try to pass off this Mexican made piece of junk as a Japanese car. I do have to agree with the reviewer, STAY AWAY FROM THIS JUNK!!!!!!!!!

I own a 2002 nissan sentra ser-r spec-v let me tell you that this car is the biggest piece of crap that I ever owned. At aprox 90,000 miles this car started burning oil at a rate of 1qt every 150 miles I was told that this was due to the pre cat being sucked back into the engine scoring the cilinder walls. I change my oil every 3000 miles like clockwork and this is something that I could not have prevented. But I would still have to by a new or re manufactured engine at about $3850. Screw that they can have this car back and I will never drive another nissan not even as a passanger. I feel bad for whoever gets this car. I traded it in.

I just wanted to amend this review of what Nissan did about the oil consumption test. I took it back about 2 weeks after the computer was replaced - 1 quart low, and I had already added half a quart in the mean time just to get it there. Dealer confirmed it needed a new engine because it was not leaking oil, but rather "Consuming" oil. Nissan first told me they would not replace the engine, but there was a 2nd option they would try. I had to gather up nearly 5 years of oil receipts and fax them to Nissan. (and I came up only a couple receipts short) They took them all,took a MONTH to review them, just to tell me they were not going to do anything! I hate Nissan with a PASSION, and I hope to GOD that Nissan ends up having to give their cars away just to get them off the lots. Maybe they'll have do like Kia and give a Versa away with every Altima or a Sentra free with every Maxima. I hope the worst for them, and I will NEVER EVER own another one! The Sentra as of March 21st was traded for a Mazdaspeed Miata which is built 20x better, drives 100x better, better performance, and has cheaper insurance rates! (and its convertible)

DON'T BE A VICTIM OF NISSAN MOTORS!

As I said, my FIRST AND LAST NISSAN!

Abnormally high oil consumption on the QR25DE is typically due to the precat falling apart and scoring the cylinder walls. It can also be attributed to a blown head gasket, but that's less common with the QR25DE. There is no cheap fix for the former problem.

2 ways to ensure your SE-R/ SE-R Spec V lasts as long as possible is to get a header which will remove the precat and to loctite your butterfly screws on the pre-'06 models. These 2 fixes are cheap and will avoid about 80% of all common issues with these cars. The other issues are primarily issues any car can have, such as: blown head gasket, wheel bearings failing, etc etc.

I have only had one wheel bearing fail, one bent OE 17" wheel, the fan switch fuse blow, one exhaust hanger snapped off, front and rear rotors needed replacement due to rust, and that's about it in the 50+k I've owned my 2002 spec v. I'm not saying I take better care of my car than people with problems, and as always YMMV... just adding a different perspective to all the negatives about the QR25DE engine and the B15 Sentra chassis.

I own a 2002 Sentra SER Spec-V with 70,000 miles, and it was the biggest piece of crap also.

Everything first started when I noticed that I also was burning oil like crazy, so I looked up info and found that those motors were known for the intake screws falling out and getting sucked into the motor.

So I called Nissan, and went around and around with them forever. Finally I took it in and got it checked, at Nissan's request. They said that if it was the problem, that it would be fixed and I wouldn't have to pay for them diagnosing it. So I said OK and drove 100 miles to the nearest dealership. They tore it apart and it was the problem, the screws fell in from number one cylinder and the plate had got sucked in too, and had gotten lodged just before getting into my motor. So the dealership calls Nissan headquarters and oh all the sudden I have to pay for half of everything! Half to get it diagnosed, even though they said they would pay for it, which was $200, which I had to borrow cuz I didn't have enough money on me. And I would have to pay for half of a new engine, which was $3,000 - just for half!

Well I said screw that, and put my car back together myself, so Nissan couldn't suck anymore money out of me, and went home and took everything apart and put loctite on all my intake screws.

Then a few weeks later my car started to have acceleration problems. I could only go 10-20 mph. So I tested it and had crank sensor and mass air sensor codes, so I replaced both with no luck. Then tested it again and a friend from a mechanics garage suggested the gas pedal. Replaced that and yup no luck either. The only thing that I haven't replaced is the ECU. So I go to take it off and what do I find? The idiots at the Nissan dealership disconnected my moisture hose that keeps the moisture out! My ECU is wet and shorted out. But good luck getting Nissan to do anything. I have the same problem now, my blood just boils whenever I hear anything about Nissan. They're a joke and I will never buy anything or recommend buying anything Nissan. People really need to do research before they buy cars, I wish I had.

I have a 2002 Sentra SER Spec V (the first one ever sold in the state of Rhode Island) and I gotta say I've been pretty fortunate compared to everyone else here. I pretty much do all my own maintenance on the car (oil changes, fluids, and tire rotations). I'm at 60,000 miles now (RI's pretty small so everything is close by) and just started experiencing my first real issue... head gasket. For those who don't know, the block and the head are kept at two different temps, the block lets in coolant at 175 degrees F and the head at 200. This allows the gasoline to vaporize faster for better fuel economy. It wouldn't be that bad if they were two different materials, but it's all aluminum, so they expand at different rates. All that rubbing wears out the head gasket, allowing coolant to drip into the cylinders and through the IRON header and exhaust, rotting it all out.

Other than that, issue free. Changed my tires twice (the first time because Nissan ships these with summer only tires), brakes once, transmission fluid once (MTL, just to see if it would get rid of that "stick in a bag of rocks" feeling... it didn't), and spark plugs once (they didn't need to be I found out. All that coolant sitting in my cylinders makes for a very rough start). Every 3000 miles I drain out 4.5 quarts and I put in 4.5 quarts.

Still, the build quality on this car is garbage compared to other cars. I WILL buy another Nissan. I will NOT buy another car made in Mexico. Every car I've seen made in Mexico falls apart. My girlfriend's Jetta was a POS too (made in Mexico). My mom's Maxima is solid, no issues, even the paint looks about as good as when she bought it (brand new in 2000). Made in Japan. I'm keeping my eye on the new Altima Coupe. Made in the USA and every single part on the car is either made in the USA, Japan, or Canada.

I have a 2002 Nissan Sentra SE-R automatic. The only real problems I have had with the car have had to deal with poor engineering from the factory. I always stay up to date with the forums to see what kind of problems everyone is having with their vehicles. I had heard of the oil consumption problem so I put in an aftermarket header right away and relocated the O2 sensor behind the secondary cat. Still passes emissions and doesn't throw the check engine light. My CD player with the "Rockford Fosgate" system (actually clarion with a fosgate sub) blew out twice. Went aftermarket no problem since. It began starting a little hard in the mornings so I put in a voltage stabilization system by Apexi that has helped with voltage saturation. The last few things on the list is to upgrade are a newer fuel pump with check valve the older units if parked on a hill will depressurize and make it almost impossible to start a problem noted by nissan, but not recalled. Park it nose down on a hill with ebrake on of course. Replaced the brakes at 50,000 as well as tires. My wife drives the car most of the time and says that once in a great while the car will stall at a stop light I am attributing this to the aftermarket stereo. Last thing on the fix list is a broken release mechanism on the trunk. Sentra has been good to us thus far service from local Ford/Nissan dealer is terrible. Wife is picking out next vehicle she is leaning toward Toyota and I am leaning toward doing a VQ swap into the little guy. Best of luck out there remember engineers are people too you just have to beat them to the recall.

I own a '02 SPEC-V and noticed the heavy oil consumption since spring of this year -- nearly a quart every week. There is no burning (no blue smoke), no oil drip on my driveway, and my head gasket is fine cause I had a pressure test. If I buy an aftermarket header, will that help at this point? Or are my supposedly 'scored' cylinders the problem to fix?