2003 Nissan Sentra SER Spec - v from North America - Comments

I have owned my 2002 Nissan Sentra SER Spec v since new. I now have 78000 plus miles. I brought my car to the dealer while still under warranty for an AC problem. No freon hole in high pressure line. They fixed that for 300 plus dollars and then told me there were 7 recalls on the car including different floor mats. They completed all the recalls including new Crankshaft and camshaft position sensors for gratis and I haven't had one problem since.

03 Spec.

Had since new... 52,000 miles later and no problems.

When you turn the key to the on position, wait for the fuel pump to cycle before you go to start the vehicle. This eliminates 95% of the start up issues.

I read about precat issues and switched to a Nismo non-cat header at 16g miles. Car has been great, no oil burning, loctite butterfly screws on the vehicle, so no issues there as well.

As technology has increased, a chance for failure increases. Being pro-active in any investment is a wise solution to making sure you are aware of any problems that could arise and how to combat them.

I don't care what vehicle you research, they all have problems and sometimes people get lemons.

I bought a 2003 Spec-V and it has been nothing, but... amazing. I've had it for about 6-7 months and it runs great. No problems at all.

I threw an AEM cold air intake on it, putting it at about 185 horses, gets up great.

The short throws don't really require a short shifter. And people say they can't find performance parts for it??? I have found down pipes for 60 bucks and headers for about 120 wholesale. This car is not only a tuners dream, but it is inexpensive and the torque pull is fun. Look at the 03 RX-8s pulling 235 horse?? I could put about a grand into this car, and probably meet or exceed that if I installed parts myself. Sucks to be the people that have had problems... check your history reports, buy from a Nissan dealer, and get a warranty.

I own a 2003 Nissan Sentra Spec V SER and had no problems with it for the 21k miles I have had it 44k-65k. I put a short shifter, racing 4-1 headers with a magnaflow catback exhaust with high flow cat, nismo cold air intake, throttle body spacer, aluminum pully, iridium spark plugs etc. The exhaust pops all the time in shifting and downshifting almost similar like a SRT-4 which sounds racing like. Stinks that everyone else has been having problems with this car. This thing runs strong. I have seen that oil problem in my car before, but I switched over to synthetic and its been months now and it doesn't eat up 2 quarts anymore. I do drive this thing hard on the weekends and my days off.

I bought a 2002 spec V in 2003 and now have 54k on it.

The only problem I have had was the ECU died. It was replaced under warranty. Car has been otherwise very reliable and burns no oil.

I also own an SE-R classic with 160k on it; I had to replace the tranny twice, but otherwise both have been great cars.

I own a 2002 Spec V with 60,000 miles, and have had no problems until this week.

I replaced the header a few months after I bought the car, and have had the crank and cam position sensors replaced under various recalls, along with the foam from the ECM removed, and then the latest recall that began in late 2007 where the ECM had to be reprogrammed. My car just dies in neutral where the rpms go down to zero. I could start the car two times after, but it would emit white smoke and idle erratically. The next morning it wouldn't even start. I took it to a dealership because I thought it had to do with all the recall work that was done, but was told that had nothing to do with my car not starting. They ordered an ECM that came a week later, and can't get a reading on their consult scanner from it. And the car barely runs just like it did before I brought it in. I'm currently in contact with Nissan corp. to see if they will cover some of my expenses, because so many people have had this same issue.

I bought a 2003 Spec V back in 2003 so brand new. It was a gift for graduation and looking back I should have taken a used A4. However I love driving the car in the hot dry weather. Beyond that its just another car.

There have been some problems with my car I confess. First, the driver window always make a noise when I close it, I brought it to the dealer and they fixed it under warranty. Second, the knob for defining where the air flow goes (head, feet, defroster) etc... broke off and I have still to fix that because they want like 300 dollars. I've gone through a couple radiators all cover under warranty. By the way I have the extended warranty. The big trouble I had was when a bolt came loose in the block and messed up the entire engine. It was fixed no cost.

If I were to go back in time I would have opted for the Mini, SRT-4 or A4.

I own a 2006 Spec-V. And I have not had any problems. Installed stillen intake, headers and exhaust. Runs great, sounds great. Engine got a little louder, but that's normal. Maybe y'all bought lemons; there is one in every bunch. And if you bought it second hand, the previous owner probably dogged it.

I have an 03 Spec-V with 100k kms on it. The engine just went on it.. putting in an sr20det.

Hey everybody, I have a 03 Sentra SE-R Spec V. I've had to put new coils in because of the butterfly bolts coming off and going into the cylinders, which resulted in cylinder misfires. My SES light is on, and it says that my crankshaft sensor is malfunctioning. And every once in a while now, when I'm driving, my rpms drop to 0 and then bounce back up, and it usually does this 2 or 3 times, and then it's fine. This occurs when I'm going over at least 35-40 mph. If anyone could tell my why that's happening, let me know.

I got an '03 Spec-V, got it back in 05 and it already had 56K, on it. The guy had an exhaust and intake installed on it, and he also told me the dealer replaced the tranny and clutch at 30K.

As soon as I got the car, I installed headers and some engine mount inserts, and also relocated my knock sensor. I also started using mobil 1 synthetic oil since I got the car. I have never had any issues, excpet the hard start, which never bothered me.

Now the car has 130K, it's 5 years old, I have been to the track about 4 times, 15.2 1/4 mile was the best I could pull out on it.

I drove this car hard since the day I bought it, I mean real hard.

About a week ago, the car just stalled on the highway while I was driving about 80mph. I pulled to the side, tried to start it, and it wouldn't start. I waited for about 40 minutes and started, before I got home this had happened to me once more.

Well I thought it was the fuel pump, so I got a cheap one on the junk yard and replaced it today... it still stalled after running for about 35 minutes. I don't know what the problem is, and if someone can let me know, that would be great.

I'm thinking about buying a Spec V, and I have read all the problems that people have with them. I think it's mostly just the 02s and 03s; they fixed the 04-06.

I know someone with an 03 - been through 3 engines, and then I know someone that has an 05, and the only problem they had was brakes.

Both of them beat on their cars like crazy too.

I'm thinking if you get a mechanic and really check it out, and get an 06, then you shouldn't have problems.

I have an 04 SER Spec V and love it! I bought it new and it's got almost 43,000 miles on it. I rec'd a letter about 2 years ago for that recall for that "engine failing" thing, I brought it right in to get it fixed and never had a problem. I throw my steel wheels w/snow tires on in the winter and it's great in the snow too!

Well I have a 2002 SE-R. My engine light came on, so every time I stopped at a red light or for traffic, the car would start to idle really bad and turn off! Anyways... I hooked up my scanner and it told me it was the camshaft sensor, so I replaced it.

After 3 weeks later I check Mitchell on demands TSBs and it said that the cam sensor was a recall! and I didn't know. anyways... anyone that has Altimas, Sentras, check with your dealer for recalls.

Oh yeah, also they just recalled my car about 1 1/2 month ago for the computer (ECM) (PCM) whatever.