2008 Nissan SENTRA - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2008 Nissan Sentra received high ratings in driver and passenger side front crash tests, with a score of 5 out of 5. It also performed well in the driver side and passenger side side crash tests, scoring 5 and 4 respectively. However, the overall safety rating of the car is listed as "Not Rated" due to missing data in some categories. The car does not have electronic stability control, forward collision warning, or lane departure warning features, which are considered important safety technologies in modern vehicles.

Additionally, there have been 166 complaints reported for this model and 3 recalls issued. It's worth noting that a thorough evaluation of safety features beyond crash test ratings, such as active safety technologies and overall structural integrity, is crucial in determining the true safety of a vehicle.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

166

Recall Count

3

Investigation Count

1

Safety Rating

Not Rated

Search Vehicle Details

Advanced Search

The advanced search lets you search by safety ratings and features. This will return a list of vehicles that match your search criteria.

Safety Features

2008 Nissan Sentra 4-DR.w/SAB Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2008 Nissan Sentra 4-DR.w/SAB

Electronic Stability Control (ESC)

ESC is an advanced safety feature in vehicles designed to help drivers maintain control during challenging driving conditions. By continuously monitoring various factors such as steering angle, vehicle speed, and individual wheel speeds, ESC can detect and reduce the risk of skidding or loss of control. It achieves this by automatically applying brakes to specific wheels to stabilize the vehicle.

No
Forward Collision Warning (FCW)

Forward Collision Warning (FCW) is a safety feature in vehicles that helps prevent frontal collisions by alerting the driver of an imminent collision with a vehicle or obstacle ahead. Using sensors such as radar or cameras, FCW monitors the distance and speed of vehicles in front, and if it detects a potential collision, it provides visual and/or auditory warnings to prompt the driver to take evasive action.

No
Lane Departure Warning (LDW)

Lane Departure Warning (LDW) is a safety feature in vehicles that alerts drivers when their vehicle unintentionally drifts out of its lane without signaling. Utilizing cameras or sensors to monitor lane markings on the road, LDW detects when the vehicle crosses these lines and triggers visual, auditory, or haptic alerts to notify the driver of potential lane departure.

No

2008 Nissan Sentra 4-DR.w/SAB Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2008 Nissan Sentra 4-DR.w/SAB Where possible we've included the ratings for the oldest and latest models of this car so you can compare how the safety ratings have changed over time.

Frontal Crash Ratings

Combines Driver and Passenger star ratings into a single frontal rating. The frontal barrier test simulates a head-on collision between two similar vehicles, each moving at 35 mph.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 5 Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 5 Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

Combines Side Barrier and Side Pole Star Ratings into a single side rating.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 2 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated 4 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated Not Rated 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated Not Rated 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5

Rollover Ratings

The Rollover Resistance test measures the risk of rollover in a single-vehicle, loss-of-control scenario.

Test 2005 Score 2008 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated Not Rated 5

Complaints for the 2008 Nissan SENTRA

This chart show the number of complaints for each car component. A Higher number of complaints could indicate that this car might have a common fault. Something to look out for when purchasing one.

Component Complaints

Choose a component to see what complaints people have made about them.

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2008 nissan sentra. the contact stated that while her daughter was driving approximately 45 mph, the vehicle in front abruptly depressed its brake pedal causing the driver to crash into the rear of the vehicle. during the crash, the front end of the vehicle was severely damaged but no air bags were deployed. no injuries were reported. a police report was taken at the scene and the vehicle was towed away. the cause of the failure was not yet determined. the local dealer and manufacturer were not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was 117,000."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2023-05-01

Complaint:
"driver air bag sensor light came on. the dealership reset it several times but it continues to come on. we paid the money to have them put the car on the diagnostic system. they are saying after review, the airbag needs to be replaced. it costs $1500 to replace the airbag. which makes zero sense. the car has never been wrecked. reports have shown issues with airbags in hundreds of thousands of nissans. the 2008 nissan sentra needs to be reviewed for an airbag recall. this is extremely dangerous."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2024-06-12

Complaint:
"air bag light flashes on dash won't go off. this should be a safety issue... over 10 in the last year alone reported same problem"
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2020-02-09

Complaint:
"the airbag light blinks constantly warning the owner there is a problem with the unit. other years and models are affect by recalls and i believe this year make and model should also be."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2019-01-05

Complaint:
"airbag light is on. i took it to a certified dealer and they said it it something to do with a 'coil' that went bad"
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2019-01-01

Complaint:
"airbag light flashes constantly on dash panel. came on while driving and will not go out. has been reset but comes back on after driving within short distance. car has not been wrecked in front and i am original owner. concerned for our safety as we are afraid airbag may not deploy in case of an accident. we do not believe safety equipment should fail so quickly. also see online where many other owners are experienceing same problem. would like to see a recall to fix this safety issue. thank you."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2019-01-05

Complaint:
"my srs indicator light stays on in my car when i'm driving it, or it could be sitting running.car will not pass inspection without repairs"
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2017-08-02

Complaint:
"airbag light continuously blinks on an off."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2018-01-05

Complaint:
"the air bag light keeps flashing. my grandmother took it to the dealer and they said it needed to be reset, she drove off and a mile later the light came back on. i have not taken it back to the dealer yet, but i see other drivers are reporting the same problem with this car. i googled how to reset it, did it myself, but as soon as you start driving it comes back on."
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2018-03-08

Complaint:
"airbag lights flashing so airbag wont work if there is an accedent need to see if there was a recall anytime"
Components Involved: AIR BAGS
Date of incident: 2017-10-07

Recalls for the 2008 Nissan SENTRA

Component Recalls

Choose a component to see what recalls people have made about them.

Recall:
"nissan is recalling certain model year 2008 sentra passenger vehicles equipped with bosch master cylinders. brake fluid may leak from the master cylinder. if the amount of brake fluid in the master cylinder reservoir decreases to below the minimum level, the brake system warning indicator will illuminate as designed and the brakes will not function properly."
Consequence:
IF THE WARNING LAMP IS CONTINUOUSLY IGNORED, ONE OF THE BRAKE CIRCUITS ON THE VEHICLE MAY FAIL INCREASING STOPPING DISTANCES AND INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Remedy:

DEALERS WILL INSPECT AND REPLACE THE MASTER CYLINDER BRAKE BOOSTER ASSEMBLY FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON DECEMBER 14, 2009. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.

Component(s) Involved: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC > FOUNDATION COMPONENTS > MASTER CYLINDER
Date of incident: 2009-11-03

Recall:
"nissan is recalling 169,202 my 2007-2008 sentra passenger vehicles equipped robert bosch master cylinder. due to the machining irregularity by the supplier, the internal seal groove in the body of some brake master cylinders may allow for a gap in the groove contact area of the seal. this may result in brake fluid slowly leaking from the master cylinder into the brake booster assembly, causing the brake warning light to illuminate."
Consequence:
IF THE WARNING LAMP IS IGNORED, ONE OF THE BRAKE CIRCUITS ON THE VEHICLE MAY NOT OPERATE AS DESIGNED INCREASING THE RISK OF A CRASH.
Remedy:

DEALERS WILL INSPECT THE MASTER CYLINDER/BRAKE BOOSTER ASSEMBLY AND IF BRAKE FLUID LEAKAGE IS DETECTED, THE MASTER CYLINDER WILL BE REPLACED WITH A NEW ONE FREE OF CHARGE. THE RECALL BEGAN ON AUGUST 20, 2008. OWNERS MAY CONTACT NISSAN AT 1-800-647-7261.

Component(s) Involved: SERVICE BRAKES, HYDRAULIC > FOUNDATION COMPONENTS > MASTER CYLINDER
Date of incident: 2008-07-11

NISSAN Overall Complaint Ranking

This table shows the ranking of car manufacturers when it comes to most complaints and recalls. The manufacturer with the most complaints is at the top. However this doesn't necassarily mean they should be avoided. Some manufacturers might just have more popular or affordable cars which a lot of people have bought. Which means there's more scope for a complaint to be made. Use the ranking table below as a part your wider research into buying a car.

NISSAN ranks 5 out of 44 in the complaints ranking table.

Manufacturer Complaint Count Recall Count Ranking
FORD 208,358 3,259 1
CHEVROLET 111,306 2,082 2
TOYOTA 81,019 1,852 3
HONDA 61,937 1,268 4
NISSAN 56,226 930 5
DODGE 45,756 827 6
HYUNDAI 44,150 649 7
GMC 34,441 1,410 8
KIA 29,832 501 9
CHRYSLER 27,698 254 10
TESLA 26,230 730 11
BMW 24,890 1,877 12
VOLKSWAGEN 23,125 829 13
MERCEDES-BENZ 19,066 2,925 14
SUBARU 18,513 703 15
MAZDA 10,599 364 16
PONTIAC 10,430 138 17
CADILLAC 9,434 444 18
AUDI 7,865 1,093 19
BUICK 7,851 279 20
SATURN 7,672 84 21
MERCURY 7,374 135 22
LEXUS 6,373 408 23
LINCOLN 5,897 423 24
ACURA 5,722 382 25
MINI 5,585 366 26
INFINITI 4,000 187 27
MITSUBISHI 3,912 397 28
VOLVO 3,875 727 29
PORSCHE 2,646 1,231 30
SUZUKI 2,272 123 31
FIAT 2,205 80 32
SAAB 1,536 76 33
JAGUAR 1,195 198 34
SMART 528 17 35
GENESIS 436 42 36
ISUZU 249 37 37
ALFA ROMEO 161 37 38
MASERATI 76 46 39
BENTLEY 46 159 40
POLESTAR 42 2 41
LUCID 14 6 42
CODA 4 2 43
MAYBACH 0 0 44

Related Vehicles

Why not check out other NISSAN vehicles?

2014 TITAN
NISSAN
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 9
  • Recall Count: 2
View Car
2018 VERSA NOTE
NISSAN
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 3
  • Recall Count: 3
View Car
2021 ALTIMA
NISSAN
  • Overall Safety Rating: 5
  • Complaints Count: 23
  • Recall Count: 2
View Car
2009 VERSA HATCHBACK
NISSAN
  • Overall Safety Rating: Not Rated
  • Complaints Count: 497
  • Recall Count: 8
View Car