2013 Nissan SENTRA - Ratings, Complaints and Recalls

The 2013 Nissan Sentra has an overall safety rating of 4 out of 5 according to the data provided. It performed well in side crash tests, receiving a perfect score of 5 in various categories such as overall side crash rating, side crash driver's side rating, and side crash passenger's side rating. The car also received a good score in front crash tests with a rating of 4 for both the driver and passenger side.

In terms of safety features, the Nissan Sentra comes standard with electronic stability control, which is a great feature to help drivers maintain control of the vehicle in challenging driving conditions. However, it does not have forward collision warning or lane departure warning systems.

Additionally, it's worth noting that there have been 614 complaints reported for this model and 6 recalls issued. While the overall safety ratings are decent, it's essential for owners to stay updated on any potential issues and address them promptly to ensure the continued safety of the vehicle.

Top stats at a glance

Complaint Count

614

Recall Count

6

Investigation Count

3

Safety Rating

4/5

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Safety Features

2013 Nissan Sentra 4 DR FWD Safety Features

Here are the safety features that come as standard on the 2013 Nissan Sentra 4 DR FWD

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.

Standard
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

2013 Nissan Sentra 4 DR FWD Safety Ratings

Here we have the crash and rollover ratings for the 2013 Nissan Sentra 4 DR FWD 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 2013 Score 2024 Score
Overall Front Crash Rating Not Rated 4 Not Rated
Front Crash Driver Side Rating 4 4 Not Rated
Front Crash Passenger Side Rating 4 3 Not Rated

Side Crash Ratings

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

Test 2005 Score 2013 Score 2024 Score
Overall Side Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5
Side Crash Drivers Side Rating 2 5 5
Side Crash Passenger Side Rating Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Front Not Rated 5 5
Combined Side Barrier Pole Rating - Rear Not Rated 5 5
Overall Side Barrier Rating Not Rated 5 5

Rollover Ratings

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

Test 2005 Score 2013 Score 2024 Score
Rollover Rating Not Rated 4 5
Rollover Possibility % 0% 0% 0%
Dynamic Tip Result No Tip No Tip
Side Pole Crash Rating Not Rated 5 5

Complaints for the 2013 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:
"bad transmission"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2022-08-04

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2013 nissan sentra. the contact stated while driving at various speeds, the vehicle failed to properly accelerate while depressing the accelerator pedal. on several occasions while driving on the highway, the vehicle failed to exceed 30 mph. additionally, while driving up an incline, the rpm revved to high however, the vehicle failed to properly respond. the vehicle was taken to the local dealer who determined that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not yet repaired. the manufacturer was notified of the failure, but no assistance was provided. the failure mileage was 114,000."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-01-04

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2013 nissan sentra. the contact stated that while operating the vehicle, the check engine warning light remained illuminated, and the vehicle would not properly accelerate from a stationary position while driving up an incline. the vehicle was taken to the local mechanic who determined that the transmission was faulty and needed to be replaced. the transmission was replaced but the failure persisted. the cause of the failure was not yet determined. the local dealer was notified of the failure. the manufacturer was not contacted. the failure mileage was 120,000."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-01-05

Complaint:
"the vehicle will hesitate and stall when i am pulling out until traffic, causing me to almost get hit if there are any cars coming. when i go over 50mph on an incline, the rpms will jump way high and the car will lose power in the middle of the highway. i will have to pull over and turn it off for awhile to get it to run again. there are no lights on at this time, but if i have the cruise control going, the cruise light will flash and cruise will not work. hitting accelerate on the steering wheel cruise menu will move the car, but the gas pedal will not, and cruise control will not work."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2022-01-08

Complaint:
"the transmission gave issues a few years ago and i got it fixed by nissan. they confirmed that they put in a new transmission. it’s been only 20,000 miles and the transmission gave out. the car reverses but will not drive. they quoted me $7000 to fix it again."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-11-06

Complaint:
"i own a 2013 nissan sentra sr with only 69,000 miles. the vehicle has been meticulously maintained with all recommended services being performed. the vehicle has had the factory/dealer recommended cvt reprogramming as well as cvt fluid exchange and coolant flush services. on may 25, 2023, my daughter was driving home from work when without warning the vehicle went into limp mode on the freeway causing it to decelerate rapidly, swerve and almost cause an accident. the vehicle would not accelerate over 40 mph and was taken to the dealership. there were no warning lights on the dash and no performance issues prior to the incident. the dealer ran diagnostics & code p17fo came up for a faulty cvt transmission. the transmission was replaced at a cost of $6186.00. this is a nissan cvt that has been dealer serviced following all preventive maintenance recommended by nissan and the dealership. two days after the new cvt was installed, the exact same thing occurred, with the car again going into limp mode on a hill of a two-lane road with heavy traffic. the car this time was almost rear ended and would not accelerate above 15 mph. the vehicle is now at the dealership awaiting "transmission number three." nissan corporate was notified, and a case number was issued, 48966982. the arbitrator essentially washed their hands of the cvt issue and advised they would not take any action other than acknowledging the very long cvt failure history and that the issue was mine to resolve through my dealer. i filed a previous nhtsa complaint documenting the initial cvt failure, 11524137. the cvt failures is an issue nissan has known about for twenty years, been sued for, yet continues to refuse to accept any responsibility for a flawed component known for failures, thus screwing countless nissan consumers out of thousands in out of pocket expenses. nissan should accept responsibility and recall all of these transmissions or be forced to reimburse consumers who have had to replace one."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-07-06

Complaint:
"i own a 2013 nissan sentra sr with only 69,000 miles. the vehicle has been meticulously maintained it's entire life with all recommended services being performed and then some. the vehicle has had the factory/dealer recommended cvt reprogramming as well as cvt fluid exchange services. the vehicle was purchased for my daughter who drives carefully, ensures the car is clean and well maintained. we have a stack of dealer service records showing an impeccable service history. on may 25, 2023, my daughter was driving home from work that evening when without warning the vehicle went into limp mode on the freeway causing it to decelerate rapidly, swerve and almost cause an accident. the vehicle would not accelerate over 40 mph and was immediately taken to the dealership. there were no warning lights on the dash and no performance issues prior to the incident. the dealer ran diagnostics and code p17fo came up for a faulty cvt transmission. the transmission now has to be replaced due to failure. this is a nissan cvt that has been dealer serviced following all preventive maintenance recommended by nissan and the dealership (priority nissan of chantilly, chantilly, va). the vehicle ran perfectly prior to the failure and there were absolutely no warning signs of a transmission issue before the incident. as part of the preventive maintenance recommended for the vehicle we did the anti/freeze coolant flush at 51k , the cvt reprogramming and transmission flush at 52k, to ensure continued reliability. despite the car being well maintained and having very low mileage for the model year, the cvt failed with an out of pocket repair of $5,900. the cvt failures is an issue nissan has known about for twenty years, been sued for, yet continues to deny the problems or accept responsibility for thus screwing thousands of consumers. nissan should accept responsibility and recall these transmissions or be forced to reimburse consumers. repair invoice is pending. car remains in shop."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2025-01-05

Complaint:
"the contact owns a 2013 nissan sentra. the contact stated while driving 10 mph, the vehicle was jerking abnormally. there was no warning light illuminated. the contact veered to the side of the roadway. the contact then drove to the nearest gas station at 10 mph and parked the vehicle. an independent mechanic diagnosed that the transmission had failed and needed to be replaced. the vehicle was not repaired. the dealer and the manufacturer were not notified of the failure. the failure mileage was approximately 97,000."
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-03-05

Complaint:
"while driving down the road in my 2013 nissan sentra on december 31,2022 my cars engine light came on and went from a solid amber color to flashing and then my car lost power and i had to coast down the road to a near by house where i had to have my vehicle towed to my house and it is still sitting at the bottom of my driveway to this day i believe that my vehicle should be showing a recall on the cvt transmission but it don’t which isn’t right. i just need my car fixed and back to running"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2024-07-12

Complaint:
"while driving down the road power to the accelerator was lost thus making it so i had to roll down the road the the closes driveway and pull over and when i tried to get my vehicle in reverse my vehicle wouldn’t move after it was placed in reverse the engine would rev up but my vehicle wouldn’t move at all"
Components Involved: POWER TRAIN
Date of incident: 2023-11-12

Recalls for the 2013 Nissan SENTRA

Component Recalls

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

Recall:
"nissan north america, inc. (nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2016 sentra vehicles manufactured june 4, 2012, to april 9, 2016. the front passenger seat belt bracket may become deformed if it is used to secure a child restraint system (crs). the deformed seat bracket may cause the occupant classification system (ocs) to incorrectly classify the installed crs, resulting in the front passenger air bag to not be turned off as designed when a crs is in the seat."
Consequence:
If the frontal passenger air bag deploys in the event of a crash when a child seat is installed in the front passenger seat, there will be an increased risk of injury to the child in the CRS.
Remedy:

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will reinforce the seat belt bracket as well as reprogram the Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) and OCS Electronic Control Unit (ECU), free of charge. The recall began on June 13, 2016. Owners are warned not to install a CRS in the front seat. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS > SENSOR > OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION
Date of incident: 2016-04-26

Recall:
"nissan north america, inc. (nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 nissan maxima, 2013-2016 nissan altima, nv200, leaf, sentra, and pathfinder, 2014-2016 nissan nv200 taxi, infiniti qx60, qx60 hybrid, and q50 hybrid, 2014-2017 nissan rogue and infiniti q50, 2015-2016 nissan murano, murano hybrid, and chevrolet city express, 2014-2015 nissan pathfinder hybrid, and 2013 infiniti jx35 vehicles. in these vehicles, the front seat passenger occupant classification system (ocs) may incorrectly classify an adult passenger as a child or classify the seat as empty despite it being occupied. as a result, the passenger frontal air bag may be turned off and not deploy in the event of a crash."
Consequence:
If the passenger frontal air bag does not deploy as intended in the event of a crash, the passenger is at an increased risk of injury.
Remedy:

Nissan will notify their owners. Chevrolet City Express owners will be notified by General Motors. Dealers will reprogram the Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) and OCS Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in Altima, Maxima, Murano, Rogue, and Sentra vehicles, and replace the OCS ECU in LEAF, NV200, NV200 Taxi, Pathfinder, Infiniti Q50, JX35, and QX60 and Chevrolet City Express vehicles, free of charge. Interim notices were sent to owners on May 31, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669, Infiniti customer service at 1-888-833-3216 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020.

Component(s) Involved: AIR BAGS > SENSOR > OCCUPANT CLASSIFICATION
Date of incident: 2016-04-26

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

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