# New Sentra owner



## luketrash (Apr 19, 2010)

Most forums have some sort of introduction area.. 

My wife wanted a Sentra and ended up purchasing one last night. It's an SL and I like it. We drove a Civic, Mazda 3, etc... before deciding on the Sentra.

My background is busted up European stuff. Cars, motorcycles, scooters.. I'm used to getting my hands dirty and working on things constantly. We sold her VW Golf to get a down payment on the Sentra. 

Hers is magnetic gray with alloy wheels, fog lamps, and the mud flaps. It has no sunroof. I'm pretty sure this is exactly what it looks like:

http://images7.ecarlist.com/photos/1155_458123/458123_001_5486.jpg

So given that I'm big on preventative maintenance, do you guys have any words to the wise on things to watch out for with the Sentra? Hers is an SL model with ABS, traction control, the keyless ignition, bluetooth, and other steering wheel controls. 

I noticed that the warranty on the CVT is 10 years/120k miles. I have been trying to find out why Nissan did this online, but have only turned up a few stories about the transmissions burning up after people took long trips with the cars. 

Has anybody produced any sort of workaround to keep the transmission cool like a tranny cooler kit? 

I let her buy the car without my own intervention because she was tired of driving old Volvos and VWs and I wanted her to make the choice on her own. So far, I think we're going to like the car. I'm happy to see the 2.0 MR engine has no timing belt. In fact, this car looks like it might be painfully boring for a home mechanic.. I'll be sitting around like the Maytag repairman perhaps...

I just thought I'd post to figure out if there's known issues I should watch/listen for as well as any good longevity modifications for the engine or transmission.

Thanks!

:newbie:


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## ranger81 (Jul 2, 2009)

Welcome to the forum Luke. I've had my 09 Sentra almost a year now. It has 19,000 miles on it. The tires look good yet. Some Sentras have tire wear problems. On a 400 hundred mile Easter trip this year we got 35 mpg with the Sentra.

With a warranty of 10 years and 120,000 miles I wouldn't do anything to possibly void the warranty like adding a trans cooler. In a fluid change situation on the CVT only Nissan fluids must be used. Nissan CVTs are "push" cvts while most others are "pull" cvts. I think I read that here actually.

Consider me a luke warm Sentra owner. The car has been flawless except for a persistent windshield popping noise. I have 5 trips to the dealer to correct this but to no avail. I'm not in love with the CVT. It makes the car dull to drive. I prefer a regular automatic or a stick..... see ya around....


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## luketrash (Apr 19, 2010)

That's good to hear that nothing weird mechanically has gone wrong. Her mother has a 2009 that she's only got about 13,000 miles on and she hasn't had any issues either. I looked in the engine bay tonight and it looks like most stuff is out in the open enough. The starter, alternator, AC lines and valves... The sort of stuff that breaks 15 years from now looks easy to get at.

I hear you about the CVT. I really like it because this is going to be our around town car and what we take on highway trips. I drive a Volvo 240 with a 5 speed manual and several motorcycles and scooters. My wife has a 2006 Vespa scooter that's also got a CVT and at first I found it very boring. However now that I am used to it, I ride it to work quite often because it'll zip around so smoothly. The Sentra is messing with my ears though because it's so quiet. It's almost like I feel air pressure in my head, but it's from the lack of noise while driving at speed. 

Since I have owned Volvos and VWs in the past, there are a ton of tech posts about them since everyone has to work on them themselves or get raped at the dealerships. I'm having a hard time finding any people who are into working on the Sentras. I'm guessing it's because they must not break down that often  That's a good thing. 

I'm bleeding all over after losing a battle with the rusted rear shock bolts on my '99 Jeep Cherokee tonight.


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