# 2013 Sentra SL Disintegrating - Similar Experiences??



## jasonla (Aug 26, 2015)

First off, I'm not here to bash Nissan. I'm desperately hoping to learn that I'm not alone with the quality issues I've experienced with my Sentra. I got the car because I intended to lease it for a couple years, then buy out the residual at the end. I was under the impression that the Sentra, the Civic and the Corolla were all high-economy cars that are well known for their long-term durability. 

Unfortunately, my Sentra has proven to be the most shoddily assembled car I've ever owned - and I've owned cars from a lot of manufacturers. 

Firstly, the day I drove it home, the plastic cover on the driver's A-pillar kept popping loose. A visit to the dealer failed to resolve it, so I dealt with it myself. Okay, not a big deal. 

Then, when someone rode in my back seat, they nearly cut their arm on the rear window because their is a sharp chip of glass that looks like it sheared off during production:










Next thing I noticed were little fibers that appeared to be shedding from the firewall area. A look with a flashlight revealed an uncovered, crumbling sheet of sound deadener:










Now, the dashboard itself is oozing some sort of gasket, something I assume prevents squeaking. Don't know what it does, but I DO know that other manufacturers' cars don't ooze from their dashboards:










Should a 2-year old car be rusting like this? It's in the driver's door sill. It's not from a paint chip, the rust is blistering from underneath:










And, the cherry on top of it all, *at 50,000 miles, the CVT failed and was replaced under warranty by the dealer.*

We're not talking about a single issue that's the result of a bum part that made it to the 1st year production, it seems that nearly every part of the car is just falling apart from either poor design, poor assembly, or I don't know. 

I'm just frustrated and disappointed with the entire experience with Nissan, even their customer service. Totally unresponsive. 

*I've searched the forums, but my problems are bizarre and specific. *

Does anyone else have similar build quality issues????


----------



## solanog (Aug 9, 2012)

I'm considering a new Sentra but after reading this I'm not sure I would. Have had Civics and Corollas and they have been flawless, had a diesel X-trail and no issues that I remember but was recommended to sell it before 100 000 km, around 62000 miles. Had a Nissan Almera and never liked it.


----------



## jasonla (Aug 26, 2015)

solanog said:


> I'm considering a new Sentra but after reading this I'm not sure I would. Have had Civics and Corollas and they have been flawless, had a diesel X-trail and no issues that I remember but was recommended to sell it before 100 000 km, around 62000 miles. Had a Nissan Almera and never liked it.


In hindsight would have to agree with you - I wanted a long-haul car. Guess a Civic or Corolla are all that's left..?


----------



## solanog (Aug 9, 2012)

those are my main options. In Costa Rica cars being so expensive I cannot afford a Accord that would be close to $50k only a preowned one maybe with a lot of mileage.
In my mind japanese are the most reliable or at least from my experience,so Corolla, Civic, Mazda 3 is I guess more expensive here and maintenance and resale aren't as good as the others. Similar story with Subaru. And eventhough Hyundai and Kia get good reviews I still prefer japanese.


----------



## jasonla (Aug 26, 2015)

Wow, so you are making a serious investment and have to make the right choice! One of my best friends just sold his 1997 Honda Civic. It was rusting a bit, but otherwise ran perfectly!


----------



## solanog (Aug 9, 2012)

Maybe I made it confusing, a new Accord would be close to 50K. A preowned one depends on year, condition etc.
New Sentra $26k, new Corolla similar to Sentra $28.5 same as a LX Civic, all manual. An auto would be around 1000 or 1500 more.


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

I guess the person who persuaded you to ditch the X Trail, bought it from you lol. I tend to agree or at least used to that Japanese cars are the most reliable, but now that they may be assembled elsewhere, as well as having different part suppliers I am not so sure. With regards to the new Rogue almost all the new ones are built in the US. I say almost, because of demand they have had to import ones that they built in the X trail assembly plant in Japan. Given a choice, I would choose one assembled in Japan over one in Tennessee with low wage labor, and even lower wage labor at their parts suppliers. 

I was going to say buy a used one, but I guess prices must be inflated due to the premium you are having to pay for new ones. Additional piss off with Nissan these days is CVT auto transmissions and the fact that they do not allow aftermarket repair places access to parts. Not your problems as you want a manual. Pity you are not in Canada, as used manuals tend to be cheaper seeing demand is so small. Anyhow the difference between new and used fades quickly with dust on the dash and dog paw prints on the seats!

The X trail is the car I have kept the longest in my life. Its a 2006 built in Japan pre tsunami and last year of the T30 model. The new ones are less capable in offroad and snow and have lower towing capacity. Its basically the same engine as the new one but less tuned for acing the gas mileage test. The auto in it is a 4 speed with locking torque converter that is perfectly matched to the engine. Its practically bullet proof and can be fixed for less than thousands of dollars should it ever be needed. I also like the style better, and it should be nicer still once I finish redoing the interior. I installed a sat nav bluetooth unit with back up camera, so it has most of the features of newer cars. In so far as reliability, it has never failed to start or had to spend a day at a garage. It seems to love good maintenance. Treat it right, change your fluids and worn suspension components as they come due, and I find it keeps driving like new. I drove the new Rogue and was happy to get back to mine afterwards. Hope to get a few more problem free years yet. Admittedly it helps that I do a lot of the work myself.

Good luck in your quest, but you live in such a beautiful country that you should get something that will allow you to travel around!


----------



## solanog (Aug 9, 2012)

Have you been here? Small country with many different things to visit from beaches to highlands and tropical forests.
My X-Trail was a 2006 but a diesel one, very nice to drive and with a 6spd manual transmission. i can say it is 100% more fun to drive than a 2011 Corolla we own now. We have lots of hills and those were no issue for the diesel X-trail, we even drove it off road every now and then and it never lost it's pace, of course not in extreme conditions but no that easy either. This was the car the wife drove with the kids, everybody loved it and was an easy to drive car. Only issue was clutch was becoming very hard and the solution was replacing it, around USD1500 to fix. Then if the diesel engine should fail, it would be serious money to get it to work again. So best solution sell it while it was working well. Sadly we sold it. Only thing that failed were the power window switches on the right side of the car.


----------



## quadraria10 (Jul 6, 2010)

I have been there. Almost 15 years ago now. Saw San Jose Jaco Beach and Manuel Antonio. Would love to go back. Saw a pic of beautiful red X on a beach there not long ago on Facebook. Look good. What a shame you got rid of it. I have heard the clutches do go and are pricey to replace but still, compared to 26K (+tx?) for a Sentra. True some of the diesels had probs and turbo replacement needs, but man I would have had the timing chain tensioners checked. Heck even a new engine would have been worth it in my estimation. 100,000 kms for a diesel engine is not a lot. I am sure someone is driving it still today. Seriously compare it to the new Qashqai or X trail, and I think the T30 was a winning package in terms of features and the light inside the cabin. On the new ones the sunroof doesn't even open all the way. Still happy with my gasoline automatic awd version !


----------

