# About to buy a '99 Nissan Sentra



## civic4982 (Jul 10, 2003)

I'm about to buy a '99 Nissan Sentra from my great aunt b/c I'm selling my '03 Acura CL Type-S to save money over the next year. I've got a year off now that I've graduated from college and haven't yet gotten into medical school.

What kinds of things can I expect from a '99 Sentra? Any problems that it is prone to?

Our family has dealt mainly with Toyotas and Hondas and are so very happy with their reliability. I don't know anything about the Sentra so any pointers would be great.

I know it sounds odd but I'm trying to save money to travel a bit next year on my year off before committing to medical school. The Sentra has 40K miles and has had all of it's oil changes on time at 3K mile increments. She's also selling it to me for $2,000. Which I'm pretty sure is a great price for that car.

She's an old lady and barely drives the car. I'm helping her work out a deal for a new Camry so she's gonna give me this car for the trade in of hers.

Thanks in advance to all.

civic4982


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## psteng19 (May 4, 2002)

That's a great deal your getting. Of course it's through family but still.

Anyway, my '95 exhaust rusted pretty badly and had to get it mostly replaced. If you live below the snow belt, you don't have to worry about that (looks to be that way if you're in TX), or if they've fixed that issue for the '99.
Possible related to rusting is the driver side CV boot.

Other than that, it's been problem free.

Oh, my starter had to get replaced this past winter, but that's expected for such an old car.


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## civic4982 (Jul 10, 2003)

what's the difference in the GXE and other sub headings?


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## 7875 (Apr 3, 2003)

*XE/GXE= 1.6litre
SE/SE-L= 2.0litre
*

BTW, welcome to our forums. Try searching the vast amount of information that has been provided by our knowledgable members. After you've completed a thorough search, come back with any questions that haven't been touched on or that you simply couldn't find. :cheers:


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## psteng19 (May 4, 2002)

[redacted] said:


> *XE/GXE= 1.6litre
> SE/SE-L= 2.0litre
> *
> 
> BTW, welcome to our forums. Try searching the vast amount of information that has been provided by our knowledgable members. After you've completed a thorough search, come back with any questions that haven't been touched on or that you simply couldn't find. :cheers:


There's more to just engine differences.
XE (base)
GXE (more standard stuff - power everything, a/c)
SE (2.0L engine, sportier supsension, spoiler)
GLE (limited model, "luxury" options, rims)


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## Gimp (Jun 9, 2002)

A great site is www.sentra.net. They have a great vast of information there. check out Mike Kojima's garage, that'll answer a ton of questions. Enjoy the forum


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## Gimp (Jun 9, 2002)

QUESTION?! Why was this moved to the B15 section? This is a B14 car we are talking about.


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## chimmike (Oct 17, 2002)

my question exactly.......................moved back to b14.


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## WRXrob (Jun 4, 2003)

front crankshaft main seal may develop a leak on the 1.6 liter engines. I hear that is a common failure.


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## psteng19 (May 4, 2002)

WRXrob said:


> front crankshaft main seal may develop a leak on the 1.6 liter engines. I hear that is a common failure.


Yup, happened to mine too.
Here's a list of all the issues I've had.
Bought it at 50k miles and have since put 70k miles on it.

Thermostat stuck open - $15
O2 sensor went bad - $45
Exhaust rusted and hole - replaced flexpipe, cat and the pipe after cat - $250
Starter - $150 
left CV joint - replaced whole axle - $135
crankshaft seal (replaced belts as well) - $115

Might seem like a lot of costly issues, but I have a feeling some of it was due to previous owner's neglect and the northeast climate (humid summers, snowy winters, salty roads).
The engine and tranny still feel very strong and I have a feeling the car will last another 5 years/70k miles.


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## Honest Bob (Nov 7, 2002)

I've got a 98 XE (same motor as your car), havent had anything go wrong with it yet. I've done the normal stuff oil changes, tranny fluid changes, tires, alignment. I'll need brakes soon. Never had it break down on me yet. I've owned it for a little over a year and put like 12k miles on it. I couldnt have asked for a more reliable car. The gas mileage is good too.

For $2k thats a steal. It would normally sell for probably around $5k


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## Gimp (Jun 9, 2002)

I haven't had ANYTHING wrong with my car. 60000 miles on it. Regular oil changes. NO RECALLS...that's a good thing for our cars. Very good deal for $2k


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## tkvtec (Apr 20, 2003)

The only problem I have found is that it doesn't quench my thirst for speed.
My front mail seal leaked, but only after I was messing around with a lightweight underdrive crank pulley install. Until then had no troubles, but it is a cheap part and fairly easy to replace. The brakes are good, the manual tranny is pretty good, not sure about auto. The motor is very strong, I have done most if not all bolt-ons and race it nearly everyday (spirited driving). Other than my need for speed, the car has been extremely reliable and only has the same kind of quirks as any other car. In certain climates (IE. NE) the exhaust is prone to rusting, but we're talking 100k miles or over 5 years of use. My car is 5 yrs old and only had one issue with exhaust and that was a rattling heat shield, but you can get that with any car, and again is easily resolved. For $2k, I'd say go for it, especially if you're tryin to save some $$$, it's great on gas, before mods and excessive spirited driving I averaged 33 mpg. I now average about 30mpg.
Good luck and welcome to the boards.


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## civic4982 (Jul 10, 2003)

thanks for all the replies guys.
I ended up getting it for nothin'.
It's a '99 GXE w/ quite a bit of hail damage  
58,xxx miles and runs great w/ cold AC.

Anyways, just wanted to update you all.


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## sicksilver99 (Jun 17, 2004)

i pretty much had the same deal u had with the same exact car. i bought my car from my grandparents for $2k with only 50k miles on it. its an overall good problem free car that gets great gas mileage. i like that it is not a civic, and it has some cool bodykits to it. stock though it does not have much power, but it responds to mods better than most other 1.6 litres. u should sell ur current sentra for about 5 or 6k and then u could buy another 95-99 sentra or 200sx for about 1 or 2k less and use that money to mod it.


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## Honest Bob (Nov 7, 2002)

If its got extensive hail damage its probably not worth near as much. Probably not gonna get anything on a trade in. Still an awesome deal though.


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