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2020 Nissan Sentra

Gas

Midsize Cars
2 EPA-rated configurations
Data refreshed 2026-10-26

Safety Signal

77 / 100 from the NHTSA recall record

RecallsNHTSA campaigns 4

Complaints8 crash · 2 injured reported 206

Crash ratingNHTSA overall 5★

Fuel economybest combined, EPA 33 mpg

2027 2026 2025 2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016

The 2020 Nissan Sentra is sold in the U.S. as a gas midsize sedan with 2 EPA-rated configurations. The most efficient version, the Sentra, is EPA-rated at 33 mpg combined. NHTSA lists 4 recall campaigns for this model year, which gives it a Safety Signal grade of C. Owners have filed 206 complaints, most often about the forward collision avoidance. NHTSA crash-tested it at 5 stars overall.

Nissan Sentra — photograph via Wikimedia Commons — Nissan Sentra · Photo: Deathpallie325 · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Specs & fuel economy

Source: EPA fueleconomy.gov

Configuration	Powertrain	Drive	Engine / motor	City	Hwy	Comb	Annual fuel*
Sentra	Gas	FWD	2.0L 4-cyl	29	39	33	$2,050
Sentra SR	Gas	FWD	2.0L 4-cyl	28	37	32	$2,100

*EPA estimate at 15,000 miles/year at EPA reference fuel and electricity prices. fueleconomy.gov record ids: 42472, 42473.

Emissions & certification

Source: EPA emission certificates

Configuration	Smog rating	Emission standard	Where it can be sold new	SmartWay
Sentra, Sentra SR	7 / 10	California LEV-III SULEV30 / Federal Tier 3 Bin 30	All 50 states (federal, all altitudes); California and states following California standards	SmartWay

Certified for all fifty states, so it can be registered new anywhere in the U.S.

The smog rating scores tailpipe pollutants other than greenhouse gases, 1 (worst) to 10 (best), and is comparable only within a model year. The standard is the federal bin or California tier the configuration was certified to. Both come from the EPA certificate behind the window sticker.

Specifications filed with NHTSA

Source: NHTSA vPIC

Dimensions Exterior

Body style	Sedan/Saloon
GVWR class	Class 1: 6,000 lb or less (2,722 kg or less)

Engine Basics

Displacement

2 L

Fuel Economy

Fuel	Gasoline

Transmission

Drivetrain

4x2

Filed by the manufacturer with NHTSA under the federal vehicle-identification rule and decoded from the VIN pattern — not a manufacturer press kit, so it describes the configurations we could identify rather than every trim (seen: S, SR, SV). Figures for the trim you are looking at may differ.

Dimensions & weight

Source: Transport Canada

Length	182.7 in
Width (body, without mirrors)	71.7 in
Height	57.1 in
Wheelbase	106.7 in
Track, front	62.6 in
Track, rear	63.0 in
Curb weight	3,053 lb
Weight distribution, front/rear	61/39

Measured by Transport Canada for its Canadian Vehicle Specifications database, which covers the North American versions of each model — here one configuration: 4-door Sedan. Where a range is shown, those versions differ. Width is the body without mirrors, which is why it can read narrower than a brochure figure. Before we used it we checked it against the US manufacturer press kits we hold (27 Sep 2026): wheelbase agreed within 1% on every vehicle we could compare, length on 98%, and the curb weight fell inside the manufacturer's range on 96%. Source dataset. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada. Licence.

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Recalls (4)

Source: NHTSA recall database

●moderate

Back Over Prevention

R23C3

153,376 vehicles 70% reported repaired

Problem Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Altima and 2020-2021 Sentra vehicles. Damage to the camera harness can cause distortion or loss of the rearview camera display image. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility." Risk A rearview camera that does not properly display an image can reduce the driver's rear view, increasing the risk of a crash. Fix Dealers will inspect the rearview camera and harness for damage and replace them as necessary. If no damage is found, the dealer will apply protective tape and reroute the rearview camera harness. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed October 19, 2023. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R23C3.

Filed with NHTSAOwner letter PDF Remedy instructions PDF

NHTSA campaign 23V628000 reported Sep 8, 2023 Nissan North America, Inc. the full filing, and every vehicle covered →

▲high

Steering

R23B3

236,238 vehicles 67% reported repaired

Problem Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Sentra vehicles. The left and/or right tie rod may bend. Risk A bent tie rod can break and cause a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash. Fix Owners are advised to contact their dealer for transport assistance if they are experiencing an off-center steering wheel or vibration. As an interim repair, dealers will inspect and replace any bent or broken tie rods, free of charge. Once newly designed parts are available, dealers will replace both left and right tie rods, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed November 27, 2024. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R23B3.

Filed with NHTSARemedy instructions PDF

NHTSA campaign 23V581000 reported Aug 15, 2023 Nissan North America, Inc. the full filing, and every vehicle covered →

●moderate

Exterior Lighting

R20B4

5,520 vehicles 82% reported repaired

Problem Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2020 Sentra vehicles, equipped with LED headlights. The right-hand headlight aim may be misaligned. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 108, "Lamp, Reflective Devices, and Associated Equipment." Risk An improperly aimed headlight may reduce the driver's visibility, increasing the risk of a crash. Fix Dealers will replace the right-hand headlight, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed June 10, 2022. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R20B4.

Filed with NHTSAOwner letter PDF Remedy instructions PDF

NHTSA campaign 22V244000 reported Apr 13, 2022 Nissan North America, Inc. the full filing, and every vehicle covered →

▲high

Steering

PM985

138,736 vehicles 87% reported repaired

Problem Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Sentra vehicles. The left and/or right tie rod may be bent. Risk A bent tie rod can break, causing a loss of steering control and increasing the risk of a crash. Fix Dealers will inspect and replace the left and/or right tie rods as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 5, 2021. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is PM985.

Filed with NHTSAOwner letter PDF Remedy instructions PDF

NHTSA campaign 21V461000 reported Jun 17, 2021 Nissan North America, Inc. the full filing, and every vehicle covered →

These are vehicle campaigns — the ones the automaker filed against this model. NHTSA also records equipment recalls, filed by a parts maker against a component (a tyre, a child seat, an aftermarket part), and those are not listed here or counted above. nhtsa.gov/recalls shows both for a VIN.

Whether any of this applies to one specific Sentra

A campaign covers a build range, not a model year, so two identical-looking cars from 2020 can differ. Both of these check a VIN against the manufacturer’s own list, free, in about ten seconds. Nissan publishes its own lookup because federal rule 49 CFR 573.15 requires it to, and to keep it current to within seven days.

NHTSA VIN check →Nissan’s own VIN lookup →

Hear about a recall before the letter does

The manufacturer’s letter is the last step of a recall: it has up to 60 days after filing to mail owners, at the address on the registration. We email you the day NHTSA posts a recall on the 2020 Nissan Sentra, with what to do next. Nothing else, ever — no newsletter, no marketing, one-click unsubscribe in every message.

Owner complaints

Source: NHTSA complaint database

206complaints filed

8 involved a crash · 0 a fire · 2 injuries · 0 deaths reported

23 per 10,000 built · Nissan reported 87,899 Sentra built (its Early Warning production report to NHTSA)

Filed per year: 2020: 10 · 2021: 32 · 2022: 21 · 2023: 41 · 2024: 56 · 2025: 33 · 2026: 13

Most-cited components

Forward Collision Avoidance → 76

Steering → 55

Unspecified 47

Electrical System 45

Service Brakes 25

Back Over Prevention 12

In depth: automatic emergency braking problems → · steering problems →

In owners' own words

Filed with NHTSA by the people who own these cars, one per problem area. Quoted as written, with anything identifying removed.

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while driving approximately 5 mph, the front passenger’s side tie rod fractured rendering the vehicle undrivable. The vehicle was towed to the local dealer who replaced the damaged tie rod and the failure was remedied.

Suspension at 12,500 miles Aug 17, 2021 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11429390

The contact's daughter owned a 2020 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while her daughter was driving the vehicle at an unknown rate of speed, she lost control of the vehicle without warning. Her daughter hit a curb which caused the vehicle to flip over. A fellow motorist saw the failure and called the authorities to the scene.

Steering Jul 19, 2021 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11425474

Purchased car in 2020 and within a couple of weeks of purchase I was thrown on brakes warnings flashing that there was an obstruction. This happened in the middle of traffic and I was almost hit. I returned the car and was told because they could not mimic what happened with me there as nothing wrong.

Forward Collision Avoidance Jul 13, 2021 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11424619

Driving 40 mph car for no reason slams on break. Flashing large Red warning across the screen. The car is Unsafe to drive. Can cause a fatal accident. Passenger and driver at risk for injury due to unaware sudden stop on road while driving. When this happened Driver has no control of car.

Service Brakes Jul 4, 2021 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11423374

Extremely poor lighting condition. It only illuminates approximately 10 feet ahead. Would have to manually use high beams to make night time driving even possible. Extremely poor design and not even sure how it passed safety tests and ratings. I have been warning Nissan since I purchased the car.

Exterior Lighting May 18, 2021 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11417550

Vehicle delivered with 220 miles from dealer at 5:30pm. Awoke following morning and it registered 221 miles. Vehicle was kept in locked garage overnight and never driven

Electrical System at 220 miles Mar 31, 2021 NHTSA owner report · ODI 11405724

Complaint counts are raw owner reports to NHTSA, not verified defects, and scale with how many were sold. Use them to spot patterns, not to rank.

Reported by Nissan itself: 9 death-or-injury claims on this model year in its quarterly Early Warning reports to NHTSA (49 CFR 579.21): 1 killed, 8 injured, as claimed, not verified — about 10 per 100,000 built. Every Sentra model year, by year and system → Dated and by system, they are exhibit F of the defect dossier.

When owners reported it

Reported at 30k

miles, typically

Half the 56 owner reports with an odometer reading on file fall between 6,000 and 50,000 miles. That is when problems get reported, which is not the same as when they start — and not a failure rate, because nobody knows how many of these cars never had a problem at all.

under 10k 17

10k–20k 7

20k–30k 4

30k–40k 8

40k–50k 4

50k–60k 7

60k–70k 2

70k–80k 1

80k–90k 4

90k–100k 0

100k–150k 2

150k + 0

Median mileage by component

Component	Reports	Median miles	Vs same age
Steering	22	50,000	12.5×
Forward Collision Avoidance	14	6,000	0.63×

Vs same age is this model year’s median for the system divided by the median of every 2020-model-year complaint about the same system, all makes: under 1× means owners of this car reported it at lower mileage. Here, owners reported earlier than same-age vehicles: forward collision avoidance (0.63×); later: steering (12.5×). Which systems go early across the whole fleet: the component study.

Across 2018–2020 model years the Nissan Sentra ranks 65 of 79 nameplates in the odometer-at-first-complaint study: owners reported problems at 1.8× the mileage of vehicles the same age (median 38,000 miles against a fleet 23,512).

Odometer readings as filed by owners with NHTSA. Readings under 100 or over 400,000 miles are dropped as data entry rather than history, and a component needs at least 12 readings before a median is shown for it.

Crash ratings

Source: NHTSA NCAP

Configuration	Overall	Frontal	Side	Rollover	Rollover risk
4 DR FWD	★★★★★	★★★★☆	★★★★★	★★★★★	10%

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program. Standard driver-assist: forward collision warning, automatic emergency braking.

Service bulletins & campaigns

Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications

Communicationsfiled with NHTSA 115

Most recentmanufacturer date 2026-04-13

Kindsas classified by NHTSA 115 service bulletins

Most often about: Electrical System, Equipment, Forward Collision Avoidance, Engine, Power Train.

NTB09-131C Service bulletin
2026-04-13 · Structure — Body
CERTIFICATION LABEL AND VIN PLATE REPLACEMENT SERVICE INFORMATION Because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “Certification Label” or “VIN Plate/Label” may be needed. HINT: Certification Label = FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) label. These items may be available from Nissan by request if certain criteria are met. This bulletin lists the criteria and provides
NTB09-131C Service bulletin
2026-04-13 · Structure — Body
CERTIFICATION LABEL AND VIN PLATE REPLACEMENT SERVICE INFORMATION Because of collision damage or other vehicle repair, a replacement “Certification Label” or “VIN Plate/Label” may be needed. HINT: Certification Label = FMVSS (Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards) label. These items may be available from Nissan by request if certain criteria are met. This bulletin lists the criteria and provides
NTB19-042F Service bulletin
2025-02-20 · Service Brakes
AUTOMATIC EMERGENCY BRAKING WARNING LIGHT BLINKING APPLIED SYSTEMS: Vehicles equipped with a lane camera (see Figure 1) SERVICE INFORMATION If the Automatic Emergency Braking (AEB) warning light or is blinking (but not illuminated steadily) or the customer states it is blinking, and there are no related DTCs, inspect the windshield. A blinking AEB warning light may occur under the following condit
NTB19-033G Service bulletin
2025-02-20 · Electrical System
INTELLIGENT CRUISE CONTROL INOPERATIVE AND AEB/FEB WARNING LIGHT ON OR RADAR OBSTRUCTION MESSAGE DISPLAYED WITH DTC C1A16 OR C2582 IF YOU CONFIRM IMPORTANT: The purpose of ACTION (on the next page) is to give you a quick idea of the work you will be performing. You MUST closely follow the entire SERVICE PROCEDURE as it contains information that is essential to successfully completing this repair.
NTB25-005 Service bulletin
2025-01-13 · Engine
SERVICE INFORMATION If one of the APPLIED VEHICLES has DTC P2100 for “ETC MOT PWR-B1” or P2101 for “ETC FNCTN/CIRC-B1” stored in the Engine Control Module (ECM) with a customer complaint of loss of power,  Perform the revised Electronic Service Manual (ESM) procedure noted on page 2 for "PERFORM DTC CONFIRMATION PROCEDURE." HINT: This revised procedure will be added to the ESM in a future update.
NTB19-071D Service bulletin
2024-09-19 · Air Bags
DTC B00A0-00 STORED This bulletin has been amended. See AMENDMENT HISTORY on the last page. Please discard previous versions of this bulletin. IF YOU CONFIRM DTC B00A0-00 (OCCUPANT DETECTION SENSOR UNIT) is stored, AND OCS zero point reset cannot be performed, (continued on the next page)
NTB24-045 Service bulletin
2024-09-04 · Engine
ENGINE SUPPORT TOOLS APPLIED VEHICLES: 2020-2024 Sentra (B18) SERVICE INFORMATION A new Engine Support Bracket is now available to allow the CVT to be removed from the APPLIED VEHICLES without having to remove the engine. The procedure in this bulletin is different from the procedure currently in the ESM, which will be updated with this information at a later date. Please refer to the SERVICE PROC
NTB23-078 Service bulletin
2024-07-25 · Suspension
REVISION 4 Please discard earlier versions of this bulletin. The announcement from July 2, 2024 has been revised to include the following: • The restriction on parts for this campaign will be removed and dealers will be able to order parts via normal process beginning August 9, 2024  Parts on order in DBS will be fulfilled

A service bulletin is the manufacturer telling its dealers how to diagnose or repair a known condition. It is not a recall, not a finding that the vehicle is defective, and the work is not automatically free — though a bulletin is often what a dealer works from when you describe a symptom, so quoting the document number can save a diagnosis. The count is every communication filed; the list shows the most recent, one entry per campaign, because a single campaign is usually filed as several documents on the same day. The summaries are NHTSA's; the full documents come from the manufacturer.

Diagnostic trouble codes on file

Source: NHTSA manufacturer communications and complaints

Codes documented against this model year in the federal record. A code appearing here does not mean this vehicle will set it — it means the code is part of this nameplate-year's documented history.

Code	What it means	Most often filed under	Where it appears
P0401 P0401 on Nissan →	Not enough exhaust gas is being recirculated.	Engine · EGR valve →	2 bulletins
P0404 P0404 on Nissan →	The exhaust gas recirculation valve is not moving the way it was commanded.	Engine · EGR valve →	2 bulletins
P0456 P0456 on Nissan →	A very small leak in the evaporative emissions system.	Fuel/Propulsion System · Gas cap →	2 bulletins
P062F P062F on Nissan →	The engine control module has failed its own internal long-term memory check.	Engine	1 bulletin · 1 owner report
P161D P161D on Nissan →	Manufacturer-defined — the meaning is set by the automaker, not the standard.	Engine	2 bulletins

Generic codes (the second character is 0 or 2) mean the same thing on every vehicle sold in the United States. Manufacturer-specific codes (1 or 3) mean whatever the automaker assigned, and no honest source can define them for you — which is why the ones here carry the evidence instead of a definition. A code is a link when enough separate federal documents name it across the catalogue to be worth a page of its own; the rest are listed here, where the vehicle is the context that makes them mean something.

At the New York inspection station

Source: New York State DMV

New York inspections 3.2%

failed emissions

3,764 initial inspections of 3,691 vehicles.

Measure	The 2020 Sentra	Every 2020 vehicle	Behind it
Failed the emissions check	3.2%	2.2%	3,755
Failed the safety inspection	2.8%	1.6%	3,764
Air-bag warning lamp stayed lit	0.13%	0.19%	3,764
Miles driven a year	8,852	9,980	odometer at inspection
Average odometer	55,655	62,630	odometer at inspection

New York’s emissions test on these model years is an on-board diagnostics check: it fails a car whose check-engine light is on or whose self-tests have not finished. First inspections only, so a car that failed and came back is counted once; private and special plates, not taxis, livery or commercial plates. A rate appears only where at least 200 inspections stand behind it. “Every 2020 vehicle” is every 2020 model-year car, SUV and pickup inspected in the same window, all makes. This is the state’s record of test results, not a reliability score by itself. Source: New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, Vehicle Inspections (data.ny.gov, Open NY terms).

Sentra by model year

all years, side by side →

Year Safety Recalls Complaints

2027 A^* 0 0 33 mpg 2026 A 1 19 33 mpg 2025 C 4 31 34 mpg 2024 B 3 41 34 mpg 2023 A 1 20 33 mpg 2022 B 2 81 33 mpg 2021 B 3 132 33 mpg 2020 this page C 4 206 33 mpg 2019 B 2 223 32 mpg 2018 B 2 185 32 mpg 2017 C 3 231 32 mpg 2016 D 6 270 33 mpg

Common questions about the 2020 Sentra

Source: EPA, NHTSA and manufacturer press kits

Does the 2020 Nissan Sentra have any recalls?

NHTSA has posted 4 recall campaigns for the 2020 Nissan Sentra. The most serious on file is 23V581000, covering Steering. 1 of them was filed with no repair available at the time — NHTSA's file records what the manufacturer had in hand on the filing date, not what exists today. Check your own VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls; a recall applies to specific build ranges, not every car.

How safe is the 2020 Nissan Sentra?

NHTSA gave the 2020 Nissan Sentra 5 stars overall in its New Car Assessment Program tests — 4-star frontal crash, 5-star side crash, 5-star rollover. WhichTrim also grades it C (77/100) on its recall record, which is a different question from crash protection.

What is the fuel economy of the 2020 Nissan Sentra?

Across the 2 EPA-rated configurations of the 2020 Nissan Sentra, the best EPA combined figure is 33 mpg. Figures are the EPA's own, per configuration, and every one is listed above.

What are the dimensions of the 2020 Nissan Sentra?

Transport Canada measured it at 182.7 in long, 71.7 in wide (body, without mirrors), 57.1 in tall, on a 106.7 in wheelbase. Curb weight: 3,053 lb. Those are its measurements of the North American versions; every figure is in the table above.

What do owners complain about on the 2020 Nissan Sentra?

Owners have filed 206 complaints with NHTSA about the 2020 Nissan Sentra, most often about forward collision avoidance, steering, unspecified. Of those, 8 involved a crash, 2 reported injuries. Complaints are unverified owner reports, so treat the pattern as a signal and the individual report as an anecdote.

How clean is the 2020 Nissan Sentra?

The EPA smog rating for the 2020 Nissan Sentra is 7 out of 10. That score covers tailpipe pollutants other than greenhouse gases, and it only compares vehicles within the same model year. It is certified for all fifty states, so it can be registered new anywhere in the U.S. Its configurations were certified to different standards — California LEV-III SULEV30, Federal Tier 3 Bin 30 — which the table above lists per configuration.

Are there service bulletins for the 2020 Nissan Sentra?

The manufacturer has filed 115 service bulletins and related communications with NHTSA for the 2020 Nissan Sentra, most often covering electrical system, equipment, forward collision avoidance. The most recent is dated 2026-04-13. A bulletin is not a recall: it is the repair procedure a manufacturer sends its dealers for a condition it knows about, and the work is not automatically paid for. It is still worth knowing — if the symptom matches, quoting the bulletin number at the service desk can save a diagnosis. The document numbers and summaries are listed above.

How does the 2020 Nissan Sentra do at state inspection?

In New York’s inspection lanes over the 12 months to Oct 10, 2026, the 2020 Nissan Sentra failed the emissions check on 3.2% of first inspections — higher than the 2.2% for every 2020 model-year vehicle inspected; and the safety inspection on 2.8% (every 2020 vehicle: 1.6%). The figures are New York State DMV’s own inspection records, first inspections only, and the table above sets each one against every vehicle of the same model year.

What we hold, and what an empty row means

Paid vehicle-history reports will not tell you the difference between “nothing happened to this car” and “we never received that record” — both of the big two say as much in their own help pages. Most of what is on this page comes from complete federal registers, so we can tell you which is which, row by row.

Data	Held	Source	What it covers — or what empty means
Fuel economy & configurations	2 configurations	EPA certification records	Every configuration the EPA certified for sale, with its own test figures.
Emission certificates	2 configurations	EPA emission certificates	Smog rating, standard and the sales area that decides where the car can be sold new.
Recalls	4	NHTSA recall campaigns	A complete federal register: every campaign covering this model year, with severity and advisory flags.
Owner complaints	206	NHTSA complaint database	Also complete, but unverified: these are reports owners filed, not findings. Counts scale with how many were sold.
Crash ratings	1 tested	NHTSA NCAP	Only the configurations NHTSA chose to crash-test, which is never all of them.
Service bulletins	115	NHTSA manufacturer communications	Everything the manufacturer told its dealers about a defect or malfunction, short of a recall.
Investigations	none	NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation	No defect investigation has been opened.
Driver-assist crash reports	none	NHTSA Standing General Order 2021-01	No report has been filed. Only entities named in the order report, and only crashes they hear of — so this is also what an unequipped car, or a manufacturer without telematics, looks like.
Specifications filed with NHTSA	5 fields	NHTSA vPIC, decoded from VIN patterns	What the manufacturer filed under the federal VIN rule — a configuration, not the full trim ladder.
Measured dimensions	7 fields	Transport Canada, Canadian Vehicle Specifications	Length, width, height, wheelbase, track and curb weight, measured on the North American versions.
Trims, pricing & equipment	none	Manufacturer press kit	We have not transcribed a press kit for this model year yet. This is our gap, not the manufacturer's — the one row here where an empty cell means we are behind.

Rebuilt nightly; this page was generated 2026-10-26. Every figure above is traceable to the source named beside it, and the JSON for this page carries the same values with their identifiers.

Sources & method

Safety Signal starts every model-year at 100 and subtracts points per open NHTSA recall campaign by severity: critical 15 (fire risk, park-outside or do-not-drive advisories), high 8 (brakes, steering, airbags, loss of drive power, structure, battery), moderate 6, minor 3 (software, labels, lighting fixed by an update). The most serious recall counts in full and each further one counts 85% of the one before, because a vehicle sold in millions is recalled more often than a rare one without being more dangerous — and because a flat subtraction bottomed the scale out, scoring a vehicle with 22 recalls within a point of one with six. A ≥ 90, B ≥ 80, C ≥ 70, D ≥ 60, otherwise F. Read it as what it counts: recall campaigns on the federal record, weighted by severity. The damping reduces the sales bias by roughly 40% but does not remove it: like our complaint counts, this is not normalized by how many were sold, so a best-seller still scores somewhat worse than an obscure model with the same real risk. NHTSA crash ratings, do-not-drive and park-outside advisories, and the crash, fire, injury and death counts in owner complaints are reported separately on every page and never blended into the letter — a vehicle can hold five stars and a poor letter at once, and where that happens we say so rather than leave you to notice. Because the scale subtracts from a clean sheet, a model year too new to have been recalled, complained about or bulletined scores full marks on an empty record; we label those grades provisional rather than present them as earned.

EPA figures come from fueleconomy.gov vehicle records. Recalls, complaints, investigations and crash ratings come from NHTSA's public flat files, refreshed nightly.

JSON for this page · API

2020 Nissan Sentra

Specs & fuel economy

Emissions & certification

Specifications filed with NHTSA

Dimensions Exterior

Engine Basics

Fuel Economy

Transmission

Dimensions & weight

Factory warranty running out?

Recalls (4)

Back Over Prevention

Steering

Exterior Lighting

Steering

Whether any of this applies to one specific Sentra

Hear about a recall before the letter does

Parts & accessories for the 2020 Nissan Sentra

Owner complaints

Most-cited components

In owners' own words

When owners reported it

miles, typically

Median mileage by component

Crash ratings

Service bulletins & campaigns

Diagnostic trouble codes on file

At the New York inspection station

failed emissions

Sentra by model year

Common questions about the 2020 Sentra

Does the 2020 Nissan Sentra have any recalls?

How safe is the 2020 Nissan Sentra?

What is the fuel economy of the 2020 Nissan Sentra?

What are the dimensions of the 2020 Nissan Sentra?

What do owners complain about on the 2020 Nissan Sentra?

How clean is the 2020 Nissan Sentra?

Are there service bulletins for the 2020 Nissan Sentra?

How does the 2020 Nissan Sentra do at state inspection?

What we hold, and what an empty row means

Where to go next

Sources & method