2013 Nissan Sentra problems, complaints & recalls
Most-reported problem areas: Power Train (266) · Service Brakes (83) · Air Bags (59)
🧭 Reliability snapshot
Compared against other Nissan Sentra model years — complaint volume vs the model's median year, recalls and severity. How we score →
🛣️ Complaints by mileage
495 NHTSA complaints that reported an odometer reading.
Safety recalls (6)
Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification 2016-04-26 · campaign 16V242000 · 645,898 vehicles
Defect: 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.
Risk: 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.
Fix: 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.
Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification 2016-04-26 · campaign 16V244000 · 3,296,947 vehicles
Defect: 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 incorrec
Risk: 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.
Fix: 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 par
Air Bags:sensor:occupant Classification 2015-10-20 · campaign 15V681000 · 919 vehicles
Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2015 Altima and Pathfinder vehicles, 2013-2014 Nissan Sentra vehicles, 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles, 2014-2015 Infiniti QX60 vehicles and 2014 Infiniti QX60 Hybrid vehicles. The affected vehicles received an incorrect occupant classification system (OCS) control unit during a repair. These OCS control units may incorrectly classify the front passenger seat as empty, when it is occupied by an adult.
Risk: If the OCS does not detect an adult occupant in the passenger seat, the passenger air bag would be deactivated. Failure of the passenger airbag to deploy during a crash (where deployment is warranted) could increase the risk of injury to the passenger.
Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will update the OCS software, free of charge. The recall began on November 30, 2015. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.
Electrical System:software 2014-03-25 · campaign 14V138000 · 989,701 vehicles
Defect: Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, and Sentra, model year 2013 NV200 (aka Taxi) and Infiniti JX35 and model year 2014 Infiniti Q50 and QX60 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the occupant classification system (OCS) software may incorrectly classify the passenger seat as empty, when it is occupied by an adult.
Risk: If the OCS does not detect an adult occupant in the passenger seat, the passenger airbag would be deactivated. Failure of the passenger airbag to deploy during a crash (where deployment is warranted) could increase the risk of injury to the passenger.
Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will update the OCS software, free of charge. The recall began on April 14, 2014. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.
Fuel System, Gasoline:storage:tank Assembly 2013-03-01 · campaign 13V068000 · 392 vehicles
Defect: Nissan is recalling certain model year 2013 Sentra vehicles manufactured from September 11, 2012, through October 4, 2012. Some fuel tank assemblies were not properly sealed during the manufacturing process. As a result, a small amount of gasoline may leak from the tank when it is full.
Risk: A gasoline leak in the presence of an ignition source may lead to a vehicle fire.
Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the fuel tanks as necessary, free of charge. The recall began on April 1, 2013. Owners may contact Nissan Customer Service at 1-800-647-7261.
Air Bags 2013-03-01 · campaign 13V069000 · 82,038 vehicles
Defect: Nissan is recalling certain model year 2013 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, Sentra, and Infiniti JX35 vehicles. Sensors within the passenger Occupant Detection System (ODS) may have been manufactured out of specification. This may cause the system to malfunction and permanently suppress the passenger airbag.
Risk: If the vehicle is involved in a crash necessitating airbag deployment and the passenger airbag is suppressed, there may be an increased risk of personal injury.
Fix: Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the ODS sensors and replace them as neccessary, free of charge. The recall began on May 6, 2013. Owners may contact Nissan Customer Service at 1-800-647-7261.
Service bulletins (201)
Technical service bulletins are repair instructions manufacturers send dealers for known issues. Unlike recalls, the fix is not automatically free — but naming the bulletin at the service desk can save diagnosis time and support goodwill repairs.
Structure:body 2026-04-13 · NTB09-131C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
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 availabl
Structure:body 2026-04-13 · NTB09-131C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
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 availabl
Air Bags 2024-09-19 · NTB19-071D · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
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)
Electrical System 2024-05-21 · NTB13-107G · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
vehicle key not detected / authenticated, engine will not start this bulletin has been amended. see amendment history on the last page. please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
Electrical System 2024-05-21 · NTB13-027D · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
can communication – network diagnostic flow chart this bulletin has been amended. see amendment history on the last page. please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
Electrical System 2024-05-21 · NTB10-066C · Service Bulletin/Repair Instructions
can communication codes – diagnostic tips and guidelines this bulletin has been amended. see amendment history on the last page. please discard previous versions of this bulletin.
Showing the 6 most recent of 201 bulletins. Search all of them free at nhtsa.gov.
What owners report
2026-06-26 · Air Bags · 16,050 mi“the contact owns a 2013 nissan sentra. the contact stated that the air bag warning light was illuminated, and the front passenger's side air bag warning light remained illuminated while the front passenger's seat was occupied. the contact stated that the dealer had previously repaired the vehicle under nhtsa campaign number: 16v244000 (air bags), a…”
2026-05-10 · Unknown Or Other“ mileage (~124k) * rpm behavior * loss of power uphill * can cause a crash on highway with the cvt promblems nissian sentras sv has been cause of loss of power out of no where needs to be addressed as a recall maintenance has been don great on vechile it has history and need to be addressed. it goes from 70 to 55 issues of cvt …”
2026-04-11 · Lane Departure: Warning“erractic rpms. shakes/hesitant on take off from stop. accelerator can be pushed all the way and it goes 5mph. shifting takes a good minute with shakiness. can not drive in rush hour traffic almost got accident many times. …”
2026-01-04 · Seats“i am reporting a failed remedy for recall r1608 (occupant classification system). my 2013 nissan sentra was serviced at nissan of van nuys for this recall. despite the dealership marking the recall as completed, the safety defect persists. specifically, the passenger seatbelt warning light remains illuminated when the passenger seat is empty, indic…”
2025-12-22 · Unknown Or Other“the problem with my 2013 nissan sentra relates to the transmission which was serviced april 22, 2024 at passport nissan in suitland, m d. two months later, june 12, 2024 my car was serviced again for transmission problelms. the cvt transmission unit was replaced because of internal malfunction on the transmission assembly. my car is currently u…”
2025-12-22 · Fuel System, Gasoline · 173,000 mi“the contact owns a 2013 nissan sentra. the contact stated that while attempting to refuel the vehicle, fuel started spewing out of the fuel filler neck. the contact waited until the fuel level was almost empty and slowly pumped gasoline into the fuel tank. the vehicle was taken to three separate mechanics and was informed that the issue was related…”
2025-12-07 · Power Train“it's slipping in the transmission …”
2025-11-19 · Unknown Or Other“while driving, the start/stop button was pressed and the vehicle turned off while in motion. while in d, the vehicle turned off while in traffic, in motion, due to the stop/start button being pressed. it should not be able to shut off while in drive. the safety feature should not allow that.…”
2025-10-15 · Power Train · 36 mi“the contact owns a 2013 nissan sentra. the contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle lost motive power and failed to accelerate as intended while depressing the accelerator pedal. no warning lights were illuminated. the vehicle was not taken to the dealer or an independent mechanic to be diagnosed or repaired. the conta…”
2025-06-25 · Power Train“the cvt transmission has a serious problem it does this jerking movement and could lead to an accident or serious bodily injury to occupants in the vehicle i am filing a complaint regarding the cvt transmission failure in my 2013 nissan sentra (vin: [xxx] ). the vehicle began showing symptoms such as jerking, hesitation, and loss of power while …”
Excerpts of consumer complaints filed with NHTSA, lightly truncated. They are owner statements, not verified findings.