Model Years

2018 Nissan Sentra Recalls and Problems

NHTSA lists 2 safety recalls and 185 owner complaints for the 2018 Nissan Sentra.

Recalled components: exterior lighting and backover prevention and rearview camera. Most-described problem: driver-assist errors or blocked-sensor messages (24 complaints, 13%). Most-reported area: powertrain (46 complaints, 25%; median mileage when it happened: 75,500).

More complaints than a typical Sentra year

The 2018 drew 69 owner complaints in its first three years, against about 64 for a typical Sentra year.

Years to avoid: 2013; best year: 2023. Based on owner complaints, not adjusted for sales.

Every Sentra year ranked

2Safety recalls
185Owner complaints
17Complaints citing a crash
3Complaints citing a fire

Opens NHTSA's lookup in a new tab; your VIN goes to NHTSA, not to us. The VIN is on the driver's side dashboard, the door jamb and your registration. Safety recall repairs are free at Nissan dealers.

How to check a car for recalls, step by step

Get a vehicle history report from EpicVIN (opens in a new tab): a paid report with the car's title, odometer and salvage records, from an approved NMVTIS data provider. Affiliate link: we earn a commission if you buy. If you typed a full VIN above, the link sends it to EpicVIN and opens its checkout page for that VIN. Check the price before you pay: EpicVIN's $1 trial lasts 3 days, then becomes a monthly subscription until you cancel ($49.99 to $99.99 a month on its pages as of Oct 2, 2026). Disclosure

Data: NHTSA recall, complaint and investigation filesUpdated

2 safety recalls for the 2018 Nissan Sentra

Newest first. Summaries are NHTSA's own wording. Open a recall for the fix and the full notice.

Exterior lighting

Mar 3, 2021

brake lights · switch

The brake light switch may become contaminated, preventing the circuit from closing and the brake lights from illuminating.

Risk: The brake lights may not illuminate, increasing the risk of a crash.

The fix and full notice

Fix: Dealers will replace the brake light switch and install a protective grommet, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 1, 2022. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800867-7769. Nissan's number for this recall is PM971.

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2016-2019 Nissan Sentra vehicles.

NHTSA listing: SENTRA. Nissan campaign PM971.

Backover prevention and rearview camera

Sep 12, 2019

sensing system · camera

  • Fails federal standard 111 (rear visibility)
  • NHTSA 19V-654
  • 1,228,830 vehicles

Additionally included are 2019 Nissan GT-R and Taxi and Infiniti QX50, QX60, Q70, Q70L vehicles. The back-up camera and display settings can be adjusted such that the rear view image is no longer visible and the system will retain that setting the next time the vehicle is placed in reverse. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) number 111, "Rear Visibility."

Risk: The lack of an image in the back-up camera display increases the risk of a crash.

The fix and full notice

Fix: Nissan will notify owners in phases, having dealers update the back-up camera settings software, free of charge. The recall began November 11, 2019 and all affected VINs should be activated. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669 or INFINITI customer service at 1-800-662-6200.

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2018-2019 Nissan Altima, Armada, Frontier, Kicks, Leaf, Maxima, Murano, NV, NV200, Pathfinder, Rogue, Rogue Sport, Sentra, Titan, Titan Diesel, Versa Note and Versa Sedan vehicles, as well as Infiniti Q50, Q60, QX30 and QX80 vehicles.

NHTSA listing: SENTRA.

Questions about any of these recalls: call NHTSA's Vehicle Safety Hotline at 888-327-4236 (TTY 888-275-9171) or check your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.

NHTSA investigations

NHTSA's investigations file, dated Nov 12, 2026, lists no investigations for the 2018 Nissan Sentra.

What owners report

Owners have filed 185 complaints with NHTSA about the 2018 Sentra. Below, they are sorted by the problems owners describe and by the areas NHTSA files them under. NHTSA does not verify complaints.

Problems owners describe

Counted from the complaint text: a complaint counts once for each problem it describes (how we match them). Some complaints describe none of these. Compare other models in the problem owners report most for every model year.

Areas named in complaints

A complaint can name more than one area, so shares add up to more than 100%. Mileage is shown where at least 15 owners reported it.

Nissan Sentra recalls and complaints by model year

The highlighted bars are the 2018 model year. Newer model years have had less time on the road, so their counts are lower. Counting complaints filed in each model year's first three years, the 2013 Sentra drew the most (150) and the 2018 drew 69.

Owner complaints

2018: 185 complaints

Show as a table
Owner complaints by model year, Nissan Sentra
Model yearComplaints
2010144
2011142
2012180
2013638
2014381
2015352
2016270
2017231
2018185
2019223
2020208
2021133
202281
202320
202441
202532
202620

Safety recalls

2018: 2 recalls

Show as a table
Safety recalls by model year, Nissan Sentra
Model yearRecalls
20103
20112
20120
20136
20145
20153
20166
20173
20182
20192
20204
20213
20222
20231
20243
20254
20261

Crash test ratings

NHTSA's 5-Star Safety Ratings for each version it tested. Rollover risk is NHTSA's estimate of the chance of rolling over in a single-vehicle crash.

Tested versionOverallFrontalSideRollover
Nissan Sentra 4 DR FWD
Rollover risk 11.8%
Nissan Sentra NISMO 4 DR FWD
Rollover risk 11.8%
Not ratedNot ratedNot rated
Nissan Sentra Turbo 4 DR FWD
Not ratedNot ratedNot ratedNot rated

2018 Sentra MPG

EPA rates the 2018 Nissan Sentra up to 32 mpg combined.Every version and fuel cost

Questions

What are the most common 2018 Sentra problems?

In the 185 owner complaints filed with NHTSA for the 2018 Nissan Sentra, the problems described most are driver-assist errors or blocked-sensor messages (24), transmission failure or replacement (22), and the engine not starting (15). NHTSA does not verify complaints, and one complaint can describe several problems.

Is the 2018 Nissan Sentra safe?

In NHTSA crash tests every tested version of the 2018 Nissan Sentra earns 4 stars overall. The table above lists each tested version.

Is NHTSA investigating the 2018 Nissan Sentra?

No. NHTSA's investigations file, dated Nov 12, 2026, lists no investigations for the 2018 Nissan Sentra.

How do I check if my Sentra has an open recall?

Enter the 17-character VIN from your dashboard, door jamb or registration at nhtsa.gov/recalls. The lookup lists unrepaired recalls for that exact vehicle. Safety recall repairs are free at Nissan dealers.

Sources and method

  • NHTSA recalls file (NHTSA datasets), dated Nov 12, 2026; every campaign checked against NHTSA's recalls API.
  • NHTSA owner complaints file, dated Nov 11, 2026. Counted by complaint number, so a complaint naming three components counts once in the total.
  • NHTSA investigations file, dated Nov 12, 2026. Defect petitions, which ask NHTSA to open an investigation, are listed apart and only while open. Audit queries, which check whether a company met its recall and reporting duties rather than whether a vehicle has a problem, are not listed.
  • NHTSA 5-Star Safety Ratings (NCAP).
  • NHTSA model names covered: SENTRA.

Complaint counts are unverified owner reports. They rise with sales volume and time on the road, so compare model years with care. How we build these pages. Spotted an error? Tell us.