CSR

Nissan · NHTSA safety record

2020 Nissan Sentra

Every safety complaint, recall and defect investigation the US government holds on this vehicle.

Owners have filed 205 safety complaints about the 2020 Nissan Sentra with the US government. Of those, 8 describe a crash, 2 people were injured and no death is recorded. 4 recall campaigns are open against it.

The most complained-about system is forward collision avoidance, named in 60 complaints, 29% of the total. The typical failure was reported at 28,879 miles, the median across the 57 complaints that gave an odometer reading.

Compiled from NHTSA's complaint, recall and investigation files · Covers May 2020 to September 2026 · How this is counted

What is on file

205 complaints on file

205

Complaints

8

Describe a crash

0

Mention fire

2

People injured

0

Deaths

A complaint is an unverified account by the person who filed it, not a finding of fault. One complaint is one ODI number, which is how NHTSA counts them.

Complaints halved year on year: 21 in the twelve months to 2026-Q2, against 42 in the twelve before.

A recall is the manufacturer conceding a defect, and the repair is free. Whether one covers your particular car is a question only its VIN can answer, because a campaign covers a production range rather than a model year.

Which system owners named

Complaints naming each system
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 60 · 29%
STEERING 55 · 27%
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 47 · 23%
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 45 · 22%
SERVICE BRAKES 25 · 12%
BACK OVER PREVENTION 11 · 5%
SUSPENSION 10 · 5%
ENGINE 9 · 4%
POWER TRAIN 9 · 4%
LANE DEPARTURE 6 · 3%
EXTERIOR LIGHTING 5 · 2%
VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL 5 · 2%
0 27 54

Red marks a system with a recall campaign against it. One complaint can name several systems, so these add up to more than 205.

When the complaints arrived

By the year NHTSA received them

By the year NHTSA received them, which is not the year the failures happened. They peaked in 2024 at 56.

60 45 30 15
20 21 22 23 24 25 26

This is the year the complaint was filed, not the year the failure happened. The range runs from 2020 to 2026, the last of them a part year, which is why its column is drawn faint.

Crash test ratings

NHTSA New Car Assessment Program

NHTSA crashes a car into a barrier and a pole and measures what happens to the dummies inside. This is what it awarded the 2020 Nissan SENTRA, and it is a separate question from what owners report going wrong later.

Test 4 DR FWD
Overall
Frontal crash
Frontal, driver
Frontal, passenger
Side crash
Side barrier
Side pole
Rollover
Chance of rollover 9.9%
Stability control standard Forward collision warning standard Lane departure warning standard

A dash means NHTSA did not rate that test for this vehicle.

Recall campaigns

4 on file

BACK OVER PREVENTION: SENSING SYSTEM: CAMERA

23V628000 · September 8, 2023

The defect
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."
The risk
A rearview camera that does not properly display an image can reduce the driver's rear view, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
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.

Nissan North America, Inc. · up to 153,376 vehicles across all model years covered

STEERING:LINKAGES:TIE ROD ASSEMBLY

23V581000 · August 15, 2023

The defect
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Sentra vehicles. The left and/or right tie rod may bend.
The risk
A bent tie rod can break and cause a loss of steering control, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
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. This recall replaces and expands recall number 21V-461. Vehicles previously repaired under 21V-461 will need to have the new remedy completed.

Nissan North America, Inc. · up to 236,238 vehicles across all model years covered

EXTERIOR LIGHTING:HEADLIGHTS

22V244000 · April 13, 2022

The defect
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."
The risk
An improperly aimed headlight may reduce the driver's visibility, increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
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.

Nissan North America, Inc. · up to 5,520 vehicles across all model years covered

STEERING:LINKAGES:TIE ROD ASSEMBLY

21V461000 · June 17, 2021

The defect
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Sentra vehicles. The left and/or right tie rod may be bent.
The risk
A bent tie rod can break, causing a loss of steering control and increasing the risk of a crash.
The remedy
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.

Nissan North America, Inc. · up to 138,736 vehicles across all model years covered

In owners’ own words

Quoted from the complaint file

Quoted from NHTSA's complaint file. These are unverified accounts by the people who filed them, not findings of fault.

STEERING

1 injured · crash · towed

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. The contact's daughter was treated for unknown injuries at the scene. The contact was uncertain if a police report was filed. The vehicle was towed to an independent mechanic where it was destroyed. The dealer was notified of the failure, the manufacturer was not made aware of the failure The contact recently discovered that her daughter's vehicle had been placed

NHTSA complaint 11425474, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING

1 injured · crash · towed

Car was in a hit and run accident on June 29, 2023 where another car slid up the whole passenger side of the car damaging the front side so car could not be driven. Car was repaired, given back but not performing correctly. Car was taken back and told unsafe to drive. They did more repairs on the car, gave it back and car still not performing correctly. Car taken back for a second time, deemed unsafe, repaired, and given back. Car still didn't seem to be right. On October 21, 2023 daughter was on the way to Nissan to check out a recall on tie rods because we just got a letter in the mail about them. The car started to vibrate. My daughter tried to pull off the road but the steering would

NHTSA complaint 11552859, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM

crash · towed · 4,000 miles

I WAS SWITCHING LANES AND THE CAR BLIND SPOT SENSOR USUALLY TELLS ME WHEN SOMEONE IS IN MY BLIND SPOT BUT WHEN I WAS SWITCHING LANES TODAY IT FAILED TO TELL ME, THEREFORE RESULTING IN ME GETTING INTO AN ACCIDENT. *TR

NHTSA complaint 11323929. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ENGINE

crash · towed

I had brought my car up to the dealership for an oil change, and they said there was a recall on the tie rods. They said they checked them out, but never gave me paperwork for it. And I’ve looked it up and it said no recall have been serviced on. A week or two later me and another passenger got in my car and put it in reverse, and heard a small pop as I turned the wheel I didn’t think anything of it at first. Then we started heading down the road we got to a stop light and my car was stalling the transmission didn’t sound right for a little while. And then we where going about 35 mph and started slowing down to about 10-15 mph to make a turn, as I started turning the wheel we heard a loud

NHTSA complaint 11438576, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The back up camera frequently goes blank when the car is put in reverse. This is a safety hazard as I can't see what is behind me when I am backing up. Upon further research, this is common in Nissan Sentras around this time but my specific car was not under the recall. There were multiple reports of faulty wiring causing the same issues. There were no warnings prior to this failure and it has been going on for over a year.

NHTSA complaint 11765990. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
3/4 doors will not lock/unlock using fob, or the door controllers. This increases risk of theft, car jacking, and safety as the locks do not engage while driving. Very dangerous. Windows do not roll up/down, which when paired with the doors needing to be locked/unlocked manually can cause one to become trapped, especially with passengers. Dealership charged me $200 to tell me that the locks is were broken wanted to charge me $1200 to fix only two.

NHTSA complaint 11752295. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The power unlock on all four doors of my car doors will no longer operate via key fob, outside lock button or interior power unlock buttons, although the doors can all be locked using those same processes. In addition, the doors have all randomly locked while being inside the car with no key, locking me inside the car and requiring someone getting a key to manually unlock the car to allow me to exit. The doors have also randomly locked with the key inside the car making it unable to access the car without a spare key being manually used to unlock the car. This has caused several very scary incidents including having to nearly break a window to get out of the car on a day when temperatures

NHTSA complaint 11749096, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING

140,000 miles

The contact owns a 2020 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated while driving at an undisclosed speed, the steering wheel was off centered and the vehicle vibrated. In addition, the contact stated that the vehicle vibrated while making a turn. The vehicle was taken to an independent mechanic where it was diagnosed with a passenger-side rear detached inter-tire rod and bushing and a driver's side rear inter-tire rod and bushing failing. The contact was informed that the driver's and passenger interior rods and bushings needed to be replaced. The vehicle was being repaired. In addition, the contact stated that in 2021 the vehicle was inspected by the dealer for an unknown recall inspection, which

NHTSA complaint 11748871, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

STEERING
I have an Nissan Sentra sv 2020 and steering rack is causing problems when I drive my car, making my whole steering wheel shake when I go 60 on the highway, it also makes noises when I try to gently press on the gas making my wheels shake violently against the road. It’s a really bad safety hazard. If that part breaks. I can or any other drivers can lose control of their car and end up in a bad accident even death. Dealership is asking for about 4k to get that fix

NHTSA complaint 11748419. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

ELECTRICAL SYSTEM
The rear driver side door does not lock/unlock when pressing the lock/unlock buttons on the key fob nor the buttons on either of the front seat door panels. It is only able to be locked/unlocked by manually flipping the lock/unlock switch on the (rear driver side) door. No other doors have this issue. I believe either the door switch actuator or faulty wiring is the cause of the issue. I believe it is available for inspection upon request. My safety and the safety of my passengers is put at risk because of the additional step of ensuring the door is locked when departing from the vehicle, creating a more dangerous situation in the event of needing to quickly exit the vehicle, and an

NHTSA complaint 11741828, quoted in part. Filed by an owner and not verified by NHTSA or by us.

Compare

Other years of the Nissan Sentra

Model year Complaints Recalls Deaths
2026 16 1 —
2025 30 4 —
2024 41 3 —
2023 20 1 —
2022 81 2 —
2021 132 3 —
2019 222 2 —
2018 185 2 1
2017 230 3 —
2016 270 6 —
2015 351 3 —
2014 380 5 —
2013 638 6 1
2012 180 0 —
2011 142 2 —
2010 144 3 —

Other 2020 Nissan models

Every Nissan on this site — 205 vehicles.

If this is your car and a dealer keeps failing to fix it, your state's lemon law may require the manufacturer to replace it or buy it back. How many repair attempts it takes, and how long you have to file, is set by the state you bought in and by nothing on this page.

Where these numbers come from

A complaint is one owner's account and has not been verified by NHTSA or by us. A vehicle with more complaints is not necessarily worse: models that sold in larger numbers collect more of them. How this is counted.

Compiled and maintained by
Independent developer and analyst