2008 Nissan Sentra Steering
Owner-reported problems and safety issues filed with NHTSA. Review common failures, severity levels, and complaint trends over time.
Complaint Timeline
Chronological view of owner reports
A FEW MONTHS AGO WHILE TRYING TO PARALLEL PARK INTO A TIGHT SPACE I HAD TO CUT MY STEERING WHEEL ALL THE WAY TO THE LEFT AND THE CAR SHUT OFF, WHEN I RELEASED STEERING WHEEL THE CAR TURNED BACK ON, SAME THING HAPPENED WHEN I TURNED THE STEERING WHEEL ALL THE WAY TO RIGHT. MOST RECENTLY I WAS MAKING A K-TURN AND MY CAR KEPT SHUTTING OFF ON ME NO MATTER HOW MUCH OR LITTLE I WAS TURNING IT. I WAS LITERALLY STUCK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET CREATING A TRAFFIC JAM. IT TOOK ME APPROXIMATELY 10,MINUTES TO MAKE A K-TURN
I COULD NOT CONTROLLED THE STEERING WHEEL.IT WAS NOT CORRELATION BETWEEN THE STEERING WHEEL AND THE CAR. TRIKING A ROCK ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD. TOTAL LOSS. LUCKLY WAS FINE BECAUSE OF LOW SPEED.
THE POWER STEERING LIGHT WILL REMAIN LIGHT AND THE POWER STEERING WILL NOT WORK. IF THE POWER STEERING LIGHT TURNS OFF, THERE ARE SEVERAL LOUD CLUNKING NOISES AND THE STEERING FEELS AS IF THE WHEELS HAVE HIT SOMETHING WHEN TURNED. THIS IS A PERSISTENT PROBLEM AND HAS BEEN OCCURRING FOR QUITE SOME TIME AND KEEPS GETTING WORSE. I BELIEVE THERE IS A TSB ALREADY ON THIS ISSUE. *TR
I BOUGHT MY DAUGHTER A 2008 NISSAN SENTRA FOR CHRISTMAS (2010). THIS MORNING (11 JUNE 2011) I TOOK MY 16 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER OUT TO LEARN HOW TO PARALLEL PARK AT THE DMV. AS SHE WAS BACKING UP TO PARK SHE SAID SHE COULD NOT TURN THE STEERING WHEEL. I TRIED TO TURN THE STEERING WHEEL AND NOTICED A PS LIGHT ON THE DASH BOARD. I TOOK OVER AND TRIED TO MANEUVER THE CAR AND IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE. I THEN TURNED THE CAR OFF AND OPEN THE HOOD TO DETERMINE THE PROBLEM BUT SAW NO VISUAL DEFECTS. I THEN GOT BACK IN THE CAR, STARTED IT UP AND THE PS LIGHT WAS GONE AND THE POWER STEERING WAS WORKING AGAIN. WHEN WE GOT HOME I LOOKED ON THE INTERNET TO SEE IF THERE WAS A RECALL AND FOUND MANY COMPLAINTS ON THE STEERING OF THE SENTRA BUT NO RECALL. I CALLED THE DEALERSHIP AND THEY TOLD ME I WOULD HAVE TO PAY FOR IT BECAUSE THERE IS NO RECALL FOR THE SENTRA ONLY THE NISSAN XTERRA AND FRONTIER HAVE BEEN RECALLED. I BOUGHT A NISSAN ABOUT 20 YEARS AGO AND HAD THE BEST EXPERIENCE WITH MY VEHICLE AND PUT MY TRUST IN THEM TO ENSURE MY DAUGHTER HAD THE BEST AND SAFEST VEHICLE ON THE ROAD BUT LITTLE DID I KNOW THEY NO LONGER ARE IN THE BUSINESS OF PRESERVING HUMAN LIFE AND CUSTOMER SERVICE. MY DAUGHTER COULD HAVE BEEN ALONE ON A MAJOR HIGHWAY IN THAT VEHICLE WHEN IT STOPPED WORKING AND CAUSED A FATAL ACCIDENT FOR MANY PEOPLE BUT NO ONE IS CONCERNED ABOUT HUMAN LIFE ANYMORE IT'S ALL ABOUT PROFIT. NOW I'VE GOT TO FIND MY DAUGHTER ANOTHER VEHICLE BECAUSE I'VE LOST ALL CONFIDENCE IN THE INTEGRITY OF THE NISSAN COMPANY. I'D RATHER TAKE A LOSS OF MONEY THEN A LOSS OF LIFE. THANKS NISSAN. *TR
I BOUGHT MY NISSAN SENTRA SER IN JUNE 2008. I REPLACED MY TIRES IN OCTOBER 2010. BEGINNING AT 25,000 MILES MY CAR ISN'T STEERING OR DRIVING THE WAY IT USED TO. I THOUGHT THE ALIGNMENT WAS OFF AND IT WAS SLIGHTLY. ONE PLACE TELLS ME IT'S THE WEAR OF MY TIRES, ANOTHER PLACE SAYS IT'S MY TOE AND SUSPENSION, THE DEALER SHIP DOESN'T SEE ANY PROBLEMS. I HAVE TAKEN MY CAR IN NOW TO 4 DIFFERENT PLACE ABOUT 6-7 TIMES NOW. LAST WEEK I WAS AT THE NISSAN DEALERSHIP WHERE I BOUGHT MY CAR AND I DROVE THE CAR AND SO DID THE MECHANIC THAT WORKED ON MY CAR. HE SAID "MAYBE IT'S THE DRIVER THAT'S THE ISSUE." I WAS INSULTED AND AFTER YEARS OF DRIVING I KNOW WHEN MY CAR IS DRIVING FUNNY. STILL TILL THIS DAY, WHEN I DRIVE MY CAR AT HIGH SPEEDS I FEEL LIKE I'M GOING TO LOSE CONTROL. ESPECIALLY ON EXPRESS WAYS IN THE CAR I FEEL LIKE IT IS A WINDY DAY AND MY CAR WILL DECIDE TO EITHER GO TO THE LEFT OR GO TO THE RIGHT. I DON'T FEEL IT SO MUCH WHEN I FIRST START DRIVING BUT AFTER 10 MINUTES ON THE SAME ROAD. THERE NEEDS TO BE A RECALL ON THIS. I HAVE SPENT SO MUCH MONEY AND THE PROBLEM STILL IS NOT FIXED. I'VE SEARCHED ONLINE AND IN DISCUSSION SITES PEOPLE ARE HAVING THE SAME ISSUE. IT'S AFTER 25,000 MILES ARE DRIVEN. THE PROBLEM IS SO BAD I WANT TO TRADE IN MY CAR. *TR
FOR A YEAR OR SO MY STEERING HAS BEGUN TO SHAKE AND MAKE A CLICKING SOUND, ESPECIALLY WHILE GOING DOWN A HILL AND APPLYING THE BRAKES. AT FIRST I THOUGHT IT WAS MY BRAKES, AND I TOOK THE CAR TO MY MECHANIC. HOWEVER, AFTER AN INSPECTION OF THE ENTIRE VEHICLE, MY CAR RECEIVED A CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH. EVEN THE BRAKES WERE IN GREAT CONDITION. THE MECHANIC DID WITNESS MY COMPLAINT WHILE ROAD TESTING THE VEHICLE AND INFORMED ME THAT IT SEEMS TO BE A DESIGN FLAW IN MY STEERING COLUMN. HE OFFERED TO ORDER PARTS AND REPLACE THE DAMAGED COMPONENT, BUT MY CAR IS NOT EVEN THREE YEARS OLD! THE CLICKING CAN ALSO BE HEARD WHEN THE CAR IS IN PARK AND YOU JUST TURN THE WHEEL FROM SIDE TO SIDE. THE CLICKING WAS BARELY NOTICEABLE AT FIRST, BUT AFTER ABOUT SIX MONTHS IT BECAME PROGRESSIVELY WORSE. NOW IT IS LOUD ENOUGH AND MY WHEEL SHAKES SO BADLY THAT MY PASSENGERS ASK ME WHAT IS WRONG WITH MY CAR. SOMETHING IS JUST NOT RIGHT. *TR
2008 SENTRA, 23,000 MILES WITH NEW TIRES AND YOU ARE ALWAYS FIGHTING THE STEERING. AROUND TOWN IT IS EXTREMELY AGGRAVATING TO CONTINUALLY FEEL BACK PRESSURE AND BOUNCING IN RESPONSE TO YOUR EVERY MOVE. GENERALLY IT WANTS TO FIGHT TOWARDS CENTER BUT IS CONFUSED BY MINOR WHEEL MOVEMENT. AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS IT IS SCARY, UNSTABLE AND UNSAFE. SLIGHT WHEEL MOVEMENT DURING STRAIGHT LINE FREEWAY DRIVING IS ALWAYS MET WITH OVER COMPENSATION BACK TOWARDS CENTER. YOU CAN FEEL THE REAR END WHIP WHEN THIS OCCURS. THE DEALER SAYS THEY HAVE HAD NO COMPLAINTS. HOPEFULLY THERE WILL BE SOME ADJUSTMENT OR RESOLUTION SOON. *TR
THE STEERING OF THIS CAR NEEDS CONSTANT CORRECTION. IT'S LIKE IT CANNOT DRIVE A STRAIGHT 1 MILE LINE. IF THE CAR DRIFTS TO THE LEFT, I TURN BRIEFLY AND SLIGHTLY RIGHT BUT THE CAR WILL THEN GO RIGHT. I THEN TURN SLIGHTLY LEFT BUT THE CAR WILL CONTINUE TO GO LEFT UNTIL I CORRECT IT AGAIN. IT'S LIKE IT CANNOT KEEP A STRAIGHT LINE. IT IS DANGEROUSLY SENSITIVE TO THE SHAPE OF THE ROAD. I NEED TO MAKE CORRECTIONS EVERY FEW SECONDS. THE SEVERITY OF THE PROBLEM DEPENDS ON THE ROAD, MOSTLY OBSERVABLE AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS. I BELIEVE THAT 5-7 SECONDS OF NO CORRECTION WOULD BE ENOUGH TO CROSS INTO ANOTHER LANE CAUSING A CRASH. *TR
POWER STEERING FAILURE. DROVE CAR AND THEN PARKED. RETURNED TO CAR AND UPON STARTING NOTICED THAT THE POWER STEERING FAILURE LIGHT WAS ON AND HAD NO POWER STEERING WHEN DRIVING. (SYSTEM IS ELECTRIC POWER STEERING) DROVE CAR TO DEALER WITH NO POWER STEERING. FOLLOWING DAY, WHEN DEALER ATTEMPTED TO PERFORM CORRECTIVE SERVICE AND DIAGNOSE PROBLEM THE POWER STEERING IS WORKING. THEREFORE THEY HAVE RELEASED THE VEHICLE AS NOT HAVING ANY SERVICE PROBLEM. I HAVE NO CONFIDENCE THAT THE PROBLEM WILL NOT OCCUR AGAIN AND POTENTIALLY CAUSE AN ACCIDENT. *TR
STEERING IS DRIFTING. *TR
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Quick Summary
The 2008 Nissan Sentra has 10 Steering complaints on file. 1 crashes have been reported. Review the timeline above for detailed owner experiences.