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Nissan Versa vs Nissan Sentra

Which one, and which years, drew fewer problems per car sold

The short answer

Across the 2012 to 2022 model years the two are close, at 164 and 164 owner complaints per 100,000 sold. For newer cars the picture flips: from 2019 to 2022 the Nissan Versa has the cleaner record. The best years to target are 2016 and 2017 for the Versa and 2017 and 2018 for the Sentra.

Nissan Versa 1.6 Sense 2016

Nissan Versa

Complaints per 100k sold164
Recalls since 201225
Average crash rating4.4 of 5
'12'13'14'15'16'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Best2016, 2017
Avoid2012, 2014
2018 Nissan Sentra (facelift), front 7.7,19

Nissan Sentra

Complaints per 100k sold164
Recalls since 201221
Average crash rating4.4 of 5
'12'13'14'15'16'17'18'19'20'21'22'23'24
Best2017, 2018
Avoid2013

By age group

Model yearsVersaSentraFewer problems
Older (2012 to 2015)250249About even
Middle (2016 to 2018)77106Versa
Newer (2019 to 2022)75133Versa

Owner complaints per 100,000 cars sold, pooled across the years in each group. Lower is better. A model counts as ahead only when it is at least 10% lower.

Year by year

YearVersaSentra
2012425169
2013174494
2014245208
2015176173
201683126
201767106
20187987
201938121
2020133220
202153104
2022149105
2023Too newToo new
2024Too newToo new

Complaints per 100,000 sold for each model year. Green is a good year for that model, amber average, red a year to watch out for.

Most reported problems

Questions

Is the Versa or Sentra more reliable?

Across the 2012 to 2022 model years the two are close, at 164 and 164 owner complaints per 100,000 sold. For newer cars the picture flips: from 2019 to 2022 the Nissan Versa has the cleaner record. The best years to target are 2016 and 2017 for the Versa and 2017 and 2018 for the Sentra.

Which Versa and Sentra years should I avoid?

For the Versa: 2012, 2014. For the Sentra: 2013.

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