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2016 Nissan Sentra Recalls & Complaints

6

open safety recalls on record

Serious

400 owner complaints filed · Severity Index 0.38 · updated 2026-08-07

The recalls

Serious17V253000

Air Bags

In the event of a crash, if the front passenger air bag doesn't deploy properly, it can raises the risk of injury to passengers.

Remedy & full details

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began June 7, 2017. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2015-2017 LEAF and 2014, 2016 and 2017 Sentra vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error within the air bag inflators, the passenger frontal air bag may not properly deploy in the event of a crash.

Serious16V436000

Air Bags:Frontal:Passenger Side:Inflator Module

If the wiring harness disconnects, the passenger air bag may not to deploy during a crash, raises the risk of injury.

Remedy & full details

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the wiring harness connector for proper engagement and, if necessary, replace the passenger air bag module and main body harness, free of charge. The recall began on August 9, 2016. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016 LEAF vehicles manufactured February 24, 2016, to March 23, 2016, and Sentra vehicles manufactured February 9, 2016, to March 4, 2016. The wiring harness connector may disconnect from the dual-stage passenger air bag.

Serious16V485000

Electrical System:Wiring

If the engine room harness loses connection to the ECU, the vehicle may not start or the engine may stall, raises the risk of a crash.

Remedy & full details

Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the terminal pin on the engine room harness, free of charge. The recall began on August 15, 2016. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.

Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016 Sentra vehicles manufactured April 11, 2016, through April 26, 2016. The engine room harness may have a terminal pin too large to maintain a connection with the Engine Control Unit (ECU).

Serious16V244000

Air Bags:Sensor:Occupant Classification

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.

Remedy & full details

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 parts become available. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669, Infiniti customer service at 1-888-833-3216 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020.

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 incorrectly classify an adult passenger as a child or classify the seat as empty despite it being occupied. As a result, the passenger frontal air bag may be turned off and not deploy in the event of a crash.

Serious16V242000

Air Bags:Sensor:Occupant Classification

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.

Remedy & full details

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.

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.

Serious21V135000

Exterior Lighting:Brake Lights:Switch

The brake lights may not illuminate, raises the risk of a crash.

Remedy & full details

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

Complaint volume

400 this model-year 7 median, same year

Volume alone is not a fault rate — popular vehicles attract more reports. Read it next to the severity mix below.

What owners reported happened

29Crashes
4Fires
20Injuries
0Deaths

Across 400 complaints. Severity Index 0.38.

Severity Index weights each complaint's reported outcome (death ×10, injury ×4, fire ×3, crash ×2) and divides by total complaints. It measures how severe reports are, not how often faults occur.

What owners report most

Power Train121 · 30%Engine47 · 12%Unknown Or Other42 · 11%Electrical System39 · 10%Vehicle Speed Control27 · 7%Air Bags24 · 6%Service Brakes18 · 5%Fuel/Propulsion System17 · 4%
  1. Power Train — 121 reports
  2. Engine — 47 reports
  3. Unknown Or Other — 42 reports
  4. Electrical System — 39 reports
  5. Vehicle Speed Control — 27 reports
  6. Air Bags — 24 reports
  7. Service Brakes — 18 reports
  8. Fuel/Propulsion System — 17 reports
  9. Electronic Stability Control (Esc) — 10 reports
  10. Structure:Body — 9 reports

What to do

  1. Find your 17-character VIN on the driver's door jamb or the base of the windscreen.
  2. Check it against NHTSA's official lookup at nhtsa.gov/recalls — the authoritative record for your exact car.
  3. Book the repair with any franchised dealer. Safety recall work is free, with no time limit and regardless of who owns the car now.

Other model years

1995 (7) · 1996 (7) · 1997 (7) · 1998 (5) · 1999 (3) · 2000 (7) · 2001 (8) · 2002 (14) · 2003 (10) · 2004 (5) · 2005 (6) · 2006 (6) · 2007 (1) · 2008 (3) · 2009 (1) · 2010 (3) · 2011 (2) · 2012 · 2013 (6) · 2014 (5) · 2015 (3) · 2016 · 2017 (3) · 2018 (2) · 2019 (2) · 2020 (4) · 2021 (3) · 2022 (2) · 2023 (1) · 2024 (3) · 2025 (4) · 2026 (1)

Numbers in brackets are open recall campaigns for that year.

Questions

Does an open recall mean the car is unsafe to drive?

Not usually. NHTSA issues a "do not drive" or "park outside" advisory when a defect is dangerous enough to keep you out of the car — those are flagged Critical above. Everything else should be repaired promptly but is not an immediate stop-driving order.

Do I pay for recall repairs?

No. Federal law requires the manufacturer to fix a safety recall free of charge, including parts and labour, whether or not you are the original owner.

Why are there complaints but no recalls?

Complaints are unverified reports filed by owners. They can prompt an investigation, but many never become recalls — either the fault isn't safety-related or it isn't widespread.