2010 Nissan Sentra
Even though I grew up to be a car reviewer, my mother always taught me to find the best in everyone. She said that if I focused hard enough and long enough I could find something beautiful in everything and everyone. Clearly she was not saying this while standing in front of a 2010 Nissan Sentra.
To call this car a dog is to besmirch the character of canines. At least dogs are cute and have nice personalities, neither of which is true of the deplorable 2010 Sentra. The exterior looks like Nissan deliberately sucked any style or fashion from it with a giant liposuction tube. The proportions are all wrong much like is true for those victims of too many plastic surgeries.
For 2010 Nissan tried to move the Sentra up-market a bit by adding optional in-dash navigation and light cream leather with “almost wood-like” trim liberally displayed around the cabin. But by adding all of these extras you are left with two huge problems.
First, a well equipped and much larger Altima is not much more expensive and if you do option out an Altima it actually feels more expensive. Dressing up the Sentra’s interior is like putting the proverbial lipstick on a pig. The interior plastics feel like they are made from recycled Happy Meal boxes and the seat fabric has the durable consistency of Kleenex tissues.
If you want faux carbon fibre on your dashboard be sure to put your hat on backwards when you arrive at the Nissan dealership. Then you can test drive the performance SE-R Sentra variant! This model is the true 2010 death of a once revered icon, the first generation Sentra SE-R. Do you remember when “SE-R” was held aloft among auto enthusiasts with “CR-X,” “GTI” and even “911” as symbols of truly pure automotive joie de vivre?
The plain SE-R now comes with Nissan’s frightfully noisy CVT automatic and the larger 177 horsepower 4-cylinder from the Altima. A hotter SE-R Spec V version has a manual transmission and 200 horsepower but it starts at over $20,000. Save a little and buy a VW GTI or spend the same and have just as much fun in a 2011 Honda CR-Z.
Basic Sentra models all the way to the leather lined SL come with a 2.0 liter 140 horsepower 4-cylinder that returns 27 city/34 highway. If you had a horrific brain injury and are planning to buy a 2010 Sentra you will no doubt find that the $17,450 is the pick of the range as it adds the CVT auto, alloy wheels, a USB port for iPod connectivity as well as air conditioning, power windows and door locks.
But for $17,000 you can get a nice Honda Civic, Mazda3, VW Golf, Kia Soul or even a Mitsubishi Lancer that will make you far happier. I might say the Sentra is worse than even a Corolla but at least the Corolla knows its audience. Corolla buyers like everything safe and reliable. Nissan gave us the Z, the GT-R and the entire Infiniti lineup. Nissan is supposed to be the stylistic risk taker because if they aren’t they run to risk of having no identity to separate them from the pack.
It may take a while for people to figure it out but automakers lose their business in North America when they lose their identity. Creating a cool impression with young people is vital and the Sentra is not a car a young person would choose.
If you want a terrific and affordable Nissan check out either the Cube or the upcoming Juke. You won’t regret owning a wacky Nissan. It’s way better than a boring one, that’s for sure.
