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Reliability report · 2019 Nissan Sentra · Updated July 2026 · ~$2,100/yr fuel · what it costs to keep →

The last old-body year and the only one where a CVT warranty check is still worth making — a late build may just have lapsed.

The 2019 is the send-off year for the seventh-generation Sentra and its complaint file is the most mixed of the four. Electrical problems narrowly lead, with the CVT close behind and a large false-automatic-braking group behind that. It is also the only year in the 2016–2019 band where complaints rise rather than fall, from 184 to 220.

It is worth one check the earlier years no longer justify. The 2019 was the last model year included in a Nissan CVT class-action settlement — the one covering 2017–2018 Altima and 2018–2019 Sentra, Versa Sedan and Versa Note, approved after a hearing scheduled for 20 March 2023. It extended CVT coverage from 60 months/60,000 miles to 84 months/84,000 miles. Eighty-four months from a car delivered in autumn 2019 is autumn 2026. Almost every used 2019 will have passed the 84,000-mile half of that limit long ago, and some owners opted out of the settlement entirely, so this is a per-VIN question — but it is the one Sentra year where the answer might still be yes, and it costs nothing to ask a Nissan dealer to check.

Evidence: 220 NHTSA complaints · 2 recall campaigns · 4 mechanic & forum sources

Canary status

Squawking

What that means: 220 federal complaints, up slightly from the 2018 — the only year-over-year rise in this generation — with the file split roughly evenly between electrical, powertrain and driver-assist problems. Two recalls, both free fixes. The 2019 is the last model year in any Nissan class-action settlement covering the CVT — a continuously variable transmission, which uses a belt and pulleys instead of fixed gears — and that 84-month clock is running out right about now rather than years ago.

CalmChirpingSquawkingFainted

220

Federal complaints

2

Recall campaigns

$8,000

Dealer replacement quote, out of warranty

Known issues

Ranked by the cost of ignoring them. Every claim carries its source.

Jatco CVT — the last year with any chance of coverage left

major

The CVT — a continuously variable transmission, which uses a metal belt between two adjustable pulleys instead of fixed gears — still drives roughly a third of the recent 2019 filings. Nissan's dealer bulletin for these cars names the symptoms: judder, shake, single or multiple bumps or vibration, hesitation on acceleration, lack of power, or engine revs flaring without the car accelerating. A 2019-specific bulletin also covers permanent fault codes that will not clear from the transmission control module — P1890, P2768, P17F3, P17F4 and P188F — where Nissan's instruction to dealers is simply to replace the module. The financial picture in the file is unforgiving: one owner reports "the estimated cost per McGrath Nissan Dealer is $8,000, I am unable to afford this service so the car was towed back to my home," and another reports a $2,600 out-of-pocket bill "with less than 100k" on the clock. The 2019 is the last model year in any Nissan CVT class-action settlement — 60 months/60,000 miles raised to 84 months/84,000 miles, covering the assembly, internal components, gaskets and seals, control valve body, torque converter, cooler kit and control-module reprogramming. Eighty-four months from a late-2019 delivery lands in late 2026, so unlike the earlier years this is genuinely worth checking by VIN before you assume you are on your own.

CVT fluid service (preventive, mechanic-advised every 30,000–40,000 miles)

a few hundred

Owner's out-of-pocket bill under 100,000 miles

$2,600

Dealer replacement quote, out of warranty

$8,000

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2019 Nissan Sentra (220 complaints) · NHTSA recalls and Nissan manufacturer communications (2018–2019 CVT class-action settlement and warranty extension, 2019 transmission-control-module bulletin, recall documents) · Independent mechanic and used-car channel transcripts (Nissan CVT failure modes, 2019 Sentra problems and recalls)

Brake lights that do not come on — recall 21V135major

Recall 21V135 covers all 2016–2019 Sentras: 807,376 vehicles, and the 2019 is the last year in the population. The brake-light switch can become contaminated so the circuit never closes and the brake lights do not illuminate when you press the pedal. Dealers replace the switch and add a protective grommet, free of charge; Nissan's code is PM971 and owner letters went out on 1 July 2022. A used-car reviewer covering the 2019 correctly identifies this as one of the model year's two recalls, which matches the federal record exactly. Check it physically and by VIN.

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2019 Nissan Sentra (220 complaints) · NHTSA recalls and Nissan manufacturer communications (2018–2019 CVT class-action settlement and warranty extension, 2019 transmission-control-module bulletin, recall documents) · Independent mechanic and used-car channel transcripts (Nissan CVT failure modes, 2019 Sentra problems and recalls)

$0

Recall remedy

Rear-view camera image that can be switched off and stay off — recall 19V654moderate

Recall 19V654 is a compliance recall across a wide range of 2018–2019 Nissan and Infiniti models including the Sentra. The back-up camera's display settings can be adjusted so the rear image is no longer shown, and the car keeps that setting the next time you select reverse, which puts it outside the federal rear-visibility standard. The remedy is a free software update. Because it is software, the camera can be working perfectly on your test drive and the recall can still be open on paper — the only way to know is a VIN check.

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2019 Nissan Sentra (220 complaints) · NHTSA recalls and Nissan manufacturer communications (2018–2019 CVT class-action settlement and warranty extension, 2019 transmission-control-module bulletin, recall documents)

$0

Recall remedy

Electrical faults and dead batteries — the year's largest single tagmoderate

Electrical system is the most-used component tag in the recent 2019 filings, narrowly ahead of the transmission. A used-car channel covering this model year calls out corrosion at the battery terminals that cuts all power even when the battery itself is fully charged, and the federal file carries a matching run of no-start, warning-lights-everywhere and instrument-cluster complaints. This is cheap to investigate and cheap to fix compared with anything else on this car, but it overlaps with the driver-assist complaints below — a weak battery or a poor ground is a well-known cause of spurious safety-system warnings on modern Nissans, so it is worth ruling out first rather than last.

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2019 Nissan Sentra (220 complaints) · Independent mechanic and used-car channel transcripts (Nissan CVT failure modes, 2019 Sentra problems and recalls)

False automatic emergency braking and forward-collision warningsmoderate

Forward-collision and automatic-emergency-braking complaints form the third-largest group in the 2019 file. AEB is automatic emergency braking, the system that applies the brakes for you if it believes a collision is imminent; FCW is the forward collision warning that comes first. Owners report the car braking or alarming for objects that are not in its path, and the warning light flashing with no stored fault. The usual fix path is a healthy battery, a clean and unobstructed radar and camera behind the windscreen and grille, and a software update — the same reprogramming approach Nissan later published bulletins for on the following generation. Not an expensive problem, but a genuinely irritating one to live with, so test it on a road with parked cars and roadside furniture rather than an empty motorway.

Sources: NHTSA complaint database, 2019 Nissan Sentra (220 complaints) · NHTSA recalls and Nissan manufacturer communications (2018–2019 CVT class-action settlement and warranty extension, 2019 transmission-control-module bulletin, recall documents)

"The estimated cost per McGrath Nissan Dealer is $8,000, I am unable to afford this service so the car was towed back to my home."
From an owner’s federal complaint. Unverified; one voice out of 220.

Open recalls

Free fixes at any Nissan dealer. Run the VIN — “completed” isn’t always completed.

  1. 21V135Brake-light switch can become contaminated so the brake lights do not illuminate. Free switch replacement plus protective grommet (2016–2019 Sentra, 807,376 vehicles). Nissan code PM971; owner letters mailed 1 July 2022.VERIFY BY VIN
  2. 19V654Back-up camera display settings can be adjusted so the rear image is no longer visible, and the setting persists — outside the federal rear-visibility standard. Free software update (2018–2019 Sentra and a wide range of other Nissan and Infiniti models).VERIFY BY VIN

What it costs to keep

The purchase price is what you negotiate. These are the numbers you live with afterward — each one sourced, none of them blended into a fake total.

The ownership picture — 2019 Sentra

Two sourced numbers. No fake total.

Fuel

30 MPG combined (27 city / 35 highway) for the FWD, 1.8L on the EPA federal fuel-economy test.

Source: FuelEconomy.gov (EPA) — EPA’s federal fuel-economy test, recomputed with current gas prices. EPA record 40564 (Sentra).
Other builds EPA lists: FWD, 1.6L turbo (premium fuel) 29 MPG.

$2,100/yr

at $4.15/gal · 15,000 mi/yr · 55/45 city/hwy · pulled Jul 12, 2026

Repair risk

What this specific year is known to need. Pulled from the issues above — the repairs owners actually report, at the costs they report them. Averages from other sites blend every year together; these are this year’s own numbers.

Source: this report — 01 Known issues.

CVT fluid service (preventive, mechanic-advised every 30,000–40,000 miles)a few hundred
Owner's out-of-pocket bill under 100,000 miles$2,600
Dealer replacement quote, out of warranty$8,000
Recall remedy$0
Recall remedy$0
Why there’s no single “cost to own” number: sites that promise one are guessing at your insurance quote, your annual miles, and your luck. These are the numbers we can actually source — and each one carries its receipt.

Shopping this year?

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The VIN is on the listing. We’ll check this exact car — build, open recalls, and whether the “completed” repairs stayed fixed.

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Before you buy

Print this
  1. 01Ask a Nissan dealer to check CVT warranty-extension eligibility by VIN. This is the one Sentra year where the 84-month/84,000-mile class-action coverage might not be fully spent — and it costs nothing to find out.
  2. 02Drive it at least 15 minutes with stop-and-go and one highway pull. Judder, shake, hesitation, lack of power, or engine revs flaring without acceleration is the disqualifying symptom.
  3. 03Have the car scanned for stored transmission codes before you buy. On a 2019, permanent codes P1890, P2768, P17F3, P17F4 or P188F that will not clear mean Nissan's own instruction is to replace the transmission control module.
  4. 04Ask for CVT fluid-service records. Nissan calls it lifetime fluid; independent mechanics change it every 30,000–40,000 miles.
  5. 05Have someone watch the brake lights while you press the pedal, then confirm recall 21V135 shows completed by VIN.
  6. 06Confirm recall 19V654 (rear-view camera settings) shows completed — the camera can look fine and the recall still be open, because the fix is software.
  7. 07Check the battery terminals for corrosion and load-test the battery. A weak battery or a bad ground on this car produces electrical faults and false safety-system warnings that look far more expensive than they are.
  8. 08Test the driver-assist systems on a normal road with parked cars and roadside signs, not an empty motorway — false braking and phantom warnings are the third-largest complaint group on this year.

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