Nissan · Sentra · 2021
3
Recalls
121
Complaints
5/5
Safety Rating
The 2021 Nissan Sentra has 3 recalls and 121 owner-reported complaints on file with NHTSA. Overall safety rating: 5 out of 5 stars. Most reported issue: steering (21 reports).
Source: NHTSA Public Records · Updated Apr 22, 2026
This page combines three types of NHTSA data: recall campaigns (official manufacturer or government actions), owner complaints (unverified consumer reports), and crash test ratings (where available). A vehicle with many complaints is not necessarily less reliable — complaint volume correlates with sales volume and vehicle age. Recalls indicate identified defects, not overall quality. To compare this model year with others, use the year navigation in the sidebar or return to the model overview page.
Frontal Crash Test

Side Crash Test

Overall Frontal Rating
Driver and Passenger Assessment
Driver Side
Passenger Side
Overall Side Rating
Side Barrier and Side Pole Tests
Driver Side
Passenger Side
Rollover Resistance
9.9% rollover risk in single-vehicle crash
Safety Features
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2019-2021 Altima and 2020-2021 Sentra vehicles. Damage to the camera harness can cause distortion or loss of the rearview camera display image. As such, these vehicles fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 111, "Rear Visibility."
Remedy Status
Dealers will inspect the rearview camera and harness for damage and replace them as necessary. If no damage is found, the dealer will apply protective tape and reroute the rearview camera harness. Repairs will be performed free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed October 19, 2023. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R23C3.
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2020-2021 Sentra vehicles. The left and/or right tie rod may be bent.
Remedy Status
Dealers will inspect and replace the left and/or right tie rods as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed August 5, 2021. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is PM985.
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2020-2022 Sentra vehicles. The left and/or right tie rod may bend.
Remedy Status
Owners are advised to contact their dealer for transport assistance if they are experiencing an off-center steering wheel or vibration. As an interim repair, dealers will inspect and replace any bent or broken tie rods, free of charge. Once newly designed parts are available, dealers will replace both left and right tie rods, free of charge. Owner letters were mailed November 27, 2024. Owners may contact Nissan's customer service at 1-800-867-7669. Nissan's number for this recall is R23B3. This recall replaces and expands recall number 21V-461. Vehicles previously repaired under 21V-461 will need to have the new remedy completed.
Some time while driving on empty roads Fuel Economy warning light beeping and automatically emergency brake . It happened on me more than 5 times.
The passenger front, and both back windows no longer function. This appears to be a common issue when searching the internet. There is also an issue with the keyless start, as it often does not recognize that the fob is in the vehicle, or gives a low batter warning (with a new battery). As there was already a recall on the sensor for the blind spot warnings and such, there appears to be wide spread electrical and sensor issues with this year/make/model. The windows pose a safety risk if someone is trapped in a vehicle that the doors won't open.
AEB system is initiating emergency braking at random times. Both on surface street, and the freeway on ramp. With and without weather, and without any obstacles or cars in the way. The vehicle comes it a complete stop when this happens and puts the driver in significant danger. At this point the dealer observed warning code on the dashboard, but it did not engage. Message relating to that the AEB may deploy. When it does happen Emergency Brake is on the dashboard. After it happens vehicle can resume driving. Various indicines happened last year. We took it to Ken Garff Nissan (11155 So. Jordan Gateway in South Jordan, Ut. 84095. They could not find the problem or get the problem reproduced. They recommended turning off the safety features when driving. We have done that for a year. Then on 1-15-26, the safety system was on and the break engaged and brought the car to a stop on the freeway on ramp. The car is now at Ken Garff Nissan (777 So. West Temple SLC, Utah) It has been there for 2 weeks. This is the dealer that saw the code, but the system did not engage.
Rattling noise coming from the belt assembly. Tensioner pulley is shaky and alternator had a piece brake off causing metal shavings to fly around.
I got in the car to start it and it would not start. This happened at the car wash one morning. It didn’t give me any warnings of a bad battery and the only way I started it was to have someone jump it. This has happened 4 times now. It takes several minutes for the battery to charge to start the car. I have been stranded 2 times and could not get to work on time 2 times.
While driving down the highway along with other traffic the car went into limp mode and lost power instantly almost causing an accident. Come to find out the engine bearings caused the engine to go on it without any warning signs. This car has been maintenanced and taken care of and had the same issue happen that the other nissans have had that they have the recall out for.
Purchased brand new with 0 miles. The system malfunction popped up and engine would not turn over after running perfectly fine a hour prior.Had to get towed to dealership and found a faulty battery luckily I still had 100 or so miles left on my warranty.Happened again last month the same exact thing except this time I had to get a jump off after several minutes the engine finally turned over.
Since having my Nissan 2021 Sentra I have for one, had to replace the battery in it twice. On a more serious note, it is now stopping the car at random and unnecessary times stating an object is in front of me. It happens once a while ago and I did not have any other signs, and it was just for a second, so I tried not to stress about it. Now it is happening more often and just this morning happened three times. Causing my car to come to a complete stop, it is very dangerous and I am not sure what I am to do about it.
Passenger side power windows and driver side rear window on occasion will stop working.
The competent that continues to fail is the emergency response breaks. They continue to stop at random times creating a very unsafe environment while I drive daily. I do have this on video and my car is available for inspection at any time. I just recently finally got the emergency break system on video since it is so random and plan on making an appointment with my local Nissan Dealer. I did have a visit recently regarding the recall for the tire rods. My car continues to make odd sounds and I paid over $1000 to get it fixed with all new tires. These problems have began since the day I got my car. I have bought over 10 wheels due to issues with the tire rods. The video we finally were able to get was last night regarding the emergency stop systems, it does not let me add to the complaint but I can send to any email if needed as well as the local Nissan dealer did inspect and work on the car for my tires and tire rods.
Rear windows and passenger window are malfunctioning. They stay open and will not close. Takes many attempts, and push start car on and off attempts. Takes hours for them to work again. Currently not using rear windows. To be on the safe side.
I've had multiple issues with my vehicle since I purchased the brand new car in 2021. - One year after purchase, I was left stranded when my alternator stopped working. - In 2023, I went i took my car to the Georgesville Nissan dealership in Columbus Ohio to get another key programmed. A process that should of taken one day took several weeks because my Vin# was not properly registered to my vehicle. This is a major safety issue, had something happened to my car (damage, theft, etc.) its possible that it could not have been identified, fixed properly. - I was also just made aware (after being stranded when my battery went out) that the wrong manuafacturer batter was installed in my vehicle. It should have been AMG and it was a flooded battery in my car. I had several technicians verify that it was an original battery that should have never been installed. This is a safety issue, I am not fully aware to the extent of how an incorrect battery may have damaged or corroded other compenets of my vehicle prematurely.
Electric steering rack has play and causes violent shaking. Huge safety risk as this could have complete failure and cause accidents. Vehicle started showing symptoms at 68,000 miles and after reading separate forums, many others have experienced these same issues. No warning lights appear on the dash and no inspection by safety highway patrol. This is a serious issue especially given I do not appear to be the only person experiencing this. The steering and suspension seem to be a common issue on this call given the recall on the tie rods.
The door lock actuators in my 2021 Nissan Sentra have malfunctioned, causing my doors to unexpectedly lock or unlock. Three of the four doors are affected, including the front driver's side door and both back doors. This is a serious safety concern that can potentially lock me inside the car. This can make it difficult to leave the vehicle during an emergency. It has also put my vehicle at risk for theft. No warning lights or messages have occurred indicating there is a problem. There are no recalls for my vehicle due to this problem. I took my car into the local Nissan dealership in Kansas City, and they gave me a price quote of $884.05 to fix the problem.
I and many others have noticed that the 2020+ Nissan Sentra has a very common issue with its window switch where the driver side window works, but all passenger windows get stuck refusing to roll up or down, or do so very slowly. I have had people try to come up to my window where I could not properly shut it, I have had to leave my window partially open over night, and in the rain.
The contact owned a 2021 Nissan Sentra. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V581000 (Steering) through mail and email and would like to be removed from the recall distribution list because the vehicle was totaled. The dealer and the manufacturer were contacted.
Steering wheel vibrates and has become difficult to steer. Occurs often. While on the freeway, vehicle has come to a stop in 2 different occasions, it just stopped for 4-5 seconds. Back up camera is blurred, mainly in the center.
Automatic emergency brake engaged while driving when there was not a car directly in front of me. There were no obstructions on the road and cars in the lanes next to me were not merging into my lane.
The contact owns a 2021 Nissan Sentra. The contact stated that while the vehicle was parked, his aunt entered the vehicle and attempted to start the vehicle; however, the vehicle failed to respond as needed. Neither a dealer nor an independent mechanic was contacted or made aware of the failure. The vehicle was not taken to be diagnosed or repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The approximate failure mileage was 75,094.
As I was driving home on the highway, something happened with my car where I couldn't control the car. It swerved back and forth on it's own until it finally stopped and cut off on it's own. There were no messages or symptoms prior to the failure. My car has been with Nissan who said they were going to investigate it and I cannot get a call back from Nissan Consumer Affairs.
Showing 1–20 of 25 complaints
The 2021 Nissan Sentra has 3 recalls recorded by NHTSA.
NHTSA has received 121 owner-reported complaints for the 2021 Nissan Sentra.
The 2021 Nissan Sentra received an overall safety rating of 5 out of 5 stars from NHTSA.
The most commonly reported complaint categories for the 2021 Nissan Sentra are steering (21 reports), electrical system (16 reports), forward collision avoidance (9 reports).
Yes. NHTSA has 3 recalls on record for the 2021 Nissan Sentra. Scroll up to review the published recall summaries, consequences, and remedies. To check for unrepaired recalls on your specific vehicle, use your VIN at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
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This page summarizes publicly available data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Complaint counts reflect reports submitted to NHTSA by vehicle owners and do not by themselves prove defect severity or vehicle safety. Safety ratings may not be available for all vehicle-years. This site is not affiliated with NHTSA or any vehicle manufacturer. For official information, visit the official NHTSA page for this vehicle.