Back in 2020, Nissan revamped the Sentra for the sedan’s eighth generation. At the time, it was acclaimed for its ability to move passengers, cargo, and itself between various locations — noted always-correct outlet Jalopnik called it both “damn decent” and “a totally viable option.” Unfortunately, it now seems that many of these Sentras have a fatal flaw: They’re not big on the whole “turning” thing.
Nissan is once again recalling 2020 to 2022 Sentras for weak tie rods that may bend during use. The company has issued this same recall for these same cars before, back in 2021, but apparently that fix wasn’t enough. In fact, Nissan seems to believe that every single car “repaired” under that recall now needs to be fixed again.
Nissan estimates that 236,238 cars are “potentially involved” in the tie rod issue, nearly all of the 299,631 Sentras the company produced for those model years. Within that 236,000 number, the company estimates that 100% of vehicles have the tie rod defect — it’s not an issue affecting some Sentras, it’s endemic to them all.
The automaker says a fix is on the way, with engineers hard at work redesigning the tie rods for the eighth-generation sedan. Those new parts are expected to hit dealers sometime this winter, though Nissan hasn’t said what the interim fix will be for cars with tie rods that have already bent or failed. Hopefully, that new design will be enough to make these Sentras safe to operate.
If you own a Sentra from the listed time period, and believe it may be affected by the recall (it almost certainly is), head over to the NHTSA recall page and punch in your VIN. Owners will be notified later this year, but it never hurts to check things out for yourself — and learn if your car is a danger early.