Nissan Sentra

Pros

• The main issue with nissans is the cvt transmission, however they are solid aside from that. Considering the nissan is manual and doesnt have the cvt, i'd pick the sentra
• Their non turbo 4 cylinder (Sentra, Altima, and Versas) are reliable, they cvts were revised with a chain instead of a belt like their earlier years.
• Nissan isn't top tier brand but at least their 4 bangers motor on the sentra been proven. Its CVT is now a chain while K4 was still a push belt.
• if nissan is on the table the sentra or kicks are worth a look too, plenty of people daily those without issue.
• There are some pretty good deals on used Nissan Sentras and it’s still a pretty good car even if the build quality is not as good as Toyota.

Cons

• I'm coming off buying a new Nissan Sentra, trading that one for a slightly newer Nissan Leaf
• One friend of mine has sentra with unknown history. He changed his the cvt fluid which gives him worst result after the change.
• once I got in the K4 it absolutely blew the Sentra away. The Sentra SV with manual, non-heated cloth seats was going to be the same price as I got my GT-Line for, that's when I decided the Sentra absolutely was not worth the price.
• avoid, older nissans with the cvt (altima/sentra), they blow up around 80-100k and cost a fortune to fix.
• B Tier: ...Nissan Sentra These were more case-by-case. Some were fine, but I would care a lot more about condition, mileage, and maintenance history.