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#11 of 21 2010 electrical issues- complete crash of system by texassue

Aug 24, 2010 (9:16 pm)

I was prepared to love this car; my husband and I rented a Sentra on our vacation. Up to that point, I was looking at Mazda 3 and Honda Fit. But the 2010 Sentra we rented car drove like a peach and was roomy and quiet. I researched and it looked like the Sentra was super reliable. And I got a great deal on my new SR- or so I thought. Now, I am living a nightmare-
  
1) Within the first 3 weeks of ownership, I got in the car twice to find out that the clock reset to 12 and the radio presets were gone- just like when you get a new battery. Dealership service maintained they were clueless about cause. Small irritant, right?
  
2) Two weeks later, radio and clock went out entirely. Replaced, and service said that there was a short and burned out fuse. I thought to myself- in a NEW CAR?
  
3) A week later, car did not start at all after I had been driving it fine all weekend with no problems. I jiggled the gear shift, thinking it wasn't all the way in park, and it then started. Drove 2 miles, suddenly ALL electrical systems went out and car lost power. Fortunately, I was not up on the highway and coasted into a plaza. No lights, no horn, no nuttin'. Water in five of the six battery cells was very low. Towed into dealership, where they replaced a "bad" battery. I insisted that they check to see why the battery would burn up water like that. I was told- "No problem could be found".
  
4) Exactly ten days later, car is towed again from work. Completely dead electrical system again, although I had taken it out for an errand during lunch. I should mention that the evening before, when I ran up to the store, the car had no pickup and would not go over 30. When I came out of the store, it drove just fine.
 
This time, the mechanic said he was "100% sure" that the problem is likely the one that caused the radio to go out and is the result of the failure of the factory to properly weld a connection behind the battery so that battery wasn't recharging. I was told, however, that the proper part to fix this was on national backorder. (Hmmm- do I smell a coming recall?) The proper part being called both a connector for a wire harness or the right battery terminal. After six days in the shop, with no loaner car furnished to me, I picked up the car tonight after the proper part came in and it was "repaired". I drove it home two miles this evening. Two hours later, when I got back in to visit a friend at the hospital, the dashboard lit up real purty and I still had a horn- but it didn't start. Not even a sputter. I looked in the battery and the water in all chambers was low. (Curiosity question- why was the battery not checked?) I put more water in then tried to start the car both in park and neutral. Nada.
  
Service division was closed but I talked to dealership sales manager who told me another 2010 Sentra with exactly the same problem got towed in to them yesterday. The mechanic had last week told me he saw the same thing four months ago.
  
By the way, I took this in twice before the electrical problems started because of a "popping sensation" under the floorboard when I turned the wheel to the right. It came and went, and shop said they couldn't replicate it so had nothing to fix. But if the steering system is electrical, I wonder if there is a relationship.
  
Well, my "new car" , with a whopping 3100 miles on it, got towed in for the third time in 2 weeks tonight. But I am beginning to question whether this is fixable, and, if a bandaid is put on this, what confidence can I have that there aren't other slipshod quality problems awaiting me in the future? Meanwhile, my 175,000 mile Taurus that I thought was on its last legs and that my son now uses is going strong, air conditioning cold as the day I bought it.
  
Is anyone else aware of such problems? What has been your experience? I am more upset than these words convey. If I bought a lemon computer, the store would exchange it - but I'll have to go through an arduous lemon law proceeding on this one.

Replies to this message:

• macaroni1957 (May 11, 2013 9:51 am)

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#12 of 21 Followup on 29010 Sentra electrical by texassue

Aug 25, 2010 (10:28 am)

Here is a followup on my note above. Well, knock on wood, the solution to the third tow-in was easy; they had not programmed my usual key. I hadn't tried the key I had left with them for the repair. The dealership took responsibility, picked up my key from work, dropped of the car to me. Hopefully, this is the problem and we have smooth sailing from now on. They also advised that battery was overfull and lowered the water level- my hubby was wrong about the water being low.

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#13 of 21 2001 nissan sentra by mammi

Sep 26, 2011 (7:28 am)

Replies to this message:

• fwevers (Dec 12, 2011 5:05 pm)
• 67nova1 (Mar 29, 2012 9:56 am)
• asiangem (Sep 27, 2012 5:50 pm)

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#14 of 21 Re: Turn signal/brakelight problem [minimouse] by chavez14

Nov 19, 2011 (2:45 pm)

Replying to: minimouse (Jan 11, 2008 12:56 pm)

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#15 of 21 Re: 2001 nissan sentra [mammi] by fwevers

Dec 12, 2011 (5:05 pm)

Replying to: mammi (Sep 26, 2011 7:28 am)

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#16 of 21 Re: 2001 nissan sentra [mammi] by 67nova1

Mar 29, 2012 (9:56 am)

Replying to: mammi (Sep 26, 2011 7:28 am)

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#17 of 21 Re: 2000 Nissan Sentra Electrical issues [ltlewis] by gshanmugam

Sep 24, 2012 (11:17 am)

Replying to: ltlewis (May 15, 2010 2:03 pm)

Replies to this message:

• gshanmugam (Oct 11, 2012 2:42 pm)

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#18 of 21 Re: 2001 nissan sentra [mammi] by asiangem

Sep 27, 2012 (5:50 pm)

Replying to: mammi (Sep 26, 2011 7:28 am)

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#19 of 21 Re: 2000 Nissan Sentra Electrical issues [gshanmugam] by gshanmugam

Oct 11, 2012 (2:42 pm)

Replying to: gshanmugam (Sep 24, 2012 11:17 am)

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#20 of 21 05 Sentra 1.8s Electrial & Noisy Ahhhhh by tashaluv2

Dec 06, 2012 (12:05 pm)