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2008 Nissan Sentra Review

STYLING | 8 out of 10

Expert Quotes:

Little of substance has changed with this year's model
Cars.com

uninspired but modern exterior design
Edmunds

The Sentra looks too much like the Maxima and the Altima
MyRide

The 2008 Nissan Sentra is no longer Nissan's smallest car for sale in the U.S. market. For Nissan, 2008 is the year the company introduces the Versa into a slot below the Sentra, making the Sentra more of a compact than a subcompact.

Cars.com says, “The Sentra is a nice-looking car — young but not especially daring.” They say the sporty Sentra SE-R Spec V has "some very handsome exterior trim that says, but doesn't shout, performance." Motor Trend thinks it’s “like an IKEA appliance, attractive, modern, and perhaps just the furniture for your life”—but also adds, “The new Sentra copies some of big-brother Altima's styling, especially its roofline/greenhouse, but by now it also looks like a Saturn Ion or Mazda3.”

Edmunds says the 2008 Nissan Sentra’s "uninspired but modern exterior design" is matched by its "functional interior." Inside, Edmunds adds, “The Nissan Sentra's cabin offers a modern design, well-organized controls and generally agreeable materials quality.”

TheCarConnection.com’s editors have driven the Sentra and the sporty SE-R versions—and find the styling sharp and the interior fairly high-quality. Where the Nissan 2008 Sentra suffers is in having one body style. While the Sentra is four-door only, the competition—the Honda Civic, Ford Focus, and Saturn Astra—all are available with fewer doors. The lack of a two-door version may make the Sentra seem less sporty to some reviewers.

Conclusion

The 2008 Nissan Sentra doesn’t offer a two-door version, but the body is handsome and the interior logically laid out.


Read More of this Review:

  1. styling
  2. performance
  3. quality
  4. safety
  5. features

Other Choices:

The 2008 Nissan Sentra is up against tough competition. The 2008 Honda Civic offers such variety, including coupe and sedan body styles and multiple powertrains, even hybrid and natural gas. The 2009 Toyota Corolla is especially attractive in its top trim level, but the Corolla looks less appealing in the base trim. Domestically, the all-new 2008 Ford Focus offers coupe and sedan body styles, but buyers tend to be attracted to its powerful SYNC entertainment system rather than its homely new look. The 2008 Sentra also has to compete against the Mazda3, a perennial enthusiast favorite for its handling. Comparatively, the Hyundai Elantra and Dodge Caliber lag this pack in overall refinement and style, but the Sentra (even in Spec V trim) is no match for the 285-hp Caliber SRT4.

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See the Nissan Sentra in Other Years:

2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997

Comments (1 total)

  1. 8 )

    By maxime gilbert | Posted: Aug 16th 2008, 08:53:03 AM

    is the great cars

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