2000 Nissan Sentra - Page 1 Review

See more photos

Shopping for a 2000 Nissan Sentra? MSRP: $11,649 - $15,699

SEE LOCAL CLASSIFIEDS

LAS VEGAS — Datsun entered the U.S. on a roll. Every toss of the automotive dice seemed to come up sevens. They introduced the small pickup, and youthful buyers went wild. Their 510 sedan proved thrifty, reliable and surprisingly sporty. They won racing championships.

And then there was the Z car. For about the same price as a Buick, youthful minded Americans could have the performance of a Jaguar without keeping a mechanic’s kids in private school. And even at its modest price, most upscale features were standard.

Then they started making bad bets. Amazingly, during a time that fuel prices were jumping and thrifty imports were setting up new franchises like fast food restaurants, Datsun’s hand was full of unmatched cards. Toyota and Honda became powerhouses and Datsun confused the public by changing their name to Nissan.

Worse, their product line lost its edge and focus, and their dealers seemed to focus on turnover and profit rather than customer attention and quality. While their national kin prospered, Nissan came up craps.

Through all this some products remained solidly competent, and with their excellent V-6 engine, the 300ZX, Maxima and Pathfinder were well regarded but still sold poorly. After several years of confused design direction, the all-new 2000 Sentra, designed at Nissan Design International, Inc. (NDI) in La Jolla, Calif., is longer, wider and taller than its predecessor and rides on an all-new platform.

This latest Nissan Sentra comes on the scene with a range of designs ranging from an ultra low-emission Sentra CA (Clean Air) model to the racy Sentra SE. These are aimed at the California market where clean air and specially modified "tuner" versions both catch the attention of buyers.

2000 Nissan Sentra interior More room inside moves the Sentra solidly into the compact class.