It’s budget-friendly, no-nonsense, and has an upscale interior. There’s a lot to like about the Sentra. So long as you’re not in a hurry.

The 2024 Nissan Sentra is a budget-friendly choice that offers high value and an upscale interior for a reasonable cost. It’s not as bare bones as are most budget-friendly options and offers comfortable seating and a large trunk as nice bonuses.

That’s not to say that the Sentra is perfect. Its lackluster performance and dated infotainment interface make it a little underwhelming in some respects. We’d also like to see a little more tuning for the advanced safety features as they are sometimes very slow to respond. Hence the Sentra’s lower crash test results.

Overall, though, the 2024 Sentra hits a nice balance point between being low budget and high value. It’s one of the better entry-level cars we’ve driven in a while.

With over four decades of doling out trusted automotive advice and extensive vehicle knowledge, both behind the wheel and under the hood, Car Talk's founder and original Tappet Brother Ray Magliozzi shares his first-hand experience test driving the Nissan Sentra.

The Sentra and Civic have been rivals for a long, long time. The Civic, however, does have a better track record for reliability, but the Sentra beats it on price and content value.

Like the Sentra, the Elantra is an upscale-feeling car with a great value proposition. It should be cross-shopped carefully as a great alternative to the Sentra; and with a better warranty.

The best-seller in the compact sedan segment, the Corolla has been around for decades. It’s a solid choice, but feels cheaper and less sophisticated when compared to the Nissan. The Sentra also sports more headroom and shoulder room by comparison.

The 2024 Sentra starts at about $22,000 plus delivery. For about $3,000 more, though, a more well-healed version is available and is where most buyers are likely to land with this car.

The table below shows the most common trim levels and how much they will run you.

The Sentra has received a mid-cycle refresh for the 2024 model year. Most of the changes are obvious: front styling, new wheel designs, and some new interior details. All of these changes bring the Sentra into line with the more modern designs of other Nissan vehicles while the interior upgrades bring more bang for the buck in terms of look and feel.

The Sentra also gets a new transmission to add robustness as the Sentra gains stop-start functionality to improve fuel economy in city driving.

Standard equipment now includes rear automatic braking to avoid rear-end collisions alongside the comprehensive suite of advanced safety assistance features the Sentra already included.

Like most electric vehicles, the Ioniq 6 is quick. Especially in its all-wheel drive model. It delivers 149 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque directly to the wheels. No transmission means no shifting which means quicker acceleration.

The 2024 Ioniq 6 has a 53 kWh battery pack as standard for the rear-wheel drive model. A 77.4 kWh battery pack is found in the AWD models. Both have an EPA-estimated range of about 240 miles per charge. Our real-world driving of the AWD with the 77.4 pack returned about 220 miles in a charge. That’s better than most EVs we’ve driven in terms of real-world versus estimates.

Charging is also fast, with the Ioniq 6 being capable of a full 350 kW of charge speed–about the maximum at most level 2 public fast chargers. We were able to charge the car from about 14 percent battery to over 80 percent in about 25 minutes. We’ve driven very few EVs that can boast that kind of charge speed.

Like most electric cars, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 is a joy to drive with instant acceleration, a low center of gravity, and a rear-wheel drive bias. It’s intuitive, fun, and engaging.Performance - How Does the Nissan Sentra Drive?

The 2024 Sentra is powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine that outputs 149 horsepower through a continuously variable transmission (CVT). The CVT was improved this year to allow it to handle the stress of a stop-start system to improve fuel economy. This hasn’t made a noticeable difference in the Sentra’s drive quality. Which, well, definitely lacks quickness and celerity.

The Sentra isn’t a fun or engaging car to drive. It gets from point A to point B and does so comfortably, but without any interest or excitement. It’s sort of the baritone in the marching band: getting the job done, but never being asked to solo nor getting any attention.

As a daily driver, though, the Sentra is more than livable and its upscale and comfortable interior makes it a great choice against many of its competitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has not tested the 2024 Sentra, but the nearly identical 2022 model receives a five-star overall rating.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has rated the 2024 Sentra with top scores of “Good” on most tests. Because the Sentra’s headlamps received a bottom-most Poor rating and the front crash prevention was scored as Marginal, the Sentra was not eligible for a Top Safety Pick rating.

We consider the Sentra to be about average for its segment when it comes to safety. Most of its competitors suffer similar issues during crash testing.

The Nissan Sentra is about average for reliability. It scores about average with both Consumer Reports and RepairPal. Recalls are at a minimum for this car, which is a nice bonus.

We recommend considering an extended warranty with a Sentra purchase as the standard warranty is pretty basic and only lasts three years.

There are few features to add to the base model Sentra S, but the mid-grade SV model comes with a lot of improvements and gives access to packages like the All-Weather and SV Premium, which add some desirable features.

The All-Weather package is good for those who live where it’s cold, adding remote engine start, heated seats, steering wheel, and side mirrors, and dual-zone climate control. The SV Premium package adds 17-inch alloy wheels, a sunroof, a power-adjustable driver’s seat, and improved audio with a Bose system. We like the SV Premium and consider it the best package for the 2024 Nissan Sentra when it comes to value and improvement.

The 2024 Nissan Sentra’s warranty is about average for the segment. It doesn’t include anything unusual or leave anything expected out.

• Basic: 3 years / 36k miles
• PowerTrain: 5 years / 60k miles
• Roadside assistance: 3 years / 36k miles
• If buying used look at our best extended warranties

Our money would be on a used model Sentra. This generation (2020 model year forward) is a great one and has a lot to offer. The new styling and added stop-start system in the 2024 model aren’t reason enough to skip used models. And the savings can be significant. Just be aware that the warranty on the Sentra does not transfer to new owners.

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