Good first car

My partner and I bought this car back in May 2005; it was our first major purchase.

At first, we did have some issues with the car. It tends to make a slight squeaky sound when accelerating. We had the dealership mechanics take a look at it, and they supposedly fixed it. But, it still makes the sound fairly often. That said, it hasn't seemed to have anything to do with how the car performs. We have put over 36,000 miles on it with no discernable issues besides the noise itself.

We're fairly happy with the space in the trunk inside the car although it's a little uncomfortable for our taller friends to sit in the back seat. Also, we have the base model, and the back seats don't fold down; that's definitely a feature we miss. It makes it difficult on trips to IKEA!

We love the exterior of the car, though. Having it in black definitely adds a look of class to the car. The front grill is a nice looking feature, and we like the roundness of the headlights.

One thing we also love is that it comes with an auxiliary outlet on the radio which makes it super easy to plug in an ipod. We haven't seen any new model of car come with this feature.

We also like the storage space in the front of the car. The glove box is roomy, and the extra compartment on the dash is nice for keeping sunglasses, etc.

One con is that the gas mileage kind of sucks. We usually only get 300 miles to its 12 gallon tank. That comes out to about 25 miles per gallon. But we do a lot city driving and slow freeway driving out here in Los Angeles - that may be a factor effecting the car's gas mileage.

Overall, the Sentra is a good car for a first time buyer. It's classy looking, has plenty of room for those of average height (but not beyond) and doesn't seem to have any mechanical defects.