2016 Nissan Sentra: recalls and complaints

NHTSA lists 6 recall campaigns for the 2016 Nissan Sentra. The newest campaign is 21V135000. NHTSA received the report on 3 Mar 2021. The NHTSA record gives the component Exterior Lighting / Brake Lights / Switch. NHTSA has 76 complaints on file for this model year.

The NHTSA recall file shows no do-not-drive advisory and no park-outside advisory on these campaigns.

This page cannot show if a recall applies to one vehicle. The NHTSA VIN lookup shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle.

Remedy of the newest campaign, 21V135000, in the NHTSA record

Dealers will replace the brake light switch and install a protective grommet, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 1, 2022. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800867-7769. Nissan's number for this recall is PM971.

NHTSA VIN lookup

Complaint information entered into NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation vehicle owner's complaint database is used with other data sources to identify safety issues that warrant investigation and to determine if a safety-related defect trend exists.
NHTSA publishes these words. Source: NHTSA Datasets and APIs, section Complaints, read on 1 Oct 2026. Complaint file through 15 May 2019. Recall file through 29 Sep 2026.

Since the last update

No tracked figure of this page changed in a data update. What the log tracks

All updates to the register

Recall campaigns

6 campaigns, newest first. 4,786,136 units in total.

21V1350003 Mar 2021Exterior Lighting / Brake Lights / Switch
17V25300013 Apr 2017Air Bags
16V48500029 Jun 2016Electrical System / Wiring
16V43600015 Jun 2016Air Bags / Frontal / Passenger Side / Inflator Module
16V24400026 Apr 2016Air Bags / Sensor / Occupant Classification
16V24200026 Apr 2016Air Bags / Sensor / Occupant Classification

21V135000Received 3 Mar 2021. 807,376 units.
Exterior Lighting / Brake Lights / Switch
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2016-2019 Nissan Sentra vehicles. The brake light switch may become contaminated, preventing the circuit from closing and the brake lights from illuminating.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
The brake lights may not illuminate, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
Dealers will replace the brake light switch and install a protective grommet, free of charge. Owner notification letters were mailed July 1, 2022. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800867-7769. Nissan's number for this recall is PM971.
Report filed by Nissan North America, Inc.. Manufacturer campaign number PM971. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 1 Jul 2022.
17V253000Received 13 Apr 2017. 30,038 units.
Air Bags
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2015-2017 LEAF and 2014, 2016 and 2017 Sentra vehicles. Due to a manufacturing error within the air bag inflators, the passenger frontal air bag may not properly deploy in the event of a crash.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
In the event of a crash, if the front passenger air bag doesn't deploy properly, it can increase the risk of injury to passengers.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the front passenger air bag inflator, free of charge. The recall began June 7, 2017. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.
Report filed by Nissan North America, Inc.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 7 Jun 2017.
16V485000Received 29 Jun 2016. 1,522 units.
Electrical System / Wiring
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016 Sentra vehicles manufactured April 11, 2016, through April 26, 2016. The engine room harness may have a terminal pin too large to maintain a connection with the Engine Control Unit (ECU).
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
If the engine room harness loses connection to the ECU, the vehicle may not start or the engine may stall, increasing the risk of a crash.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will replace the terminal pin on the engine room harness, free of charge. The recall began on August 15, 2016. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.
Report filed by Nissan North America, Inc.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 15 Aug 2016.
16V436000Received 15 Jun 2016. 4,355 units.
Air Bags / Frontal / Passenger Side / Inflator Module
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016 LEAF vehicles manufactured February 24, 2016, to March 23, 2016, and Sentra vehicles manufactured February 9, 2016, to March 4, 2016. The wiring harness connector may disconnect from the dual-stage passenger air bag.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
If the wiring harness disconnects, the passenger air bag may not to deploy during a crash, increasing the risk of injury.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the wiring harness connector for proper engagement and, if necessary, replace the passenger air bag module and main body harness, free of charge. The recall began on August 9, 2016. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-647-7261.
Report filed by Nissan North America, Inc.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 9 Aug 2016.
16V244000Received 26 Apr 2016. 3,296,947 units.
Air Bags / Sensor / Occupant Classification
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2016-2017 Nissan Maxima, 2013-2016 Nissan Altima, NV200, LEAF, Sentra, and Pathfinder, 2014-2016 Nissan NV200 Taxi, Infiniti QX60, QX60 Hybrid, and Q50 Hybrid, 2014-2017 Nissan Rogue and Infiniti Q50, 2015-2016 Nissan Murano, Murano Hybrid, and Chevrolet City Express, 2014-2015 Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, and 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles. In these vehicles, the front seat passenger Occupant Classification System (OCS) may incorrectly classify an adult passenger as a child or classify the seat as empty despite it being occupied. As a result, the passenger frontal air bag may be turned off and not deploy in the event of a crash.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
If the passenger frontal air bag does not deploy as intended in the event of a crash, the passenger is at an increased risk of injury.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
Nissan will notify their owners. Chevrolet City Express owners will be notified by General Motors. Dealers will reprogram the Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) and OCS Electronic Control Unit (ECU) in Altima, Maxima, Murano, Rogue, and Sentra vehicles, and replace the OCS ECU in LEAF, NV200, NV200 Taxi, Pathfinder, Infiniti Q50, JX35, and QX60 and Chevrolet City Express vehicles, free of charge. Interim notices were sent to owners on May 31, 2016. Owners will receive a second notice when remedy parts become available. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669, Infiniti customer service at 1-888-833-3216 or Chevrolet customer service at 1-800-222-1020.
Report filed by Nissan North America, Inc.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 10 Jun 2016.
16V242000Received 26 Apr 2016. 645,898 units.
Air Bags / Sensor / Occupant Classification
Defect, in the NHTSA record
Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2016 Sentra vehicles manufactured June 4, 2012, to April 9, 2016. The front passenger seat belt bracket may become deformed if it is used to secure a Child Restraint System (CRS). The deformed seat bracket may cause the Occupant Classification System (OCS) to incorrectly classify the installed CRS, resulting in the front passenger air bag to not be turned off as designed when a CRS is in the seat.
Consequence, in the NHTSA record
If the frontal passenger air bag deploys in the event of a crash when a child seat is installed in the front passenger seat, there will be an increased risk of injury to the child in the CRS.
Remedy, in the NHTSA record
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will reinforce the seat belt bracket as well as reprogram the Air Bag Control Unit (ACU) and OCS Electronic Control Unit (ECU), free of charge. The recall began on June 13, 2016. Owners are warned not to install a CRS in the front seat. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1-800-867-7669.
Report filed by Nissan North America, Inc.. Owner notification date in the NHTSA record: 13 Jun 2016.

The campaign number opens the NHTSA record. Each quotation is the text of the NHTSA recall file.

Recall campaign: One recall in the NHTSA recall file, with one campaign number. A campaign can name many makes, models and model years.

Units: The number of vehicles or products that a recall can include. The manufacturer or the firm reports the number to the agency.

Complaints by component

76 complaints, 125 component mentions.

A complaint can name more than one component. Each component that a complaint names is one component mention. The figure per 1,000 component mentions shows how many of each 1,000 mentions name the component.

2016 Nissan Sentra
All 2016 vehicles

2016 Nissan Sentra: complaints by component, per 1,000 component mentions
Component	2016 Sentra	All 2016 vehicles	Sentra, all years	Mentions
Power Train	176	128.6	109.5	22
Air Bags	136	48.1	127	17
Unknown or Other	104	120.5	42.9	13
Electrical System	104	100.4	96.6	13
Engine	96	119.7	68.8	12
Vehicle Speed Control	88	54.3	46.3	11
Fuel/Propulsion System	56	43.9	19.5	7
Service Brakes	56	76.8	32.8	7
Structure	40	49.7	25	5
Electronic Stability Control (ESC)	40	24.7	13.1	5

The table shows the 10 components with the most mentions, of 18.

Complaints that report a crash: 10
Complaints that report a fire: 2
Injuries in the complaints: 5
Deaths in the complaints: 0
Date of the newest complaint: 14 May 2019

These figures are the entries of the persons who sent the complaints.

Complaint: A report about a possible safety problem that a person sends to NHTSA. This site shows the number of complaints and not their text.

Complaints about the 2016 Nissan Sentra, by the year NHTSA received them. The largest year is 2018, with 43 complaints.

Investigations

The NHTSA investigation file has no investigation that names this model year.

Investigation: A study of a possible safety defect by the NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation. An investigation with no closing date in the NHTSA file is open.

Other model years

The number under each year is the number of recall campaigns.

A year without a link has fewer than 2 campaigns and fewer than 25 complaints. It has no page.

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Official channels

NHTSA VIN lookupNHTSA shows the unrepaired recalls of one vehicle from its VIN or its license plate.
NHTSA: report a safety problemThe NHTSA form for a complaint about a vehicle, a tire, a child seat or equipment.
NHTSA page of the 2016 Nissan SentraThe recalls, the complaints and the investigations that NHTSA shows for this model year.

Cite this page

Recall Register. 2016 Nissan Sentra: recalls and complaints. https://recallregister.com/vehicle/nissan/sentra/2016/. Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation, recall, complaint and investigation files. Data through 29 Sep 2026.

Sources

Source: NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation
Licence: US government work, public domain
Recall file through: 29 Sep 2026
Complaint file through: 15 May 2019
First complaint in the file: 1 Jan 1995
Manufacturer in the recall file: Nissan North America, Inc.

The NHTSA record is the authority. A complaint count is the number of different complaint numbers for the make, the model and the model year. How the register is made. Report an error.

Questions

How many units are in the recall campaigns for the 2016 Nissan Sentra?: 4,786,136 units in 6 campaigns. A campaign can name other models and model years, and its units include them.
How many recall campaigns does the Nissan Sentra have for all model years?: NHTSA lists 55 recall campaigns for the Nissan Sentra, model years 1982 to 2026. 6 of them name the 2016 model year.
Which component do the complaints about the 2016 Nissan Sentra name most often?: Power Train: 22 of 125 component mentions, or 176 per 1,000. For all 2016 vehicles the figure is 128.6 per 1,000.
Is an NHTSA investigation of the 2016 Nissan Sentra open?: The NHTSA investigation file has no investigation that names this model year.