2018 Nissan Sentra Prices Up Zero to a Lot

CARS.COM — The Nissan Sentra gets more standard safety and convenience features for 2018 — in some cases for no extra money. On sale now, Nissan’s compact sedan adds Bluetooth audio streaming and a backup camera as standard equipment (both were optional last year) while more versions get Nissan’s well-rated forward collision warning and automatic emergency braking system. That’s an important safety feature Nissan has vowed to make standard across much of its lineup now.

Related: 2018 Nissan Altima Gets Standard Auto Brake

Last year’s debut of the higher-performance SR Turbo and NISMO editions brought the Sentra to six trim levels — the S, SV, SR, SR Turbo, SL and NISMO. Those designations carry over for 2018, as does the $17,875 base price (including a destination charge) for the Sentra S. Higher trim levels increase $120 to $1,940 apiece, but the steepest hikes come with considerably more features.

The base Sentra S has a six-speed manual transmission; it’s one of three trim levels to offer a manual (the other two are the SR Turbo and NISMO). Stick-shift and NISMO models don’t get automatic emergency braking, but others do — a significant upgrade from 2017, when the feature was part of an options package on the SL and SR.

For automatic-transmission drivers, that puts the Sentra at a competitive advantage over many compact sedan rivals when it comes to safety tech. The 2018 Toyota Corolla has standard automatic braking, but the feature remains largely optional elsewhere in the class.

The automatic transmission, a continuously variable type, remains standard on the SV, SR and SL. All but the S add dual-zone automatic climate control (a feature previously on the SL only), while non-turbo SRs and SLs get adaptive cruise control. The NISMO and SL have the heftiest pricing increases, but both add optional technology packages from 2017 as standard equipment.

Here’s a snapshot of 2018 model-year trim levels (all prices include destination) with pricing and major equipment differences versus the same 2017 trims:

• The S starts at $17,875 with the manual and $19,025 with the automatic (no change for the manual, up $50 for the automatic). Both add Bluetooth audio streaming and a 5-inch dashboard display with backup camera, features previously relegated to higher trims.
• The SV starts at $19,845 (up $120), while the SR starts at $21,255 (up $380). Both are automatic-only and add dual-zone automatic climate control and automatic emergency braking. The SV also gets 16-inch aluminum-alloy wheels, while the SR adds adaptive cruise control — both previously optional on their respective trim levels.
• The SR Turbo starts at $23,085 with a manual (up $210) and $23,375 with an automatic (up $500). Both add dual-zone automatic climate control, while the automatic gets automatic emergency braking.
• The SL starts at $24,325 (up a hefty $1,940) but gets several features — among them Bose premium audio, a moonroof, adaptive cruise control and automatic emergency braking — that were previously optional.
• NISMO versions start at $26,675 with the manual or automatic (both up $800) but add a larger dashboard screen (5.8 inches) with a navigation system and Bose premium audio — all part of an options package last year. They also get dual-zone automatic climate control but not automatic emergency braking.