The 2003 Nissan Sentra has 5 recalls, the most serious being a Takata passenger-side airbag inflator that can explode during deployment, sending metal fragments into the cabin and causing serious injury or death.
All three airbag recalls describe the same underlying hazard. When the passenger frontal airbag deploys in a crash, the inflator can rupture under excessive internal pressure, scattering sharp metal shards toward anyone seated in the front. One of these recalls specifically covers vehicles that were previously inspected as part of an earlier remedy attempt but may have had the defective Takata inflator left in place rather than replaced, meaning some cars that went through a prior repair may still carry the dangerous component.
The remaining two recalls both affect only the 2.5-liter engine and describe the same problem from different angles: a crank angle sensor that can malfunction due to temperature swings during driving, causing a brief dropout in the signal it sends to the engine's control module. If that dropout is short enough that the module does not register it as a fault, the engine can cut out without any warning light or alert. An unexpected stall eliminates power steering assistance and removes engine braking, and depending on traffic and road conditions at the moment it occurs, the driver may have limited time to react and safely stop the vehicle.
