Welcome to my 2nd Cardomain.com page! This page is dedicated to my 2000 Nissan Sentra GXE, which was acquired on April 26, 2006. This vehicle replaced my 2003 Mazda 6, which you can read all about here.

Last update: July 19, 2006

This car does not have any performance modifications, and probably never will. It is used as a commuter car, and the main reason I replaced my Mazda 6 with this car was to make some extra cash for my wedding, which was May 27, 2006. As a side benefit, the Sentra gets 35 mpg, versus 22-23 for the Mazda 6.
This car is nothing special, but it gets me from place to place, and does so reliably and economically. I hope to keep it for 2-3 years, and then get something new (or used), such as a Mazda 3. I've had my eye on the Mazda 3 for a while now. I also started a new job in mid-April 2006, for which I just drive to the office (35 miles from home) and the car stays put. I was a field consultant in my previous job, and for that, I wanted a sporty, fun-to-drive car, which the Mazda 6 certainly was. But now, practicality and economy take priority over the fun factor, so enter my Sentra.

Details:
2000 Nissan Sentra GXE
Dark green exterior, beige interior
1.8L 126hp 4-cylinder engine
5-speed manual transmission

Purchased used on 4/26/06 with 49,990 miles on the clock. Very low for a 6-year-old car!

Things I like better about this car vs. the Mazda 6:

* Cheaper to drive, in terms of gas
* Easier to park, since it's smaller
* Not as likely to get stolen, since it's not sporty
* Cheaper to maintain - only uses 3 quarts of oil vs. 5.5, which saves money during oil changes; other maintenance is probably cheaper, too
* Green, which is the same color as my wife's car (we have twin cars now, ha ha... well sort of, hers is a Mazda Protege)

Things I like less about this car vs. the Mazda 6:

* Not sporty (the 6 was very cool-looking)
* No "zoom-zoom" (hard to go from a 220hp 3.0L V6 to a 126hp 1.8L I4)
* No navigation system
* Less room for passengers
* Smaller trunk
* No nifty short-throw shifter
* No cup holders by the e-brake (why can't all car makers put the cup holders next to the e-brake? Otherwise, it's just wasted space!)
* No auto-dimming mirror with HomeLink and compass
* No cool red electro-luminescent guages
* Radio display doesn't show clock and radio/CD info at same time (that's the case with my Alpine head unit, but was also the case with the stock Nissan unit)

Modifications and upgrades (most recent first):
- 07/06/06: Second oil change; this time used Mobil 1 fully synthetic 5W30 and K&N Performance Gold oil filter (this will be my standard from now on)
- 06/24/06: Aftermarket keyless entry system (Micro DLR4HD) installed to augment factory keyless entry system.
- 04/29/06: First oil change; replaced whatever was in there with Valvoline semi-synthetic 5W30
- 04/29/06: Windows tinted and Alpine CD/MP3 head unit installed.


Pictures, gotta have pictures!!

Outside pictures, which include window tinting that was done within days of buying the car.

Instrument cluster, with just a tick under 54,000 miles on the clock. See the crack in the plastic in front of the tach? That was my doing. I took it out and was trying to clean some spots off of the plastic in front of the speedometer (which I later discovered seem to be defects in the plastic itself, and not spots), and broke it in half in the process. But, even in 2 pieces, it still fits in! One of these days, I'll replace it.

ProClip mounts for holding my PDA phone (Treo 650) and company-provided cell phone (Motorola V276).

Alpine CDE-9846 CD/MP3/receiver head unit with detachable faceplate that I got installed to replace the factory unit. Also visible is a nifty sunglass holder.

Close-up of the light that blinks when my keyless entry/security system is active. That's one helluva-bright LED! Lights up the entire car when it's dark outside.


An inverter that I installed (was previously installed in my Mazda 6's center console compartment, but it was too big for the Sentra's compartment). I cut the back off of the storage bin so that the cord could run down the back. From there, the cord runs underneath the center console and pops up beside the driver's seat, where it plugs into the auxiliary power outlet next to the emergency brake.

Gotta be a stick, of course! No slushboxes for me... (sticks get better mileage anyway).

Great place to hide a garage door opener!

Dash cover... I bought the color "taupe", because the sample looked like it went OK with the dash. Well, it does, sorta, but it's a bit off. Oh well...

Phone mounts with phones removed, and radio with faceplate detached.

Back seat. Don't expect to sit back there if you're more than about 5.5 feet tall, though, especially if you sit behind me! Notice the bag hanging on the passenger seat back. That has stuff that I couldn't fit anywhere else (not nearly as much storage in this car as in my Mazda 6, but that's to be expected for a small car). You can see my shaver and cologne on the outside, heh heh.

Trunk. Pretty good-sized, for a small car! And no, that's not a bottle of NOS in there; it's a fire extinguisher. ;)

Obligatory engine bay pic. Again, nothing special here, no mods. Just a K&N high-flow panel filter, whose sticker I forgot to put on the airbox before throwing the filter's packging away. Oops.

Jack.