Nissan Sentra vs Toyota Corolla

As a car sales professional, one of the most common things customers do is ask me to compare my vehicle to a similar model from a competitor. In that light, I have decided to do those comparisons here.
I'm going to start with one of the most common comparison requests I get.

Toyota Corolla vs. Nissan Sentra

A big reason people ask me to stack our Sentra up against the Corolla is that it can be rather tough to find much of a difference between the two. That is at least until you take a closer look at each. Lets do exactly that right now. 

Lets start with the bottom line. Being direct competitors you would expect a similar price tag and they are similar but the Sentra does come in cheaper with a starting price of $17870 while the Corolla has a starting price just over $19500. If you're thinking you get what you pay for is applicable here you should keep reading. 

Cars aren't worth much without a good motor right? Both cars come with a 1.8 liter 4 cylinder engine. However only the Sentra has a turbocharged offering in both the SR and Nismo trim levels. No such offering or anything comparable exists in the Toyota. 

Something we all care about and a question I get asked nearly every time I show any car, is about gas mileage. None of us want to spend more money than we have to right? Well in this case, though I have read some reports that give an edge on the highway to the Sentra but overall the edge here goes to the Corolla by a whopping 1 MPG. 

Now theres no denying both these cars are small but not all small cars are created equal. The Sentra has 1.1 inches more front headroom, .2 inches more front legroom and 6.2 inches more rear hip room than the Corolla. The Sentra wins by a landslide in trunk space with over 2 cubic feet more useable space than the Corolla. 

Gone are the days when mirrors were the only safety feature a car had to offer right? Well yes and no. Yes if you're looking at a Sentra and no if you're considering a Corolla. Sentra offers both blind spot and rear cross path warning systems, neither of which are available on the Corolla. 

Like I said both cars have a 1.8L 4 cylinder engine so they're capable of similar speeds but not equal. In 0-30, 0-60, and 1/4 mile speed tests the Sentra wins them all by slim margins in each category. 

An overlooked but vital safety feature are the brakes. The Sentra is equipped with larger rotors than the Corolla giving it more stopping power and shorter stopping distances. 

Let's finish up by comparing the cost of ownership. I'll call on the advice of an expert here as I only sell cars I do not service, fix, or maintain them. 

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Sentra is less expensive to operate than the Corolla because typical repairs cost less on the Sentra than the Corolla, including for example $25 less for a water pump, $123 less for a starter, $158 less for front struts and $48 less for a timing belt/chain. 

Just to be clear and in the spirit of fairness I want to remind everyone that most of the differences here are minor. Yes Sentra wins a lot of the head to heads in my comparison but that doesn't mean the Corolla doesn't have it's own share of pluses over the Sentra. At the end of the day you have to see, touch, feel, and drive them both before you decide what's best for you.