The power unlock on all four doors of my car doors will no longer operate via key fob, outside lock button or interior power unlock buttons, although the doors can all be locked using those same processes. In addition, the doors have all randomly locked while being inside the car with no key, locking me inside the car and requiring someone getting a key to manually unlock the car to allow me to exit. The doors have also randomly locked with the key inside the car making it unable to access the car without a spare key being manually used to unlock the car. This has caused several very scary incidents including having to nearly break a window to get out of the car on a day when temperatures were over 100 degrees.
Nissan Sentra key fob problems
37 of the 5,835 owner complaints about the Nissan Sentra describe key fob or push-button start problems, most of them for the 2020 model year.
- owner complaints
- 37
- worst model year
- 2020
- typical mileage
- 40,000
Is there a fix? There are 6 recalls for this area of the car. See below
By model year
Often reported together
Door locks 9Won't start 6Warning lights 3Steering lock-up 1Phantom braking 1Loss of power 1Screen failure 1Grinding brakes 1
What owners say
The rear driver side door does not lock/unlock when pressing the lock/unlock buttons on the key fob nor the buttons on either of the front seat door panels. It is only able to be locked/unlocked by manually flipping the lock/unlock switch on the (rear driver side) door. No other doors have this issue. I believe either the door switch actuator or faulty wiring is the cause of the issue. I believe it is available for inspection upon request. My safety and the safety of my passengers is put at risk because of the additional step of ensuring the door is locked when departing from the vehicle, creating a more dangerous situation in the event of needing to quickly exit the vehicle, and an increased chance of car hijacking. I have seen reports saying there are 141 similar cases where certain years and models of Nissan vehicles (≈2013-2025 Altima, Rouge, and Sentra) have a similar issue, sometimes with the door not being able to be opened even with manually switching the door lock switch. The problem has been widely reported and confirmed by dealerships. The vehicle and the component have not been inspected by anyone. There were no warning signs or messages. The first sign of failure was April 4, 2026.
Several issues since purchasing vehicle. The front collision sensor malfunction. Came to an abrupt stop several times while on the freeway due to failed sensor. Narrowly avoided major collisions. Also, have had to replace batter every year along with brakes and tires. My suspension is awful. The brakes are crap and have consistently had to address worn tires in one side. Electric panel shit off and key fob malfunctions. So many issues and so much unnecessary repairs with no real results
The driver side door lock is malfunctioning. Not unlocking or locking consistently from either the keyfob (Changed battery) or when in car. It is a safety issue that I can not lock doors with door lock when in car. Initially driver door effected and now both driver and passenger doors are effected. I am having difficult time getting it fixed. The mechanic is having difficulty fixing the safety problem. He believes its a nissan defect
The rear door locks on my vehicle fail to lock and unlock properly, especially using the power lock switches or key fob. This is not an occasional issue — it happens every single day. This is a major safety concern because the back doors often cannot be opened at all, which puts my children at risk of being trapped inside during an emergency or accident. In addition, the rear windows frequently get stuck and will not roll down. This is also a daily occurrence. It makes the problem even more dangerous because the windows cannot be used as an emergency exit if the doors fail. These issues are consistent and ongoing. Because the vehicle is used to transport children, the defective door locks and windows create a significant safety hazard that could prevent occupants from exiting the car quickly in an accident, fire, or similar emergency.
Key Fob consistently displays “Low Battery” on the dashboard even after replacing the batteries on both key fobs. However, when using the remote start, using either key fob, no warning displays on dashboard.
Driver side front and rear door locks will not respond to key fob. Rear door won’t lock and front door won’t unlock.
Sometimes the driver door doesn’t lock even after clicking the lock button either on the key fob or on the actual door. The car is five years old and has 60,000 miles on it.
99% of the time neither of my back doors will lock or unlock when I either push the key fob or press the door unlock button inside the car. And for the past few days my front driver side door is doing the same thing. It’s a big safety hazard because I have a [XXX] daughter and if we get in an accident or stuck somewhere and I can’t open her door then what? I’ve had to go from the front door and reach to the back to unlock it manually and that’s not always possible to do. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)
6 months after purchasing my car off the show room floor the key fob stop locking my doors.
Related recalls
Electrical system: ignition
- What is wrong
- Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain 2017 Nissan NV200, Sentra, NV3500 Van, NV3500 Bus, NV200 Taxi, NV1500, NV2500 Van, Chevrolet City Express, 2017-2018 Frontier, Versa Note, and Versa Sedan vehicles that have a mechanical (physical) key ignition system. In these models, over time, the weight on the key ring and road conditions or some other jarring event may cause the ignition switch to move out of the run position to the accessory position, turning off the engine.
- Risk
- If the vehicle stalls, it can increase the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will inspect the production information on the ignition switch, and replace it as necessary, free of charge. The recall began October 1, 2018. Owners may contact Nissan customer service at 1‑800‑867‑7669.
Recall number 18V551000 · Recall details
Electrical system: wiring
- What is wrong
- 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).
- Risk
- 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
- 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.
Recall number 16V485000 · Recall details
Electrical system: software
- What is wrong
- Nissan North America, Inc. (Nissan) is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Altima, LEAF, Pathfinder, and Sentra, model year 2013 NV200 (aka Taxi) and Infiniti JX35 and model year 2014 Infiniti Q50 and QX60 vehicles. In the affected vehicles, the occupant classification system (OCS) software may incorrectly classify the passenger seat as empty, when it is occupied by an adult.
- Risk
- If the OCS does not detect an adult occupant in the passenger seat, the passenger airbag would be deactivated. Failure of the passenger airbag to deploy during a crash (where deployment is warranted) could increase the risk of injury to the passenger.
- Remedy
- Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will update the OCS software, free of charge. The recall began on April 14, 2014. Owners may contact Nissan at 1‑800‑647‑7261.
Recall number 14V138000 · Recall details
Electrical system: 12v/24v/48v battery: cables
- What is wrong
- Nissan is recalling certain model year 2010-2011 sentra vehicles equipped with mr20 engines, manufactured from may 11, 2010, to may 22, 2010, and july 8, 2010, to october 25, 2010. The zinc coating applied to the terminal stud bolt was thicker than specification. This can result in a voltage drop that may cause difficulty starting the vehicle and could cause damage to the engine control module (ECM).
- Risk
- This issue can cause the engine to stall while the vehicle is in motion and it may not be possible to restart the engine after it stopped, increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Nissan will notify owners and dealers will replace the positive battery terminal and cover, free of charge. The recallbegan on january 23, 2012. Owners may contact nissan at 1‑800‑647‑7261.
Recall number 11V579000 · Recall details
Electrical system: 12v/24v/48v battery: cables
- What is wrong
- Nissan is recalling certain model year 2010-2011 sentra vehicles, manufactured from may 22, 2010, through july 8, 2010. Due to a machining irregularity, the bolt/washer surface on the positive battery terminal cable end may allow for a gap to occur in the contact area of the terminal. This can result in a voltage drop that may cause difficulty starting the vehicle and could cause damage to the engine control module.
- Risk
- This issue can cause the engine to stop running while the vehicle is in motion at low speed with a difficult or no start increasing the risk of a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the positive battery terminal cable end with a new one free of charge. The safety recall began pn november 29, 2010. Owners may contact nissan at 1‑800‑647‑7261.
Recall number 10V555000 · Recall details
Electrical system: ignition: module
- What is wrong
- On certain passenger vehicles equipped with the qg18de engine or qr25de engines, the foam material used for the interior lining of the electronic control module (ECM) box emits sulfur as it cures.
- Risk
- If one of the resistors inside the ECM has a crack on the surface coating, the gas may cause corrosion of the resistor. This could cause the malfunction indicator light to come on, poor drivability (idle instability, poor accelerator), or the engine to stop running during vehicle operation, which could result in a crash.
- Remedy
- Dealers will remove the inside lining material from the ECM box. Owner notification began on december 22, 2003. Owners should contact nissan at 1‑800‑647‑7261.
Recall number 03V477000 · Recall details
Questions about the Nissan Sentra key fob
Which Nissan Sentra years have key fob or push-button start problems problems?
The model years with the most reports are 2020 (13 complaints), 2017 (5 complaints) and 2019 (4 complaints).
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