Customer Reviews

Nissan Sentra & 200SX 1995 thru 2004: All models (Haynes Repair Manual)

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If you own a 2003 Nissan Sentra, I would not expect too much from this book. The pictures and even the text refers mostly to pre 2000/2001 Sentras and 200SX's and a lot of stuff changed in the 2002-2004 Sentras. It's as thorough as Haynes manuals get, I guess, but it's almost entirely useless in many areas if you have a later model Sentra (if you have a 1995-1999 Sentra then maybe it will be worth it, though).

Only reason why I did not return it is because this is the only repair manual I can find for the 2003 Nissan Sentra. Chilton's does not seem to have one. I checked their site and it looks like they MIGHT have one in digital format but there isn't any info. You have to buy it first and then see how you like it. I'm not about to do that so I guess this Haynes manual is the best I can do for now. Oh well.

Bottom line is...don't bother buying a Haynes manual that covers a 9 or 10 year span for one certain model if you own a later year model. It won't do you much good. It will be highly outdated and will not do you much good. So for example, if a Haynes manual for your model of car claims to cover model years 1995-2004, only buy the manual if you own the year 1995-1999 or so but not if you own the year 2000-2004 because it will be virtually useless unless you are very well mechanically inclined and you already know a lot about your car.

Oh, and by the way, Haynes used to print their manuals on that nice, white, acid-free paper but now they print on thin newspaper-like paper which is not as durable or easy to read. Go figure. Hayes went from great manuals to el cheapo and misleading.

Like all the other haynes manuals i have purchased this one did a decent job of giving recommendations for maintenance and repair work. However i always seem to find it lacking details where i need it most (basic repair tasks that seem to be identical between manuals), and having way more details for jobs that i don't care about (totaly engine overhauls, etc. ).

Pros:
- Affordable Help for repair work
- covers most repair topics you might care about
- I have purchased several manuals for cars i have owned and found them all to be helpfull.

Cons:
- Says it covers multiple varients of the same model, but often has diagrams for only one of them.
- Many of the more common repair tasks (brakes, oil change, body work, etc.. ) are heavily coppied between the vairous Haynes manuals for different models, so often lack spesific details that would be helpfull. You can usually overcome this with some common sense, but i have found several times wishing i new exactly where something was rather then them assuming i know where it is.
- Lacks discussion on common problems encountered during repairs. Ie, would be nice to have advice on what to try if your break rotors are rusted on, etc. .