Some of you might be familiar with the third-generation Nissan Sentra, which was originally sold here in 1990. It led a good life, and although wasn’t really superior to its segment rivals, it did an honest job. However, did you know that while it is a distant memory here, it was still sold in Mexico?
The Nissan Tsuru is one of the best-selling cars of all time there—second-best in fact, right behind the Volkswagen Beetle.
This small, simple car is well loved there, especially among taxi drivers.
However, the Tsuru is not very safe: the Mexican government progressively adopted stricter safety standards, and the Tsuru couldn’t keep up. Without so much as an airbag, it couldn’t score a single point during collision tests.
This is why it will be phased out in 2019.
The IIHS just published a video that shows exactly why the Tsuru is so dangerous. In the above video, it impacts a 2016 Versa sedan. The result speaks for itself. Not only does it demonstrate a very valid reason not to buy a 90s Sentra, but it shows just how far safety has come in the last 20 years.
