Phone, GPS and Tablet Mounts for a Nissan Sentra

A recent oil change pilgrimage to my local Nissan dealer left some time to check out the showroom.  One of the cars I was able to get a close look at was the Nissan Sentra.  Like practically any model, there are some places that work well for mounting a device and a few that don’t work too well.

Mount Analysis

As always, a photo of the interior is attached to this article.  There are a few interesting design characteristics.  Round vents.  Usually difficult but we have a plan.

The cup holder is one of my favorite places for mounting a tablet or smartphone.  Nissan set these back far enough to make these useful as a mount point.

The seat bolt will not work well on a Nissan Sentra.  The seat bolt is recessed within a rail that has edges and I don’t believe the claw portion of a seat bolt mount will fit.  I suppose you could screw the seat bolt directly to the floor but realistically speaking, not many will want to drill screws into the floor of their new car.  let’s move on to a different mount.

On a smaller car, the windshield always seems to be the best choice for a GPS or smartphone.  Typically not so much for a tablet.  That’s the case with the Nissan Sentra too.  A GPS or smartphone fits well on a windshield but a tablet is just too large.

The dash has a large display popping out of the middle.  A dash mount won’t work well in this car.

Mount Recommendations for a Nissan Sentra

On the windshield, I’m sticking with my usual phone choice which is the Arkon MegaGrip Suction Cup Windshield and Dash Mount.  The suction mount has a vacuum locking suction cup attached to a pivoting arm.  An included expandable holder opens to 3.4 inches to fit almost any phone.  The phone can swivel into any orientation.

The mount also comes with an adhesive disk that can stick to the dash and turn the mount into a console version.  The suction assembly can adhere to the adhesive disk just like it would on a windshield.  This is a very reliable mount and I can vouch for it based upon my years of personal use.

The same mount but for a Garmin GPS is the Arkon Windshield Dash Garmin Nuvi Suction Mount.  I have recommended this one many times and have used it myself for several Garmin models. An excellent mount that comes with a 2-year warranty.  It’s more rugged and longer than the Garmin mount you received in the box.

So that takes us to those round vents.  Consider a specialized mount such as the Zchan Vent Mount for Nissan Sentra.  If you have those round vents, this one is going to fit.  It’s made specifically for latter year Nissan Sentra models.  Seems like a clever idea.

The cup holder is the only place to mount a small tablet.  We like the Cup Holder Mount for Tablets and Phones.  This mount includes two different cradles and has an extended neck to make the mount a little higher than others.  One for a phone and another for a tablet.  The mount is adjustable and solidly made to easily handle the weight of your tablet.  You will see a lot of mounts on the market for tablets or cell phones.  This is the only car mounts that offers two different cradles, one for the phone, the other for the tablet.  The tablet cradle will hold devices up to 12.9 inches but we suggest limiting it to nothing larger than an iPad Mini.

Summary

We found a good place for a small tablet which is the cup holder.  For a phone, the best place is the windshield or vents if using a specialized mount such as what we recommended in this article.  Just ensure it’s not blocking your view of the road.